JANUARY 27, 2021

(IMSA)
Relegated to a sixth-place starting position after their No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi V.R failed technical inspection Saturday night for being underweight, Felipe Nasr and Pipo Derani rallied to win the inaugural Motul Pole Award 100, which determined the starting order for next weekend’s 59th Rolex 24 At Daytona. The race began under wet conditions but quickly dried. With 48 minutes left in the 100-minute race, Nasr completed the charge to the front by passing Tristan Vautier (No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Cadillac DPi V.R) for the lead. “Rules are rules, but we didn’t let the frustration get to us,” Nasr said. “It was all about getting our head down. When we saw the weather was changing (before the race), we knew an opportunity was coming. That’s racing. We took whatever came and worked our way up through the field. It was awesome.” Derani, who finished off the 3.664-second victory, said the team treated the qualifying race – a new format for the Rolex 24 – as it would any other. "We used this as just a normal race,” Derani said. “For us, it’s really important to try everything we can so we can get here next week understanding all our needs for a good race. … A race win is a race win, whether it’s 35 points or 350 points. That’s how we go racing. We always try our best.” Nasr, Derani, reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott and Mike Conway will share the No. 31 car in the Rolex 24, which is scheduled to start Saturday at 3:40 p.m. ET with live NBC network television coverage. Harry Tincknell put together a charge of his own in the No. 55 Mazda Motorsports Mazda DPi to finish second, while Vautier’s co-driver, Loic Duval, finished third in the Daytona Prototype international (DPi) class. Tincknell, Oliver Jarvis and Jonathan Bomarito will co-drive the No. 55 car, which will start alongside the No. 31 on the front row. Duval, Sebastien Bourdais and Vautier will share the No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Cadillac DPi V.R, which will benefit from a second-row start. Mikkel Jensen charged into the lead with 10 minutes remaining to win the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) pole. Jensen, Ben Keating, Nicolas Lapierre and Scott Huffaker will share the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07 in next Saturday's race.  In the Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) class, Moritz Kranz and Laurents Hoerr capped an outstanding weekend by claiming victory in Sunday’s race a day after qualifying first for the Motul Pole Award 100 and winning the Scouts of America 145 IMSA Prototype Challenge race. The German teammates are Rolex 24 rookies in the No. 6 Muehlner Motorsports America Duqueine M30-D08, but the team is based in nearby DeLand, Florida. (Thank you to Jeff Olson/IMSA Wire Service)

(IMSA)

Alexander Sims and Nick Tandy – both new to Corvette Racing in 2021 – drove to the class victory Sunday in the Motul Pole Award 100, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship qualifying race that sets the starting grid for the Rolex 24 At Daytona that starts Saturday, Jan. 30 at Daytona International Speedway. Sims and Tandy guided the No. 4 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R to a 12-second win over their teammates, Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg, in the No. 3 Corvette. "It was fun, actually,” Tandy said of Sunday’s race that climaxed the Roar Before the Rolex 24 that in the past consisted only of WeatherTech Championship test sessions. “I think it was good for the Roar. It enables you to get some different testing in, but obviously it’s meaningful.” Starting third on a wet track from a pre-race shower, Sims jumped the two BMW Team RLL M8s in front of him and took the class lead on the opening lap. From there, it was a battle of strategy as the track began to dry. Sims handed over the car to Tandy on the first pit stop under a full-course caution with just more than an hour remaining in the 100-minute race. The No. 4 also took on slick, dry-condition Michelin tires at the time. “It was an interesting first taste of the conditions for me in the car,” said Sims, who most recently was a BMW GTLM endurance driver. “But very quickly I was given a lot of confidence from the car as to how to push. I was able to get around the BMWs on the first lap and then just sort of find my feet, lap by lap. … It was nice to just get some experience in the wet and get a feeling for how the car was working.” The main competition from that point was the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19, attempting to stretch its fuel to the finish. But with the race staying green for the final hour, Kevin Estre was forced to stop with 17 minutes remaining and surrendered the lead back to Tandy. Estre and co-driver Cooper MacNeil finished an impressive third in the privateer Porsche. As important as the victory was, it also earned the No. 4 a valuable 35 points toward the GTLM championship under the WeatherTech Championship’s new scoring format. Bill Auberlen and teammate Robby Foley were the GT Daytona (GTD) class winners in Sunday’s Motul Pole Award 100, crossing the finish line in the No. 96 BMW M6 GT3 4.424 seconds ahead of the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R. With the starting grid settled, all cars are idle now until Rolex 24 At Daytona practice begins Thursday. The 59th Rolex 24 takes the green flag at 3:40 p.m. ET Saturday. Live coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. on NBC. Complete IMSA Radio coverage is also available on IMSA.com and SiriusXM Radio. (Thank you to Mark Robinson/IMSA Wire Service)

