OCTOBER 18, 2023
Sunday, October 15, 2023 at 08:22AM 
The battle for the prestigious Motul Petit Le Mans race win boiled down to a straight fight between the No. 01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac shared by Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande, and endurance driver Scott Dixon, and the No. 60 Acura fielded by Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian and drivers Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun and Helio Castroneves. Braun grabbed the lead from van der Zande with a strong restart following a caution with 30 minutes to go, and he held it to the finish, which occurred under caution after a pair of minor late-race incidents. The result bookended the ’23 season with victories for the Meyer Shank Acura, having started the campaign with a triumph in the Rolex 24 At Daytona. The No. 60 actually fell two laps off the lead about two hours into Saturday’s race when Blomqvist was hit from behind in traffic in Turn 10. He was able to immediately drive the car into the pits for repairs and the start of a stirring comeback drive that culminated in Braun’s victorious restart. “We just put our heads down and focused on what we could do,” said Braun, who earned his 25th race win in IMSA competition. “We knew we had a fast Acura and would have opportunities to get our lap back. We didn’t panic, and the guys did a great job on strategy. We had to be fast at times, but we also had to be smart and save the car.” Saturday’s season finale also determined the winners in the 2023 IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup. Cadillac clinched the manufacturer’s title when points were awarded following the fourth hour, and Sims, Derani and the No. 31 Whelen Engineering team locked up the team and driver crowns at the 8-hour mark. Watch Extended Race Highlights from Motorsports on NBC here. (Thank you to John Oreovicz/IMSA Wire Service)
There were two major turning points in the three-way battle for the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class title in the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Saturday during the 26th annual Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. A trio of protagonists were separated by just 11 points at the start of the day, but the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 was eliminated from championship contention just 74 minutes into the 10-hour event when Nick Tandy was swept into an accident triggered by a pair of Grand Touring (GT) cars. As the race unfolded, the championship lead bounced back and forth between the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac V-Series.R that led the standings heading into the weekend, and the No. 10 Konica Minolta Racing Acura ARX-06 that took over the top spot after points were awarded for qualifying. With 62 minutes remaining, Filipe Albuquerque in the No. 10 attempted to pass Pipo Derani in the No. 31 for second place around the outside of Turn 1, a fast, 90-degree right-hander. The cars made side-to-side contact before the Acura speared to the left across the grass into heavy contact with a tire barrier. IMSA race control reviewed the coming-together but ruled no incident responsibility. The dramatic turn of events essentially guaranteed the championship would go to the No. 31 Cadillac, with drivers Derani, Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken. They duly clinched the crown with a sixth-place finish. (Thank you to John Oreovicz/IMSA Wire Service)
It wasn’t the most graceful effort, but it was worthy of a championship. PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports recovered from an early spin and a late trip through the gravel to claim the championship in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class. Ben Keating, who recovered from the early spin, shared the driver championship with teammate Paul-Loup Chatin, but not before they watched anxiously while co-driver Alex Quinn recovered from a ride through a gravel trap to help the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07 finish third in class at the Motul Petit Le Mans and preserve the title. “This one is special for a lot of different reasons,” said Keating, who captured his second LMP2 championship in three years. “It’s just been an incredible run. It’s such a great team. It’s very literally a family affair. It’s just really special.” Ben Hanley led the No. 04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR ORECA to the class win with co-drivers George Kurtz and Nolan Siegel. The No. 35 TDS Racing ORECA LMP2 07 co-driven by Giedo van der Garde, John Falb and Josh Pierson came home second as the race finished under caution. (Thank you to Jeff Olson/IMSA Wire Service)
After swapping the Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) lead mainly with the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier JS P320 for the better part of 10 hours, Garett Grist had the No. 30 Jr III Racing Ligier in just the right place at the right time. The right place? Behind his rival. The right time? With 20 minutes left in the race and Grist on the charge. Grist dove the No. 30 inside of Robinson and the No. 74 in the left-hand Turn 10A, causing contact between the two cars that continued through right-hand Turn 10B. The result left Robinson’s car with left-rear damage forcing him to pit while Grist cruised away to win the race. It was Grist’s second career WeatherTech Championship victory – six years after he also won at Motul Petit Le Mans – and was the first for co-drivers Dakota Dickerson and Bijoy Garg, as well as the Jr III team. The No. 13 AWA Duqueine with co-drivers Matthew Bell, Orey Fidani and Lars Kern finished second, with Robinson, Felipe Fraga and Josh Burdon taking third in the No. 74 Riley Ligier. (Thank you to David Phillips/IMSA Wire Service)
