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IMSA i WEC 2018/19 (sportski prototipovi)


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#166 Rad-oh-yeah?

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Posted 30 June 2018 - 19:58

Braun pips Di Resta for all-LMP2 front row at Watkins Glen

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Image by Dole/LAT

By: Graham Goodwin | 2 hours ago


The 2018 Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen will see an all-LMP2 front row after a fantastic qualifying battle saw Colin Braun’s No.54 Core autosport ORECA 07 Gibson take a first-ever overall pole position for the team, his best lap of 1m32.350s pipping the No.32 United Autosports Ligier JS P217 Gibson of Paul Di Resta by just six thousandths of a second.

Di Resta led the session until the last five minutes and had a chance to beat the ORECA’s time until a lock-up in the final sector ruined the ex-Formula 1 and current DTM star’s final shot.

Qualifying results

“We tested here and that shows,” Braun said immediately after the session. “We still have a lot of work to do to understand the car, and testing can be a major plus — with the new car we have only tested here, at Daytona and at Sebring and we’ve, so far, had good results at all those tracks.

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Image by Levitt/LAT

“We are confident in our race set-up and pace, we worked hard on that yesterday and I hope we can show well against the DPis.

“They have had the balance tipped their way in recent races but here, the track layout means we can put a fast lap together. We still need to be sharp in traffic tomorrow, the DPis have a torque advantage that could play a part there.”

Row two was an all-Acura affair, with Ricky Taylor a quarter of a second back from the LMP2 pair in the No.7 ARX-05 DPi, a tenth and a half clear of the team’s No.6 car in the hands of Dane Cameron.

Simon Trummer followed up his impressive speed in the final practice this morning by qualifying fifth fastest, pipping the faster of the two ESM Ligier Nissan DPis — although Pipo Derani stopped the No.22 course in the second half of the session.

The damaged No.77 Mazda RT-24P DPi, which collided with the No. 73 Park Place Porsche in the third practice, did not make the session but is set to race tomorrow as the team set about repairing the car following Rene Rast’s dramatic accident this morning. The damage was restricted to bodywork and suspension.


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#167 Rad-oh-yeah?

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Posted 02 July 2018 - 14:23

JDC-Miller earns first overall IMSA win at the Glen; Ganassi, Turner earn class victories

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By: Graham Goodwin | 15 hours ago


The No.99 GAINSCO JDC-Miller ORECA 07 Gibson took the first LMP2 overall win in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship in almost a year after an enthralling Sahlens Six Hours of the Glen on Sunday.

As Watkins Glen sweltered in near 100-degree temperatures, the major LMP2 runners finally had the upper hand after much discussion over the disparity in pace between the ‘spec’ Gibson-engined LMP2s and the DPi-spec cars.

The winning car, brought to the finish by Stephen Simpson, and shared with teammates Chris Miller and Misha Goikhberg, left it late to take the lead, with Simpson making a hero pass for the lead after a full-course yellow with 40 minutes to go saw the newly confirmed American citizen take advantage in dramatic fashion of a door-to-door battle between Jordan Taylor and Juan Pablo Montoya as the No.10 Konica Minolta Cadillac and No.6 Acura Team Penske men tried to make a decisive break as the race went green.

Results

As Montoya tried around the outside of Taylor, Simpson, running third in the train, saw space up the inside and went three-wide to grab the inside line, taking a lead that was never threatened in the final stages to bring the JDC-Miller squad a long-awaited first overall IMSA win by almost two seconds.

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The No. 99 crew celebrates (Image by Michael Levitt/LAT)

“I don’t really know what to say,” said Simpson, who put the GAINSCO colors back in victory lane for the first time since a GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series race at Circuit of The Americas in 2013. “Setting me up for that restart was the guys in the pits. I mean, we jumped a bunch of cars. I wasn’t sure if we could get there on fuel, but the guys weren’t saying anything to save extra fuel in my car, so I thought, ‘I’m going to go for it.’

“I don’t know who the guy was in the Penske car, but him and [Taylor] slowed each other down enough going up the Esses. I don’t know, I might have had some wheels on the grass there, but I wasn’t lifting off. After that, I really expected a lot of hard work from the Penske behind me, and after a lap or two, I realized that I had a bit more speed than he did. I wanted to build a gap and make sure that when I got to some GT traffic, I had a bit of a gap. I learned from last year. I’m just so proud of this team.”

Montoya was left to push hard to try to hang on, but ultimately the ex-IndyCar and Formula 1 star would lose second position in the final turn as the Acura coughed — low on fuel — and Romain Dumas, fresh from his win at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb last weekend, found a way by to beat the Acura DPi home by 0.142s in the No. 54 CORE autosport ORECA 07 Gibson shared with Jon Bennett and Colin Braun, clinching an LMP2 one-two with the overall podium featuring a trio of ORECA chassis.

The CORE team had opted pre-race to cede their pole position to strategically place Jon Bennett in the car from the start. The gamble paid off as Bennett stayed on the lead lap in his opening stint and found a fortunately timed full-course yellow allowed him to rejoin the back of the Prototype train and repeat the performance for a second stint that would qualify him for the Trueman Akin award, the winner (determined among non-Pro drivers in the four IMSA endurance races) qualifying for an entry to the 2019 Le Mans 24 Hours.

The other major player in the dramas that raged throughout the six hours for the overall win would come home a very disappointed fourth — ex-F1 and current DTM star Paul Di Resta brought home the No.32 United Autosports Ligier JS P217 Gibson off the podium in a race that the whole team will believe they should have won after leading on multiple occasions with all three drivers, Di Resta joined by Bruno Senna and impressive 18-year-old Englishman Phil Hanson in the car entered by the U.S.-flagged team co-owned by Richard Dean and McLaren F1 CEO Zak Brown.

That prospect was made much tougher as Di Resta and Braun pushed hard to catch the then-leading No.6 Acura DPi deep into the fifth hour. With the Ligier ahead and dealing with traffic, there was contact from the rear by the ORECA — both cars would pit, the Ligier requiring attention to deal with bodywork rubbing on the left rear tire.

That left United Autosports having to gamble on not fitting new tires in the final stop, and ultimately that was a gamble that didn’t pay off, Di Resta holding off Dumas until the final few minutes before dropping back to retain a comfortable fourth over a trio of Cadillac DPis that, on pace, were never a threat.

