After an eventful IMSA Petit Le Mans season finale, Motorsport Week has selected a series of ‘Winners and Losers’ out of the 10-hour sportscar endurance event.

Chaotic. Caution-ridden. Controversial. These words summarise the action-packed narrative of the 26th Petit Le Mans, with drama right from the beginning and all through to the checkered flag.

It was a memorable IMSA race for a mixture of reasons, inevitably making way for many ‘winners and losers’ from the third-longest race on the 2023 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship calendar.

An IMSA joint-record of 13 caution periods were deployed, as a concerning amount of penalties were awarded throughout the race, as driving standards were also below expectations for a major international sportscar championship event.

Winner – #60 Meyer Shank Racing (GTP): Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun, Helio Castroneves

Unsurprisingly, the overall race winners feature on this list. Meyer Shank took a back-to-back Petit Le Mans win, although their victory was well and truly secured from drama elsewhere in the GTP category once again.

Blomqvist took their final qualifying honours for 2023, as MSR intend to commit more attention on their IndyCar project from 2024.

His fastest lap time of 1:15.847 put him on the second row, in fourth position, after being unable to match the other #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-06 of Louis Deletraz. The #10 retained their championship lead post-qualifying as the #60 was situated fourth in the standings.

At the race start, the attention was on Sebastien Bourdais in the #01 Cadillac V Series.R, and Deletraz. The pole-sitter was unable to stop Bourdais from taking the lead at the first corner, with a move around the outside of Deletraz as the pair gave each other a respective level of space, and Blomqvist took third off Philipp Eng’s #24 BMW M Hybrid V8.

On Lap 9, the Frenchman asserted a fastest race lap of 1:11.31, although the front-runners were close to one another still.

Despite the fact a caution was deployed after just two minutes since the opening green flag, Blomqvist’s pace was encouraging once things got going after the second caution, as he set a 1:11.533 towards the end of the first hour. Whilst he was not able to take on the front-runners, he kept within proximity to them.

Cautions disrupted the race, and the #60 fell back discreetly at the halfway point, after they served a drive-through penalty for working on their car outside the pit box.

Jumping to the penultimate caution period in the final 30 minutes, we were teased with what did not become a battle to the finish.

Despite this, the lead fight was now between the #01 of Renger van der Zande and the #60 of Colin Braun behind him, after the earlier clash between the #10 and the #31.

On the restart, Braun made a cunning move past the #01 on the inside of Turn 1, and held it during the most crucial 52 seconds of the entire race, before it finished under caution owing to drama elsewhere in GTD.

The #60 did not win the championship, and were unlikely to do so with their deducted Daytona points deficit, but earned their final sportscar in their last race before an indefinite hiatus.

Loser – #10 Konica Minolta/Wayne Taylor Racing (GTP): Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque, Louis Deletraz

The #10 expanded their three-point title lead in qualifying, to 11 points, and through a turn of misfortune, they were not able to convert their pole position into a race victory and a GTP title.

One of the main talking points from the race revolved around the clash between the #31 of Derani and the #10 of Albuquerque, and so WTR are a ‘loser’ on this list, however not necessarily for sole responsibility for their incident, as that would be subjective and difficult to call.

The consequences of the incident led the surviving #31 Cadillac to ease themselves through two caution periods – intertwined with the 52-second green flag stretch – to win the championship.

The stewards needed to assert themselves over teams and drivers, though ended up implementing a great number of penalties regardless.

Some may question the decision not to penalise the #31, which aggressively edged the Acura off-track and into the barrier. Others may implement responsibility on Albuquerque, who optimistically kept his foot down on Derani’s tail, which left him only to go off the circuit, where he had already been in an earlier minor altercation with an LMP2 car albeit at a different corner.

Nevertheless, IMSA concluded it as a racing incident, and the #31 simply had to make it through two cautions to win the championship title.

The top-two teams in the championship were ones who had clashed during the final hour, prosing whether either one of them earned the right to be classed as champions after the #60 ran a smoother race. But even this would showcase the flawed penalty of only a ‘points deduction’ from the #60’s Daytona win.

