Метка: Detroit

Why IMSA’s downtown Detroit GTP debut was divisive among drivers

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Thanks to the vision of Roger Penske and the Downtown Detroit Partnership, the event – which was a Formula 1 round from 1982 to 1988 – returned last year as a flagship IndyCar Series round in the shadow of General Motors’ imposing towers of its Renaissance Center that forms its global HQ – for now, at least.

The streets of Detroit are also no stranger to sportscars, with Trans-Am (which supported F1 in the mid-’80s and IndyCar from 1989-’91) and the American Le Mans Series (in the late 2000s) gracing previous events.

After racing on another temporary Detroit track, at nearby Belle Isle Park from 2007-2022, IMSA’s premier series made its debut this weekend on the tight downtown circuit, after its second-tier Pilot Challenge series was the guinea pig for its resurrection last year.

That race was best remembered for a wild crash, where Robert Megennis’s BMW mounted Rory van der Steur’s Aston Martin at Turn 3 and vaulted over the top of it. You could see why IMSA’s teams didn’t want to risk their precious LMDh cars in their inaugural GTP season with the electrical hybrid system, as well as its GTD cars – especially for some with the 24 Hours of Le Mans just weeks away.

So it came as little surprise that this year’s 100-minute event was interrupted five times by full-course cautions for crashes or debris.

Read Also:

After an occasionally chaotic race, the response was mixed to say the least.

For instance, Porsche’s Felipe Nasr, who finished fourth after a sparkling comeback after his 963 was hit by another car under full-course yellow and had to change a tire, purred: “This race offered everything a motor racing fan could wish for. It was a huge challenge for us drivers.”

But Richard Westbrook, who was punted into a track-blocking spin in his JDC-Miller 963, ranted: “To be honest, the track is not suitable for racing with prototypes in the top GTP class. It was like being in a bumper car. The damage to the vehicles worsened lap by lap.

“It was unacceptable – simply unacceptable. I found it frustrating. I have such fond memories of the times we competed on the beautiful Belle Isle in Detroit.”

#85 JDC/Miller MotorSports Porsche 963: Tijmen van der Helm, Richard Westbrook

#85 JDC/Miller MotorSports Porsche 963: Tijmen van der Helm, Richard Westbrook

Photo by: Phillip Abbott / Motorsport Images

Detroit joins Long Beach as the second street track on IMSA’s 11-round schedule, and the long-established nature of the Californian venue means its suitability is unquestioned. The complaints about Detroit’s layout were focused on its bumpy surface, cramped layout and switchback turns, although the GTP cars were hitting 185mph on the long straight into Turn 3 – which at least allowed them to lap the GTD Pro class cars with ease with an overspeed of 35mph or so.

“It’s better than I expected to drive honestly,” polewinner Nick Tandy of the factory Porsche team told Motorsport.com after practice. “Because our cars are quite big, physically, they are pretty dimensionally large vehicles for a racing car.

“We were a little bit worried about how they were going to be able to navigate through all the tight sections here, but actually it’s not so bad. Although it’s short, the track feels fast, these cars accelerate a lot faster in first and second gear than they do in fourth and fifth gear out of a corner.

“So, you constantly feel this massive acceleration factor that we don’t get anywhere else, really. Even at Long Beach, there’s a lot more second and third gear stuff, but here almost everywhere here, each corner, is first gear for us. So, it feels fast enough, and the tight sections are actually quite manageable in our big GTP cars.

“The traffic situation is totally different thing, of course, but when you’re by yourself driving around the layout, it’s pretty good fun.”

#6 Porsche Penske Motorsports, Porsche 963, GTP: Mathieu Jaminet, Nick Tandy

#6 Porsche Penske Motorsports, Porsche 963, GTP: Mathieu Jaminet, Nick Tandy

Photo by: Richard Dole / Motorsport Images

The GTD Pro class made up the other half of the grid, and it too sparked some wild moments as the race was effectively decided when Corvette’s Nicky Catsburg and the Lexus of Ben Barnicoat collided at Turn 3, allowing the AO Racing Porsche 911 of Seb Priaulx and Laurin Heinrich to snatch the victory.