The Tequila Patron ESM Ligier Nissan DPis were both in early trouble, caught up in a first lap drama as the No.90 Spirit of Daytona Cadillac DPi in the hands of Tristan Vautier made light contact with the No.31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac of Felipe Nasr, sending the No. 90 half-spinning and triggering major avoidance from the field behind. Vautier managed to hold the spin, recovered the car despite light contact to the front from the No. 55 Mazda, but was then collected by the No.2 of Scott Sharp who moved to the inside in avoidance and lost control, sending both cars spinning.

At the same moment, Pipo Derani in the sister No.22 ESM Ligier Nissan went to the outside and lost control, clanging the barrier and going behind the wall for attention to the nose, but while the pits were closed for the inevitable safety car they would rejoin 10 laps down.

Mazda had another day to forget; the No.77 Mazda RT24P DPi suffered early electrical (engine management) trouble and never featured, and the sister No.55 couldn’t finding sustainable pace to threaten the dominant players here.

The No.7 Penske Acura led early on, but before halfway was in trouble with an electronic glitch that left the car tumbling down the order.

GTLM

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Winning GTLM Ford GT (Image by Michael Levitt/LAT)

GTLM fell to the No.66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT of Dirk Mueller and Joey Hand after a race that Mueller described afterward as “a roller coaster.”

That seemed an appropriate description, given that the car suffered an upshifting glitch mid-race that dropped the No.66 from the lead to sixth in class before it was dealt with in a routine pit stop — but not before Mueller was left to battle with a car without effective traction control for a full stint.

“We leapfrogged everybody when we came in a little shorter and got lucky on that yellow [with under 40 minutes minutes to go for debris],” said Mueller. “My team manager told me, ‘buddy if you want to win that race you have to give us your best ever out lap in your life. We need it in order to jump ahead of the Corvette.’ And again we were low on [tire] pressure. I know we always get told not to really push hard there but I pushed like crazy and that basically jumped us ahead of the Corvette and just sailed it home. Sounds easy. But it wasn’t. I gave it all. I was a sweaty one.”

“All these guys, all our boys who did these pit stops today did such a great job, it was a flawless race for us,” said Hand. “I love this race, I love this Independence Day week Fourth of July. I’m so thankful to be American. So thankful to drive for Ford and Chip Ganassi Racing.”

The race, seemingly dominated by the Fords in the opening stages, saw periods when the Porsches and the Corvettes moved into contention.

The No.3 Corvette of Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia would come home a deserved close second, just 1.6 seconds back from the winning Ford with the two CORE autosport-run Porsche 911 RSRs next up after battling performances from both. The No. 911 car took the final podium place after Nick Tandy and Patrick Pilet won a race-long duel with the sister car.

The BMW Team RLL M8 GTEs were never in real contention, the No. 24 car behind the wall early on with electrical trouble, the sister No.25 finishing a lap off the class leaders in a frustrating run for the Bavarian manufacturer.

GTD

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Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 en route to victory in GTD (Image by Jake Galstad/LAT)

The No.96 Turner Motorsports BMW M6 GT3 was victorious in GTD, with Finnish driver Markus Palttala due most of the plaudits for repeated stints of pace and consistency after teammates Don Yount and Dillon Machavern produced solid, error-free runs and the BMW gradually drove into contention as other front-runners hit trouble.

“It’s a real accomplishment to beat some of the best drivers in the world with up-and-coming race drivers that just did a fantastic job,” team owner Will Turner said. “Markus was the last one and he came over the finish line, but he didn’t win the race for us. All my drivers won the race, all our pit stops won the race for us. It just came together. We took care of the tires, they did great at the end of the race for us and we were able to pull ahead. It’s a great feeling.”

Principal among those having issues was the leading No.29 Montaplast from Land Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3, which was dealt a stop and 60-second hold penalty in the final half hour for working on the car when the pits were closed. The team attempted to protest the penalty but were eventually handed an additional drive-through for failing to observe the first penalty. They opted to park the car — another unhappy conclusion to an event for the team after their fuel-rig-related traumas at Daytona.

That left the podium to be completed by the hard-charging No.86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 of championship leader Katherine Legge and Alvaro Parente, the NSX battling hard throughout the race with all comers, and by the No.48 Paul Miller racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 of Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow, another pairing that pushed hard all day, a podium finish a deserved reward.

Jack Hawksworth finished just off the podium in the No.15 3GT Racing Lexus RC F GT3 that the Englishman shared with David Heinemeier Hansson and Mario Farnbacher. The car led for significant periods from its pole position start but fell back after Hawksworth was understood to have misheard a pit call for a penalty actually assessed against another car.


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#168 Rad-oh-yeah?

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Posted 07 July 2018 - 00:50

IMSA na Mosportu:
 

Braun leads opening CTMP practice for CORE autosport

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By: Marshall Pruett | 6 hours ago


Colin Braun’s starring speed from Watkins Glen has extended to this weekend’s IMSA event at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park as the American scorched the road course during opening practice for the Mobil 1 Sports Car Grand Prix.

Braun’s effort in the spec WEC P2 ORECA 07-Gibson (1m07.155s) entered by CORE autosport put him well ahead of Dane Cameron in the fastest Acura DPi (+0.916s), Filipe Albuquerque’s Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi (+0.933s), and Jonathan Bomarito’s Mazda DPi (+0.997s). The next-fastest WEC P2 belonged to the Watkins glen-winning JDC-Miller GAINSCO ORECA-07-Gibson driven by Stephen Simpson in seventh (+1.4425s).

Results

In GT Le Mans, the Porsche GT Team opened the weekend in style with Earl Bamber (1m14.538s) leading a 1-2 for the 911 RSRs with teammate Nick Tandy in tow (+0.493s). Corvette Racing’s Jan Magnussen completed the top three in his C7.R (+0.738s), albeit from a fair distance behind the rear-engine Porsches.

GT Daytona saw the carryover of Turner Motorsport’s late-race pace at Watkins Glen as Bill Auberlen pushed the BMW M6 GT3 to the top of the class (1m16.848s). The winning car was closely shadowed by 3GT Racing’s Jack Hawksworth in his Lexus RCF GT3 (+0.081s) and the WeatherTech Racing/Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 piloted by Jeff Segal (+0.132s).