Without any doubt, if the #10 kept running, then it would have secured the championship. Above all, they did not, and lost a second consecutive chance at Petit Le Mans race victory.

Winner – #52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports (LMP2): Ben Keating, Paul-Loup Chatin, Alex Quinn

Keating and Chatin have ran an exceptional 2023 campaign together, and maintained their consistency right to the season finale.

Their close championship rivals were the #11 TDS Racing Oreca 07, whose full-season drivers were Steven Thomas and Mikkel Jensen.

Virtually speaking, both of these teams were side-by-side in the performance they had put on this year, and a rare mistake from Jensen, who was showing great pace, ended the show, in the seventh hour. He dropped the car into the wall at Turn 5, damaging the front-right suspension in the process.

As mentioned in our preview, the #04 Crowdstrike Racing by Algarve Pro Racing could have made ground if the #11 and #52 faced issues.

Whilst they did win their second race this season, and gave George Kurtz an invitation to next year’s Le Mans, and won the Endurance Cup title in LMP2, they were just 37 points away by the end.

The #52 won the team’s fifth championship, even though Quinn made some mistakes throughout.

At the race start, Thomas took the lead off Keating, who narrowly claimed pole position by two-tenths over the #11, and was soon back in the top spot after jumping the #11 during their pit stops.

Without time to waste, Keating built a comfortable 7-second lead with the soon-to-be troublesome #20 High Class Racing in second, and Thomas in third.

Surpassing the halfway point however, the #11 and the #04 got themselves ahead of the #52 through the various chaotic moments elsewhere which interrupted the race with caution periods.

It was Jensen who built a commanding lead over Nolan Siegel, until his accident ruled out the #11 making it to the end, let alone winning. That said, it was Scott Huffaker who got the fastest LMP2 lap in the #11 with a 1:13.071 on Lap 110.

The #52’s work was not done yet as the #04 proved to be an encouraging rival, and had asserted great pace during the latter part of the race.

By the end, the #04 crew did all they could and won in the LMP2 class, whilst the #52 finished third just over 7 seconds away and secured their title.

PR1 Mathiasen added to their impressive record of IMSA championship titles at Petit Le Mans, and now await their new partnership with Inter Europol Competition next year.

Loser – #83 Iron Dames (GTD): Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting and Doriane Pin

It was a tough pill to swallow for the resilient all-female Iron Dames team, after a single issue threw ‘a spanner in the works’ for a potential first IMSA win in their maiden (Endurance Cup) season.

Doriane Pin had put on a stunning performance in qualifying their #83 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 for second in the GTD class, and third in the entire GTD/GTD Pro field, with a 1:23.795.

She started behind the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus of Ben Barnicoat, and her start showcased her potential to extract the pace out of a car.

Amidst the tightly contested scrap for positions at the front of GTD, she passed both Lexus RC Fs and charged to a 10-second lead, marking a memorable opening stint on a circuit she thoroughly enjoyed driving for the first time.

Caution periods brought down the gap, but her momentum kept going after a prolonged pit stop at the end of the opening hour, which lost them 5-6 positions in the pitlane.

The major moment for them was at the end of the second hour – which was fairly early in a 10-hour race – when an LMP3 car hit their rear-right corner, causing an immediate puncture.

However, when the rear-right wheel refused to go back on, it emerged that suspension damage had been inflicted during the contact, and the Iron Dames mechanics performed a near-10 minute repair job on that corner before heading back out.

They are not a ‘loser’ by the definition of their own doing, especially to persevere and push through the challenges they faced, but rather down to the potential they could have reached in 10-hours.

With the performance the Dames showcased, it may not be too long until we see their pink Lamborghini win in GTD. Unfortunately, that day was never to be on their maiden Petit Le Mans.

Winner – #79 WeatherTech Racing (GTD Pro): Daniel Juncadella, Jules Gounon, Maro Engel

Whilst the #14 Vasser Sullivan team dominated the GTD Pro championship standings, the Endurance Cup was still up for the taking at Petit Le Mans.

