Detroit. The Motor City. Once again, as is customary every June, the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship, returns to the automotive capitol of America, for it’s annual street fight. An hour and 40-minute sprint race. A knock down, drag out brawl at Belle Isle. Last year, this race was cancelled because of the severity of the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic. But, with the pandemic waning, sports cars are back to rumble and race on the city streets.
Motown’s hopes rest on General Motors and their entries in
the field. In Daytona Prototype
International, the usual suspects for Cadillac, starting off with the venerable
#31 Whelen Engineering Racing Action Express entry for Felipe Nasr and Pipo
Derani. Right on their tail, for sure,
will be the #01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac of “The Flying Dutchman” Renger
van der Zande and Dane Kevin Magnussen, and another at the top of the shop,
(but having trouble with a smashup in qualifying), the #5 JDC-Miller
Motorsports Mustang Sampling Cadillac for The French Connection of Loic Duval
and Tristan Vautier.
Acura and Mazda will also be there. Wayne Taylor Racing, going for back-to-back
wins after dominating Acura’s home event at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in
Lexington, Ohio, a month ago, with Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque. Then, there is the #60 Meyer Shank Racing
Acura from the team that just won the Indianapolis 500 with Helio Castroneves
claiming his fourth crown in the greatest motor race in the world, tying him
with legends A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr., and Rick Mears. But today, MSR entrusts their Acura to their
dynamic sports car racing duo, Olivier Pla of France, and American ace Dane
Cameron.
We also see representation of the GT classes. GT Le Mans will be represented by Corvette
Racing, again, like Cadillac, on GM’s home turf since they are not in the
normal place where they’d be this weekend in France at the 24 Hours of Le
Mans. That fabled sports car classic is
not until the third weekend in August this year thanks to pandemic related
schedule shuffling. This is also a
probable test run for Corvette to perhaps dip their toes in the water of GT
Daytona when GT Le Mans becomes obsolete as a class at the end of the
year. Will they keep this same spec of
car? Will they race a GT3 Corvette?
Odds are, from reports, they will not build a GT3 machine
and will keep the GTLM C8 platform with modifications to allow it to be
doctored into GT3 spec. We also have a
spate of GT Daytona cars to keep our eyes peeled on as always. Some of them are one off entries for these
“Sprint Cup” races that will earn points towards their own championship. In total, this makes for a 20-car grid. A nice, even number, and it needs to be with
limited space on a street course.
We have been waiting an extended period to get the race here
at Belle Isle underway, after a massive, frightening accident in the first
IndyCar race of the weekend for Swedish driver Felix Rosenqvist, who hit one of
the turn walls on the Belle Isle course at a tremendous clip, with a stuck
throttle. So, the track has had to be
cleaned up. Now, we are ready to race at
Belle Isle Raceway Park. Again, Kevin
Magnussen is on pole, and we have Richard Heistand on pole for CarBahn with
Peregrine Racing in their #39 Audi R8.
Things begin to heat up as we have three races in the next
month. Total commitment required at
Belle Isle and errors are not forgiven.
On the ragged edge for both DPi and GTD.
General Motors, in their home race, have been very consistent in the
winner’s circle. In 2019, they were
robbed by Acura. Mazda also wants a
slice of the pie. Ricky Taylor has won
DPi three times, and a bunch of races.
In qualifying, Chip Ganassi Racing earned the pole. Tristan Vautier crashed yesterday in
qualifying in the #5 JDC-Miller Mustang Sampling Cadillac. The team has fixed the car. In GT Daytona, Turner Motorsports want to do
well. Bill Auberlen and company, with
Robby Foley, are leading points in GT Daytona.
Experimenting with the car has brought it to life and did so in morning
warmup.
The #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 crashed in qualifying
and was fixed. The GT Le Mans category
was invited to Detroit when the 24 Hours of Le Mans was moved to August. So, only Corvette took the invitation card,
and are here. With any street course you
need to be inch perfect. Look at tire
decisions and an early Full Course Yellow.
Theoretically, this is a one pit stop race. Two tires or four tires is the debate. But, you could even go 100 minutes on one set
of Michelin tires.