The session’s lone red flag came from Performance Tech Motorsports’ Kyle Masson, who went off at Turn 1 in his ORECA 07-Gibson. The crash follows heavy damage incurred on Sunday in New York, and puts the Brent O’Neill-owned team under the gun once again.

UP NEXT: Free Practice 2, 3:50 p.m. ET


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#169 Rad-oh-yeah?

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Posted 07 July 2018 - 00:52

CORE autosport sweeps CTMP Friday practices

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By: Marshall Pruett | 2 hours ago


CORE autosport and Colin Braun completed its ownership of Friday’s IMSA practice activities at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park by topping the second practice session over Acura Team Penske’s Dane Cameron.

Braun held nearly a full one-second lead over Cameron in the first session with his spec WEC ORECA 07-Gibson LMP2 machine, but the gap was almost erased in the afternoon as the CORE driver (1m6.902s) barely edged the Acura pilot (+0.037s).

“I think it was, for us, a good day,” Braun said. “Obviously, we’ve never been to Mosport before [with this car], so we’re just trying to understand what this track needs. We didn’t get a chance to test here. Yeah, for us and the first time here, and it’s one of my favorite racetracks. I really like this place. I liked it back in the PC days.

“The guys worked hard between Watkins Glen and Mosport to get our car ready. Just business as usual. Jon did a really nice job in the last practice, so yeah, I’m feeling good about it.”

Cameron’s Penske teammate Helio Castroneves was third (+0.979s), yet only completed half of the available practice time.

Results

Castroneves went off twice in consecutive laps at Moss Corner, and his last adventure in the ARX-05 DPi brought out a red flag. The Brazilian’s solo spin and crash ended their day halfway through the session. Heavy damage to the back of the car, with the right-rear suffering the largest impact, required plenty of trackside cleanup and a return of the Acura to the paddock on a flatbed truck. The three-time Indy 500 winner walked to the emergency vehicles under his own power.

The Performance Tech Racing Prototype did not compete in the second session after announcing it would withdraw from the event after Kyle Masson crashed hard in Turn 1 during the first session.

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(Image by Galstad/LAT)

The Porsche and Corvette factory teams maintained their positions atop the GT Le Mans category with Nick Tandy taking the lead in his 911 RSR (1m14.357s). Corvette’s Antonio Garcia (+0.400s) and Tommy Milner (+0.487s) were bookended by the second Porsche driven by Laurens Vanthoor (+0.602s).

“The track is quick today, so the cars feel really fast out there,” Tandy said. “It’s fun to drive. Turn 1 and 2, it’s a lot of fun with the high-downforce GTLM cars. It’s obviously nice to be quick, to have both cars top both sessions.”

Alvaro Parente took Meyer Shank Racing’s Acura to the top of GT Daytona (1m16.574s), but had Canada’s Kyle Marcelli close behind in his 3GT Racing Lexus RC F (+0.095s), and Wright Motorsports’ Wolf Henzler was a competitive third in his Porsche 911 GT3 R (+0.100s).

UP NEXT: Free Practice 3, 8:30 a.m. ET Saturday.


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#170 Rad-oh-yeah?

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Posted 07 July 2018 - 15:22

Braun stays fastest in third CTMP practice

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By: Marshall Pruett | 6 minutes ago


Colin Braun and CORE autosport’s spec ORECA 07-Gibson LMP2 are a perfect 3-0 so far at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park after leading its third straight practice session. The American’s lap (1m06.712s) was also trailed by the same Acura Team Penske DPi entry for the third time at IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship stop outside of Toronto as Dane Cameron (+0.314s) ran ahead of Action Express Racing’s Felipe Nasr in his Cadillac DPi (+0.624s).

Results

“Fun to be fast,” Braun told IMSA Radio. “We’re just kind of executing to our plan. Love being back in a prototype here. It’s a fun racetrack and this car is a joy to drive for sure.”

According to Braun, the team has yet to decide whether he will qualify the car — which would suggest another pole position is on the way — or if his Pro-Am co-driver/team owner Jon Bennett will handle those duties.

Taking a page from its Prototype program, the CORE-run Porsche GT Team in GT Le Mans also led its third consecutive session at CTMP as Nick Tandy’s 911 RSR (1m14.055s) was nearly equaled by Laurens Vanthoor in the sister Porsche (+0.087s). Like the Acura constantly chasing the ORECA in Prototype, Corvette Racing remains on the tail of the Porsches, with Jan Magnussen looking for more speed in his C7.R (+0.366s) to improve from third.

After flirting with the fastest GT Daytona times on Friday, 3GT Racing went 1-2 in the final session prior to qualifying as Jack Hawksworth’s Lexus RCF (1m15.546s) and Dominik Baumann’s Lexus (+0.549s) topped Wolf Henzler’s Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (+0.772s) with ease.

UP NEXT: Qualifying, 12:10 p.m. ET


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#171 Rad-oh-yeah?

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Posted 07 July 2018 - 21:02

Braun shatters lap record to take CTMP pole

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By: Marshall Pruett | 2 hours ago


Colin Braun obliterated the IMSA Prototype lap record at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on his way to pole position for Sunday’s Mobil 1 Sports Car Grand Prix. The Texan’s spec ORECA 07-Gibson LMP2 entered by CORE autosport took Ricky Taylor’s pole lap from 2017 (1m08.459s) and dropped it to 1m06.315s, travelling the Canadian road course more than two seconds faster than the previous standard.

The Braun-Cameron show continued as CORE driver and the Acura Team Penske pilot completed the rare feat of finishing 1-2 in all four sessions held this weekend. Cameron’s Acura DPi (+0.225s) slipped ahead of the impressive Robert Alon, who elevated his JDC-Miller Motorsports ORECA 07-Gibson P2 to third overall (+0.526s) which represented his best qualifying performance to date.

Results

Still, the main story in qualifying was Braun’s Herculean lap to rewrite the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s lap record at CTMP on the way to capturing his second pole in a span of seven days.

“This ORECA is fast, obviously,” Braun told IMSA Radio. “It’s just a blast to drive out here. It’s an efficient car; we’re a single-car team, a small team, and we’re learning along the way. You wouldn’t believe the amount of knowledge we gain at every race. We’re five races into our first season with this car.”