Juncadella and Gounon found redemption last time out at Indianapolis, after the previous Lime Rock race was compromised by contact with the #9.

This weekend, the trio of drivers for the #79 Mercedes-AMG GT3 took on both the race win and Endurance Cup title, after their closest rivals – the #3 Corvette and the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus – faced their own calamities which made them score limited ‘endurance’ points at the eight and 10-hour intervals.

Gounon qualified third in the GTD Pro class, but eighth in the entire GTD classification as his lap time was over a second away from the fastest GTD.

Starting and finishing in third (in GTD Pro) was most important for their Endurance Cup title.

After the first two hours, the pit cycles and pass-around procedure during the cautions gave chance for the #79 to lead the GTD field.

By the fourth hour, however, they were sixth in GTD Pro and far down from the front, where the attention was between the #14 and the #3.

So at the first Endurance Cup points interval of four hours, the #14 received 5 points, the #3 with 4 points, and the #79 with 2 points.

Their success was short-lived, when the #14 had run into a sponsor banner and Ben Barnicoat ended up having to park his Lexus on the back-straight.

One hour later, the #3 ground to a halt on track with Tommy Milner behind the wheel as the Corvette C8.R succumbed to transmission issues.

Towards the end, the #79 did receive some pressure from Kevin Estre in the #9 for the GTD Pro win, but Juncadella managed to keep him at bay before building gap through well-executed tyre management, prior to the race ending under caution.

Whilst the #9 did earn some useful Endurance Cup points, they were nowhere near able to challenge the #79 in the Endurance Cup standings.

At the start of the year, the #79 WeatherTech Racing crew grabbed a prestigious win at the Daytona 24 Hours, and finished off the season with a Petit Le Mans victory having survived the chaos and demonstrated good reliability with the Mercedes-AMG.

Loser – #14 Vasser Sullivan (GTD Pro): Jack Hawksworth, Ben Barnicoat, Kyle Kirkwood

At first glance, it may appear unusual to situate the dominantly-run GTD Pro champions as losers, seeing as they ran a sterling campaign throughout the year so to become champions once the race had begun.

More specifically, their race was undone in the strongest case of misfortune at Petit Le Mans, when an off-track moment for Barnicoat at Turn 4 became a race-ending shocker.

He had run into a sponsorship banner, which was weighed down with sandbags, thus dragging with the front of the #14 Lexus RC F GT3 and clung onto the bodywork after a minor dropped curb, consequently tearing off the whole front end of the car.

A small off-track excursion had unexpected ramifications, costing them out of their GTD Pro race lead which was undoubtedly desired after they won the title.

Barnicoat had little choice but to stop on the back straight, and they did not continue any further.

This moment of misfortune should not overshadow their momentous IMSA campaign this year, and Barnicoat and Hawksworth deserve credit for being able to walk away with the championship in hand at the start of Petit Le Mans, but a potential Petit Le Mans victory left their grasp after their off-track incident.

Ahead of the final race of the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar season at Road Atlanta, Motorsport Week explores the championship title contenders from the GTD class to GTP.

The 11th and final round has come around in the blink of an eye and it is set to be a gruelling, sensational 10-hour endurance race which will conclude the ongoing championship fights across five classes.

The revived GTP category name highlights a thrilling title battle whereby the top three competitors are situated just 5 points within each other’s reach.

At first glance on the complex yet unique points system IMSA uses, working out the championship standings could be flawed as an awkward task on the layman viewer.

Points are awarded in qualifying and the race, which maintains the excitement of the championship fights and values consistent qualifying performances, so that drivers target a healthy points haulage from the main race too.

Throughout this article, we highlight the championship battles in each class prior to the Road Atlanta event, whilst exploring appropriate contenders.

About the IMSA WeatherTech formula

IMSA’s 2023 WeatherTech SportsCar package runs five car classes – GTP, LMP2, LMP3, GTD Pro, GTD – and 11 races in total this year, split into four endurance and three sprint events.

