WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Category

By IMSA Wire Service After several days of scrutineering, autograph sessions, drivers meetings and photo opportunities, on-track activities have begun in preparation for this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. IMSA is well represented with at least one driver in all four competing classes – LMP1, LMP2, GTE Pro and GTE Am – and a total of 26 drivers who have competed in every 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship or IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge race. Wednesday’s schedule at Le Mans included a four-hour practice session, followed by a two-hourRead More

By IMSA Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The 24 Hours of Le Mans always makes for some interesting driver lineup combinations. It should come as no surprise, then, that two drivers who are rivals in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship are teammates this week in France – or that the team they’re driving for is one they’ll be competing against when the WeatherTech Championship returns to action at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen on July 1. WeatherTech Championship Prototype points co-leader Filipe Albuquerque, who already owns twoRead More

By IMSA Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – June is already shaping up to be quite a month for Brazilian driver Felipe Nasr. On June 2, Nasr scored his first victory in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, co-driving the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R with Eric Curran to win the 100-minute Chevrolet Sports Car Classic at Detroit’s Belle Isle Park. The victory was the third podium result in five races this season for Nasr and Curran. It moved them into a tie for the Prototype points lead with theirRead More

By IMSA Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – As he stood on the podium following a third-place run in the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans, Cooper MacNeil didn’t want to leave. “For me to see that and to have that experience was truly amazing,” MacNeil recalls. “I actually didn’t even want to get off the podium. They had to grab me and pull me off to do whatever else they were doing. I’m really looking forward to getting back there and hopefully standing on that podium there.” MacNeil –Read More

By IMSA Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Saturday’s Chevrolet Sports Car Classic at Detroit’s Belle Isle Park represented the halfway point of the 10-race season for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s flagship Prototype class and was the fourth of 11 rounds for the GT Daytona (GTD) class. It also marked the second and final 100-minute street circuit sprint for the 2018 season. The intense battle featured five lead changes in the Prototype class and three in GTD, with Felipe Nasr and Eric Curran in the No. 31 Whelen EngineeringRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Open Wheel Editor One week removed from a disappointing Indianapolis 500 effort, Helio Castroneves found himself with the Verizon IndyCar Series once more at Belle Isle Park. But this time Castroneves was a spectator – supporting his teammates after competing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Chevrolet Sports Car Classic. The weekend could have been a challenge if the 2018 Month of May had been the Brazilian’s last. A strong No. 3 Chevrolet and spirited drive ended in defeat for the three-time Indy 500 champion when he crashedRead More

By IMSA Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Hot on the heels of Saturday’s Chevrolet Sports Car Classic in Detroit, several IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship teams and drivers were in Le Mans, France on Sunday to participate in the annual test day in preparation for the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 16-17. There were 13 drivers in the Detroit field who also are competing at Le Mans this year, making up exactly half of the 26 full-time IMSA drivers in this year’s twice-around-the-clock French endurance classic. TheRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Open Wheel Editor DETROIT — Mario Farnbacher is a big fan of the Raceway at Belle Isle Park. Two wins in four years will do that for anyone. “I won here before in 2015, now I’ve done it again,” Farnbacher said. “I’ve always had great memories here. I love the track, and it’s just amazing to be back here. Hopefully this race track will still be in the calendar in the future.” Farnbacher and Katherine Legge outpaced Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian teammates Justin Marks and LawsonRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Open Wheel Editor DETROIT — Felipe Nasr stayed clear of a late charge from Ricky Taylor to earn his first-career IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship victory in the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic at Belle Isle Park. The win was Action Express Racing teammate Eric Curran’s eighth in IMSA competition. It also kept up an impressive Detroit trend. Since their first race at Belle Isle in 2007, every IMSA-sanctioned event at Belle Isle has been won by a General Motors affiliate. The latest win was among the least likely. ARead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer DETROIT– Felipe Albuquerque and Mario Farnbacher led their respective classes in Saturday’s warmup session ahead of the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic for the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship. The Prototype and GTD-only event had Felipe Albuquerque setting the fastest lap of the session in his No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac DPi machine with a lap of 1 minute, 22.958 seconds around the 2.3 mile street circuit. Albuquerque and co-driver Joao Barbosa roll off fourth for Saturday’s race which isn’t surprising given that they were thirdRead More