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Tandy/Pilet Porsche 911 RSR (Image by Richard Dole / LAT Images)

Porsche GT Team’s dominance at CTMP was on display once more as Nick Tandy took his 911 RSR (1m13.517s) to pole over an insurgent Ryan Briscoe from Ford Chip Ganassi Racing. After three straight sessions of Corvette coming second to Porsche, Briscoe wedged his Ford GT in between its rivals (+0.314s) as Corvette Racing’s Jan Magnussen was relegated to third in his C7.R (+0.417s).

“Qualifying’s one thing, but the race is obviously not one lap long,” Tandy said. “I’m sure we won’t have such an advantage. We qualified on pole here in 2015 and won the race. So we hope to carry on that stream.”

With the CORE ORECA on pole in Prototype after leading all four sessions this weekend at CTMP, and the CORE-run Porsche GT Team on GTLM pole after mirroring its sister effort by topping all four of its sessions, the North Carolina-based outfit has possibly achieved something that has never been done before in IMSA’s 49-year history.

Coming off its session-topping speed Saturday morning, the 3GT Lexus RC F GT3 team took command of GT Daytona in qualifying as Jack Hawksworth (1m15.581s) led a decisive 1-2 for the Japanese brand and became IMSA’s first three-time Motul Pole Award winner this season.

Teammate Dominik Baumann (+0.439s) and Paul Miller Racing’s Bryan Sellers in his Lamborghini Huracan GT3 (+0.805s) were well behind the Englishman who took his third class pole in the last four WeatherTech Championship events.

“I’m just adjusting my hat because my head’s getting bigger,” he said with a laugh. “We knew this track was suited to our car; it’s almost like it was designed for us. I think the speed’s coming easy and really enjoying driving as well. On to the race; I think we have a great chance.”

John Potter, who gave his Magnus Racing team some work to do after a crash in practice, was able to make it out for qualifying in his Audi R8 LMS GT3 and will start 11th and last in the field.


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#172 Rad-oh-yeah?

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Posted 08 July 2018 - 23:35

CORE autosport climbs from back to win CTMP; Ganassi No.67, Riley Motorsports earn victories
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By: Marshall Pruett | 18 minutes ago


Colin Braun and the CORE autosport team recorded an unbelievable drive to capture the team’s first IMSA Prototype win — done while motoring from last in class to take the lead with eight minutes to go at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.

The team led every practice session, lowered the track record by more than two seconds in qualifying, and then accepted a giant challenge by starting owner/driver Jon Bennett, which forced the No. 54 ORECA 07-Gibson to roll off last among the 12 prototypes on the grid. Bennett, who did his best to stay within sight of the other cars, handed over to Braun, who spent the next two hours passing cars and drawing down a deficit that reached more than 20 seconds while stuck in dense traffic.

Fortuitous timing of caution periods helped Braun’s efforts to claw back big chunks of lost track position, and with his father Jeff on the timing stand looking after engineering and strategy, the father-son duo authored one of the highlights of the year as the spec P2 chassis humbled the factory DPis for the second Sunday in a row.

Results

Adding to JDC-Miller Motorsports/GAINSCO’s big P2 win last weekend at Watkins Glen, the blinding performance by CORE left Jordan Taylor’s Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi.V-R (+3.43s), who surrendered the lead to Braun, and Action Express Racing’s Felipe Nasr in the No. 31 Cadillac (+4.666s) to fill the remaining podium spots.

“I’m just a business guy with a dream,” an overjoyed Bennett told IMSA Radio. “Colin…bottle of lightning. Holy cow.”

“It’s so cool to get the first win for Core at this level,” Braun said. “It’s been a pleasure driving with Jon all these years. We’ve had a lot of firsts together and done a lot of cool things and this is another one of those things in a long line. Hats off to the Core guys. We had great strategy all day. We saved fuel when we needed to, we saved tires when we needed to. And we just played our cards the right way and got it done when it mattered.

“It was important in this race to not get too excited at the beginning. We just sort of laid in the weeds all day and slowly worked our way up and we were there when it mattered at the end. I knew that this was the one area I knew I was stronger than some of the other guys.”

In GT Le Mans, a win by the polesitting Porsche GT Team and BMW Team RLL looked more than possible for most of the race, but a variety of incidents and a divinely timed caution assured the Ford Chip Ganassi GT team came home first.

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With Richard Westbrook leading late but needing a caution to make it to the finish, the FCGR team spotted Juan Pablo Montoya’s errant left-front Acura Team Penske wheel sitting in the middle of the track and alerted the Briton. Westbrook pounced and shot straight into the pits for fuel and left-side tires just seconds before the pits closed for Montoya’s yellow.

“You never stop believing, and we really improved the car after practice where it was a handful,” Westbrook said. “They made a great call; this goes to the team. It just gives us great confidence knowing we can win in this way.”

Balked by a slower GT Daytona car, Porsche’s Patrick Pilet was relegated from second to fourth near the finish as both Corvette Racing entries—Antonio Garcia in second and Tommy Milner in third—motored by down the long back straight to complete GTLM’s all-Detroit supercar top three.

GTD was also on pace to have its pole winners go on to win as the Michigan-based 3GT Lexus RC F outfit had the speed, led a good portion of the race, and had success in sight with Canada’s Kyle Marcelli out front at his home race. But continuing the theme of errors and cautions changing expected outcomes, a sideways moment by Marcelli on a late restart opened the door for Jeroen Bleekemolen to get by in his No. 33 Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3. The Dutchman held on as he and teammate Ben Keating scored their first victory of 2018 with Marcelli second and the mercurial Andy Lally in third.

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“This one was pretty tough,” Riley said after using a brilliant tire strategy call to put the No. 33 in a position to win. “The Lexus’ were tough all day. This is a team deal; I’m just spoke in the wheel.”

“It feels really good,” Keating added. “We had a really good car today. Really thankful the AMG is good on tires. The Lexus’ were really quick, Kyle went wide, which gave us the opportunity we needed. First time to be on the [CTMP] podium since 2014, so we’re glad to be back.”

Considering Braun’s drive to first while wielding a prototype that was clearly faster than the opposition, Lally’s efforts to haul his Magnus Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 from the back of the field — while holding no clear performance advantage — to a podium result might have been the star drive of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship event.

galstad-ctmp-0618-4194751.jpgAs mentioned, mistakes played a major part in how the Mobil 1 Sports Car Grand Prix played out on Sunday.

