WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

By IMSA Wire Service DETROIT – Zacharie Robichon celebrated his 27th birthday Friday at Detroit Belle Isle the best way possible – with his first career pole in the GT Daytona (GTD) class, which is contesting the second round of the inaugural, seven-race WeatherTech Sprint Cup this weekend. The Canadian driver, who is substituting this weekend for Park Place Motorsports team owner Patrick Lindsey in the No. 73 Porsche 911 GT3 R, originally qualified second on Friday afternoon, but initial Motul Pole Award winner Robby Foley’s No. 96 entry failedRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer DETROIT — The NTT IndyCar Series and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship each race this weekend on the streets of Belle Isle in Detroit in what is the biggest showcase for General Motors on the U.S. motorsports calendar. The Chevrolet Dual in Detroit (NTT IndyCar Series) and Chevrolet Sports Car Classic (IWSC) play host to special circumstances on both series’ calendars so let’s look at the Indy car calendar first. Detroit marks the only doubleheader weekend on the calendar for the NTT IndyCar Series with 70 lapRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer DETROIT — Meyer-Shank Racing has been victorious in the GTD class the last two years in a row at the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship but getting a third win in a row would be a dream for team co-owner Michael Shank. After winning with Andy Lally and Katherine Legge in 2017 and Mario Farnbacher and Legge in 2018, Shank has two Acura NSX GT3 Evo entries to contest the 100 minute race on Saturday and both entries have a greatRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer DETROIT— The 2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship rolls on to The Motor City for the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic which has a unique position on the calendar but more on that in the second half of this preview. Let’s look at the field for this Daytona Prototype International (DPi) and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) only round. For DPi, it’s the same 11 entries as the last few rounds with only two changes from Mid-Ohio. Mazda Team Joest is back to their normal lineup for the No.Read More

By IMSA Wire Service DETROIT – Every head-on photo of race cars navigating the start/finish straight at Detroit’s 2.3-mile Belle Isle Park street circuit shows the Renaissance Center towering over the Detroit River off in the distance. The “Ren Cen,” as it is known locally, is world headquarters for General Motors and will serve as a constant reminder of the company’s Motor City presence for all six Cadillac DPi-V.R teams competing in Saturday’s Chevrolet Sports Car Classic. Make no mistake, this is a “home game” for each of those teams.Read More

By IMSA Wire Service IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship fans searching for connections to Sunday’s 103rd Indianapolis 500 won’t have to look far. Two-thirds of the drivers in the 33-car field have at least one start in IMSA’s top series. That includes the WeatherTech Championship or its predecessors, the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and the American Le Mans Series (ALMS). Ten of these 22 drivers have made at least one WeatherTech Championship start in 2019. WeatherTech Championship full-timer Helio Castroneves, who shares the No. 7 Acura Team Penske ARX-05 DPiRead More

By IMSA Wire Service In the grand tradition of great collaborations, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship fans are witnessing another in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class. They’ve become known as #Bamthor. It’s the new nickname taking hold in social media for the co-drivers of the No. 912 Porsche GT Team 911 RSR, Earl Bamber and Laurens Vanthoor. The name is taking on a life of its own after the duo’s back-to-back victories in the BUBBA burger Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach last month and the Acura Sports CarRead More

By IMSA Wire Service Jack Hawksworth won his first race in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship back in 2014 in the Prototype Challenge (PC) class at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. But it wasn’t until the Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio on May 5 that he’d win again, this time in the GT Daytona (GTD) class aboard the No. 14 AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3. “My first-ever race in the championship, I won, but it took five years to get back there,” Hawksworth says. “It was a long oldRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer LEXINGTON, Ohio– Mazda Team Joest had their podium finish as an entity at the 2018 Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and the team managed to get two cars on the podium at this year at Sunday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Mid-Ohio. However, despite the second and third place finishes, the team is frustrated by their lack of stepping on the top step of the podium. “We’ve been fast every weekend, started on the front row three of the four weekends,Read More