“I found it quite exciting,” said Heinrich. “I’ve raced at the Norisring in DTM, which is only four corners, and I’ve done Monaco in Porsche Supercup, which is actually a lot closer to this track.

“I think racing for two years at Monaco really prepared me quite well for this track, it’s quite bumpy, you run to the walls everywhere.”

Priaulx added: “I’m not really a track designer, but it’s a bit tight. We won, so it doesn’t really matter how the track is!”

Another dimension to IMSA’s pair street races is that Long Beach is Acura’s home race – it’s the title sponsor as it’s U.S. HQ is in nearby Torrance – while Detroit is very much Cadillac’s turf.

#10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06: Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque

#10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06: Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque

Photo by: Brett Farmer / Motorsport Images

The irony of Caddy winning at Long Beach and Acura at Detroit was not lost on race winner Felipe Albuquerque when Motorsport.com pointed that out after the race: “I was thinking about that! Last year, we wanted badly to win in Long Beach, because that is missing for Acura and things didn’t go our way.

“It’s a bit ironic to come over to the home of Cadillac and win under their towers. We have these beautiful trophies, so it feels like we’re taking a Cadillac home! In racing, nothing is what you expect it to be, you go out there and things happen – nothing is predictable.”

The No. 10 Acura, which he shared with Ricky Taylor, is the fifth different GTP winner in as many races this season. Not bad in a field of only 10 entries!

Taylor – who agreed with Tandy in that the track was fun to drive despite it being so narrow – pointed out that the promotion and the volunteers who make this event happen were “spectacular” and “a difference maker from everywhere else we go”.

#10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti, Acura ARX-06, GTP: Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque

#10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti, Acura ARX-06, GTP: Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque

Photo by: Richard Dole / Motorsport Images

Conclusion

And Taylor’s last point hits the nail on the head of this event – like Long Beach, Detroit is a promotional vehicle for IMSA’s manufacturers first and foremost. They race to sell road cars, not just for racing’s sake.

Sure, the bump on the long straight – which almost launched Pato O’Ward’s Arrow McLaren IndyCar into orbit in warm-up – needs grounding down. Albuquerque is right that Turns 6 and 7 could do with resurfacing, just to smooth the ride so they can get their power down without risk of shunting.

“I actually think Monaco is smoother now than any track in America,” he quipped. “So, I think there’s a middle ground we could find.

“I respect the bumps and the characteristics, but if some spots could be improved, I think it could be a little better.”

As an event it’s an absolute must for the schedule. As a race track, it would be great if organisers could make a few tweaks and ask the city to spend some bucks on resurfacing works ahead of next year.

But with brutal winters and steaming hot summers, it’s never going to be a smooth ride around Detroit…

Additional reporting by Joey Barnes

Read Also:

Watch: BrrrakeF1 — The Tech Behind the Most Exciting Racing on the Planet



Source link

Acura beats Porsche with stunning pass in wild street fight

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


On the series’ debut on the tight and twisty 1.654-mile, nine-turn temporary street circuit in downtown Detroit, Taylor beat Porsche’s Mathieu Jaminet after pulling off a great overtaking move inside the final 25 minutes in GTP.

AO Racing’s Seb Priaulx and Laurin Heinrich won the GTD Pro class in their Porsche 911.

After the pair of factory-backed Porsche Penske Motorsport 963s swept the front row in qualifying, poleman Nick Tandy’s #6 car led Dane Cameron’s #7 entry to the green flag.

Albuquerque’s #10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 braked late and went around the outside of a cautious Cameron at the opening turn to grab second, as Sebastien Bourdais (#01 Chip Ganassi Racing-run Cadillac V-Series.R) went down his inside to claim third.