We are on Belle Isle, with a 2 and a quarter mile track with
14 corners. Narrow, concrete walls, high
speed. Thread the needle in turns one
and two. Crest over the river
bridge. Watch the surface change through
turn five. Bumpy into turn seven in the
braking zone. Don’t run straight on down
the escape road. Predominantly right
hand turns. The big unknown is how the
IndyCar tires are so different from the sports car tires.
Green flag! They are double wide. Don’t cross lanes before the start
finish. Everyone starts together. Go!
Great start by Pipo Derani forcing his way through on Harry
Tincknell. In GT Daytona it is hot and
heavy. Pipo Derani is chasing Kevin
Magnussen and he has Tristan Vautier right on his tail as Jeff Kingsley is ping
ponged into the wall on turn three exit in the #76 Compass Racing Acura
Nsx. Msha Goikhberg squeezes Till Bechtolsheimer
and into Jeff Kingsley. Two Acura’s and
a Lamborghini. Harry Tincknell tries to
regroup. Here comes Pipo Derani as well.
Magnussen followed by Derani followed by Vautier. Pushing pays big dividends. Don’t go too far over the line. Be committed to get the lap time. Harry Tincknell, scrubbing his tires, is
moving in on the top three Cadillac’s as Pipo Derani locks the brakes and keeps
on trucking. Kevin Magnussen is one of
14 drivers debuting here at Belle Isle and poor old Michael de Quesada has had
a clatter into the battiers someplace.
The two Corvette’s racing each other.
Jordan Taylor in #3 and Nick Tandy in #4. Richard Heistand, in the #39 Audi R8 is
really motoring, the only Audi in the field.
Great mechanical grip on the Audi. This is the #39 team’s second race in
IMSA. Kevin Magnussen continues to lead
the motor race. Now we move to sixth
place and find Olivier Pla in the #60 MSR Acura chasing the identical car for
Wayne Taylor Racing, Ricky Taylor at the wheel of it. Oh no!
Another crackup into the wall with one of the GT Daytona Porsche’s! That is the #88 Team Hardpoint EBM Porsche
911 GT3R, hard into the barriers! That
is Rob Ferriol at the controls. Ferriol
tries to pass Michael de Quesada, and gets pivoted and, bang! Michael de Quesada ran wide and ran out of
road. Ferriol ran out of road.
Game over for Rob Ferriol and Katherine Legge. You’ve missed nothing at the front. It is still a hot and heavy battle as Ganassi
leads Action Express and the rest. The
safety crews are tending to Rob Ferriol after the wreck. How will the rest of this short motor race
play out? This is a street fight and
we’ve seen it already. Through the
years, since the WeatherTech Championship originally formed in 2014, this is an
amazing motor race. There is a huge
Corvette corral here at Belle Isle.
Everyone in IMSA are running Michelin tires, as Townsend Bell is back
driving the #12 Lexus RC F GT3 alongside Frankie Montecalvo.
Bell is an IndyCar commentator for NBC Sports. He replaces Zach Veach who is recovering from
a bout of the coronavirus.
How will the different rubber from IndyCar affect the
Michelin tires? The front tires seem to
be going away. Are the drivers adjusting
to the rubber on the road? Is the car
handling, right? The IMSA cars usually
race before IndyCar on their doubleheader weekends, but today, IndyCar went
first. So, weaving the tires to get
temperature into the tires using the heat of the brakes is crucial. The Acura’s are lurking, behind the
Cadillac’s and the Mazda. Green flag
back out. Magnussen leads.
Pipo Derani si still in the fight and so is Tristan
Vautier. Corvette’s side by side look,
as Tandy goes inside Jordan Taylor and in GT Daytona, Robby Foley gives a love
tap to Roman De Angelis. BMW M6 GT3 vs.
Aston Martin Vantage. Romain De Angelis
and Ross Gunn are running very well and we see Frankie Montecalvo has spun,
perhaps tagged by the Lamborghini of Madison Snow, the #48 Paul Miller Racing
entry. He is applying the blowtorch to
the Audi and Madison Snow was right there.
Just a little causal contact sending Montecalvo on the whirligig through
turn eight.
Heistand has his hands full with Snow and with De
Angelis. Heistand took off like a
scalded cat, but he is being reeled in as the party continues. Everyone was invited. Kevin Magnussen’s gap increases over Pipo
Derani. The battle in GT Daytona rages
on as this queue of cars are noe to tail.
