The penultimate race of the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship. This race, could perhaps decide championships in any of the classes. We are at the legendary Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. The America's Tire 250, is the final sprint race of the season.
We've been north, south, east, and now, west. With one race left after this one, it is indeed crunch time. It's time to go sports car racing. The Taylor brothers want a few more wins, and wants to win a title. Corvette and Ferrari want titles in GT Le Mans and GT Daytona. We tackle the legendary Corkscrew, next! In September 1957, Pete Lovely in a Ferrari won here. Six decades later, sports cars continue to race here. For years, this race was held in May. But, it is now being run in September.
The contenders will have to roll the dice today. It is Ricky Taylor vs. Christian Fittipaldi. Those are the title combatants in Prototype. Many of these drivers are worried about their job security for the 2018 season. Many incidents have already happened. Last year, the classes were split. This year, three classes are racing at the same time. If you are going to eat an elephant, you have to do so one bite at a time. Joey Hand and Dirk Mueller are quickest in GT Le Mans. Risi Competizione and Ferrari are on pole. This is a boost for them as they are recovering from the effects of hurricane Harvey that hit their home base in Houston, Texas.
The cars are on their final pace lap before we get started. Watch out into the Andretti hairpin, turn one. Here we go. We are green! There's the flag. Go! Ricky Taylor jumps into a lead and Christian Fittipaldi is pushing as John Edwards has spun off the road! Eric Curran is going after Marc Goossens. In GT Daytona, Paul Miller Racing scored pole with Madison Snow at the wheel of it. Porsche moves ahead of Ford in GT Le Mans. Toni Vilander leads Dirk Mueller and Alexander Sims. Was there contract between the two BMW's? Thud. Yes. BMW's were third and fourth in class, a thousnadth of a second or so apart.
It's been six weeks since the Prototype cars have raced. We have damage to the #48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini. That's Madison Snow at the wheel of it. Watch out for the hood blowing off the car. Get the bear bond. But the aerodynamic issues are of no real consequence here at Laguna Seca. The #96 Turner Motorsports BMW team can't communicate to driver Jens Klingman over the radio. The #14 Lexus RC F GT3 in the hands of Sage Karam is moving up. Two hours and 40 minutes is a long way, even though this is a sprint race. Porsche runs second and fourth. The slick track here at Laguna Seca has served Porsche well. But it may be harder for the mid-engine factory cars in GTLM. The sand getting on the track, and the heat, could make the track greasy and start to chew up the tires.
Toni Vilander leads from pole in GT Le Mans. The entire top eight cars were covered by 7/10ths of a second in qualifying. Wow. The Ferrari has repaired their damaged Le Mans chassis and they are racing it right here, right now. Giancarlo Fisichella and Toni Vilander are a strong pairing as Vilander holds off the Ford GT with Dirk Mueller at the wheel of it. This track is legendary, with medium to high speed corners. Grip and balance are crucial as you race around the track, dropping through the Corkscrew and continuing to plunge through Rainey curve.
On turbo cars, you will hear this weird buzzing sound. That is not traction control, but it is the anti-lag for the turbocharger. BMW is in with a shout even though they are behind the Ferrari and the Ford's. With Jens Klingman, the team can hear him. He can't hear them. It's not the radio in the car. It's the plug-in radio installed in the helmet. Communication is key in racing, just as it is in anything in life. So, be aware of radio issues, always. The team of Jesse Krohn and Jens Klingman are two great drivers. The #86 Acura NSX GT3 of Oswaldo Negri Jr., he is running well, too. Ricky Taylor, leading the motor race and the championship, he must be very cautious.
The damage on the #48 Lamborghini is a problem. This is too dangerous as Madison Snow can't sede the road. The broken bodywork could have flown off, too. They need a new piece of bodywork. Fuel also goes into the car. No tires. Go on to tires. No left front headlight on the Lamborghini. Will the marshals OK that? It nemains to be seen. Madison Snow is now back on track but he's gone a lap down. The #10 Cadillac of Ricky Taylor, is going for it, and he can fortunately be cautious as he's ballooned his margin in the lead. That being said, he'll have to watch out for his tires.
Christian Fittipaldi and Action Express are playing catch up in the other Cadillac. They tested at Road Atlanta for three days, but still hasn't gotten to grips with the Cadillac as of yet. Jan Magnussen in the #3 Chevrolet Corvette C-7-R- is seventh in the overall right now. Jan Magnussen at the wheel of it. We are 26 minutes into the race. Ooh! A car has spun! That's the #80 Mercedes AMG GT3 with Dan Knox at the controls, spinning. He's got some grip issues. Knox spun, and then, Magnussen purposely missed the apex. Wow. Close shave!