The full-course yellow caution flew at the end of the opening lap as Harry Tincknell’s GTD class Ford Mustang ground to a halt before even making the first corner.

At the restart, Tandy led Albuquerque, Bourdais, Cameron and the two BMW M Hybrid V8s of Philipp Eng and Nick Yelloly. But Eng was soon given a drive-through penalty, losing his hard-earned fifth place for changing lanes before the start.

Tandy pulled away, despite battling with a malfunctioning radio, leaving Albuquerque, Bourdais and Cameron to scrap over second. Pipo Derani, who crashed in qualifying, exited the #31 Action Express-run Cadillac after 10 minutes to hand over to Jack Aitken in a bold strategy play.

After 25 minutes, and having predicted issues in GTD traffic ahead of the race, Tandy outbraked himself at Turn 3 and punted factory Ferrari racer Daniel Serra’s Conquest Racing 296 into a spin. The collision led to a drive-through penalty for the race leader.

“I just missed when they were checking up, I apologize to them,” said Tandy, who explained he was fiddling with his radio leads as he couldn’t hear his pits clearly.

That left Albuquerque leading Bourdais and Cameron, although Bourdais dived for the pits after 30 minutes to hand over to Renger van der Zande. The call was made late, however, and Bourdais hadn’t loosened his belts, which led to a slow driver change.

Albuquerque pitted to hand over to Ricky Taylor a lap later, and he rejoined with an extended advantage. Cameron went a lap longer before stopping to hand off to Felipe Nasr, who rejoined ahead of Taylor.

Yelloly ran longer in the lead and pitted after 37 minutes. He handed over to Connor De Phillippi, who promptly stuffed the car into the Turn 3 tire stack on his out lap.

That cycled the penalized Tandy back to the lead, and he rattled off a sequence of fastest laps. He dived into the pits, to hand over to Jaminet, just before the second caution period, as De Phillippi crashed his BMW again, smashing its left-rear corner against the Turn 2 wall.

Jaminet rejoined in the lead, ahead of stable-mate Nasr, Ricky Taylor, van der Zande and Jesse Krohn in the surviving #24 BMW. But Nasr had to pit under yellow to switch a punctured tire, dropping him from second to eighth.

The race restarted with 47 minutes remaining, with Nasr immediately gaining three spots by driving the outside of Richard Westbrook’s JDC-Miller Porsche 963, Gianmaria Bruni’s Proton-run variant and Krohn’s BMW at Turn 3, and he then sliced past Louis Deletraz’s #40 Acura (shared with Jordan Taylor) further around the lap.

But the race was quickly neutralized once again, when Westbrook was pushed into a spin by Aitken and blocked the track.

The race went green again just past the hour mark, with Jaminet scampering away from Taylor, van der Zande and Nasr. Taylor stayed within a second of the leader, as van der Zande and Nasr fell away.

Taylor grabbed the lead at Turn 3 with 25 minutes to go, making a bold lunge down the inside of the hairpin, after Jaminet had been slightly hampered while lapping a GTD Mustang.

The yellow flew again with 20 minutes to go to deal with a debris that was accruing on the main straight. It went green again with 15m to go, with Jaminet keen to avenge Taylor, while Nasr attacked van der Zande.

Bruni made a move on Krohn to snatch sixth, with Aitken following suit. But as Bruni attacked Deletraz, he got swiped by Aitken and slammed into the wall approaching Turn 4. That led to a fifth caution, as Bruni’s car was stranded.

Taylor survived the final restart with seven minutes remaining to record the #10 Acura’s first win since Road America in 2022.

#77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R: Laurin Heinrich, Sebastian Priaulx

#77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R: Laurin Heinrich, Sebastian Priaulx

Photo by: Josh Tons / Motorsport Images

Disaster for Corvette, Porsche beats battered Lexus in GTD Pro

In GTD Pro, under the shadows of General Motors’ giant Renaissance Center towers that dominate the skyline here, the pressure was on Chevrolet’s Corvette squad to perform.