Wright Motorsports was responsible for the first two cautions — one with the No. 16 Porsche 911 GT3 R off at Moss Corner, and the second with the No. 16 tipping its stablemate, the No. 58 Wright Porsche, into the wall exiting Moss. A lost wheel on the AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Ligier JS P217-Gibson caused the third caution where the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari was given a stop-plus-60 seconds penalty for leaving the pits while the exit was closed.

Unnecessarily aggressive driving inside the No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR drew contact with a Ford GT that led to the Porsche blowing a tire and triggering a caution to clear the track of tire and carbon fiber debris. Acura Team Penske, running in second at the time with the No. 6 ARX-05, cut a tire on the debris, pitted to have it replaced, and repeated the No. 63’s mistake by blowing through the red light at the end of pit lane which garnered an invite to visit the pits and sit for 60 seconds.

Rough driving by the polesitting GT Le Mans No. 911 Porsche RSR led to a collision with the No. 24 BMW Team RLL M8 GTE that bent the BMW’s right-rear suspension. IMSA assigned no blame to the Porsche, but it seemingly inspired another Porsche-on-BMW clash a few minutes later in GTD where a highly competitive No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 was hit and suffered suspension damage from the No. 58 Wright Motorsports Porsche. In this instance, the privateer Porsche was assessed a drive-through penalty for the transgression.

Dramas for the No. 6 Penske Acura returned with less than 30 minutes to run when Montoya was installed to finish the race. With the left-front wheel falling off at Moss Corner, the mistake in the pits created a caution to retrieve the tire. On the bright side, Montoya’s misfortune helped the Ganassi Ford team to triumph in GTLM. The ensuing restart also saw the lead change for good in GTD, making it the most influential yellow of the day.

The last bout of trouble came with Harry Tincknell ending up deep in the gravel pit with his Mazda DPi. Responsible for the last caution, the team retired the car with a front wheel bearing failure that cost it a potential top-five result.

Ignoring the messy bits, CTMP gave fans gorgeous weather, stirring performances in all three classes, and the first ever back-to-back win streak for spec P2s. Can CORE, JDC-Miller, or one of the other P2 entrants make it a Hat Trick at Road America on August 5? Will Ford extend its championship lead in GTLM? And what kind of fun is in store with GTD’s three-way battle for the Pro-Am title? IMSA’s 2018 story is far from finished.


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#173 Rad-oh-yeah?

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Posted 17 July 2018 - 00:48

Patrón to end motorsports involvement at year's end

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By: RACER Staff | 9 hours ago


Tequila Patrón has announced that it will depart from the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, both as a team sponsor and a series sponsor, following the conclusion of the 2018 season. The decision brings to an end a long and successful racing involvement for the brand, which has backed winning cars in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans. In association with Extreme Speed Motorsports, it competed on an international level in GT cars and Prototypes, in the American Le Mans Series, FIA World Endurance Championship, and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, as well as at the Indianapolis 500 with ESM owner/driver Scott Sharp.

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Scott Sharp at the 2009 Indy 500. (Image by Dan R. Boyd/LAT)

“On behalf of the entire Extreme Speed Motorsports organization, it has been an honor to represent such an amazing brand for the past 13 years!” said Sharp. “I have the deepest gratitude for all of [Patrón CEO] Ed Brown’s support. Together we have tackled various challenges, won races at each step, and built ESM into such an incredible team. Simultaneously, it has been thrilling to watch Ed and his team build the Patrón brand in a meteoric fashion and along the way become an icon in the motorsports world! We will miss not carrying the now infamous green and black livery, but the same passion for excellence will remain!”

Extreme Speed Motorsports confirmed it will continue in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and is “actively pursuing sponsors to join our program in Tequila Patron’s stead for the 2019 season and beyond.”

In a statement following the announcement, IMSA President Scott Atherton offered his thanks to the company for its longtime involvement in the sport.

“IMSA and Patrón Spirits have enjoyed a fantastic partnership for more than a decade. Tequila Patrón rose through the IMSA ranks, from a high-profile team sponsor with Patrón Highcroft Racing beginning in 2008, through its entitlement sponsorship of the Patrón GT3 Challenge starting in 2009, and its presenting sponsorship of the American Le Mans Series beginning in 2010,” Atherton noted. “Tequila Patrón continued in a prominent position as the American Le Mans Series merged with GRAND-AM to create the new IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and has been our entitlement partner for the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup since 2014 in addition to its longstanding support of the Tequila Patrón ESM race team and its pair of Nissan DPi race cars.

“All associated with IMSA – competitors, promoter partners, series officials and fans – will miss the iconic Tequila Patrón brand next year. On behalf of IMSA, we thank CEO Ed Brown and Tequila Patrón for all they have done over the many years to help us grow IMSA and the sport as a whole. We’re more proud than words can express to have counted Tequila Patrón among our family of premium brand partners.

“Tequila Patrón’s involvement on-and-off the track has been a benchmark example by every measure. We will look forward to finishing up our 2018 season in the strongest and most successful way possible and will look forward to the opportunity to work together again in the future.”


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#174 Rad-oh-yeah?

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Posted 19 July 2018 - 16:06

WEC makes EoT changes to level LMP1 playing field

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By: Jamie Klein, News Editor
4 hours ago


The FIA World Endurance Championship has moved to level the playing field between Toyota and the non-hybrid LMP1s by making changes to the controversial Equivalence of Technology rules.

The adjustments come after a Le Mans 24 Hours that was dominated by Toyota, whose lead TS050 Hybrid finished 12 laps clear of the best of the privateers, the #3 Rebellion R-13.

This prompted calls for the FIA and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest to do more to close the performance gap between the Toyotas and non-hybrids, and has led to a series of changes to the EoT for next month's Silverstone race.

The most significant of these is that the 0.25 percent laptime advantage promised to Toyota over its privateer opponents, worth half a second round one lap at Le Mans, has been eliminated.

In addition, the fuel flow for the non-hybrids has been upped to 115kg/h - up from 108kg/h at Le Mans - while the diameter of the fuel rig restrictor has also been increased.

Normally-aspirated cars - the two Rebellion R-13s and the sole Gibson-powered DragonSpeed BR Engineering BR1 - have also been given a 15kg weight break.

