We are set, for the finale of the 2018 IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship, which is also the finale of the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup. This is a finale for many things in the sport. It is the final event of 2018, the final race for Tequila Patron as a sponsor for the series and the ESM team. The team will have a new sponsor in 2019. Also, this is the final IMSA broadcast for Fox Sports, who has been broadcasting the IMSA races since 2014, and the coverage next year will move to NBC and NBC Sports Network.
On the pole for the motor race is Pippo Derani in the #22 Tequila Patron ESM Nissan DPi, that he is sharing with Johannes van Overbeek (making his final start), and Timo Bernhard. We don't know who the champions will be. That is how wide open things are. Yours truly still has one other IMSA race to write about. That will be the all GT event at Virginia International Raceway from back in August. But, the Petit Le Mans is one of the best races of the season. it is a celebration. This is the final event for Fox Sports as mentioned. 22 years ago, it started on the old Speedvision network. Action Express Racing has done well this year, but have been on the back foot lately. Now, the CORE Autosport #54 car wants to come back into the fight.
Felipe Nasr is confident about his chances in the #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac he is sharing with Eric Curran and Gabby Chaves. Fox Sports' pit reporters are wearing throwback SPEED Channel uniforms. How cool is that?! In the GT Daytona class Paul Miller Racing is going for a championship, as are MSR Acura. Dr. Don Panoz, God Bless You. You are the reason we are all here, for this incredible endurance race. Earl Bamber, the Kiwi, is ready, for Porsche. Jan Magnussen is driving his 20th consecutive Petit Le Mans. The great race broadcaster, Bob Varsha, is here at Road Atlanta, as a fan.
CORE Autosport is ready to roll. Less than 20 minutes before we go green. Richard Westbrook and company are here to go all out for the win. Ryan Briscoe and Scott Dixon are his co-drivers. Katherine Legge is going for the championship, going all out, and Legge is not stressed, sharing with Alvaro Parente and Trent Hindman. Legge will be back with MSR next year, with an all female driver lineup. Dr. Don Panoz did everything, for the fans. Dr. P. is being honored today, and so is his legacy. It is an emotional moment, when you see the fans wanting to see sports car racing.
It is difficult to find the words to bring into focus what Don Panoz did. A true visionary. He launched the American Le Mans Series, built innovative race cars, owned a championship level team, owning and developing successful hotels, developing pharmaceutical companies, raised a family, and more. He ran wide open. Thank you so much, Dr. P. You will be missed.
Everything is on the line, on this gorgeous October day. 37 cars, 111 drivers. This is the end of an era. Its the end of an era for Continental Tire and Fox sports. But, there is a simplicity about the driver's championships, because it is a two horse race in each of the three classes. The traffic intensity here is incredible. This place is fast, narrow, and changes direction, as we watch the demo laps by the Panoz GTR1 and the DeltaWing. The Panoz GTR1 and the DeltaWing are on track, and so is the rest of the field. Ford found something in their V6 engines they didn't like, and fixed the trouble. It rained earlier in the week. But it is gorgeous today.
Survive Atlanta rush hour. Stay balanced. Focus on the prize. The weather is perfect. Our thoughts go out to everyone in Florida who are affected by Hurricane Michael. Mazda and WTR Cadillac, as well as the Montoya/Cameron Acura, no wins. This is a powder keg that is about to light up. Johannes van Overbeek will retire at the end of this race. We're going green, now. Could Mazda win today? Watch out on the start. We are ready! Go! Derani stacks them up and we are racing. He put the squeeze on Jarvis. Yikes! Juan Pablo Montoya wants to go for it.
Oh! #31 touches #99! Felipe Nasr vs. sTEPHEN siMPSON. Norman Nato in the second ESM car has dropped like a stone. Stephen Simpson vs. Norman Nato, a Formula 2 driver. Does Nato have a mecbanical issue? Tire degradation will be crucial today, as always, and so will the pressure. Antonio Garcia has gone to the front in GTLM in the #3 Chevrolet Corvette C-7-R-. The #4 sister car of Tommy Milner locks up. Now, there's also damage on the #25 BMW M8 GT. Alexander Sims, Connor De Philippi, and Bill Auberlen, are on the back foot at the moment. The #24 sister car has John Edwards, Jessie Krohn, and Australian Supercar veteran, Chaz Mostert. Simon Trummer is giving the #85 "Banana Boat" for JDC-Miller Motorsports. a good run. Trummer, from Switzerland, sharing with Robert Alon, and Canadian Devlin DeFrancesco.
Road Atlanta is an old school, high commitment course, that has remained unchanged for many years. The esses are risky, and so are the slow turn seven, onto the long backstretch, and into turns 10A and 10B before screaming down the hill onto the front straightaway. Prototypes are working through traffic. Pippo Derani will be leaving ESM, and headed next year, to Action Express Racing Cadillac for all the endurance races. Mazda Team Joest are based near Road Atlanta. Lucas di Grassi and Marino Franchitti join the Mazda team, and this is Oliver Jarvis' first race at Road Atlanta. If Action Express clinches today, they will have their fourth title in five years, and Action Express Racing is also going for another Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup.