After scoring a 1-2 in qualifying, Antonio Garcia’s #3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R led Tommy Milner’s #4 to the green, ahead of Jack Hawksworth (#14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F) and Seb Priaulx in AO Racing’s #77 Porsche 911 GT3 R.

But it all went wrong almost immediately for Garcia, who pitted at the end of the opening lap with an alternator issue.

New leader Milner handed over to Nicky Catsburg after 40 minutes, changing just one tire during the stop. Ben Barnicoat took over from Hawksworth in the Lexus, with Laurin Heinrich in for Priaulx in the ‘Rexy’ Porsche.

Straight after a mid-race restart, leaders Barnicoat and Catsburg clashed at Turn 3, the Lexus punting the Corvette into a spin after hitting the inside wall.

That promoted Heinrich (who had tagged the spun Corvette and suffered splitter damage) to the lead, but he had to come to a halt to avoid the spun Westbrook, and was almost collected by Barnicoat – who continued in second despite pieces falling off it.

Barnicoat successfully battling bent steering and a loose hood to chase Heinrich to the finish, while the Pfaff McLaren 720S of Marvin Kirchhofer was set to take third when he was punted off by Alex Riberas (Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage) at Turn 3 in the closing stages.

Cla   Nº   Driver   Entrant / Car   Laps   Time   Delay/Retirement 
1 10  Ricky Taylor
F.Albuquerque		 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti
Acura		 75 1:40’02.133  
2 6  Nick Tandy
Mathieu Jaminet		 Porsche Penske Motorsport
Porsche		 75 1:40’03.265 1.132
3 01  R.van der Zande
S.Bourdais		 Cadillac Racing
Cadillac		 75 1:40’06.331 4.198
4 7  Dane Cameron
Felipe Nasr		 Porsche Penske Motorsport
Porsche		 75 1:40’07.275 5.142
5 40  Jordan Taylor
Louis Delétraz		 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti
Acura		 75 1:40’12.253 10.120
6 31  Pipo Derani
Jack Aitken		 Whelen Cadillac Racing
Cadillac		 75 1:40’12.492 10.359
7 24  Jesse Krohn
Philipp Eng		 BMW M Team RLL
BMW		 75 1:40’12.926 10.793
8 85  T.van der Helm
R.Westbrook		 JDC-Miller Motorsports
Porsche		 74 1:40’16.425 1 lap /14.292
9 77  Laurin Heinrich
Seb Priaulx		 AO Racing
Porsche		 74 1:40’28.354 1 lap /26.221
10 14  Jack Hawksworth
Ben Barnicoat		 Vasser Sullivan
Lexus		 74 1:40’31.239 1 lap /29.106
11 23  Ross Gunn
Alex Riberas		 Heart of Racing Team
Aston Martin		 74 1:40’33.223 1 lap /31.090
12 15  Parker Thompson
F.Montecalvo		 Vasser Sullivan
Lexus		 74 1:40’33.819 1 lap /31.686
13 1  Bryan Sellers
Madison Snow		 Paul Miller Racing
BMW		 74 1:40’44.260 1 lap /42.127
14 65  Joey Hand
Dirk Müller		 Ford Multimatic Motorsports
Ford		 73 1:40’47.978 2 laps /45.845
15 35  Daniel Serra
Albert Costa		 Conquest Racing
Ferrari		 72 1:38’11.000 Not running
16 9  M.Kirchhöfer
Oliver Jarvis		 Pfaff Motorsports
McLaren		 71 1:36’57.349 Not running
17 4  Tommy Milner
Nicky Catsburg		 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports
Chevrolet		 69 1:40’48.643 6 laps /46.510
18 5  Gianmaria Bruni
Bent Viscaal		 Proton Competition
Porsche		 65 1:27’07.954 Not running
19 3  Antonio García
Alexander Sims		 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports
Chevrolet		 59 1:40’47.282 16 laps /45.149
20 64  Harry Tincknell
M.Rockenfeller		 Ford Multimatic Motorsports
Ford		 51 1:40’49.244 24 laps /47.111
21 25  C.De Phillippi
Nick Yelloly		 BMW M Team RLL
BMW		 33 39’49.265 Not running



Source link

Detroit race traffic will be “unlike any other” track in U.S.