A WEC statement said that the changes were designed to "ensure an appealing top category and achieve the best possible balance between the performance potential of cars using both hybrid and non-hybrid technologies."

ACO Technical Delegate Thierry Bouvet added: “As a result of the studies carried out this winter we gave private teams a fuel flow to help them achieve performance levels close to those of the hybrid cars.

"We then took advantage of concrete information collected during the Prologue, the first round at Spa and the Le Mans test day. As competitors know, not everything can be foreseen at Le Mans.

“For example, between the test day and qualifying at Le Mans the fastest time in the LMP2 category improved by 2.4 seconds compared to 0.2 seconds for the non-hybrid LMP1s.

"Several factors can explain this such as different track conditions or because the teams didn’t want to compromise reliability.

"Finally, multiple contextual parameters could also have affected certain EoT estimations."


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#175 Rad-oh-yeah?

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Posted 21 July 2018 - 18:05

Garcia scorches track record for Lime Rock pole

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By: Marshall Pruett | 2 hours ago


Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia set a new qualifying lap record at Lime Rock as the Spaniard broke the 50-second barrier (0:49.754s) on the way to capturing pole position for Corvette Racing.

The Michelin-shod GTLM field took multiple shots at dipping below 50 seconds during the session, but in the end, Garcia’s incredible lap was untouchable as Porsche GT Team’s Laurens Vanthoor settled for second (+0.166s) in his Porsche 911 RSR and Ford Chip Ganassi Racing’s Dirk Muller was third (+0.191s) in his Ford GT.

And with IMSA’s short turnaround between qualifying and the race, teams will shift gears immediately and prepare for the green flag that will wave over the Northeast Grand Prix this afternoon.

“It felt really good. Fast for sure,” Garcia told IMSA Radio. “It’s great to be below 50 [seconds] here. This is the fun part of it. This afternoon is going to be the complete opposite.”

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Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, GTD: Patrick Long/Christina Nielsen. (Image by Jake Galstad/LAT)

Moments prior to the GTLM cars hitting the track, veteran sports car ace Patrick Long scored a valuable pole for the Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R team. The Californian set a new GT Daytona lap record (0:51.491s) as he and teammate Christina Nielsen will seek their first win of the year against stiff competition from the 3GT Lexus RC F team which placed Dominik Baumann in second (+0.137s) and Jack Hawksworth in third (+0.214s).

“The 911’s always been strong here at Lime Rock,” said Long, whose GTD season has been filled with adversity. “We’ve had a slumpy season and it reminds everyone on the crew that winds change quickly in motorsports.”

Adding to their impressive recovery story, the Paul Miller Racing team qualified fourth with Bryan Sellers in his Lamborghini Huracan GT3 (+0.347s). The GTD points leaders completed the first 20 minutes of opening practice on Friday before a fire damaged the back of the car.

Missing the final 40 minutes, plus the second session altogether, the car returned for the last one-hour practice session, but went into qualifying with less than half the track time of its rivals.

“It was not a bad qualifying effort for us,” Sellers said. “It’s right about where we thought we’d be. We’d hope to be a little bit faster, but we just don’t have the outright speed as some of the other cars. We have a really good car over the race distance, so I hope that plays into our favor for the race. We’re in a good position to race, and that’s all we can ask for. Now we’ll do a few last-minute changes and tweaks to get it where we want and we’ll see how the two hours and 40 minutes unfold.”

UP NEXT: Lime Rock IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Race, 3:00 p.m. ET


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#176 Rad-oh-yeah?

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Posted 02 August 2018 - 16:26

Aston Martin Racing will field just two drivers in each of its GTE Pro class Vantage GTEs in the remaining 2018/19 World Endurance Championship rounds this year.

The expected move from the British manufacturer ahead of the Silverstone WEC event on August 19 follows its previous practice of slimming down its driver line-ups after the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen will drive the #95 second-generation Vantage GTE as a duo, while Maxime Martin and Alex Lynn will do likewise in the #97 at Silverstone and then Fuji and Shanghai in October and November respectively.

"Each driver will benefit from increased track time and fewer compromises in their driving positions in a move that has become standard practice in the GTE Pro category," read a statement from Aston.


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#177 Rad-oh-yeah?

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Posted 02 August 2018 - 22:54

IMSA tweaks DPi BoP ahead of Road America

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By: Marshall Pruett | 3 hours ago


IMSA has returned some of the performance taken from its Daytona Prototype internationals for this weekend’s visit to Road America.

Consecutive wins by spec P2 teams in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Prototype class has led to new Balance of Performance freedoms for all four DPi manufacturers. Some, starting with Acura’s ARX-05 run by Team Penske, received less of a break than other models.

Power, weight, and turbocharger boost concessions were not made for the Acura, but IMSA has granted the ORECA-based DPis an extra two liters of fuel (now 71L total).

Cadillac’s DPi-V.R, run by the Action Express Racing and Wayne Taylor Racing teams, will have more power, thanks to a combined 0.9mm increase in airflow to its 5.5-liter V8 engines (now 31.6mm total opening size). To compensate for the extra power, the Dallara-based Cadillacs will have an additional four liters of fuel to burn during each stint (now 68L total).

Mazda’s RT24-P, the only DPi model without a win in 2018, has been given the greatest round of adjustments. The Riley/Multimatic-based Mazdas have been granted a 10 kilo weight reduction (now 915kgs), an increase in boost pressure throughout its 9200rpm rev range (with an emphasis on low-end and top-end power), and will have four more liter of fuel capacity to feed the 2.0-liter four-cylinder engines (now 78L total).

Tequila Patron ESM’s Nissan Onroak DPis also received four more liters of fuel (now 80L total) which will be needed, thanks to boost increases across the 7700rpm rev range with the 3.8-liter twin-turbo V6 motor installed in the back of its Ligier-based prototypes.


Brown weighing 2019 IMSA prototype options

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By: Marshall Pruett | 5 hours ago


United Autosports team owner Zak Brown is among those who are eager to learn whether IMSA will split its Prototype class into separate DPi and spec P2 points structures starting in 2019.

Brown’s P2 team, which contests the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s North American Endurance Cup events using a spec Ligier JS P217, was among the most vocal in calling for IMSA to improve its balancing of the two prototype formulas when P2s were dominated by DPis for the first half of the season.