The #28 Alegra Motorsports Porsche of Daniel Morad, is going for it. Patrick Long is co-driving with Morad today. Low grip, sand on the road, tire degradation. Those are what drivers are contending with here at Laguna Seca. The Prototype cars really have to be aware of where thye GT cars are on the road. Joe Campbell, who is one of the track staff at Laguna Seca, said that there will be a repaving of the track in the not too distant future. That incident with Dan Knox saw another Mercedces with Kenny Habul at the controls, making contact. Habul is still out there.
Ooh! Very close between Dirk Mueller and Ben Keating! GTLM vs. GTD. Alexander Sims slams the door in Patrick Pilet's face. Pilet is not done yet, and both Porsche's go through. Misha Goikhberg is pressing on in the #85 JDC Miller Motorsports Prototype.... the banana boat. Some frantic racing here at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. If you are going to earn a championship, you have to do it here, and then, the season finale will be the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in a couple weeks. More details on that race, after this one is done and dusted today.
Toni Vilander leadsGTLM by 12 seconds as we have pit action for Prototypes. Joao Barbosa takes over the #5 Cadillac. Barbosa replaces Christian Fittipaldi. The #5 team is rolling the dice on pit strategy. The #4 Corvette is in the lane. So is the #31 Cadillac. Dane Cameron will take over from Eric Curran. Dane Cameron will race for Acura and Roger Penske next year. Tim Keane is now the strategist for the #31 team. He's been with Ganassi and MSR before. Ford #67 is in the lane with Ryan Briscoe at the controls. Ricky Taylor hands the #10 Cadillac to his brother Jordan. There was passing at pit out, and the marshals will be looking at that and it's legality.
Some definite argy bargy between Sagr Karam in the Lexus and Patrick Lindsey in the #73 Porsche 911 GT3. Marc Goossens is in the lane in the #90 Visit Florida Ligier. Those guys also dealt with the effects of \Hurricane Irma. The #22 Nissan is in the lane. Pippo Derani and Johannes van Overbeek had some issues. Those two will tam up again next year. Porsche #911 also hit the pit lane. Scott Sharp has completed his stint in the #2. The #96 BMW pits and so does Risi Competizione as Giancarlo Fisichella is the driver now in the car.
Dane Cameron will race with Acura and Roger Penske, next year. The #10 Cadillac continues to lead this race. The #10 scored pole by 8/10ths of a second in qualifying. Dirk Werner is now back at the wheel of the #911 Porsche. Joey Hand is at his home track, and he wants a win here. Joey Hand is really pushing at the moment. He has to do two full fuel stints. Don't play Mario Kart into the Andretti hairpin. Uh... no pun intended there, chaps. BMW vs. Lexus in GTD. Robert Alon has taken over the #14 car. Acura #86 in the lane. Oswaldo Negri Jr. hands over to Jeff Segal. They had a slow pit stop.
Negri Jr. is finding his form. He won overall with MSR and their Prototype, last year, here at Laguna Seca. We remember short track NASCAR driver Ted Christopher, who passed away recently. Christopher ran two Rolex 24 at Daytona races. He lost his life in a plane crash. Renger van der Zande is chasing Dane Cameron. Meanwhile, Jordan Taylor continues to lead overall here at Laguna Seca. You have not missed anything at the sharp end of this motor race, folks. Joao Barbosa in the #5 is a great driver behind the wheel at saving fuel and turning quick laps. So is Jordan Taylor. Meanwhile, Renger van der Zande, the Flying Dutchman, wants to go for it. He and his team have their Ligier racer figured out.
Scuderia Corsa has not won a race this year, even though they are at the sharp end. But, they are leading in GT Daytona points. Christina Nielsen and Alessandro Balzan. Meantime, Jeroen Mul is also giving the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 for Change Racing, a good run. Mul is feeling the heat from Oliver Gavin in the GT Le Mans Chevrolet Corvette C-7-R-. The ABS on the GTD cars, give them an advantage, and the GTLM cars have an aerodynamic advantage. The Ford GT's are still running extremely well in GT Le Mans. Some more near contact for Jordan Taylor as he was bumped by the Turner Motorsports BMW. Olivier Pla is now at the wheel of the #52 PR1/Mathiasen car. He is a Ford factory driver, but of course, in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Problems for the #28 Porsche. Patrick Long has pulled off at the exit of turn three. Long slowed down and pulled onto the gravel runoff. Patrick Long said that the car completely died. The gearbox packed up. Game over for Patrick Long and Daniel Morad. Michael Christensen and Michael de Quesada will koin the team at Petit Le Mans. More drama as the ESM car of Ryan Dalziel locks the rear brakes and he was off the road. It's like yanking the E brake in your rental car if you want to drive like a goofball.