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


IMSA’s premier sportscar series makes its racing debut at the tight and twisty 1.654-mile, nine-turn temporary street circuit in downtown Detroit on Saturday, with its GTP and GTD Pro classes making up a 21-car field.

Tandy won the pole from Porsche Penske Motorsport team-mate Dane Cameron by 0.124s in qualifying on Friday afternoon, and although his time was 3.7s quicker than the fastest GTD Pro car, the difference in the way the classes make their lap time will pose a unique challenge when it comes to lappery.

“What’s so different here is going to be the interaction between the two classes,” Tandy told Motorsport.com. “I think it’s something that’s different here to anywhere else.

“We’re basically quicker than the GTD cars in three areas, which are the three big straights. But pretty much all the braking zones, because of the ABS they have, and a lot of the sharp corners, because they’re a lot shorter wheelbase, the GTDs are actually quicker than the GTPs.

“So, if we don’t pass a car that we’re behind by Turn 3, we will not pass them until Turn 1 on the next lap if we’re lucky. We won’t get held up so much, although we lose time in dirty air, of course, but we cannot stay on their bumper because of the ABS and the short wheelbase that allows them to rotate the car faster.

“They are genuinely quicker in all the slow corners. So, the class interaction is going to be different for sure.”

Read Also:

#6 Team Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Nick Tandy

#6 Team Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Nick Tandy

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images

Tandy says that Turns 1 and 3 are the only true passing places for the big and heavy cars, although the GTPs with their electrical hybrid boost system are topping 185mph on the long straight into Turn 3.

He says that means overtaking among the prototypes will be limited: “In class, there is no passing zone, there has to be a mistake made – because even in the draft down the back down to Turn 3, you’ve got to be on the gearbox out of Turn 2, which is almost impossible to do.

“Because this circuit has so many slow speed exits all the time, so you have the whole accordion effect where the car in front will always get on the gas at one car length before the previous one. If you are close with a class rival into braking for Turn 3, yeah, anything could happen, we brake at over 500 feet so it’s quite a big braking zone.

“But, in sportscar stuff, there’s lots of opportunity that comes up with multi-class racing, so you’ve got to be ready to take your opportunity.

“As for dealing with GTD traffic, it’s even tough for us to get a run out of the last corner and pass into Turn 1, they’ve got to be willing to let us go. It’s totally different to even Long Beach [IMSA’s other street sprint event], for example.”

Read Also:



Source link

Porsche 1-2 in GTP qualifying, Corvette sweeps GTD Pro

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


On the series’ debut on the tight and twisty 1.654-mile, nine-turn temporary street circuit in downtown Detroit, Tandy beat Penske stable-mate Dane Cameron and Cadillac’s Sebastien Bourdais to the fastest time in qualifying for GTP, while Antonio Garcia scored GTD Pro pole position as Corvette swept the field on home turf.

There was an immediate strategy play, as both of Porsche Penske Motorsport 963s pitted for fresh Michelins, which would mean some extra warm-up lap pain in the quickfire 15-minute session but would produce more grip later.

Pipo Derani set the benchmark in the #31 Action Express-run Cadillac V-Series.R at 1m06.861s before Filipe Albuquerque’s Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 beat that with 1m06.539s.

With the new tires up to temperature, Cameron snatched P1 in the #7 Penske Porsche by lapping in 1m05.770s, over three tenths clear of Derani.