Of late, all has changed on that front as Pro-Am spec P2 lineups from JDC-Miller/GAINSCO and CORE autosport have taken down the all-pro DPis with back-to-back wins on smooth, flowing, high-speed circuits. The factory DPis also face the possibility of losing three in a row after this weekend’s race at Road America.

Looking to 2019, DPi manufacturers are keen to have the Balance of Performance restrictions removed so they can race among themselves, most P2 entrants have expressed a desire to have their own points championship if they are unable to beat the DPis on a consistent basis, and in the middle, Brown offered a different perspective as a spec P2 entrant using pro-caliber drivers.

With IMSA’s annual State of the Series set for Friday, when its plans for next season will be unveiled, and a growing belief split that DPi and P2 points will be announced, some entrants are going to come away happier than others.

“We love IMSA and we’d love to be in full-time,” Brown told RACER. “The LMP2s, up until the last two races, have not been competitive. I think there’s a good balance between the cars sitting here today, but that was also the case at Petit Le Mans last year, and it went away going into Daytona [in January] with the competitive balance. Personally, we like racing for the overall win, so if they go the path of two separate classes, and LMP2 becomes a second class, I don’t have a great view whether that’s good or bad, but that’s not something United would be interested in.”

IMSA’s DPis comprise the vast majority of its Prototype grid. Brown wonders if there would be enough P2s to warrant a separate points structure, or if acquiring a DPi would be the right move for United Autosports.

“I don’t know if splitting the points would attract enough P2 cars because the costs are almost identical to DPi,” he added. “If we had the sponsorship and the budget, we’d go buy a DPi to race in America, which is something we’re talking about. The European Le Mans Series and Le Mans is our first priority, so with so few P2s on the [IMSA] grid, if they’re not going to balance the two and the DPis are so strong, it’s better to focus on getting a DPi and racing it.”

With Brown’s longstanding ties to a number of the DPi manufacturers, he’s confident UA would be able to gain access to a factory car where other P2 entrants have been denied.

“I think we can do a DPi, we want to do more IMSA racing, and we’re ready to make the commitments,” he said. “And we’d need a DPi car so there’s nothing holding us back. It feels like an uphill battle taking on the DPis with a P2, and we love the DPi formula, so if we’re going to commit to a full season, we’d look to do it with a DPi.”

If and when UA joins IMSA as a full-time entrant, Brown’s business partner Michael Andretti of Andretti Autosport would top the list for home base options.

“If we were to go full-time IMSA racing, we’d have a full-time operation, but that could likely be with Michael,” he said. “All our [IMSA] trucks and trailers are based permanently in the U.S., the car we’ve been racing in the U.S. is a dedicated chassis that stays in the U.S., and if we we’re to do it, Andretti Autosport would be our preferred partners.”


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#178 Rad-oh-yeah?

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Posted 04 August 2018 - 05:17

TRSM Ginettas withdraw from Silverstone 6-Hour1015339136-lat-20180617-jeplm2_0150.jpg

By: Stephen Kilbey | 11 hours ago



The final entry list for the 6 Hours of Silverstone features just eight cars in the LMP1 class following the withdrawal of both CEFC TRSM Ginetta G60-LT-P1s.

The withdrawal, RACER understands, comes amid broader challenges for the program, and follow problems earlier this year when the team was unable to compete in the season-opening race at Spa due to commercial difficulties.

The team’s original intention was to run a single car at Silverstone, powered by an AER P60B twin-turbo V6 rather than a Mecachrome V6. That option was pursued by Ginetta in reaction to the performance levels of the Mecachrome relative the other engines in the class, and the engine supplier not responding to calls for a development program to reduce that deficit.However, the Endurance Committee was not advised of the engine change in time. Instead, RACER understands that Ginetta is now set to undertake a test and development program in-house to refine the car with the AER package.Ginetta is understood to have concluded, based on feedback from drivers and engineers, that its chassis is a capable platform that has been let down by the Mecachrome’s shortcomings.

“Throughout the program thus far, Ginetta has continued to make big efforts to support TRSM in the interests of keeping the cars racing,” a team representative told RACER.

“We are clearly very disappointed indeed that the car won’t be racing but the matter is entirely out of our control.”

Moves by Ginetta to finesse a possible one-off entry for Silverstone have also fallen foul of regulations, as the cut-off for non-full season runners passed over a month ago. With the Ginettas now off the entry list, the car count for Silverstone has dropped to 34.

Elsewhere in LMP1, there are two other key changes. Matevos Isaakyan is not listed in SMP Racing’s No. 17 BR1, meaning that as things stand the car will run with just Stephane Sarrazin and Egor Orduzhev.

And ByKolles’ driver line-up has also changed, and now consists of team regular Oliver Webb and IndyCar driver Rene Binder, who is due to test the team’s new high-downforce aero package next week at Spa in preparation for the team’s trip to Silverstone. Previously, Dominik Kraihamer was listed in the car, but the third seat is now a TBA. Tom Dillman, the third driver at Le Mans, was not due to take part in the race Silverstone.

Ex-GRAFF ELMS driver Enzo Guibbert is due to test for ByKolles at Spa, but there’s no sign yet of him in a race seat.

There are a few alterations in the LMP2 class, too.

As previously announced, former Toyota LMP1 man Anthony Davidson will make his LMP2 debut with DragonSpeed in place of Nathanael Berthon, and Nick de Vries, another LMP2 debutant, will race with Racing Team Nederland in Jan Lammers’ seat.

At Larbre, Yoshiharu Mori is listed in place of Thomas Dagoneau, who drove with the team’s Ligier JS P217 last time out at Le Mans.

Changes to the GTE ranks were announced yesterday, with Aston Martin Racing’s GTE Pro line-up being trimmed to two drivers per car and Jonny Adam joining TF Sport’s GTE Am crew as a result.


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Posted 04 August 2018 - 05:21

Mazda Team Joest leads first practice at Road America

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By: Marshall Pruett | 10 hours ago


Mazda Team Joest led the opening practice session for Sunday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship event at Road America.

Oliver Jarvis moved the No. 77 RT24-P ahead of the field (1m52.627s) by a tiny margin over Scott Sharp in the No. 2 Tequila Patron ESM Nissan Onroak DPi (+0.020s) and Stephen Simpson in the No. 99 JDC-Miller/GAINSCO Motorsports ORECA 07-Gibson P2 (+0.189s).