There were a selection of rounds which involved specific classes, such as the races at: Long Beach (GTP, GTD Pro, GTD only), Laguna Seca (all but LMP3), Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (all but LMP2), Lime Rock Park (GTD Pro and GTD only), and VIR (GTD Pro and GTD only).

Despite all this, it is most important to acknowledge within each class, there is a Drivers’ and Teams’ Championship for the overall championship and Endurance Cup.

Endurance Cup points are given at equal intervals throughout their races, on a 5–4–3–2 basis (Pos. 1-2-3-Other) for drivers, teams and manufacturers. At Petit Le Mans, it will be awarded at 4–8–10 hour intervals.

Race points are allocated per class: 350 for P1, 320 for P2, and 300 for P3… 260 for P5, then continues in 10 point-intervals down to P30.

In qualifying beforehand, points are given at a 10% value. For instance, 35 points are awarded for pole position for each class.

Additionally for the GTP category, there is a standings for the Manufacturers’ title based on the highest finishing car of the respective make; another is for the Sprint Cup in GTD.

Two full-season/main drivers run in each car, and a third who joins at the endurance rounds, plus a fourth solely for the season-opener 24 Hours of Daytona.

Each car is considered individually as its own in the Teams’ Standings, regardless on some teams running two cars and others running one.

GTD: A dominant display

In this category, the overall Teams’ Championship title has already been secured by #1 Paul Miller Racing, after they started the Battle of the Bricks race at Indianapolis.

Drivers Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow have put on the most dominant GTD pursuit seen in IMSA, running unchallenged for the championship after scoring five wins this year, resulting in 375 points margin ahead of second placed-#27 Heart of Racing after Indy (on 3331).

As the Brickyard race was the final round on the Sprint Cup, the #1 BMW M4 GT3 won the championship on 2355 points as the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 was in second place on 2096.

This commanding effort from Paul Miller Racing means that they will likely win the Drivers’ title at Petit Le Mans, provided they start the race.

With a field of 19 GTDs, the minimum scoring they can achieve if they finish the race, will be 131 points (P19 in qualifying and the race).

On the other hand, things are closer in the Endurance Cup standings. The #27 crew of Ian James, Roman De Angelis, and Marco Sorensen sit on 27 points.

Just one point behind are the #32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 drivers Kenton Koch, Mikael Grenier, and Mike Sheen.

Third place is held by the #1 duo of Sellers and Madison, as well as their endurance driver Corey Lewis on 25 points. In fact, the top-12 teams are covered by 10 points.

GTD Pro: In Vasser Sullivan’s hands

Like the other GTD class, the overall championship title is nearly wrapped up for the professionals, as the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 sits on 3495 points.

They scored a P3 finish at Indianapolis, and only need to start Petit Le Mans in order to win the championship title.

This would ensure Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat will seal the GTD Pro Drivers’ Title with the current 3495 points tally each.

In the Endurance Cup, the #79 WeatherTech Racing duo of Daniel Juncadella, Jules Gounon lead on 33 points. An important note to consider is that at the 6 Hours of the Glen, some teams across the whole WeatherTech field chose to run solely two drivers whereas others brought in the third endurance driver.

As Maro Engel did not enter the Glen, he sits on 29 points, behind the #3 Corvette duo of Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia on 30.

Incidentally, Corvette chose to do the same in not bringing their endurance driver of Tommy Milner, who sits on 25 points behind the #14 duo’s 28.

If WeatherTech Racing, Corvette or Vasser Sullivan win the Endurance Cup, it will be awarded to their full-season drivers and the team.

LMP3: The final hurrah

Petit Le Mans will be the final WeatherTech race for the LMP3, although it will continue in the feeder VP Racing Sportscar Challenge series.

Naturally, the glory at Petit Le Mans will be for the champion, and more so for the LMP3 class-winner.

Gar Robinson, who will make his move into LMP2 next year with his current team Riley and teammate Felipe Fraga, leads the standings by a substantial margin.

His individual points tally of 1838 makes him undoubtedly the favourite to win the Drivers’ Title, in the #74 Riley Ligier JS P320, setting himself up on a high for his LMP2 debut next year.

