Dramatic Moments With Just Over an Hour Remaining Determine Championship and Race Winners
There were two major turning points in the three-way battle for the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class title in the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Saturday during the 26th annual Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
A trio of protagonists were separated by just 11 points at the start of the day, but the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 was eliminated from championship contention just 74 minutes into the 10-hour event when Nick Tandy was swept into an accident triggered by a pair of Grand Touring (GT) cars.
As the race unfolded, the championship lead bounced back and forth between the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac V-Series.R that led the standings heading into the weekend, and the No. 10 Konica Minolta Racing Acura ARX-06 that took over the top spot after points were awarded for qualifying.
With 62 minutes remaining, Filipe Albuquerque in the No. 10 attempted to pass Pipo Derani in the No. 31 for second place around the outside of Turn 1, a fast, 90-degree right-hander. The cars made side-to-side contact before the Acura speared to the left across the grass into heavy contact with a tire barrier. IMSA race control reviewed the coming-together but ruled no incident responsibility.
The dramatic turn of events essentially guaranteed the championship would go to the No. 31 Cadillac, with drivers Derani, Alexander Sims, and Jack Aitken. They duly clinched the crown with a sixth-place finish.
Derani and Sims ended the season with a 21-point advantage over Albuquerque and co-driver Ricky Taylor, who finished just a single point ahead of Blomqvist and Braun. The No. 60 duo led the GTP class with three race wins in 2023.
The top seven teams completed the first year of the new GTP formula clustered within 60 points, demonstrating a remarkable level of parity between the four competing manufacturers. Porsche Penske Motorsport’s two entries tied for fourth in the standings (-42 points).
“It’s been a real pleasure to be a part of this new era,” said Aitken, who served as the No. 31 team’s endurance driver in 2023 before moving into the seat currently occupied full-time by Sims in ’24. The championship driving trio also won the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March.
“I think the standard of drivers, teams, and machinery that we have competing in the series is just phenomenal,” Aitken continued. “To have such a close finale after so many ups and downs for everybody through the year is really amazing. It was heart-in-mouth stuff pretty much the whole way through the race, and I think we’re all still slightly in disbelief. But it’s just reward for all the hard work that’s gone into this program.”
Derani admitted that the prospect of a late-race battle with Albuquerque prompted flashbacks from their previous on-track encounters, most famously at the 2021 Petit Le Mans.
“It seems to always be the No. 10 at the very end fighting with us, but this year the race took a different direction toward the end,” remarked Derani, who claimed his second IMSA championship. “I think Filipe was a little bit too optimistic there with still an hour and (two) minutes to go.
“We’ve seen that going through the outside of Turn 1 never really works,” he continued. “It happened last year with two Cadillacs, unfortunately. You just lose grip, and obviously he tried. He came in very aggressively trying to cut me off to the inside. We touched and he went off, which is unfortunate for him.”
Meanwhile, the battle for the prestigious Motul Petit Le Mans race win boiled down to a straight fight between the No. 01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac shared by Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande, and endurance driver Scott Dixon, and the No. 60 Acura fielded by Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian and drivers Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun, and Helio Castroneves.
Braun grabbed the lead from van der Zande with a strong restart following the caution for Albuquerque’s crash with 30 minutes to go, and he held it to the finish, which occurred under caution after a pair of minor late-race incidents. The result bookended the ’23 season with victories for the Meyer Shank Acura, having started the campaign with a triumph in the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
The No. 60 actually fell two laps off the lead about two hours into Saturday’s race when Blomqvist was hit from behind in traffic in Turn 10. He was able to immediately drive the car into the pits for repairs and the start of a stirring comeback drive that culminated in Braun’s victorious restart.
“We just put our heads down and focused on what we could do,” said Braun, who earned his 25th race win in IMSA competition. “We knew we had a fast Acura and would have opportunities to get our lap back. We didn’t panic, and the guys did a great job on strategy. We had to be fast at times, but we also had to be smart and save the car.”
Regarding the critical restart that put the Meyer Shank Acura into the lead, Braun said: “Renger and I have raced each other for a long time, and he’s always raced me super fair and super clean. I just put it all on the line. We didn’t have a lot to lose, and I think they were kind of in the same boat in terms of the championship. I knew it was going to be big commitment, and it was awesome to make it happen.”
“I took it real easy on that last restart to save as much fuel as I could, that’s why I was slow,” van der Zande responded. “I don’t know where Colin got the grip from, but he had massive grip and sent it down the inside and still made the corner. I didn’t expect that, so hats off to him.”
Saturday’s season finale also determined the winners in the 2023 IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup. Cadillac clinched the manufacturer’s title when points were awarded following the fourth hour, and Sims, Derani, and the No. 31 Whelen Engineering team locked up the team and driver crowns at the 8-hour mark.
