Chevrolet celebrates GTLM manufacturers crown

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emailBy RACER Staff | November 14, 2020 11:11 PM

While Porsche was bowing out in victorious fashion, the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring had already been a big day for Chevrolet in the class, as it claimed the GT Le Mans manufacturers championship just by starting its pair of Corvette C8.Rs. This is Chevrolet’s 13th manufacturers title in IMSA GT competition since 2001 and concludes the mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette C8.R’s inaugural season.

Corvette Racing drivers Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and the No. 3 Corvette Racing team clinched the GTLM drivers and team championships two weeks ago at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

“The first season for the Corvette C8.R has shattered all of our expectations,” said Mark Reuss, GM president. “The success of the Corvette Racing team wouldn’t be possible without the close link between the crew and the Corvette engineering team. It has been great to watch these two teams work closely together to learn from each other. I can’t wait to see what next season brings.”

The mid-engine C8.R and 2020 Corvette Stingray were developed simultaneously, and the race car and production vehicle share more technology and parts than any previous-generation Corvette. When initial Corvette C8.R design and development work began more than five years ago, Corvette Racing engineers worked closely alongside Corvette production personnel. Within the last 18 months, track testing began with a heavy emphasis on wind tunnel and simulation testing.

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Chevrolet swept the three full-season GTLM titles for the third time in five years. This is only the second time that a first-year Corvette race car has won an IMSA championship. In 2005, Corvette C6.R won American Le Mans Series championship during its first season.

Corvette Racing captured six victories leading into Sebring. Garcia and Taylor gave the Corvette C8.R its first victory at Daytona International Speedway in July, Corvette Racing’s 100th IMSA win. Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner won the next race in the No. 4 Corvette C8.R with Garcia and Taylor in second – the first 1-2 finish for the C8.R.

In addition, the Corvette C8.R has claimed seven pole positions and posted fastest GTLM race lap at five events.

Corvette Racing, IMSA, WeatherTech Sportscar Championship

 

No. 6 Acura into the lead at the Sebring nine-hour mark

Michael Levitt / Motorsport Images
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emailBy J.J. O'Malley | November 14, 2020 4:29 PM

Simon Pagenaud led nine hours into the running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, looking to give the No. 6 Team Penske Acura DPi its first victory of the season, while in position to help the team’s No. 7 machine to the championship.

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Pagenaud paced the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac of Pipo Derani by 3.228s at the race’s three-quarter mark. Derani must win to claim the title; if not, No. 7 drivers Ricky Taylor and Helio Castroneves now are in position to claim the title.

Also in the running is Ryan Briscoe in Wayne Taylor’s No. 10 Cadillac, five laps down – one position and one lap ahead of the No. 7.

Tristan Vautier was third in the No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac, the team dominating much of the nighttime running. Indeed, the race has now been in total darkness for more than an hour. A Turn 17 incident involving Oliver Gavin in the No. 4 Corvette C8.R ended 2h22m of green-flag racing.


GTLM has seen a fantastic battle featuring the No. 3 Corvette and a quartet of BMW and Porsche entries. At nine hours, Jordan Taylor led in the No. 3 ‘Vette, followed by the BMWs of Colton Herta (No. 25) and August Farfus (No. 24), and the Porsches of Fred Makowiecki (No. 911) and Laurens Vanthoor (No. 912).

Jeff Westphal held the lead in GTD in the No. 63 WeatherTech Ferrari, closely followed by Mario Farnbacher in the No. 86 Acura and Jan Heylen in the No. 16 Porsche. Andrew Davis, who had been leading the class in the No. 30 Audi, ran fourth after his pit stop.

In LMP2, Scott Huffaker retained a three-lap lead for the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA, with David Heinemeier-Hansson econd in the No. 8 Tower Motorsport by Starworks entry.

STANDINGS HOUR 9

UP NEXT: Checkered flag at 10:10 p.m. ET.

Sebring 12 Hours, IMSA, WeatherTech Sportscar Championship

 

JDC-Miller leads at the Sebring 12 Hour halfway mark

Michael Levitt / Motorsport Images
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emailBy J.J. O'Malley | November 14, 2020 1:52 PM

Halfway into Saturday’s running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar DPi title is very much up for grabs despite lengthy visits to the paddock for the top two contenders.

