{"id":502352,"date":"2023-05-14T20:21:04","date_gmt":"2023-05-15T03:21:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportscardigest.com\/?p=502352"},"modified":"2024-03-07T15:10:14","modified_gmt":"2024-03-07T15:10:14","slug":"round-4-imsa-weathertech-sportscar-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/round-4-imsa-weathertech-sportscar-championship\/","title":{"rendered":"Round 4: IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"

Background<\/h2>\n

The weekend’s highlight of the 2023 “Motul Course de Monterey” was round four of the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship<\/a>. Following the recent \u201cstreet fight\u201d at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach<\/a>, it was anybody\u2019s guess what this season\u2019s first natural road course race would yield. WeatherTech Laguna Seca Raceway<\/a> opened in 1957 and ranks among the most challenging, scenic, and, yes, loved venues on the IMSA calendar. From the iconic Corkscrew plummeting 59 feet in a quarter mile to the Andretti Hairpin, its 11 turns over 2.238 miles never disappoint.<\/p>\n

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The Porsche Penske Motorsports GTP Porsche 963 driven by Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet. Photo \u00a9 2023 Rex McAfee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 driven by Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun. Photo \u00a9 2023 Rex McAfee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Four races within a race<\/h3>\n

The WeatherTech Championship consists of four classes that race simultaneously. Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) are cutting-edge technological wonders that feature hybrid electrified powertrains paired with internal combustion engines. The older and slower Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class resembles the GTP cars, and they are built by ORECA to FIA specifications. Based on production cars, the GT Daytona (GTD) and GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) always produce intense racing where Porsches, BMWs, Ferraris, and Mercedes constantly lean on each other in highly engaging battles.<\/p>\n

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The Wright Motorsports GTD Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) driven by Alan Brynjolfsson and Trent Hindman. Photo \u00a9 2023 Rex McAfee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Winward Racing GTD Mercedes-AMG GT3 driven by Russell Ward and Philip Ellis. Photo \u00a9 2023 Rex McAfee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pre-Race gossip<\/h3>\n

Addressing the elephant(s) in the room was Acura and the driver combination of Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque. Case in point: an Acura won Sunday\u2019s main feature four years in a row. Ricky Taylor was part of the last three wins with Team Penske in 2020 and co-driving with Filipe Albuquerque for Wayne Taylor Racing in 2021 and 2022. But now that the premier class has turned to hybrid power, would the past be any indication of the future? Don’t forget the last 4 winners have come from the front row!<\/p>\n

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The Team Korthoff Motorsports GTD Mercedes-AMG GT3 driven by Mike Skeen and Mikael Grenier. Photo \u00a9 2023 Rex McAfee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Porsche Penske Motorsports GTP Porsche 963 driven by Matt Campbell and Felipe Nasr. Photo \u00a9 2023 Rex McAfee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Porsche\u2019s first customer GTP entry<\/h3>\n

Also making headlines this weekend was the first Porsche \u201ccustomer\u201d 963 entry; the No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963<\/a>. With veteran Mike Rockenfeller and Tijmen van der Helm at the wheel, Porsche fans wondered how competitive this non-factory entry would be.<\/p>\n

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The JDC Miller Motorsports Porsche 963 GTP racer was driven by Tijmen van der Helm and Mike Rockenfeller. Photo \u00a9 2023 Rex McAfee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The GTD PRO class Pfaff Motorsports\u2019 Porsche GT3.R dives into the \u201cCorkscrew,\u201d driven by Klaus Bachler and Patrick Pilet. Photo \u00a9 2023 Rex McAfee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

BMW seeks \u201ctop of the box\u201d in GTP<\/h3>\n

Entering round four, Acura, Cadillac, and Porsche have all visited victory lane\u2014all but BMW. Last month at Long Beach, BMW pilot Connor De Phillippi earned the fastest lap of the race, and the BMW M Hybrid V8 GTP entries scored second and fourth overall. With proven speed, reaching the podium at Weathertech raceway was \u201cpriority one\u201d for BMW this weekend.<\/p>\n