(Photo by Rick Dole - IMSA/LAT)
The 49-car field for this weekend's 59th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona photographed on the front straightaway of Daytona International Speedway on Wednesday morning (1/27). The star-studded field for this weekend's race includes Indianapolis 500 winners Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon, Juan Pablo Montoya, Simon Pagenaud and Alexander Rossi;reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott; seven-time NASCAR Cup champion Jimmie Johnson; 2018 Daytona 500 winner Austin Dillon; IMSA stars such as Ricky Taylor, Jordan Taylor, Bill Auberlen, Antonio Garcia, Oliver Gavin; and recent F1 veteran Kevin Magnussen. The 24-hour race on the 3.56-mile road course takes the green flag shortly after 3:30 p.m. ET this Saturday, Jan. 30. NBC will have live network television coverage beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday and also will televise the finish beginning at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, Jan. 31.

(IMSA)
International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) officials announced the introduction of the GT Daytona (GTD) PRO class to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship beginning in 2022. The new, factory-supported, professional GT endurance racing class in North America will include race cars built to FIA GT3 technical regulations. GTD PRO will replace the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class, which will contest its final WeatherTech Championship season in 2021 using LMGTE technical regulations developed by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO). GTD PRO will offer the opportunity for factory teams and driver lineups to compete in the class, while customer teams, Pro-Am or Am-Am lineups have the option of competing in either GTD PRO or the standard GTD class. Michelin will be the exclusive tire supplier for both the GTD PRO class and the existing GTD class in the WeatherTech Championship. “The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship has long been regarded as featuring the world’s greatest GT manufacturers, teams and drivers and some of the world’s most exciting and competitive professional GT endurance racing through the GTLM class,” said IMSA President John Doonan. “We believe the move to GTD PRO offers the best opportunity for manufacturers and teams to continue that legacy well into the future. We expect considerable manufacturer participation when we kick off the GTD PRO class a year from now in the 60th Rolex 24 At Daytona.” New FIA GT3 technical regulations will debut in 2022. New cars built to those specifications - as well as any existing cars upgraded through “Evo” kits - will be eligible to compete in GTD PRO and GTD starting next year. The 2021 WeatherTech Championship kicks off this weekend with the 59th Rolex 24 At Daytona. Live U.S. television coverage begins on NBC at 3:30 p.m. ET with 25 hours of live NBC Sports coverage across NBC, NBCSN and TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold. Live IMSA Radio coverage also airs on IMSA.com and SiriusXMRadio.com.

(GMC HUMMER EV)
GMC has announced a new multiyear sponsorship with Chip Ganassi Racing for the team’s first electric racing venture in the inaugural Extreme E season in 2021. CGR’s 550-horsepower electric SUV, which features a unique grille, graphics and bodywork, was inspired by the GMC HUMMER EV, the world’s first all-electric supertruck. Noted off-road racers Kyle LeDuc and Sara Price will serve as drivers for CGR in the series. “It’s truly an honor to represent GMC, especially during such an exciting time in auto racing,” said Chip Ganassi, CGR team owner. “The new GMC HUMMER EV is going to be a game changer in terms of how the world views off-road EV capability, and we couldn’t be more proud to represent GMC in such an innovative new series.” The Extreme E five-race global championship will take place in some of the world’s most remote locations and promotes the adoption of electric vehicles. Fans can follow along on GMC’s social channels.

Extreme E Season 1 Calendar:

• Desert X Prix: AlUla, Saudi Arabia: April 3-4, 2021
• Ocean X Prix: Lac Rose, Senegal: May 29-30, 2021
• Arctic X Prix: Kangerlussuaq, Greenland: Aug. 28-29, 2021
• Amazon X Prix: Para, Brazil: Oct. 23-24, 2021
• Glacier X Prix: Patagonia, Argentina: Dec. 11-12, 2021