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The No. 7 Penske Acura entered the race with a two-point lead over the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac, but both teams have now spent time in the paddock. Ricky Taylor lost 11 laps while the team replaced the intercooler on the Acura’s left-side turbocharger. The No. 10, driven by Scott Dixon, spun after contact at the 4h50s mark and dropped five laps while the radiator was changed.

Despite being 16th overall and eighth in class, Ricky Taylor and Helio Castroneves hold a one-point lead over Wayne Taylor’s Renger van der Zande and Ryan Briscoe.

Pipo Derani can win the DPi crown only if he can win in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac. However, while the car has spent time up front, it was fifth at halfway.

Matheus Leist was leading at halfway in the No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac DPi-V.R, followed by Juan Pablo Montoya in the No. 6 Team Penske Acura ARX 05 and Sebastien Bourdais in the No. 5 JDC-Miller Mustang Sampling Cadillac.

Patrick Kelly held a three-lap in LMP2 in the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07-Gibson, but had contact with the No. 3 Corvette C8.R of Nicky Catsburg at the six-hour mark to bring out the seventh caution.

The No. 3 had been running third in GTLM behind Nick Tandy in the No. 911 Porsche 911 R and Connor De Phillippi in the No. 25 Team RLL BMW M8 GTE.

In GTD, it was Corey Lewis in the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3, followed by Jan Heylen in the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, and Jeff Westphal in the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3.

HOUR 6 STANDINGS

We’re halfway home, with the 12 Hours set to take the checkers at 10:10 p.m. ET.

Sebring 12 Hours, IMSA, WeatherTech Sportscar Championship

 

Sebring: At five-hour mark, points pendulum swings toward Derani

Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images
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emailBy J.J. O'Malley | November 14, 2020 12:39 PM

Another incident with major championship implications occurred as the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring approached the five-hour mark.

Second-placed Scott Dixon, in position to claim the title for No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac teammates Renger van der Zande and Ryan Briscoe, was clipped in the right-rear by Mazda DPi driver Oliver Jarvis, who was attempting an optimistic pass in the Turn 7 hairpin.

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The contact, ruled a racing incident, resulted in Dixon limping to the pits, then to the paddock for major repairs to the right-rear suspension while replacing the radiator.


The team lost at least three laps for repairs, helped somewhat by a yellow flag brought out by an incident, but losing the lead in the points race to Pipo Derani in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac.

With the Team Penske No. 7 Acura running 10 laps down, Derani is in position to claim the championship, though his road ahead is long: He will need to win with both the No. 7 and No. 10 finishing out of the top four.

LMP2 also saw a major turn of events at the 3h46m mark when class leader Jakub Smiechowski spun in Turn 17 and backed into the tire barrier, badly damaging the No. 51 Interpol Europol Competition ORECA with a heavy impact. That gave the class lead to Scott Huffaker in the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA, now leading by one lap.

Pipo Derani, Sebring 12 Hours, IMSA, WeatherTech Sportscar Championship

 

GTD leaders crash adds to drama of opening hours at Sebring

Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images
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emailBy J.J. O'Malley | November 14, 2020 10:31 AM

Plenty of excitement three hours into the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, with the second major incident of the day occurring with a four-car incident in the aftermath of Oliver Gavin’s blown engine shortly before the three-hour mark.

Gavin, running the final full-season race of his 18-year career with Corvette Racing, encountered problems in the No. 4 Corvette C8.R heading into the final turn, dumping fluid on the track. Seconds later, the two AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC Fs of GTD class leader Townsend Bell (No. 12) and second-place Kyle Kirkwood (No. 14) spun out with heavy impacts into the Turn 17 barrier. Also spinning to a stop were Ryan Hardwick in the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R and Rob Ferriol in the No. 30 Team Hardpoint Audi R8 LMS GT3.


“A total disaster for us,” Bell said. “It’s the worst feeling in the world. I was leading the race and getting settled into a pace, and then spinning into the wall with no warning.”

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Ryan Briscoe and the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R was leading at the three-hour mark and is now in position to claim the DPi title. The team fought back after a penalty to co-driver and front-row starter Renger van der Zande making an illegal lane change at the start, resulting in a drive-through penalty.

“Obviously I got a penalty and we can’t change that, so we have to fight it forward,” said van der Zande. “The team did a great job, strategy wise. We want to be at the front at the four-hour mark — that will basically give us the championship for the Michelin Endurance Cup. We’re fighting for the championship, and we’d like to go out with a bang today.”