The closest rival is the #17 AWA Ligier duo of Anthony Mannella and Wayne Boyd on 1594 points.

LMP2: A tight battle

With the departure of LMP3, the secondary prototype class is set to have an expanded grid in 2024 of mostly Oreca 07s, and one Ligier JS P217.

At the Battle on the Bricks, the #11 TDS Racing duo of Mikkel Jensen and Steven Thomas charged to victory which bumped them into the LMP2 championship lead, which was held prior by the #52 PR1 Mathiasen drivers of Ben Keating and Paul Loup Chatin.

The #52 have shown promising form in qualifying, thanks to the efforts of a certain WEC champion and two-time GTE-Am Le Mans winner.

Heading into Petit Le Mans, these two teams will be protagonists as just 20 points separate them.

Up to 35 points are awarded in qualifying, so the pressure will be on for each of them to perform well on securing their grid positions, as one or the other can retain or retake the championship lead.

Quite simply, whoever finishes ahead will take the Drivers’/Teams’ Championship, so the maximum 350 points from the Petit Le Mans victory will be the maximum achievement, compared to 320 for P2, and 300 for the final podium spot.

Both of them will be expected to compete at the sharp end of the LMP2 field.

The #04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR (Algarve Pro Racing) team are still in the game, just 100 points behind the standings leader on 1580.

If turmoil strikes for the #11 and #52, crucially resulting in a DNF result from a major incident, then the #04 will take advantage on a points haulage which could put them as champions.

GTP: Top 3 battle

In the list of IMSA classes, the best title fight has been saved for last.

In the debut season of the GTP era, it has delivered fantastic races in flying colours, as there has yet to be a repeat race winner so far.

Only five points covers the top three competitors, with the factor of consistent points haulages making the difference.

An example would be the #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V Series.R who leads on 2460, after seemingly contending for the win at Indianapolis, but was unable to match the pace of Porsche Penske who won.

Nevertheless, the #31 finished in fourth which was enough to jump the #10 Konica Minolta Acura for the lead who finished behind them in fifth position.

Porsche Penske struggled to deliver strong results towards the beginning of the season, but the recent results at Indy, has brought the #6 back up into contention.

Arguably, the same could be said for BMW M Team RLL, who upon closer examination have run a bitter-sweet campaign between their two BMW M Hybrid V8s.

The #24 has struggled with reliability problems, though remembering the #25 stopping on the side of the main straight banking at the Daytona 24 Hours, makes it a truly unlikely sight for them to now be in a feasible position where they can win their first IMSA GTP Championship title.

Road Atlanta is a fast, engaging circuit with its famous ‘esses’ section from Turns 3 to 5, and the downhill Turn 12 which leads drivers back onto the start-finish straight.

Last year, it was the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura DPi which took victory after the drama from last year when both Chip Ganassi Cadillacs collided and the #10 Konica Minolta crashed into a GT car.

This year poses the same grounds for drama and action, but it won’t be so advantageous for the #60 to target their third 2023 win.

They struggled to turn a strong result at the Brickyard after Tom Blomqvist made (minor) unavoidable front-end contact at the first corner, with a spinning #01 Cadillac of Sebastien Bourdais.

Along with teammate Colin Braun, they finished sixth, and Helio Castroneves will join the pair for Petit Le Mans.

Porsche Penske finished on a high with a dominant 1-2 in qualifying and the race, evidently so in the latter situation when their consistent pace was unmatched by others.

Petit Le Mans is, however, a different race entirely to the incident-filled, sprint at the Brickyard; long-term reliability will be a key factor for teams to refrain from going behind the wall, as well as smoothly executed pit stops to keep them in the game, even when a caution is deployed.

It requires drivers to behave in the dark, final hours of the race, as being too ambitious on traffic management can give way to rival teams making the most of the situation at the most crucial phase.

It is all to play for at Road Atlanta, both for the decorated overall win and the very first GTP title.

The 10-hour Petit Le Mans season finale will close the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Road Atlanta, with a released list of 54 entries from five categories.