With five minutes remaining, Albuquerque got within 0.066s of Cameron in P2 with 1m05.836s, with Jordan Taylor getting into the top three with the #40 Acura.

Tandy rose to third in the #6 Porsche, 0.079s off the pace, as the clock ticked towards the end of the session.

Bourdais (Chip Ganassi Racing-run Cadillac) hit the top spot with three minutes to go at 1m05.762s, with Albuquerque just 0.005s behind. But Tandy was the man to watch, grabbing P1 with 2m30s remaining with 1m05.390s and Cameron making it a PPM 1-2 – despite both cars clipping the walls on their fast laps.

“It’s a tiny, narrow track and these are big cars,” said Tandy. “To find the limit, you have to go over it. I touched the wall twice in one lap, and that should’ve been a faster one.”

Derani then crashed at Turn 5, hitting the wall with first the rear and then the front of his Caddy, bringing out the red flag and ending the session.

Bourdais will start behind the Porsches in third, ahead of the Acuras of Albuquerque and Taylor. The BMWs, which looked strong in practice, will start sixth and eighth. Philipp Eng, who topped FP2, was six tenths off the pace, with Nick Yelloly over a second off.

Bent Viscaal will start seventh in the Proton Porsche 963, with Tijmen van der Helm’s JDC-Miller version in ninth. Derani will bring up the rear of the class, as his fastest two times were deleted.

#3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R: Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims

#3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R: Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims

Photo by: Brett Farmer / Motorsport Images

Garcia leads Corvette 1-2 in GTD Pro

In GTD Pro, under the shadows of General Motors’ giant Renaissance Center towers that dominate the skyline here, the pressure was on Chevrolet’s Corvette squad to perform.

Tommy Milner rocketed his #4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R around to 1m09.949s to set the benchmark, with team-mate Antonio Garcia just 0.019s behind in the #3 sister car.

Seb Priaulx gatecrashed their party in AO Racing’s #77 Porsche 911 GT3 R, his 1m09.964s beating Garcia by 0.004s with five minutes of qualifying to go.

Priaulx then briefly snatched P1 with 1m09.794s until Garcia denied him moments later on a 1m09.695s, but Milner beat them both with 1m09.663s in a pulsating battle for pole.

Garcia switched the ’Vette order by producing 1m09.458s and then 1m09.227s. On his final lap, he unleashed a mighty 1m09.092s to seal the deal.

Milner trimmed his time down to 1m09.428s, but that was 0.336s shy of pole – but he came perilously close to shunting at Turn 1.

Jack Hawksworth was best of the rest in the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F, his 1m09.626s over half a second off the pace of Garcia.

Priaulx will start fourth, ahead of Factory Ferrari racer Daniel Serra, who produced 1m09.779s on Conquest Racing’s debut with its 296 in the all-pro class.



Source link

BMW pips Porsche, Cadillac by a tenth in FP2

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO



On the series’ debut on the tight and twisty 1.654-mile, nine-turn temporary street circuit in downtown Detroit, Eng beat Nick Tandy’s Porsche and Cadillac’s Sebastien Bourdais to the fastest time in this two-hour session for GTP and GTD Pro cars.

The FP1 pacesetting #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 of Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet was given a 10-minute hold at the start of the session due to a tire carryover infringement. The early stages were interrupted anyway by a red flag after the #64 Ford Mustang GTD entry of Harry Tincknell went off at Turn 1.

The #7 sister PPM car of Dane Cameron set the benchmark at 1m07.372s before being pipped by Pipo Derani’s Action Express-run Cadillac V-Series.R on 1m07.308s, who took a trip down the Turn 1 runoff after setting the fastest time.

Renger van der Zande then made it a Caddy 1-2 in the #01 Chip Ganassi Racing-run example, beating Derani’s time by 0.156s with 1m07.152s. Another red flag was waved just after van der Zande visited the Turn 8 runoff.