With championship battles settled early in Grand Touring Daytona PRO (GTD PRO) and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD), Saturday’s 26th annual Motul Petit Le Mans allowed the class races to shine through. Jules Gounon, Daniel Juncadella and Maro Engel (No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3) scored its fourth IMSA GTD PRO win of the season. Juncadella held off the advances of Kevin Estre, in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), to bring home the win. Additionally, the win secured Juncadella and Gounon the GTD PRO title in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup. Engel was part of the team’s bookend wins here and the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona. It is the fourth career WeatherTech Championship win for all three drivers. Pfaff’s five-year run with its fan favorite “plaid Porsche” ended on the podium, Estre sharing the car with full-season co-drivers Patrick Pilet and Klaus Bachler. The Steve Bortolotti-led team switches to McLaren in 2024. Risi Competizione, racing 25 years on from winning the inaugural Petit Le Mans in 1998, rounded out the podium with a largely trouble-free drive to third with Daniel Serra, Davide Rigon and Alessandro Pier Guidi aboard their No. 62 Ferrari 296 GT3. (Thank you to Tony DiZinno/IMSA Wire Service)
(IMSA)
An otherwise luckless year for Lamborghini in WeatherTech Championship competition came good at the end, with the brand’s first victory of 2023. It came in unusual circumstances. The trio of Loris Spinelli, Misha Goikhberg and Patrick Liddy incurred three drive-through penalties in their No. 78 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 yet rallied through strategy and pace to secure the victory. It is Goikhberg’s fourth, and Spinelli and Liddy’s first WeatherTech Championship win. Leading in the fifth hour, the car received a drive-through for jumping a restart. Then in the eighth hour, the car picked up two more: one for incident responsibility with the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and the other for working on the car outside the pit box. That dropped the car well outside the top five but through a methodical charge from Spinelli, the No. 78 Lamborghini was back in fourth at the start of the ninth hour and leading moments before the tenth and final hour. The podium changed on the final restart of the race, leading to the 13th full-course caution. What looked to be a possible Porsche second through fourth finishing order behind the Lamborghini, came unglued. Two cars appeared to squeeze Jan Heylen’s No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), running in second place, exiting Turn 10, and the resulting damage led to a fire that forced the Belgian to pull off course at Turn 3 and extinguish the flames himself. Seb Priaulx, poised to score a podium in the No. 80 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), ran off course behind Heylen at Turn 10 and lost track position. In the chaos, Turner Motorsport leapt to second with Robby Foley, Patrick Gallagher and Michael Dinan sharing the No. 96 BMW M4 GT3. The only Porsche on the GTD podium was the other Wright Motorsports car in third, with Alan Brynjolfsson, Trent Hindman and Maxwell Root sharing the No. 77 Porsche in potentially that trio’s last race together for the time being. (Thank you to Tony DiZinno/IMSA Wire Service)
Francesco Bagnaia (No. 1 Ducati Lenovo Team) looked to be on the ropes as the sun went down on Saturday at the Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia. What was a 66-point advantage over key rival Jorge Martin (No. 89 Prima Pramac Racing) had become a seven-point deficit, and the number 1 had only managed eighth in the Tissot Sprint – from a P13 on the grid he would face for the Grand Prix race too. Martin, meanwhile, had streaked away to a fourth straight Tissot Sprint win, the rider on form in every way. But Sunday was not, as it turned out, a day to defend for Bagnaia. From lights out the number 1 was off on a mission, making quick work of the journey up into third. From there, he was chasing Maverick Viñales (No. 12 Aprilia Racing) as Martin disappeared into the lead, and then came the truly pivotal moment of the Grand Prix. After achieving near perfection of late and taking that hard-fought lead on Saturday, the number 89 suddenly slid out at Turn 11 – leaving an opening for Bagnaia. The reigning Champion didn’t miss, but he most definitely had to work hard for it – getting past Viñales late on before the Aprilia and Fabio Quartararo (No. 20 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) both homed right in at the final corner. Still, Pecco held on to leave a tough weekend at Mandalika with an 18-point lead as Viñales and Quartararo followed him home. Pivotal? It could well prove so. Watch the MotoGP Extended Race Highlights from Motorsports on NBC here. (Thank you to MotoGP)
Lamborghini Squadra Corse and Iron Lynx continued the development of its SC63 LMDh last week, completing a three-day test at the Circuito de Almería in Spain. The car, which will make its competitive debut at the FIA World Endurance Championship 2024 season opener in Qatar next March, was shared by Factory Drivers Andrea Caldarelli and Romain Grosjean, with the latter turning his first laps. The Swiss driver – who has driven in selected endurance events in the WeatherTech IMSA Sports Car Championship with Iron Lynx this year – began his program on the opening afternoon, alternating with Caldarelli. The pair then equally divided the mileage across the remainder of the test. Reliability and procedural tests were the main objectives carried out during the three days at the 4.2km circuit located in the Andalucian desert of southwest Spain. Technicians from both Squadra Corse and Iron Lynx concentrated on long runs as the team learns more about the prototype.
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