Audi, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, BMW, Lexus. That’s a wide variety of production-based
racing cars. Another Lamborghini lurking
in the wings as well. That is the #19
Grasser Racing car of Misha Goikhberg and Marco Mapelli. Roman De Angelis wants to find a way by
Richard Heistand. Can he make that work?
Madison Snow has a drive through penalty for incident
responsibility for that GTD fracas we just saw.
Car #1 gets a drive through penalty for tipping the #12 Vasser Sullivan
Lexus. Richard Heistand was an open
wheel racer, who ran out of budget, and then started sports car racing a few
years ago. Ricky Taylor is struggling on
the back half of the course and has a hard time with handling and speed
compared to the Cadillac’s. The pace is
dropping just a shade. Kevin Magnussen
and Pipo Derani have both been told to back the pace down. A wee bit of fuel saving can help. 25 minutes into the race. Ah.
#10 does not give Montecalvo enough room.
Taylor has his hands full with Olivier Pla in the second
Acura, the #60 MSR machine. Ricky Taylor
has been warned by the stewards. Will
that give him a penalty? Belle Isle is
brutal when the car isn’t working. Aaron
Telitz in the sister #14 Lexus is fourth in class in GT Daytona. #14 and company have been snakebit this year
so far. Misha Goikhberg battles Robby
Foley and Aaron Telitz, and a battle between the Acura’s of Till Bechtolsheimer
and Jeff Kingsley as Australian Kenny Habul goes wide in the #75 SunEnergy1
Mercedes sharing with Canadian Mikael Grenier.
Tristan Vautier has Harry Tincknell right on his six,
meanwhile. This is a fascinating
scrap. Magnussen continues making his
way through GT Daytona traffic. This is
the second sprint race of the year after Mid-Ohio last month. This is a two car race so far as Magnussen
and Derani are seven seconds ahead. Save
fuel, but push. Derani is coming and fast. Save fuel and make consistent lap times. That’s what sports car racing is all
about. Sail into the braking zones.
Pit stop time for the #96 BMW M6 GT3 as Bill Auberlen replaces Robby Foley in that automobile. They will need fuel saving and are in the pound seats if there’s a yellow. They seemed to stay on the same set of tires. Lexus #12 in the lane as well. The domino effect. This is the danger zone, mate. Townsend Bell is now into the #12 replacing Montecalvo with just over an hour left on the board. Magnussen leads Derani by 1.3 seconds. Acura #76 was in the lane as the tire changer falls and gets right back up. Maybe falling or somersaulting is a good idea.
DPi cars can go 46-54 minutes on full tanks. Lexus #14 in the lane for service from third
spot. Left side tires, and Jack
Hawksworth is into the car. Driver
change complete. They have a lap extra
of fuel. Mario Farnbacher is now aboard
the #76 Compass Racing Acura. Roman De Angelis
is pushing, pushing, pushing to catch Richard Heistand for the potential of
leapfrogging in pit lane. All the good
work will be wasted if the yellow flag should fly again.
Jeff Westphal replaces Richard Heistand in the Audi. Roman De Angelis, from Windsor, Ontario,
Canada, just across the river, is replaced by the rapid Brit, Ross Gunn, Aston
Martin factory ace. Ross Gunn is passed
by Bill Auberlen. Auberlen, the veteran,
is now in the zone. We now Jeff Westphal
and Audi are fast too. Kevin Magnussen
continues to lead overall with Pipo Derani glued right to him. This battle of the Cadillac’s has been hot
and heavy the whole way so far as they come towards more traffic to negotiate.
Harry Tincknell in the Mazda, meanwhile, is still chased by
Tristan Vautier. That battle has not let
up either. Corvette are back here at
Belle Isle for the first time in many years.
There is a production based Corvette C8.R that has similar paint schemes
to the two race cars, depending on which one you are a fan of. Jordan Taylor into the pit lane after fuel
saving, handing the car to Antonio “The King of Spain” Garcia. Nick Tandy leads in the sister car. Opposite, split strategy, after 12 weeks of
no racing. Less than an hour to go. Antonio Garcia makes his debut at Belle Isle
today.