Practice 1 results

In GT Le Mans, a proper representation was given as all four manufacturers were represented in the top four. Led by the Porsche GT Team’s Patrick Pilet in the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR (2m04.082s), Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia wasn’t far behind in the No. 3 Corvette C7.R (+0.192s), nor was Dirk Muller in the No. 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT (+0.259s). BMW Team RLL’s Jesse Krohn was fourth in his No. 24 BMW M8 GTE (+0.715s).

In GT Daytona, Magnus Racing’s Andy Lally continued the team’s hot streak with the fastest lap in his No. 44 Audi R8 LMS GT3 (2m07.48s). Jack Hawksworth did the same with his No. 15 3GT Racing Lexus RC F (+0.124s) and Jorg Bergmeister in the returning No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (+0.215s).

The one-hour session was halted at the end of the first lap when the No. 22 Nissan driven by Pipo Derani caught fire and trailed sizable flames until the Brazilian pulled off ahead of the final corner and climbed out unharmed. The session was also delayed toward the end when Ben Keating had a heavy hit in the No. 33 Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3.
 
UP NEXT: Free Practice 2, 5:10 p.m. ET

Taylor paces second Road America practice

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By: Marshall Pruett | 5 hours ago


Jordan Taylor and the Wayne Taylor Racing team took charge of the second practice session at Road America as the No. 10 Cadillac DPi-V.R was comfortably faster than Juan Pablo Montoya in the No. 6 Acura Team Penske ARX-05.

Taylor’s lap (1m52.402s) during IMSA’s annual visit with the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship was the fastest of the day, and gave Montoya’s team some speed to find overnight (+0.353s). JDC-Miller/GAINSCO Motorsports was third with the No. 99 ORECA 07-Gibson LMP2 (+0.371s) in comfortable conditions under overcast skies.

Practice 2

Ford and BMW owned the top four in GT Le Mans as Dirk Muller’s No. 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing GT went quickest (2m03.713s), albeit just ahead of Connor De Phillippi in the No. 25 BMW Team RLL M8 GTE (+0.079s). Richard Westbrook followed in the No. 67 Ford GT (+0.121s) and Jesse Krohn was fourth in the No. 24 BMW M8 (+0.231s).

The only carryover from the first session was Magnus Racing’s Andy Lally (2m06.813s), who stayed atop GT Daytona in the No. 44 Audi R8 LMS GT3. Park Place Motorsports owner/driver Patrick Lindsey was a revelation in second (+0.039s) with the No. 73 Porsche 911 GT3 R, and Lexus claimed third with Kyle Marcelli in the No. 14 RC F GT3 (+0.063s).

Compared to the big fire and bigger crash that sidelines two cars during the first practice session, the afternoon was relatively tame as mild bodywork damage to CORE autosport’s LMP2 and a blown tire (and resulting bodywork damage) to one of Mazda’s RT24-P DPis kept the drama to a minimum.

UP NEXT: Free Practice 3, Saturday, 9:55 a.m. ET


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Posted 05 August 2018 - 06:47

Alon's IMSA track record puts JDC-Miller on Road America pole

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By: Marshall Pruett | 11 hours ago


A steamy Saturday afternoon at Road America couldn’t stop JDC-Miller Motorsport’s spec LMP2 chassis piloted by Pro-Am driver Robert Alon from setting a new IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship lap record against the best DPi aces in the field.

Alon’s No. 85 ORECA 07-Gibson (1m51.933s) was well clear of the previous qualifying record (1m53.058s) set last year by Ricky Taylor in a Cadillac DPi-V.R. It was Taylor, at his new Acura Team Penske home, chasing the Californian in the No. 7 ARX-05 (+0.207s) with no success. CORE autosport’s Colin Braun, chasing his third consecutive Prototype pole, settled for third in the grid (+0.407s) in his No. 54 ORECA 07-Gibson.

IMSA lineup

“Honestly, I don’t think starting position has been a big part [of who ends up winning] this year,” Alon told IMSA Radio. “Whether we start first, second, or third isn’t a big deal.”

Alon’s teammate Simon Trummer was fastest in the final practice session ahead of qualifying, and with temperatures above 90F to contend with, the JDC-Miller team planned to set their fastest lap early while the tires were at their peak.

“It was my first flying lap,” he continued. “It felt right, tire grip was there. We prepared for that. Just to give credit to Simon, and me, and our engineer, we’ve been really quick this year.”

66-ford-mueller-ra-mp.jpgFord’s recent test at Road America certainly helped the Blue Oval to secure a 1-2 in GT Le Mans. The brand’s polemeister, Dirk Muller, did the honors in the No. 66 Ford GT (2m02.479s) and had teammate Ryan Briscoe close behind in the No. 67 entry (+0.171s). Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia completed the all-American top three with the No. 3 Corvette C7.R (+0.267s).

“It’s a whole team effort,” Muller said. “Ford Chip Ganassi Racing do such a fantastic job. I really love this place. A lot of these corners are like the Nordschleife. Good start, but we need to keep digging down. It’s always good to start first, but the race is long.”

imsaroadamerica_marshallpruett_8418_-017A red flag halfway through GT Daytona’s 15-minute qualifying session created some drama after Francesco Piovanetti crashed at Canada Corner in the No. 51 Squadra Corse Garage Italia Ferrari 488 GT3.

At the time of the stoppage, Wright Motorsports’ Patrick Long owned the fastest lap in the No. 58 Porsche 911 GT3 R (2m06.593s), and with limited time for other to get up to speed and knock the veteran factory driver off the top spot after the green flag waved, the Californian held onto his second consecutive pole.

“Special celebration today to back up Lime Rock,” Long said while hoping Lime Rock’s fall from pole to last does not carry over to Road America. “We left pretty dejected, so I’ve been feeling for the guys. We’ve been putting our [feet] down and looking ahead. We were able to string together the best lap of the before the red flag, so that was timely.”

3GT Racing’s Dominik Baumann (+0.257s) will start second in his No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3, and the championship-leading Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 driven by Madison Snow will roll off third (+0.633s).

Engine problems for the No. 15 Lexus RC F prevented the 3GT entry from taking part in qualifying, and will start last.


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