Wayne Taylor Racing’s penalty seemed minuscule 45 minutes later, when disaster struck the point leaders. Pole winner Ricky Taylor led the opening 45 minutes in the No. 7 Acura ARX-05. Following his first pit stop, Taylor lost boost and took the car to the garage to replace the intercooler on the left-side turbocharger. Entering the race with a two-point lead, the team’s championship hopes now ride on similar problems for its two rivals.

With its championship-leading teammates now 10 laps down, Dane Cameron and Juan Pablo Montoya picked up the torch for Team Penske, with Montoya running second at the three-hour mark in the No. 6 Acura.

Also in the championship hunt is the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac, with Pipo Derani nine points behind the leader. Co-driver Felipe Nasr was seventh after three hours.

“[Their problems] does not affect us at all,” Derani said. “We’re going to try to win this race, no matter who’s second or third. Unfortunately, with one of the guys fighting for the championship out, that makes things a little easier for us, but this is such a fantastic race that everyone is going to try to win, even those not fighting for the championship. It’s going to be a hard fight all the way to the end.”

GTLM has been dominated by the No. 25 BMW Team RLL BMW M8 GTE, of Connor De Phillippi and Colton Herta, and the No. 3 Corvette C8.R of Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor. At the three-hour mark, Earl Bamber led the class in the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR-19.

The incident late in the third hour shook up the GTD standings. Darren Turner inherited the lead in the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3, followed by Jeff Westphal in the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa WeatherTech Ferrari 488 GT3, and Lawson Aschenbach in the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3.

Fourth — and entering the race leading the class — was the points-leading No. 86 Meyer Shank racing Acura NSX GT3.

Nine hours remain and still plenty can happen in the first November running of the 12 Hours of Sebring.

HOUR 3 STANDINGS

Sebring, IMSA, WeatherTech Sportscar Championship

 

Point leader to garage in opening hour at Sebring

Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images
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emailBy J.J. O'Malley | November 14, 2020 8:10 AM

A major development took place 42 minutes into Saturday’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, when the race-leading — and championship leading — No. 7 Team Penske Acura ARX-05 went to the paddock.

Ricky Taylor started on the pole and led the opening 19 laps before a routine pit stop. However, after exiting the pits his Acura began to lose boost and Taylor fell back through the field. He pitted on the next lap, and after 2m31s on pit road, Taylor exited his pit stall and headed to the paddock to change the failed turbocharger.

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The Penske team’s main challenger, the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R of Renger van der Zande, also had early race problems. Van der Zande started on the outside of the front row, but the driver crossed over prior to crossing the start/finish stripe. Van der Zande served a drive-through penalty, and returned 31.116s behind Taylor.

After the opening stops, Dane Cameron leads in the No. 6 Acura. Van der Zande was seventh at the 51-minute mark, while Taylor was five laps behind and still in the paddock.

Acura Team Penske, Sebring, IMSA, WeatherTech Sportscar Championship

 

Corvette’s Captain Gavin walking away with pride

Richard Dole/Motorsport Images
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emailBy Marshall Pruett | November 14, 2020 11:43 AM

In typical style for Oliver Gavin, understatement has his driven his farewell to a full-time role with Corvette Racing. There was no year-long farewell tour or self-aggrandizing measures to ensure Corvette’s Iron Man was celebrated at every stop on IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship tour.

Ahead of 2020’s final round at Sebring, the Briton reflected on 19 years, 202 race starts, Le Mans wins and championships aplenty, first thoughts of semi-retirement, and the people who shaped his career at Corvette Racing as the life-changing 203rd start approaches.

“Well, it has been an amazing journey that I’ve had with Corvette Racing and the people that I’ve been working with, whether that was the first guys I was working with, the likes of Gary Pratt, Doug Fehan, Doug Louth, Steve Cole” he said. “There’s many, many, many people. And you get to see through those 19 years that a lot of those mainstays and those guys have either moved on from the race team or are still there, but they’re in a slightly lesser role. And it came to the point where I’m thinking about it. I know that the guys on the team are also thinking about it with the transition period and getting the next guys in who are going to be with the team for five, eight, 10 years.