Mazda #55 sliced and diced the way by Tristan Vautier. Vautier tries to do the crossover on Harry
Tincknell and Tincknell slams the door in his face. Watch the crest out of turn two. Watch the curbs and don’t ricochet into the
wall like a pinball machine. Magnussen
still leads with Pipo Derani second.
Magnussen moves around the #3 Corvette and Pipo Derani shall do
likewise, hopefully. Yes. He clears the Corvette and now is on a tear,
chasing down the Ganassi Racing Cadillac.
Derani flashes the lights at a slower Lamborghini. That’s the #1 Paul Miller Racing
automobile. Corvette #4 in the lane for
scheduled service. A driver change as
Nick Tandy is now at the wheel. Derani
is told to save fuel. Can #31 do a one
stop race? #01 might be short on fuel as
well. This is going to be very
interesting with just 52 minutes remaining.
Talking to Gary Nelson from Action Express, he says “we need seven
gallons of fuel more if we stay green.”
Mario Farnbacher is pressing hard with Marc Miller pressing hard in
another Acura. Miller, the only Michigan
born driver in the race, having taken over from Till Bechtolsheimer.
Tommy Milner has actually taken over the #4 Corvette from
Nick Tandy. Tristan Vautier is being
monstered by Ricky Taylor and Vautier slams the door in his face. Don’t’ throw things away. Keep the dive planes on the nose. Aerodynamics are still important on a street
course. Kevin Magnussen now leads Pipo
Derani by four seconds. Ricky Taylor is
desperate, and in attack mode. Flat tire
on the #14 Lexus! Poor Jack
Hawkswroth! Mercedes #28, with Daniel
Morad has a splitter let go. Here comes
Hawksworth to pit lane.
Magnussen still leads by 3.8 seconds over Pipo Derani and
now, the #55 Mazda in the lane. The
Meyer Shank Racing #60 Acura is in, and Dane Cameron takes over from Olivier
Pla. Olivier Pla cannot handle an
understeering car. Magnussen in. Derani in.
This is going to be close. Felipe
Nasr will take the car to the end.
Renger van der Zande will be in the #01.
Fuel up to the end of the motor race.
#5, the JDC-Miller Cadillac is also in and Loic Duval will take over
from Tristan Vautier.
Tincknell nearly chops the Lexus coming into the lane, but
thankfully there was no contact. Renger
van der Zande is going to cycle to the lead of the motor race after pit stops
are complete. Acura #10 in the
lane. Fuel, tires, and a driver change,
as Filipe Albuquerque takes over from Ricky Taylor. The chase is on now as Nasr is working his
way towards catching Renger van der Zande on this 2.35 mile circuit. This is the first of two 100 minute sprint
events of the year before we head to Long Beach, California, in September.
The GT Daytona scrum also continues as the Turner
Motorsports BMW leads The Heart of Racing Aston Martin. Anything can happen in street course
racing. Save fuel. Play the fuel game the whole way with just
over 40 minutes to go. This might be a
squeaker. It’s been horrendously
hot. Pipo Deran is exhausted. He says it was very hot in the car. Having the race later helps and the training
is important. It’s a street fight. Strategy is huge. Derani says that the car is running very
well. It is so hard to have the speed
and then have to save petrol.
Audi #39 with Jeff Westphal at the controls, is good on fuel
as we have just 40 minutes to go.
CarBahn has legendary tuner Steve Dinan as part of their team, steeping
up from Michelin Pilot Challenge. Oliver
Jarvis is pushing hard trying to catch Filipe Albuquerque in the #10 Wayne
Taylor Racing Acura. Tommy Milner leads
GTLM but has no way for the team to speak to Milner on the radio. Make a sign and use a signaling board in the
old school way. No radios in European
racing back in the day. Loic Duval is
also closing right back up on Oliver Jarvis here in the middle of the pack.
Duval wants to make a move or so it seems as Albuquerque is
putting daylight between himself and this other battle we are watching. This battle continues through the twists and
turns of the Belle Isle streets. Nasr is
closing up, meanwhile, on Renger van der Zande for the lead. Kevin Magnussen forgot to switch on his
helmet fan and I drenched, but he says he had a good stint. Nasr is closing up on Renger van der
Zande. It is getting cooler as cloud
cover blankets Belle Isle. The fuel
mileage margins are paper thin. Nasr is
on a charge. He is pushing, hard.