The nighttime at Road Atlanta will be wild. Daniel Serra started the #63 WeatherTech Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3. MacNeil and Serra are sharing with Gunnar Jeannette. Daniel Serra has had three races in a Ferrari, and three pole positions. Minimum drive time, of 45 minutes for Prototype and GT Le Mans. The Trueman Akin Award for Jon Bennett requires 2 hours and 45 minutes minimum drive time. Bennett shares with Colin Braun, and Romain Dumas. Hour four and hour eight will include the bonus points. The Mazda boys are going at it hammer and tongs. Nose to tail, and some argy bargy? Oh wow. Ricky Taylor is chasing in the #7 Acura for Team Penske. Taylor, sharing with Helio Castroneves and Graham Rahal.
Pippo Derani leads Jonathan Bomarito by 1.9 seconds. Petit Le Mans is more than a race. It is an event, a big race that people want on their CV. Tire trouble on the left rear for Pipo Derani! Oh dear! Go slow. Don';t damage the tire making it into a weed whacker. 50 miles an hour feels like you're standing still. Don't damage bodywork, brake lines etc. Derani is in the lane now. In replay, we see that the left rear tire did let go. The pit crew changes all four tires. No damage. Derani moves in front of the #29 Land Motorsports audi, look. there are nine and a half hours to go. How do we adjust to get our lap back?
Antonio Garcia leads GT Le Mans, partnered with Jan Magnussen and Marcel Fassler. Earl Bamber is second in the #912 Porsche 911 RSR, wearing the retro Porsche Petit Le Mans paint scheme from 1998, on the great 911 GT1. Bamber is sharing with Laurens Vanthoor, and Frenchman Matthieu Jaminet. The sister car, #911, has Patrick Pilet, Nick Tandy, and Fred Makowiecki at the wheel of it. The Acura Prototypes also had a BoP change. Prototypes work past GT traffic. Antonio Garcia made it past one of the Lexus GTD cars. Guillaume Pauillret, President of Motul performance lubricants is excited to be here. Pit stop time as Jon Bennett is in the pit lane. No driver change. Bennett will do another stint.
Mazda is in the lane, stacked up with both cars. #77 back on track. Cadillac #31 pits for a pressure change on the tires as Felipe Nasr will do another stint. #77 rolled forward with the fuel hose in. Not good. The #55 sister Mazda is now in the lane, looking for a good result. Keep your foot on the brake. Cadillac #10 in pit lane, too. This is the car of Renger van der Zande, Jordan Taylor, and Ryan Hunter-Reay. Madison Snow will now be at the wheel of the #48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3. Snow is the second driver in the rotation. The #2 ESM entry is in as well, the Sharp/Dalziel/Nato car.
Some drama as this race has begun, and we have a long way to go. The GTD race is beginning to change slightly. Will the #48 Lamborghini continue having it's tire vibration trouble? The surface of the road is well worn, but especially through the sixth and seventh corners. Six is a banked turn. Get the power down in turn seven to accelerate off. The top three in GTD battle. Daniel Serra vs. Jack Hawksworth vs. Alvaro Parente. Ferrari 488 GT3 vs. Lexus RC F GT3, vs. Acura NSX GT3. Parente dove to the pit lane. Lexus could pull something off today. He has no podiums this year so far, as the #86 car is in the lane. The car has been signed by fans. Trent Hindman is getting into the car.
Hindman drove the #48 Lamborghini, last year, here at PLM. If #86 wins, #48 has to be third overall for their opportunity to win the title. Keep pushing. Daniel Serra and Jack Hawksworth are both in the lane. Cooper MacNeil will take over the Ferrari. No driver change for the Lexus, that Hawksworth is sharing with David Heinemeier Hanson and Sean Rayhall. A good stop, too, for the sister #93 MSR Acura NSX GT3, a buffer for their team against the #48, with Justin Marks, Lawson Aschenbach, and Mario Farnbacher.
Mazda is leading, the Bomarito/Franchitti/Pigot car. Everyone has regrouped after pit stops. The #3 Corvette is ready for a pit stop. Antonio Garcia is at the wheel of it, and he's in. Driver change and it has to be either Jan Magnussen or Marcel Fassler getting into the car. The BMW's have been in the lane, and the #25 BMW has had the headlight taped up. The bulbs should be intact. The #44 Magnus Racing Audi R8 is in the lane, too. Fixing the BMW's headlight, will be difficult. This track is brutally dark at night. You need one working headlight at the very least. Porsche #73, the Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R, spins. Tim Pappas at the wheel of it, spins, and ker-runch! He got lucky, hitting the wall square. Pappas is 13th in GT Daytona, sharing with Spencer Pumpelly and Wolf Henzler.
Timo Bernhard did the lap record at the Nurburgring with the 919 Hybrid earlier this year. boosting the horsepower, hybrid power, and aero capabilities. Bernhard is now at the wheel of the #2 ESM Nissan DPi.
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