More traffic for Jordan Taylor as Joao Barbosa and Dane Cameron are chasing. Renger van der Zande is also back there. Jordan Taylor makes his second pit stop, and the #10 team only needs one more pit stop. WTR has not seen a race win since Detroit, but they could win the championship at the end of this race, and simply by starting Petit Le Mans. The two Acura's continue to run well, but Bill Auberlen is off the road in the #25 BMW M6 GT. He's beached it in the gravel trap, and this could be a full course yellow. Auberlen may have had a loose condition, as had his co-driver Alexander Sims. Ooh. Porsche is pitting, rolling the dice, banking on a yellow. Dirk Wenr remains at the wheel. Ford is also in the lane in GTLM. This is pit strategy. We are under yellow.
Ford #67 and the Porsche did a good deal for themselves while some of their rivals in GTLM out on track will be out in the cold. Pit stop time for the #85 Prototype. We have the safety vheicles scrambled onto the speedway. The #4 Corvette is in the lane for service, having the entire rear diffuser changed. Madison Snow very well could have smashed into the Corvette. There was an oscillation of the rear diffuser, that Oliver Gavin felt. Eventually, it broke in the middle, wore out, and was scooped in the air. So, a fraught race for Corvette today, with at least one of their cars.
We're getting close to only an hour of this race remaining and there could be fuel issues for the blokes at Ford. Wow! THree wide in the race off pit lane! Yikes! Adapt to the strategy. The #3 Corvette C-7-R- is now up to third in class. Wow. We are back racing now. Dane Cameron leads in the #31 Cadillac. Tim Keene has made some good calls today for the Action Express team. WTR is on another level, finding the sweet spot with their particular Cadillac DPi-V.R. It is the collaboration with Dallara, and Action Express will want to do that. The stakes will be higher with Joest and Penske both coming into the picture.
Big story for the #67 Ford. Drive through penalty for incident responsibility, for ramming the BMW when Bill Auberlen went off the road. Deary me. The plot thickens. The #3 Corvette will come out smelling like a rose, maybe at the end of this race. But... we have an hour left. A penalty for Porsche, for working in a closed pit. Stop and hold + a minute. That's a killer. Alessandro Balzan chases Mike Skeen. Meanwhile, John Edwards makes his way past Joey Hand. Hand's tires are knackered and he's in his pit window. But, strategy is a mess for the Ford blokes at the moment. He's hanging on by the skin of his teeth at the present time.
John Edwards still wants to win for BMW at the wheel of the M6 GT before the new M8 GT debuts next year in 2018. Joey Hand is inside the fuel window, and battling with the Porsche. He needs a reset. No grip = bad brakes. Acura #86 makes their final stop of the race. Andy Lally in the #93 Acura NSX is fourth in class in GT Daytona, with the top three in class, covered by the proverbial blanket. CORE Autosport is leading in class for the first time since Daytona. CORE is returning to Prototype with an Oreca LMP2 car next year. Ryan Dalziel and Johannes van Overbeek re-up with ESM and Joest Racing will run the freshened new Mazda RT24-P, next year.
Much success with Porsche and Audi. Now, Joest will race with Mazda. Toni Vilander slides past John Edwards. Ferrari on BMW. The Balance of Performance has been working well for Ferrari. Can Risi win this race? Edwards will push hard as well. Balance of Performance is based on race data. Colin Braun had a birthday on Friday. Ryan Briscoe, Mike Shank, and Will Turner also had birthdays this weekend. Christina Nielsen won't return to Scuderia Corsa. WeatherTech Racing could move to Ferrari in 2018.
Joey Hand is at the tail end of the lead lap despite fresh tires. Ooh! Some definite biff and barge between Renger van der Zande and Joao Barbosa! Yikes! Corvette #3 was in the lane for a splash and dash. The GTD battle is huge right now as the race leading Cadillac #31 is in the lane. Four tires and fuel. By pitting now, maybe Whelen Engineering and Action Express can get to the finish of this motor race. That's still a question mark however. Ooh! Cadillac #10 responds to the #31 stop. They are in championship mode. Cadillac #5 is also in. #5 beats #10 out and the #90 beats both of them out of the lane, as Dane Cameron still leads! Wow!
Olivier Pla now leads Prototype as PR1/Mathiasen leads their home race, briefly. The #52 car pitted and now, Dane Cameron has taken over the overall race lead. The dynamic is interesting, because Dane's father, Ricky Cameron, is the race engineer for the second place Visit Florida Ligier entry. Colin Braun has opened a gap on Jesse Krohn in GT Daytona. Porsche, BMW, Ferrari. Andy Lally in the Acura is fourth. We have just over 35 minutes to run before this race is done and dusted. Some teams in GT Daytona may need to roll the dice, or they will need a splash and dash. There's been some Balance of Performance with the fuel cell size on the GT Daytona racers since the most recent event at Virginia International Raceway.