The 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship opens Jan. 19-21 at Daytona International Speedway with the annual Roar Before The Rolex 24 followed Jan. 25-28 by the 63rd running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports Recovers Twice to Claim LMP2 Championship, No. 04 Crowdstrike Team Wins Motul Petit Le Mans
It wasn’t the most graceful effort, but it was worthy of a championship. PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports recovered from an early spin and a late trip through the gravel to claim the championship in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class.
Ben Keating, who recovered from the early spin, shared the driver championship with teammate Paul-Loup Chatin, but not before they watched anxiously while co-driver Alex Quinn recovered from a ride through a gravel trap to help the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07 finish third in class at the Motul Petit Le Mans and preserve the title.
“This one is special for a lot of different reasons,” said Keating, who captured his second LMP2 championship in three years. “It’s just been an incredible run. It’s such a great team. It’s very literally a family affair. It’s just really special.”
Ben Hanley led the No. 04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR ORECA to the class win with co-drivers George Kurtz and Nolan Siegel. The No. 35 TDS Racing ORECA LMP2 07 co-driven by Giedo van der Garde, John Falb and Josh Pierson came home second as the race finished under caution.
“With the late yellows, we were just trying to save fuel and tires, as well,” Hanley said. “We knew we had an advantage on fuel, so it was just take it easy and get to that last pit stop. When that happened, we got the lead. The car was just fantastic in traffic. We were pretty confident we could bring it to the end, but there were a lot of yellows. You had to be cautious with that.”
Hanley and Kurtz also claimed the LMP2 IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup, which goes to the best performers in the four longer races on the WeatherTech Championship schedule.
Meanwhile, the Jim Trueman Bronze Cup, which includes an invitation to the 24 Hours of Le Mans next year, went to Kurtz, who came into the race tied with Keating and Steven Thomas in the Trueman standings.
“The big implication was Le Mans,” Kurtz said. “That was really the prize for us. We would’ve had to have a lot go right to win the championship, but the two things we were focused on was the endurance championship and Le Mans. At the end of the race with 20 minutes left, you never think it’s going to be a green flag to the end. So many emotions go through your mind.”
The route to the championship was far from typical. Keating started from the pole and pulled away from the field at the start before his car spun 52 minutes into the race. A 16-second lead at the time of the spin helped him maintain the lead.
Quinn’s spin came with less than two hours remaining. He slid into the gravel in Turn 10 but kept the car moving slowly and got it back on track.
“For those who don’t know, when I’m not at a racetrack, I’m a farmer,” Quinn said. “That experience paid off. … I just had to manage it. I didn’t want to be there in the first place, so I was a bit disappointed. But we got back on track and did what we needed to do.”
Grist in the Right Place, Right Time for LMP3 Win; Robinson Secures Title
After swapping the Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) lead mainly with the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier JS P320 for the better part of 10 hours, Garett Grist had the No. 30 Jr III Racing Ligier in just the right place at the right time. The right place? Behind his rival. The right time? With 20 minutes left in the race and Grist on the charge.
Grist dove the No. 30 inside of Robinson and the No. 74 in the left-hand Turn 10A, causing contact between the two cars that continued through right-hand Turn 10B. The result left Robinson’s car with left-rear damage forcing him to pit while Grist cruised away to win the race.
It was Grist’s second career WeatherTech Championship victory – six years after he also won at Motul Petit Le Mans – and was the first for co-drivers Dakota Dickerson and Bijoy Garg, as well as the Jr III team.
The No. 13 AWA Duqueine with co-drivers Matthew Bell, Orey Fidani and Lars Kern finished second, with Robinson, Felipe Fraga and Josh Burdon taking third in the No. 74 Riley Ligier.
“What an absolutely incredible job by the team for the last three years,” Grist said. “It's the most fun I've had in racing and the best I've been physically and mentally, and I thank them for that – and all their hard work coming into the last race with such a great car. They never gave up and continued to put the effort in. I think we came here with the best car we've had. We put absolutely everything into it and it paid off. It's a great way to end the Jr lll Racing P3 era.”
Although the race results were not what Robinson and Riley hoped for, when the No. 74 Ligier took the green flag on Saturday morning they clinched the 2023 LMP3 championship in a season that saw them win four races in the final season for the class in the WeatherTech Championship.
“I just love these guys,” said Robinson. “We started together in 2019, ran our first season of LMP3 in 2021. My dad and Bill and Bob Riley go back to the old Tran-Am Series, so it’s been great to carry on that history. I can’t find the words to describe it. Just huge thanks to Ligier, Riley and to IMSA for all the memories I’ve been making.”