“That’s been one of the cornerstones of their Corvette Racing program, the fact that they’ve been so loyal when they find someone that they know they like, they can trust, they know that this is going to deliver for them. Then they absolutely fully invest into them, and their racing career, and what they can actually deliver for the team and for the brand in Corvette. So I think that’s been one of the things that’s been so amazing about Corvette Racing. But I suppose it’s been a slowly evolving process over the last couple of years maybe that there’s been talk about (stepping back), but it’s really started to get focused through the summer. And that’s really when it all started to come into focus. It’s been an amazing journey.”

An open-wheel champion in Europe, Gavin was primed for a career in Formula 1 before a diversion to sports car emerged as the best way to remain active and earn a decent income. F1’s loss would soon prove to be America’s gift.
Gavin rose to prominence in British F3 in 1995. Motorsports Images

“I got a shot in the Saleen S7 with Terry Borcheller and Franz Konrad at Sebring in 2001,” he said. “And we were taking the Corvettes on and we won; we beat them there at Sebring in a car that had never really done any more than about three hours of running. And realistically, we never ever dreamt that we could actually win the race, but we pulled it off. And that was quite something. And at the end of that race, I came in for the very last pit stop at that race. And I remember as I pulled up, I saw two faces, not just the faces of my pit crew, but I saw two other faces. Gary Pratt and Doug Fehan was sitting there on the pit-wall watching that last pit stop.

“As I drove away, it was their look on their faces. They were like, ‘Oh s**t. I think we’ve lost.’ It was that sort of realization that they had that this is a car that was likely not going to fail and that we held all the cards at that point to win that race in 2001. So then it was (Corvette legend) Ron Fellows then started speaking to me, at Watkins Glen after I’d done a race with Jon Field and Intersport. He said, ‘Speak to Doug Fehan.’ I spoke to Doug at Laguna Seca towards the end of 2001, and then it took off from there.”

Behind the Corvette Racing name is Pratt & Miller Engineering, as Gavin would soon learn.

“Doug Fehan wanted to give me a contract there and then that weekend, but there was one big caveat — and this is a huge caveat — that Gary Pratt needed to see me driving one of his cars,” he continued. “Unless he saw me driving one of his cars, there’s no way that Doug could give me the contract. They had this agreement that no driver was signed without testing the car first. So I go to Sebring, November, 2001, and the 3 car’s got a test program already set out, and I’m just due to test the 4 car with Andy Pilgrim and Kelly Collins. Andy goes out, he sets a time. I get in. I go out. I beat that time. Andy then gets back in, and he beats my time. Then I go back out again, and I beat his time. And it keeps going like this. And I can see Gary Pratt’s getting more and more nervous, because he’s thinking, ‘When’s this going to stop?’

“It was at the end of that day that Doug Fehan and Gary Pratt came to me and said, ‘Look, we want you on board for next year, and we’ll offer you third-driver role alongside Ron Fellows and Johnny O’Connell.’ And from there onwards, it’s just been this unbelievable journey with some amazing teammates, with some fantastic crew chiefs, engineers, personnel, guys that have been so unbelievably generous with their time, whether that’s guys back at the shop or guys on the team at the time, guys I can really call friends, people that I’ve worked with for so many years and you establish a really good relationship with. And you are friends all about their families and their lives and what’s happening. And you’re speaking to them weekly.
Gavin and Kelly Collins en route to victory in their Corvette C5-R at the American Le Mans Series race in Trois-Rivieres in 2003. Sutton/Motorsport Images

“And so that’s been the really special thing. And I suppose that comes back to the way that Gary Pratt started running the team all those years ago, and it is that real family atmosphere. And when Gary stepped away somewhat from running the team, I suppose back in 2015, 2016 was when (team manager) Ben Johnson came along. Ben has still been able to carry on that feel of the team and that family atmosphere, that way that they view drivers and the way that they view personnel.”

 

Three-time 12 Hours winner Andretti returns to Sebring

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emailBy J.J. O'Malley | November 13, 2020 5:53 PM

Mario Andretti is set to visit Sebring International Raceway for the first time in nearly three decades Saturday morning, when he returns as Grand Marshal of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Advance Auto Parts.

“They’re going to do a grand entrance with a Honda jet,” Andretti said. “They’re going to remove some of the barriers and taxi in there. I’m looking forward to it. My last time at Sebring was probably in the early 1990s, testing in the Indy car on the short track.”