Toni Vilander is now charging, after a pit stop. This race track is surely a gorgeous one. Mazda gifted veterans with new cars for their Operation Homefront program, yesterday. Will John Edwards or Dirk Werner make it on fuel? We'll see. Olivier Pla spins at The Corkscrew. He spun all on his own, carrying speed. He has the fastest lap of the race at 1:17.9. PR1/Mathiasen needs a break. The GTLM battle is heating up. Richard Westbrook wants by Antonio Garcia. They co-drove together with Troy Flis and Visit Florida, just a few years ago. Jeroen Mul is back at the wheel of the Change Racing Lamborghini after Corey Lewis did his stint.
At BMW RLL, their fuel siutation may be a bit iffy. John Edwards will have to coast a bit. But, Dirk Werner is closing in. The Porsche is pushing. Traffic is hurting John Edwards right now. Dirk Werner is on a charge. He was a longtime BMW driver before switching to Porsche. The battle is heating up, big time here at Laguna Seca as we reach the conclusion of this motor race. We have had just one yellow, and only one retirement from this race. Antonio Garcia and Richard Westbrook battle for GT Le Mans. Westbrook will keep digging for the championship. Westbrook was a part-time endurance driver for Corvette in the old IMSA days when there were still two sports car championships rivaling each other, before the 2013-2014 merger.
A fan named Chuck Baird, he ran races here, and has attended events for all six decades of this race. He's only missed one race here. The volunteers who marshal, they make these races what they are and are able to happen. Wow. We have less than 15 minutes to go as Dane Cameron runs very wide running around a slower Porsche in the Cokscrew! Oh deary me! The tires are knackered by now, too. Renger van der Zande is ready to pounce. Regroup. This is going to be wild. Stephen Simpson is running after Jordan Taylor for fourth place.
Dane Cameron stuffs it inside the Mercedes AMG GT3 of Tristan Vautier. Renger van der Zande won't have corner launch, but may have straightaway speed over Dane Cameron in the Cadillac. Cameron has a ton of traffic headed for the Corkscrew! Wow! Toni Vilander is chasing Dirk Werner in GT Le Mans. John Edwards and the leader in GT Daytona, only hope the leaders don't have to do an extra lap. Turner BMW, in the lane for aplash and dash. Wow. Dane Cameron wants his second win of the season after also winning at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.
Time is of the essence. Some loose bodywork on Cameron's Cadillac. The #33 Mercedes AMG GT3 of Jeroen Bleekemolen had to take a splash and dash. There is a split in the rear deck of the #31. The #54 CORE Autosport Porsche will have to pit, giving the lead in GT Daytona to Scuderia Corsa and their Ferrari 488 GT3. Just three and a half minutes to go. The battle up front gets wilder. Renger van der Zande in the Ligier is going for it. This is going to be crazy!
This is a humdinger of a battle and here it is as van der Zande forces the issues inthe Corkscrew. Into turn eleven, van der Zande is ahead with traffic to contend with. Two laps to go. van der Zande slid down the inside. Shades of Bryan Herta and Alex Zanardi in Champ Car here at Laguna Seca in 1996. Visit Florida has won here twice before. The Risi Ferrari goes to second passing the factory Porsche of Dirk Werner. White flag. Visit Florida had flooded shops after the hurricane. The Turner BMW nearly blocked Renger vanh der Zande. He ran with Starworks and Peter Baron in the old Prototype Challenge class.
Through Rainey curve. One corner to go. Renger van der Zande and Visit Florida win it! Marc Goossens, Renger van der Zande are winners! In GTLM, Edwards and BMW win in a drag race over Vilander and Ferrari! In GT Daytona, it will be a victory for Ferrari on the 60th anniversary of a Ferrari winning the first ever sports car race here at Laguna Seca. Alessandro Balzan and Christina Nielsen win GT Daytona!
So, your overall and class winners at Laguna Seca are:
Overall/Prototype: #90 Goossens/van der Zande Ligier JS P2 Gibson
GT Le Mans: #24 Edwards/Tomczyk BMW M6 GT
GT Daytona: #63 Nielsen/Balzan Ferrari 488 GTE
What a race at Laguna Seca in the America's Tire 250! ...And then, there was one. It's the finale of the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship, and the finale of the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup, the ten hour Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in the red clay hills of Braselton, Georgia, an Atlanta suburb, coming up in two weeks.
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