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The TDS Racing LMP2 ORECA LMP2 07 driven by Francois Heriau and Giedo van der Garde. Photo \u00a9 2023 Rex McAfee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Magnus Racing GTD Aston Martin Vantage GT3 driven by John Potter and Andy Lally. Photo \u00a9 2023 Rex McAfee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The TDS Racing LMP2 ORECA LMP2 07 driven by Francois Heriau and Giedo van der Garde. Photo \u00a9 2023 Rex McAfee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Porsche winless in GTD<\/h3>\n

The last pre-race whispers centered around Porsche\u2019s failure to reach the podium in GTD. Has it been a streak of bad luck or a case of faster competition? On the bright side, Wright Motorsports<\/a> is the defending class winner at WeatherTech Raceway and will be joined by the Kellymoss\/Riley<\/a> and AO Racing team entries. After recent Long Beach, the current GTD points leaders are the BMW of Paul Miller Racing, the Aston Martin of Heart of Racing Team, and the Lexus of Vasser Sullivan.<\/p>\n

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The Kellymoss with Riley GTD Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) driven by Alec Udell and Julien Andlauer. Photo \u00a9 2023 Rex McAfee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Corvette Racing GTDPRO Chevrolet Corvette C8.R driven by Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor. Photo \u00a9 2023 Rex McAfee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Qualifying<\/h2>\n

Porsche Penske Motorsport<\/a> wasted no time in marking their front-row territory with driver Matt Campbell steering the No. 7 Porsche 963 to the Motul Pole Award for the Motul Course de Monterey Powered by Hyundai. Mathieu Jaminet completed a front-row sweep for Porsche in the No. 6 entry that as you may recall, earned the car\u2019s first win four weeks ago at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. After two practice sessions, Matt Campbell found another seven-tenths of a second in qualifying to lap the 2.238-mile road course in 1 minute, 14.774 seconds (107.748 mph). \u201cSeven-tenths (improvement) I didn\u2019t expect, that\u2019s for sure,\u201d said Campbell, who earned his second WeatherTech Championship pole position, and first in prototypes. \u201cIt came from just digging a little deeper and fine-tuning the car a little more,\u201d added the 28-year-old Australian. The 963 has garnered a reputation as the most complex of the four sophisticated new hybrid-powered prototypes that made their debut in the GTP class in 2023.<\/p>\n

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Leading the way out of turn 11 is the Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 driven by Ricky Taylor and Felipe Albuquerque. Photo \u00a9 2023 Rex McAfee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Inception Racing GTD McLaren 720S GT3 EVO driven by Brendan Iribe and Frederik Schandorff. Photo \u00a9 2023 Rex McAfee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

GTD PRO Qualifying<\/h3>\n

In GTD Pro, 31 years-old Austrian driver Klaus Bachler, a stranger to Laguna Seca, won the pole position with a lap of 1 minute, 24.529 seconds (95.313 mph) in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports<\/a> Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) he shares with Patrick Pilet. \u201cIt\u2019s just amazing,\u201d he said. \u201cFirst time here at Laguna and to finish with the pole position. Thanks to my team and to Patrick. We pushed each other quite hard. Everything is new for me this season.\u201d The Pfaff team has won the class championship the past two seasons \u2013 GTD PRO in 2022 and GTD in 2021.<\/p>\n

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The Whelen Engineering Cadillac Racing\u2019s V-Series.R was driven by Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims. Photo \u00a9 2023 Rex McAfee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Forte Racing Powered by USRT GTD Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 driven by Misha Goikhberg and Loris Spinelli. Photo \u00a9 2023 Rex McAfee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

GTD Qualifying<\/h3>\n

Driving for team Kellymoss with Riley, Alex Udell drove the No. 92 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) to the GTD pole with a lap of 1:24.539 (95.302 mph). This was his first GTD pole. \u201cIt\u2019s been awesome,\u201d Udell said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been coming to grips with a couple of things here and there. We\u2019re just learning as we go. I\u2019m just happy to get a little bit of boost going into the race. It\u2019s always great to start from the front.\u201d Roman De Angelis was close behind in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 he co-drives with Marco Sorensen. Seb Priaulx took third in the No. 80 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) that he shares with Gunnar Jeannette.<\/p>\n

