Petit Le Mans Tag

By IMSA Wire Service BRASELTON, Ga. – The No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac DPi did everything it could in an attempt to repeat as Daytona Prototype international champions in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Even by winning Saturday’s thrilling Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, the No. 31 couldn’t unseat the No. 6 Acura Team Penske Acura DPi from the 2019 season title. By placing fourth on Saturday, No. 6 drivers Dane Cameron and Juan Pablo Montoya held on for the DPi crown by five points.Read More

By IMSA Wire Service BRASELTON, Ga. – Felipe Nasr rocketed to the top of a record-setting qualifying session Friday at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, collecting his first Motul Pole Award in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition and earning the prime starting spot for the 22nd annual Motul Petit Le Mans. Piloting the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac, Nasr shattered by nearly two seconds the lap record set a year ago by co-driver Pipo Derani, to take the Daytona Prototype international (DPi) and overall pole positions. Nasr sped around theRead More

By IMSA Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The celebration in the Mazda Team Joest pits following the 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans in October almost resembled a victory. There were cheers, hugs, high fives and fist bumps all around as the pair of Mazda RT24-P Daytona Prototype international (DPi) cars landed on the podium for the first time thanks to savvy race strategy on the part of the team as other top contender came up a lap short – or less – on fuel.Read More

By IMSA Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – At the Motul Petit Le Mans last month at Road Atlanta, there were a total of nine race cars riding on Michelin tires, and all of them were racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Le Mans (GTLM) class. When the 2019 season begins in January, Michelin will be providing tires for more than 100 race cars across three IMSA-sanctioned series and seven different classes of race cars as the new “Official Tire of IMSA.” All four WeatherTech Championship classes –Read More

By IMSA Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Even Action Express Racing Team Manager Gary Nelson has a hard time believing it. “I mean, think about the championships we’ve been able to pull off,” he says. “There’s two championships available per year [the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup]. In the last five years, that would make 10 championships. “What I’m hearing is we’ve won nine of those. That’s 90 percent championships if that’s a true number.” It is, in fact, a true number.Read More

By IMSA Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – How rare is it for a driver or drivers to win an IMSA championship without winning a race, as No. 3 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C7.R co-drivers Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia did in the 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Le Mans (GTLM) class? Pretty rare, as it turns out. Since the first year of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) in 1999 and including all GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and WeatherTech Championship seasons, there have been a total ofRead More

By IMSA Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The drama-filled closing hours of the 10-hour Motul Petit Le Mans on Oct. 13 brought a thrilling conclusion to a successful 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – and not just on the racetrack. The 2.54-mile Road Atlanta road course in Braselton, Georgia that has hosted the prestigious event run for the 21st time in 2018 was packed with race fans as perfect weather conditions combined with world-class racing brought one of the largest audiences ever for the event. And those fans wereRead More

By IMSA Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship was one of the most anticipated seasons yet, with legendary sports car teams and big-name drivers joining the fray to take on many of the world’s best, and it didn’t disappoint. It was an unpredictable season, with longtime, established teams duking it out for the championship in all three WeatherTech Championship classes. None of the championships were decided until the final minutes of last Saturday’s Motul Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. Let’s take a quick,Read More

By IMSA Wire Service BRASELTON, Ga. – The world renowned Motul Petit Le Mans is a 10-hour endurance test that on Saturday was dramatically decided in the final seconds in the final three corners of the scenic 2.54-mile Road Atlanta road course nestled in the rolling hills of North Georgia. The No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R. driven by Renger Van Der Zande, took advantage of the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac DPi running out of gas three turns from the finish line to take the victory in theRead More

By IMSA Wire Service BRASELTON, Ga. – It wasn’t exactly how the team drew it up, but Corvette Racing won its third consecutive IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Le Mans (GTLM) class championship Saturday in the Motul Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. The 10-hour race was won in class by the No. 911 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR and co-drivers Nick Tandy, Patrick Pilet and Frederic Makowiecki, but it was the No. 3 Corvette C7.R team and co-drivers Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen, joined at Road Atlanta byRead More