AUGUST 14, 2024

(IMSA)

A frantic finish to the feature race of the IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America saw Porsche Penske Motorsport score a dramatic 1-2 overall and Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class finish in Round 7 of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. A record crowd for a sports car race at "America's National Park of Speed" watched Mathieu Jaminet in the No. 6 Porsche 963 hold off Porsche Penske Motorsport teammate Felipe Nasr in the identical No. 7 car through heavy traffic in the closing laps to win Sunday by 0.390 seconds. Hard-charging Ricky Taylor in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 crossed the line in third place less than a second behind Nasr, closely followed by Jack Aitken in the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R. The top four were separated by just 1.449 seconds at the checkered flag after two hours and 40 minutes of intense competition. Watch the Race Highlights from Motorsports on NBC here. (Thank you to Mark Robinson/IMSA Wire Service)

(IMSA)

Ben Hanley finished teammate Ben Keating’s recovery mission. The “Bens” combined to win the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class Sunday, successfully capping a reclamation project that began when their No. 2 United Autosports USA ORECA LMP2 07 crashed Saturday morning during practice with Keating behind the wheel. The crew repaired the car in time for Keating to clinch the No. 2 starting spot in Saturday’s afternoon qualifying. He started Sunday's race by taking the lead in Turn 1 on the first lap, and Hanley finished the race by turning the fastest lap in class during the final minutes of the race. Hanley pulled away from Scott Andrews in the No. 79 JDC-Miller MotorSports ORECA after a restart with 16 minutes remaining in the race. Hanley reached the finish line 6.685 seconds ahead after recording the best LMP2 lap around the 4.048-mile, 14-turn circuit – 1 minute, 53.544 seconds – with four minutes remaining. Andrews and co-driver Gerry Kraut held on for second place in a one-off appearance for the Minnesota-based LMP2 machine, while pole winner PJ Hyett and Paul-Loup Chatin rallied to finish third in the No. 99 AO Racing ORECA.(Thank you to Mark Robinson/IMSA Wire Service)

(IMSA)

Strategic decisions often factor into IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship victories at Road America, the 4.048-mile road course, and in both Grand Touring (GT) classes that defined Sunday’s IMSA SportsCar Weekend two-hour, 40-minute race. Conquest Racing, in its second and last scheduled GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class start of the season, made it home with a single fuel stop after running a final stint of just over 92 minutes to secure its first win in the category. Daniel Serra and Giacomo Altoe shared Conquest’s winning No. 35 Ferrari 296 GT3 in GTD PRO, with a final margin of victory of 1.873 seconds over Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3. Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas completed the podium in the No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo. (Thank you to Tony DiZinno/IMSA Wire Service)

(IMSA)

Similar to GTD PRO, strategy played a major impact on the category as cars either were on-or-off strategy, depending on when any of the five full-course cautions flew. The No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RD F GT3 appeared to be poised for a win for co-drivers Frankie Montecalvo and Parker Thompson, but it came unglued in the final five minutes when Thompson hit the pit lane. That promoted Robby Foley to the top in the No. 96 BMW M4 GT3 he shares with Patrick Gallagher. Their margin of victory was 1.130 seconds, as Foley secured his eighth WeatherTech Championship win and Gallagher his long overdue first, following five runner-up finishes. It also delivered BMW its first WeatherTech Championship win of 2024, thus marking the 16th manufacturer of the 18 racing in IMSA-sanctioned series to win a race this year. Two Bronze group entries vying for the Bob Akin Award completed the GTD podium. Inception Racing finished second with Frederik Schandorff and Brendan Iribe in the No. 70 McLaren 720S GT3 EVO, with Gradient Racing securing its first podium finish of the season with Sheena Monk – who recorded a career-best result – and Stevan McAleer in the No. 66 Acura NSX GT3 Evo22. The WeatherTech Championship GT classes resume with the Michelin GT Challenge at VIRginia International Raceway, August 23-25. (Thank you to Tony DiZinno/IMSA Wire Service)

(MotoGP.com)

After a dream Saturday, it was a stunning performance on a special Sunday for Enea Bastianini (No. 23 Ducati Lenovo Team), who capped off a historic weekend at the Monster Energy British Grand Prix as MotoGP™ returned with a vintage twist. Bastianini became the 10th different winner at Silverstone in 10 years after showing incredible late pace, charging into the podium places before crossing the line to win. Meanwhile, it was yet another turn in the Championship standings, with Jorge Martin (No. 89 Prima Pramac Racing) taking the title lead after a strong second place finish on Sunday. Martin led the majority of the Grand Prix before Bastianini took control. Meanwhile, Francesco Bagnaia (No. 1 Ducati Lenovo Team) secured the final spot on the podium, after losing time to the leading duo in the closing stages. After the Italian scored no points on Saturday and finished behind Martin on Sunday, it leaves Bagnaia three points behind in the Championship. Watch the Race Highlights here. (Thank you to MotoGP.com)

(Photo of Enea Bastianini by AE Special Contributor Whit Bazemore)

(Honda)

Honda is celebrating 60 years since its first entry into Formula One competition this summer with its first race-winning F1 machine, the Honda RA272, attending global special events including the 2024 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on August 14-17. Renowned for its innovative engineering, the Honda RA272 shocked the world in November 1965, as the first race car of a Japanese automaker to win a Formula 1 Grand Prix, proving Honda engine and chassis technologies were world-class. Powered by a transverse-mounted 1.5-liter V12 engine capable of 13,000 rpm, the legendary Honda RA272 will perform exhibition laps around Laguna Seca with Honda heritage test driver Hikaru Miyagi behind the wheel. The RA272 ran most recently at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2024 (July 11-14), piloted by Miyagi-san and current F1 race driver Yuki Tsunoda.

Over the decades, Honda engines have powered four drivers to a combined eight Formula One Drivers' Championships. Engines created by Honda have twice set F1 records for the most race wins in a season, including a historic 2023 season, with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez winning all but one race in dominant fashion. This beat the previous win-rate record set by McLaren Honda in 1988 with drivers Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.

The mid-engine Honda RA272 won the 1965 Mexico Grand Prix with Los Angeles born driver Richie Ginther at the wheel. The victory came barely a year after the Honda team's debut at the German Grand Prix in August 1964, with the V12-powered RA271.

In 2026, Honda will enter into a works partnership to supply power units to the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One® Team. The new Honda power units will be compliant with the 2026 F1 power unit regulations, which will triple the electrical power provided by the hybrid system. Honda will hone its e-motor and battery technologies through new F1 challenges and feed the information learned in competition back to mass production.

(motorsportcollector.com)

Editor-in-Chief's Note: I wanted to take this opportunity to mention George Levy's fantastic new book, Texas Legend - Jim Hall and his Chaparrals. This Official Biography of Jim Hall is simply one of the finest biographies I have ever read, and it stands as the definitive work chronicling the life and achievements of Jim Hall. Full disclosure, Jim Hall is and has been one of my all-time favorites, and Levy's book does Jim justice like no book before it. It is filled with details and anecdotes never revealed until now. I highly recommend this book for enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts alike. It is a superb effort and well worth the read. -PMD 

Editor's Note: This is our dearly departed billboard, which we had at Road America for several years. Peter gifted the phrase "America's National Park of Speed" to the track, which now uses it proudly in all of its communications. -WG

Editor's Note: Click on "Next 1 Entries" at the bottom of this page to see previous issues. - WG