Andretti has a stellar record at Sebring. He won the Twelve Hours three times — 1967, 1970 and 1972 — in addition to finishing second in 1969, in six starts in the American endurance classic.

“I love Sebring,” Andretti said. “It’s a very challenging track, and a tough one at that, just keeping everything together. Somehow, it paid off for me. I have a very good record there for as many races as I ran.”

Saturday, Andretti is looking forward to another competitive race as he is impressed with the current status of the sport.

“There are eight IndyCar drivers in this race in a couple different classes,” he said. “I love to see that. I love to see the crossover. It’s great for the sport. It adds interest, for sure, and it looks like one of the Indy guys has a good chance of winning overall. That would be good — all positive stuff.”

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One of those crossover drivers is Scott Dixon, the 2020 Rolex 24 At Daytona winner who went on to win his sixth IndyCar title. Announced as RACER’s driver of the 20th century in 2000, Andretti is impressed with an early contender for 21st century honors.

“His record speaks for itself,” Andretti said. “The guy belongs where he is. Look at how brilliant his career has been, he’s a great all-rounder. To be a multi-time champion, you’ve got to be good everywhere. And that’s where he excels. You take him to an oval, a superspeedway, a short oval, a street course, a regular road course – no matter where you go, he’s always on top of the charts. And that’s what makes a champion. It’s wonderful to see a driver of that caliber, and he’s young enough to continue to pad up his record.”

Andretti was asked about another current superstar, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, who is turning his attention to IndyCar in 2021.

“That’s another positive aspect, to have a crossover of a champion with that stature,” Andretti said. “It’s great for the sport. It speaks volumes to me of the driver himself, to have those ambitions to cross over. He doesn’t have to do it, but he does it because he loves the sport. I have a lot of respect for that.

“These are all good things for the sport, and in situations where we are now with the pandemic, these are positive things we look forward to.”

Andretti is also excited about the future of sports car racing.

“IMSA has done a great job, in reviving sports car racing, sports prototypes in our country. They keep tweaking it to make it better, and that’s a good thing. That’s one discipline I love very much. It’s very technical, and I love the looks of the cars. They’re doing a great job with the number of classes, and with the manufacturer participation, which is the strength of it all. So there’s good things happening on this front as well.”

While he concentrates on looking ahead, the 80-year-old Pennsylvanian is looking back on this sports car career this weekend — in particular, celebrating the 50th anniversary of his 1970 Sebring triumph for Ferrari. He’s won the 12-hour three times, and savors each triumph.
Motorsport Images
Mario Andretti in the Ferrari 512 he started at Sebring in 1970 with Arturo Merzario. But his early retirement in that car was just the start of the story.
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In the days when Sebring still had the Webster Warehouse turns, Andretti crashed there.
The straightaway following the hairpin was broken up with a zig zag around some warehouses.
The track was long ago changed and today the hairpin is more of a sweeping turn. The Webster Warehouse zig zag is gone.
These days it only can be seen on the old maps.
-----------------------
Mario was leaking oil from the crash and the car was in no condition to continue on. The other driver was killed.
Mario cranked the car and took off. He knew the car would not go the distance.
Andretti drove flat out until the Ferrari engine blew up.

From that incident, I supposed that if you were a big name driver, it was better to go out because the
cars engine blew instead of retiring because of a crash.
-Bob
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“Every victory is very, very precious, as you can imagine,” Andretti said. “The first one was with the Ford, driving with Bruce McLaren. It was very meaningful, because the car was just finished and was not even tested at high speed. And here we go and win the race.”

The Ford Mk IV ran only one more race — winning later that year at Le Mans with A.J. Foyt and Dan Gurney at the wheel.

The 1970 triumph came on the heels of Andretti’s lone official victory in the Indianapolis 500. Co-driving with Arturo Merzario in a Ferrari 512S, Andretti built up a 12-lap lead before the gearbox failed. Andretti was ready to jet back to Nazareth to run a Sunday sprint car race in nearby Reading, Pa., but the Ferrari officials had a different idea.

“It was quite a story. I felt we deserved to win, because Arturo and I were way out in the lead. All we had to do was finish. Then we had a gearbox bearing fail. Then I was asked to take over for the last stint.”

