Circuit de la Sarthe Tag

By Jeff Olson, NASCAR / IMSA Wire Service SEBRING, Fla. – It’s been nearly 46 years since a NASCAR entry competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Jim France remembers talking to driver Dick Brooks shortly afterward. “He said, ‘No. 1, the fans love the car,’” said France, NASCAR’s chairman and CEO. “‘No. 2, it was a fantastic experience. No. 3, it’s a hell of a challenge.’”  NASCAR is about to relive that Le Mans challenge. In conjunction with Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet, IMSA and Goodyear, NASCAR intends to fieldRead More

By IMSA Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – This past weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans featured a host of IMSA competitors, including a few that stood on the podium Sunday afternoon. Here’s a look back at how the IMSA regulars fared: Laurens Vanthoor No. 92 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR Class: GTE Pro Result: 1st Vanthoor joined co-drivers Michael Christensen and Kevin Estre in winning the GTE Pro class for the Germany-based No. 92 Porsche team. It was the first Le Mans victory for all three drivers andRead More

By IMSA Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – It’s been a great couple of months for Belgian driver Laurens Vanthoor, who co-drove to the GTE Pro class victory in the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans with Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen in the No. 92 Porsche 911 RSR. Vanthoor picked up his first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship victory on May 6 in the Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio, taking the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class win with co-driver Earl Bamber – a two-time overall Le Mans winner –Read More

By IMSA Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Over the past two decades, Corvette Racing has done a whole lot of celebrating in victory lane. 107 times to be exact. The next time it happens in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, which could come as soon as July 1 at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, it’ll be the 100th IMSA victory for the storied program. The team’s other eight victories have come at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This weekend, they’re looking to make it nine, andRead More

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. – IMSA once again will have a strong contingent of full-time drivers and teams competing in the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 16-17. The official, 60-car entry list released today by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), which organizes the prestigious, twice-around-the-clock race, revealed 26 drivers competing full time in IMSA and five IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship teams responsible for fielding a total of seven cars. Among this group, there are 11 drivers who have previously won the 24 HoursRead More