They both move past Townsend Bell in the #12 Vasser Sullivan
Lexus RC F GT3. Half an hour to go. Through turn eight, not a lot of droop in the
front suspension for the Cadillac, raising the wheel. This is such a fuel game. Fuel mileage is major. Work on it on the simulator or on the track. Can the Cadillac’s make it to the end on
fuel? That was a close moment with the
Compass Racing Acura chopping across the #31 car! Wow!
Felipe Nasr now out of traffic, chasing down Van der Zande once
more. They clear Tommy Milner and
Antonio Garcia.
Dane Cameron in trouble, spinning the #60 Acura ARX-05 Dpi,
wa out wide and just misses the Lexus!
Blimey O’Reilly! Ross Gunn is
gaining on Bill Auberlen in GT Daytona.
Four tires for Aston Martin compared to two for Audi and BMW. Felipe Nasr is good on fuel. He is told to pull the pin. Nasr 1.3 seconds behind Renger van der
Zande. Great torque from the 5.5 liter
V8 Cadillac with compliant suspension to absorb the bumps compared to the
lighter cars like the Acura and the Mazda with less dwonfroce with all the
bumps. Keep tire temperatures. That is hard to do when saving fuel.
Where are you vulnerable around the track? 20 minutes to go. Can Felipe Nasr apply the blowtorch to Renger
van der Zande? Nasr closing up on van
der Zande. He wants it. He is flashing the lights to his rival
saying, “I am behind you.” Corvette’s in
lock step in GTLM, chasing down the Turner Motorsports BMW and the Heart of
Racing Aston Martin GTD machines. In
fourth spot, Oliver Jarvis is pressing hard.
Multimatic has a simulator, a driver in motion racing simulator helping
Multimatic develop truck parts for Chevrolet and Ford.
Multimatic will construct a Porsche and also an Audi. Lamborghini and Bentley could also be a part
of the arsenal. Albuquerque is being
monstered by Jarvis and there is a problem for WTR. Get the job done. Something is wrong with the car. Loic Duval is also moving in on Oliver
Jarvis. 15 minutes to go as Nasr is
caught behind a GTD car. The leaders are
30 seconds down the road from this battle between Acura and Mazda. Nasr is a second behind Van der Zande. Nasr has a slightly quicker lap time
though. Closing up, Felipe Nasr. No one has told Renger van der Zande to pull
the pin yet.
Jeff Westphal leads GTD as Jack Hawksworth is chasing Marc
Miller who has run at Belle Isle in Trans Am.
Mario Farnbacher is out of the race after having no brakes. Game over.
Trouble for the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW with a blown tire. Maybe it is something different. It is likely driveline related and power loss
for the BMW. #96 cannot get off the
track and we have a Full Course Yellow.
Grasser Racing wants to go for the lead as we are getting ready to go
back to green with five minutes left. We
have a yellow with five minutes to go.
Tim Keene says fuel is not a concern for Action
Express. The tires and brakes are heated
up. The restart will be crucial. Keep an eye on Rosa Gunn in the Aston Martin
who will be chasing Jeff Westphal in the CarBahn with Peregrine Racing
Audi. Keep the tires clean and keep
temperature in them. Green! Felipe Nasr is right on top of Renger van der
Zande as Albuqueqeue is being monstered by Jarvis and Duval. Nasr is right on van der Zande’s
gearbox. Get the clag off the tires.
Something is wrong with the #10 Acura. Nasr fishtails and got on the power too
early! Oh dear. White flag.
Final two corners. Renger van der
Zande wins. Felipe Nasr finishes
second. Who win GFTLM? Cprvette battle. Milner leads Garcia to the finish. Jeff Westphal, and co-driver, Richard
Heistand, win GT Daytona with Steve Dinan and CarBahn with Peregrine Racing.
Overall/DPi: #01
van der Zande/Magnussen Chip
Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R
GT Le
Mans: #3 Taylor/Garcia Corvette
Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R
GT Daytona:
#39 Westphal/Heistand CarBahn
with Peregrine Racing Audi R8
So, that’s a wrap from Belle Isle. The first of two street course races for IMSA
in 2021 is done and dusted. Next up,
round three of the Michelin Endurance Cup, the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen, coming
up two weeks from now.
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