Former F1 champion Jenson Button is one of the highlights on the unveiled pre-event entry list, who is set to debut in the #5 Porsche 963 GTP run by JDC Miller MotorSports.

As announced earlier in the year, he will join full-season drivers Mike Rockenfeller and Tijmen van der Helm.

“I love endurance racing,” Button said in an interview with IMSA.

“I love the teamwork that goes into it, and how drivers have to work together rather than being rivals within the team.

“The racing is just awesome.”

Team Penske’s Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden will make his GTP debut as the third driver in Porsche Penske’s #7 GTP entry, which completed a 1-2 finish at the previous sprint race at Indianapolis (Road Course).

Proton Competition are set to take on their first IMSA endurance race of the year, with the full WEC driver crew enlisted for the challenge ahead.

A thrilling title fight is set to be finalised in the GTP class, with just five points covering the top-three in the standings. The #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V Series.R leads on 2460 points, as the #10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 trails behind on 2457, and the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 sits in third place.

Scott McLaughlin, who finished third in the Indycar Series for the Penske outfit, will return to the wheel of the #8 Tower Motorsports Oreca 07-Gibson, after claiming an LMP2 win earlier in the year at Sebring.

The return of AF Corse and Rick Ware Racing closes off nine entries in the category.

The 2023 edition of Petit Le Mans will mark the final IMSA WeatherTech race for the LMP3 category, which has eight entries from three Duqueine D08s and four Ligier JS P320s.

GTD Pro includes eight entries, with the likes of AF Corse and Iron Lynx returning in Italian machinery, as the Ferrari 296 GT3 has yet to race at Petit Le Mans although it finished second in GTD Pro at the Glenn, with credit to Ferrari GT works drivers Davide Rigon and Daniel Serra.

Rigon and Serra will front the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari once again, this time with additional input from one of this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans winner, Alessandro Pier Guidi.

Corey Lewis will join the #1 Paul Miller Racing GTD champions Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow, as the trio will attempt to add onto their record-breaking five win tally with a targeted sixth at Road Atlanta.

Furthermore in the 19 entries for GTD, the Iron Dames return with a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 with drivers Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting and Doriane Pin.

Cetilar Racing will make it a third Ferrari 296 GT3 entry for the race, featuring Roberto Lacorte, Giorgio Sernagiotto, and Ferrari Hypercar driver Antonio Fuoco.

The 26th annual Petit Le Mans race will take place next week on 14 October, which will conclude the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech season.

Editor’s Note

Sean Creech Motorsport has announced their withdrawal from the race, reducing the LMP3 count down to seven.

Rick Ware Racing in LMP2 has withdrawn their #51 Oreca 07 from this weekend which reduces the overall field to 52 cars, eight in LMP2. Motorsport Week has reached out for an official comment.

Triple Le Mans class winner Darren Turner will join The Heart of Racing’s GTD line-up for the upcoming six-hour enduro at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

Turner will partner team regulars Ian James and Roman de Angelis behind the wheel of the #23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

The six-hour race was moved to Road Atlanta from Watkins Glen International after travel restrictions made it impossible to hold the race in the state of New York.

Turner has previous success at the Venue, as he won Petit Le Mans in the GT1 class in 2006, racing the Aston Martin DBR9.

The Briton recently stepped down from Aston Martin Racing’s GTE Am line-up in the FIA World Endurance Championship to focus on development of the marque’s Valkyrie hypercar.

“It’s exciting to be joining The Heart of Racing near the beginning of their journey with Aston Martin”, said Turner. “The team has shown great potential so far in their first season with the Vantage GT3 and I’m looking forward to working with them to extract the potential from the car.

I love racing in America and Road Atlanta is a fantastic venue, where I’ve always had success. Let’s hope there is some more around the corner!”

“It will be a great opportunity for us to have Darren with us for the 6-hour race”, added Ian James. “His skills behind the wheel and knowledge of the car will be extremely beneficial in aiding our continued progress with setup and speed, and what we hope will be a great result.”