Cameron restored Porsche’s advantage by lapping in 1m07.120s just before Jaminet went even faster with 1m07.063s in the #6 car. Cameron’s response was a 1m06.600s as the session ticked into its second hour, four tenths clear of van der Zande and Jesse Krohn (#24 BMW M Hybrid V8) and Jaminet.

Felipe Nasr took over the pacesetting #7 Porsche from Cameron but immediately copped a drive-through penalty for a pit exit violation, just before a third, very brief, red flag.

Jack Aitken (in the AXR Caddy in place of Derani) vaulted up to second, 0.376s away from Cameron’s top time, before Filipe Albuquerque’s Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 beat that with 1m06.882s to go P2 instead.

A fourth red flag was required to retrieve the stranded Pfaff McLaren GTD car of Oliver Jarvis from the Turn 1 runoff. That set up a final 20 minutes of practice before qualifying later, and Sebastien Bourdais (#01 Cadillac) was the next to take a shot at Cameron’s time, falling short by 0.274s

Nick Yelloly finally toppled Cameron in his #25 RLL-run BMW M Hybrid V8, recording a 1m06.482s, before Eng beat that by 0.134s in the #24 sister car with 1m06.348s.

Into the closing moments, Bourdais split the BMWs with 1m06.470s, before Tandy got to within exactly a tenth of Eng to grab P2.

Bourdais dropped to third, ahead of Yelloly, Nasr, Ricky Taylor (#10 Acura), Aitken, Jordan Taylor (#40 Acura), Bent Viscaal (Proton Porsche) and Tijmen van der Helm (JDC-Miller Porsche).

Corvette 1-2 in GTD Pro

In GTD Pro, Antonio Garcia set the early pace at 1m10.009s in his #3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R, with Tommy Milner making it a Chevy 1-2 in the #4 sister car – albeit a quarter of a second away from his team-mate’s pace.

Garcia chipped away at his fastest time, working down to 1m09.821s, but Milner later beat that with 1m09.654s.

Seb Priaulx was best of the rest in AO Racing’s #77 Porsche 911 GT3 R, 0.229s off the pace of the Corvettes.



Source link

Porsche fastest in FP1 after red flag for manhole cover fix

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO



On the series’ debut on the tight and twisty 1.654-mile, nine-turn temporary street circuit in downtown Detroit, Tandy beat Nick Yelloly’s BMW and Ricky Taylor’s Acura to the fastest time in the opening 90-minute session for GTP and GTD Pro cars.

Tandy consistently set the initial pace, working down to 1m08.390s on his opening stint, as teams discovered whether their simulations agreed with reality over the bumps and hard turns that are typical of American street courses.

The best of the rest early on was Gianmaria Bruni, the ex-Minardi F1 racer getting within 0.039s in the customer Proton 963, and Felipe Nasr made it a Porsche 1-2-3.

The session was then interrupted after 26 minutes for a manhole cover to be attended to on the backstretch. It resumed after a 16-minute delay.

Connor De Phillippi #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 leapt to the top of the times with a 1m08.097s. Mathieu Jaminet took over from Tandy in the #6 and improved to within a second of De Phillippi with 1m08.193s.

The fastest time was then pipped, by 0.003s, by Filipe Albuquerque’s Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06, which unleashed 1m08.053s. That was briefly beaten by Sebastien Bourdais in the Chip Ganassi-run Cadillac V-Series.R, dipping into the 1m07s bracket with 1m07.976s.

Tandy reclaimed P1 inside the final 10 minutes of the session with 1m07.811s, but Ricky Taylor (in the #10 Acura for Albuquerque) beat it with 1m07.705s. Tandy wasn’t done and responded with a sequence of 1m07.558s, 1m07.242s and 1m06.899s.

Fellow Brit Yelloly took over from De Phillippi in the #25 BMW and got within six tenths of Tandy with 1m07.479s. Taylor ended up third but was eight tenths in arrears, with the #24 BMW of Philipp Eng in fourth.