Andretti ran the final 90 minutes in a Ferrari 512S Spyder driven by Nino Vaccarella and Ignazio Giunta. Running five miles behind the Porsche 908 co-driven by film legend Steve McQueen and Peter Revson, Andretti was up to the challenge. He ran down Revson, pitted for fuel, and then ran him down again.

“Here we go, and we won it,” Andretti said. “And hell yes, I ran the next day at Reading.”

Denying Sebring a finish scripted for Hollywood, Andretti built on his own legend.

In 1972, Andretti and Jacky Ickx completed the Daytona-Sebring double, winning in a Ferrari 312PB.

“I had good fortune running with Jacky,” Andretti said. “We won a few races, and Sebring was a nice race for us.”

The 1972 victory was also Andretti’s final race at Sebring. He went on to win the 1978 Formula 1 World Championship for Lotus, and then returned to Indy cars, winning the 1984 CART title for Newman/Haas Racing. He retired from competitive racing in 1994, although he returned to run a Panoz Roadster at age 60 at Le Mans in 2000.

While long retired from active competition, Andretti has yet to hang up his helmet, remaining active as an ambassador of the sport and a driver of a two-seater car for VIP rides during IndyCar weekends.

“They’re still working on [the two-seater program] for next year,” he said. “There might be a new sponsor to pick up that program. If they want me to drive, fine. I’m ready to go, whenever the call comes.”

Mario Andretti, IMSA

 

Turner wins Sebring; KohR clinches Michelin Pilot Challenge title

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emailBy IMSA Wire Service | November 13, 2020 5:38 PM

Cameron Lawrence was doing laundry when his phone rang Wednesday morning. Can you be in Sebring today to race on Friday?

The voice was Will Turner’s, owner of Turner Motorsport. Legendary driver, Bill Auberlen, couldn’t compete as planned due to self-quarantine from possible COVID-19 exposure, and Turner wanted to know if Lawrence could fill in for him.

One minor issue. Turner thought Lawrence was in Florida and could easily drive to Sebring International Raceway. Instead, Lawrence was at his new home in Austin, Texas. The answer was yes, but the travel was the problem.

“I think he forgot that part, that I’d moved to Austin about a year ago,” Lawrence said. “I definitely didn’t remind him. … I barely made it in time for the first practice. It was very hectic. Obviously, looking back it was worth all the rushing, all the staying up late and waking up early.”

Worth it, indeed. He helped Robby Foley drive the No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 to victory Friday in the Alan Jay Automotive Network 120, the season finale of the 2020 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge at Sebring International Raceway.

“I love racing, and I love this team, and I love this series,” Lawrence said. “When you get a call from Will and the Turner guys, you just do what you’ve got to do to get down here.”

While Lawrence and Foley were teaming to win the race, Nate Stacy and Kyle Marcelli were teaming in the No. 60 KohR Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT4 to finish third in the race and claim the driver and team championships in the Grand Sport class of the Michelin Pilot Challenge.

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Consistency was the key to the championships. The No. 60 Aston Martin never finished worse than seventh during the 10-race season.

“We can look back on the season and say, ‘Yeah, we left a little on the table here and a little on the table there,’ but I think everybody in the paddock will tell you the same thing,” Marcelli said. “When we had a strong car, we were able to take advantage of it. Just no major mistakes. That’s really what paid off.”

An intense duel between teammates Mark Wilkins and Gabby Chaves ended with Wilkins and Harry Gottsacker winning the race and Chaves and Ryan Norman claiming the championship in the Touring Car (TCR) class.

Chaves, driving the No. 33 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian Hyundai Veloster N TCR, pursued Wilkins’ No. 21 Hyundai closely during the final laps of the two-hour race, but settled for second place and the championship.

“The rule within the team is that Hyundais race Hyundais, but Hyundais don’t hit other Hyundais,” Norman said. “We play it smart with each other and we respect each other a lot. Really, at the end of the day, we give it all we have. We race each other cleanly, and the best car and driver wins.”

IMSA, Michelin Pilot Challenge

 

PRUETT: Helio a champion at last

Image courtesy of Helio Castroneves
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emailBy Marshall Pruett | November 17, 2020 5:12 PM

Helio Castroneves spent more than 20 years wondering what it would be like to wake up as the champion of a major motor racing series. On Sunday, the 45-year-old Brazilian got his answer.