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The pole setting Penske Motorsports GTP Porsche 963 driven by Matt Campbell and Felipe Nasr. Photo \u00a9 2023 Rex McAfee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The AO Racing GTD Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) driven by Gunnar Jeannette and Seb Priaulx. Photo \u00a9 2023 Rex McAfee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Full qualifying results HERE<\/a><\/p>\n

The Race<\/h2>\n

As the green flag waved, chaos ensued immediately as the GTP hybrids crested turn 1 with Colin Braun (starting from P3 in the Acura) getting past the Porsche of Mathieu Jaminet in P2 and applying pressure to pole-sitter Matt Campbell. Campbell slid wide in turn 2 as he locked up his brakes allowing Braun to take the lead. The Whelen Engineering Cadillac driven by Pipo Derani immediately moved up into second punctuating the first lap disaster for both front row Porsches. Back in the GT pack that started separately, Sheena Monk in the lone Acura NSX had contact in turn 6 resulting in rear suspension damage and a full-course yellow for bodywork on track. And this was all before lap one was complete!<\/p>\n

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The Porsche Penske Motorsports GTP Porsche 963 driven by Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet. Photo \u00a9 2023 Rex McAfee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Kellymoss with Riley GTD Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) driven by Alan Metni and Kay van Berlo. Photo \u00a9 2023 Rex McAfee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Porsche’s bad luck continued with both a 60-second penalty for Klaus Bachler in the PFAFF GTD-PRO Porsche 911 and a drive-through for Matt Campbell who IMSA declared partially responsible for nudging Jaren Andretti off course into the tires at pit entry, again causing a full-course caution. Later after Felipe Nasr took over for Campbell, he ran wide exiting turn 9, and hit the concrete wall. Would the pair of Kelly Moss Porsche 911s in GTD be the only hope for the German marque?<\/p>\n

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The Crowdstrike Racing by APR LMP2 ORECA LMP2 07 driven by George Kurtz and Ben Hanley. Photo \u00a9 2023 Rex McAfee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The BMW M Team RLL GTP BMW M Hybrid V8 driven by Philipp Eng and Augusto Farfus. Photo \u00a9 2023 Rex McAfee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 GTP Acura ARX-06 driven by Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque. Photo \u00a9 2023 Rex McAfee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last stint<\/h3>\n

A fourth full-course yellow started on lap 63 that lasted for 6 laps. During this time, most of the entire field came in for their final fuel and tire changes. Starting with lap 70 and ending with the checkered on lap 102, the race “calmed down” without much drama other than some position changes. The Cadillac Racing GTP V-Series.R driven by Renger van der Zande in the last stint exited the pit lane in P1 and led the race until the checkered flag fell. The two Kellymoss with Riley GTD Porsches (#91 & #92) stayed among the front runners in GTD for the remainder of the race. At the flag, it was #92 (driven by Alec Udell and Julien Andlauer) taking 3rd and their sister car #91 (driven by Alan Metni and Kay van Berlo) earning 1st in class.<\/p>\n

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The Cadillac Racing GTP Cadillac V-Series.R driven by Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande. Photo \u00a9 2023 Rex McAfee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Team owner Chip Ganassi (next to the Michelin Man) greets his winning Cadillac Racing GTP car driven by Sebastien Bourdais(left in driver’s suit) and Renger van der Zande(in the car). Photo \u00a9 2023 Rex McAfee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Renger van der Zande(left) and Sebastien Bourdais (right) celebrate their victory in the 4th round of the IMSA Weathertech Challenge driving the Cadillac Racing GTP Cadillac V-Series.R. Photo \u00a9 2023 Rex McAfee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

The two-hour and forty-minute race provided plenty of unexpected results, not to mention full-course cautions and penalties. The Penske Porsches in GTP looked to dominate with their front-row qualifying positions, yet only salvaged a second place. Porsche finally earned a podium in a GT class, while Lexus retains its points dominance in GTD PRO. The next round of the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship is June 6th with the 6 Hours of Watkin’s Glen in New York.<\/p>\n

For full results, please go HERE<\/a><\/p>\n

Qualifying video<\/h3>\n