Renger van der Zande graced the Turn 1 and Turn 3 run-offs on his way to fifth in the CGR Cadillac, ahead of Bruni. Jack Aitken was seventh in the Action Express-run Caddy, ahead of Dane Cameron’s #7 Porsche, Louis Deletraz (Acura) and Tijmen van der Helm (JDC Porsche).

Corvette beats Mustang in GTD Pro muscle car clash

In GTD Pro, Dirk Muller set the early pace as Ford was clearly keen to show off its new Multimatic Mustang’s abilities on a track that’s in the shadow of General Motors’ global HQ at the Renaissance Center.

But Chevrolet struck back almost immediately, with Tommy Milner taking P1 in his #4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R and it soon became a 1-2 with Antonio Garcia joining the party in the #3 sister car.

Ferrari took the top spot after the 20-minute mark, as Albert Costa produced 1m12.540s on Conquest Racing’s debut in the all-pro class, pipping Milner by 0.057s.

Milner then paid a visit to the Turn 1 run-off before rejoining and lowering his pace to 1m12.220s, which was topped by Garcia at 1m11.815s. Milner subsequently beat that with 1m11.767s, to lead the class by 0.048s.

Following the red flag for the manhole cover repair, Costa retook the class lead with 1m10.992s before Alexander Sims took over from Garcia and produced 1m10.509s.

In for Muller, Joey Hand jumped up to second in the #65 Mustang with a 1m10.846s, over a third of a second off the pace, but just ahead of Milner and Costa.



Source link

Conquest Ferrari squad adds Serra for Detroit IMSA GTD Pro class entry

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Eric Bachelart’s team makes the jump as there is no pro-am GTD class presence at the event, which is labeled the Detroit SportsCar Classic.

Regular driver Albert Costa will be joined in its Ferrari 296 GT3 by Brazilian Serra – a two-time Le Mans GTE Pro class winner – for the 100-minute sprint race on 1 June.

“I am very happy to be returning to racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and for the first time with Conquest Racing,” said Serra, a three-time Brazilian Stock Car champion. “I have previously had the opportunity to work with Eric Bachelart back in 2016, and I am excited to work together again.

“We are putting in the work to be very well prepared for the weekend in Detroit, and doing all we can in hopes of achieving a great result.”

After IMSA’s premier class raced 12 times since 2007 at the nearby Belle Isle Park, the series moves to the downtown street course constructed around the Renaissance Center, the global home of General Motors.

The ultra-tight, 1.654-mile, nine-turn circuit was christened, in sportscar terms, by the second-tier IMSA Pilot Challenge championship last season.

#34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3: Manny Franco, Albert Costa Balboa

#34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3: Manny Franco, Albert Costa Balboa

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images

The team is contesting the full season in the pro-am class, where Manny Franco drives alongside Costa.

“This will be a new experience for me,” said Costa. “I’m looking forward to sharing the car with Daniel, as a Ferrari factory driver he’s coming into the team with a lot of knowledge.

“This is a great opportunity for both myself and the team, and I’m very thankful to Eric Bachelart, Manny Franco and Ferrari for the chance to drive in the GTD Pro class.

“We showed a lot of potential during our previous race on an urban track. Our Ferrari 296 GT3 performed well in that setting, and I’m hoping we’ll be able to showcase the same speed and secure a great result for the team.”

Another team that’s elevated a car to the all-pro class is Vasser Sullivan, which will run its second Lexus RC F machine for pro-am regulars Parker Thompson and Frankie Montecalvo – bolstering the category to 11 entries.

They will be joined by the regular 10 GTP class entrants for a 21-car field.

Conquest team owner Bachelart added: “Our involvement in the GTD Pro class is the next step in our season-long commitment in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

“It is a testament to the growth and dedication of our team, and I would like to greatly thank Corsa Horizon for joining us in this chapter and making it a reality.”

Read Also:



Source link