A bridesmaid four times in Indy car racing and once in Indy Lights, Castroneves finished inside the top five on 14 occasions during his time in CART, the IRL, and today’s NTT IndyCar Series. Despite the three big wins at the Indianapolis 500, championship fulfillment was never achieved.

Late Saturday night, though, in one of the wildest races of 2020, the perennial runner-up erased the one glaring item missing from an amazing career as he, Ricky Taylor, and Alexander Rossi earned IMSA’s DPi championship at the 12 Hours of Sebring.

Half a lifetime of waiting finally came to an end.
Not a race win, but something more important: a championship. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images

“It feels incredible; I feel like I’m 15 years old again,” Castroneves told RACER. “I remember when got my first trophy in racing, I wanted to show it to everybody, and it feels like that now, it feels absolutely brand new. That feeling, I don’t want it to be over.

“It was different from winning at Indy. I was talking to my engineers about how it’s so cool to be part of a such an incredible journey doing this championship in IMSA.

“It was also different because we were doing great in the first part of the Sebring race, (then) we had a big problem, and basically, our destiny was not in our control. But the ending was incredible. That’s why I fall in love with this sport. This is the feeling – all the races that we lose; all the races that we finish close; all the races that you win, it brings so much emotion.

“I don’t want this moment to stop.”

The American adventure for Castroneves began in 1996 with countryman Tony Kanaan as the young Brazilians joined the Indy Lights series. The friends would earn considerable success, with Kanaan capturing the 2004 IRL championship before adding the 2013 Indy 500 to his collection of career milestones.

“TK was one of the first people to send me a message (after Sebring), and so many of my friends, my teammates — like Gil de Ferran — congratulated me and were so excited about it,” he said. “Not only that but what I enjoy most is you see those guys, so young and being champions, and now you’re like, ‘See, I still can do it!’ It doesn’t matter how old you are. I competed with them, and if you summarize how many times I didn’t win a championship, you still have to say how many I competed for a championship and came so close. So now, I can say I’m with them in the same championship club.”

Just when it looked like all hope was lost for the No. 7 Acura ARX-05 after it suffered the early intercooler failure, fortunes changed in their favor when the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R entry threw away its chance to win the drivers’ championship and the manufacturers’ title for General Motors. In what appeared to be a rage-filled maneuver, AXR’s Pipo Derani fired the No. 31 Cadillac into the side of the sister No. 6 Acura driven by Juan Pablo Montoya, who held the race lead.


Montoya, who took first place from Derani in an aggressive move that came with a solid hip-check, was repaid with hard contact from the Brazilian, who spun the No. 6 Acura, regained the lead, and was promptly penalized by IMSA for the heavy-handed response. Shortly after serving the drive-through penalty, Derani paid a much bigger price when a steering failure — caused by hitting Montoya — forced the No. 31 to pit lane for lengthy repairs.

On the heels of the heated contact between Derani and Taylor at Petit Le Mans, and Castroneves’ intentional hit on the No. 31 in practice at the last round in Laguna Seca with Felipe Nasr behind the wheel, the boiling point was reached in Sebring between Derani and the Acura that had no shot at the championship. While holding the upper hand on the No. 7 trio who were helpless to respond, Derani gifted Castroneves the championship he sought, and made Acura’s day as it secured the manufacturers’ title.

Altogether, the exasperation and joy felt by Castroneves came, in large part, as a result of the bewildering behavior from Penske’s closest rival.

“With the problem we had, we were down like 11 laps, and the chance for us to control our destiny was gone,” he said. “There was no question on that because making 11 laps up, even if you’re in a 24-hour race, is unimaginable. So we were cheering for the 6 car to finish better than the 31, and maybe hope it would help us somehow.

“Man, when I saw the incident, I’m like, ‘Oh my God, this is it.’ There were so many things going through my mind. Because towards the end of the season, that’s the car that was kind of challenging us in so many levels.

“After that happened and they lost some laps like us, I’m like, ‘This is crazy!’ I cannot believe it. I was like, ‘Nah, this cannot happen,’ But it did. You know, before that crash, I was thinking about how much agony we could go through in one race; and then they took themselves out and we won.

“That’s why the emotions just exploded on the timing stand. Wow, that was a roller coaster race, but this time, it was the perfect ending.”


Helio Castroneves, IMSA, IndyCar, Insights & Analysis