Welcome to the fabled Laguna Seca Raceway on the picturesque Monterey Peninsula, in Monterey, California, with such famed places at the Pacific Coast Highway and the Pebble Beach golf course, nearby. This is a traditional venue for the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship, although not necessarily a traditional date. IMSA is here in May, in springtime, rather than being here in September, in the fall, like last year. Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque for Konica Minolta, Wayne Taylor Racing, and Acura, are on the pole. They will no doubt be challenged for victory today by the other DPi contenders, among them, two-time race winners already this year, Chip Ganassi Racing, Rolex 24 at Daytona winners Meyer Shank Racing (their rival Acura team), Action Express/Whelen Engineering Racing, and JDC-Miller Motorsports with Mustang Sampling sponsorship.
The battle continues, two against four. Two Acura's vs. four Cadillac's in the DPi ranks. WTR and AXR are the teams looking to break through yet in 2022. Action Express are the defending series champions who went on a tear in the second half of 2021 and racked up a bunch of victories to score the title. This year, they have had consistent finishes but want to break through into victory lane in 2022 for the first time. Wayne Taylor Racing won races last year, and also are looking for a first-time breakthrough in '22. Will we see one of these teams take the fight to the Ganassi duo of #01 and #02 today? That is one of the big questions.
We will see racing just as competitive in the other classes like LMP2, GT Daytona Pro, and GT Daytona. No LMP3 cars entered for this particular race, just the same as it was at Long Beach, but the LMP2 teams are back. This is race four of the championship and the fight is well and truly on as we are fast approaching the halfway mark of the season. Yes, ladies and gentlemen. It goes that fast, especially when you have eight to ten races only, per season, as IMSA does. I believe it is in fact eight for the prototype teams as two of the events later in the season will be for the GTD cars. Battle recommences again im IMSA 2022.
65 degrees and sunny with no clouds or rain in sight here at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca as we join Dave Burns and Calvin Fish. We have had no repeat winners in any of the classes yet in 2022. The competition is strong. Laguna Seca is a unique circuit as well. Execute with the edge in performance. Only 86 points separate the entire field in DPi. It was an Acura front row lockout and they are favored here at Laguna Seca having scored a hat trick of victories. Earl Bamber and Alex Lynn were very close in Free Practice and qualifying. We need to look at the #31 Whelen Action Express entry too. For GTD and GTD Pro, we are going to see a heap of action as well. Corvette is down the order.
Mike Skeen, who is the GT Daytona point leader, he has the virus, and so has to heal up. Dirk Mueller is teaming with Stevan McAleer in the #32 Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes. PR1/Mathiasen have two caes and they are the team to beat in LMP2 with two cars. 32 cars including 20 GT cars, as well as a dozen prototypes between DPi and LMP2, that are the futuristic flyers. Two hours and 40 minutes on the clock. Mario Andretti, Bobby Rahal, and Wayne Rainey have corners named after them here, and the infamous Corkscrew which is like dropping off the edge of the earth. Here we go. Wayne Taylor Racing want the hat trick but Cadillac teams will have plenty to say.
It's go time! Ricky Taylor leads and here comes Alex Lynn to take it to Oliver Jarvis and one of the LMP2 cars is off the road, the #11 entry of Steven Thomas as they fly through the curves and off into the dust. Everyone is settling in, or not. There's been overtaking already. The conditions are cool and tire temperatures have to come up as Ricky Taylor in the lead so far while Thomas did an e brake spin. Matthieu Jaminet had to move out of the eay and we have another hairpin spint for Dwight Merriman in the Era Motorsports LMP2 entry. Frankie Montecalvo in the #12 Lexus RC F GT3 in GT Daytona, he is penalized for changing tires before the race start.
The car falls off a cliff on performance with the tires because of the abrasive surface here at Laguna Seca, a track that has not been paved in over 15 years and is due for a resurfacing. Ideally, Montecalvo and his team need a yellow to regroup. They would lose a minute or more trundling to the pit lane to swap tires under green. So, Ricky Taylor has now opened a two second lead over Oliver Jarvis. Beautiful overhead drone or helicopter shots here at Laguna Seca. Hope you enjoyed the IndyCar race and now, we have IMSA action to check out. Tere is a breeze at 11 miles an hour and everything else with the weather is perfect. Dave Burns and Calvin Fish in the broadcast booth as well as Matt Yocum and Parker Kligerman reporting from the pit lane.
We saw spins for a couple of the LMP2 cars. Only six minutes on the board so far. Taylor had a new track record in qualifying. Acura have won three in a row here, going for four. A smooth surface despite the abrasiveness. The tire degradation will determine how the race is going to go for the Acura teams and the Cadillac teams alike. The Cadillac's will be playing the long game. In GTD Pro and GTD it will be hot and heavy. Right now, Matthieu Jaminet leads Daniel Juncadella, Alex Riberas, John Edwards, and Jack Hawksworth. Mike Skeen is out of Laguna Seca of course due to the virus.
Stevan McAleer has to push sharing with Dirk Mueller. Robby Foley in the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 leads the class ahead of Russell Ward in the #57 Winward Mercedes. Dirk Mueller won Laguna Seca in GT Le Mans with the Ford GT team. The Corvette C8.R's are down the order and they want to do some strategy magic to gain ground on their rivals. They will slice the pie a certain way, but how? Do you do two or three pit stops? Sebastien Bourdais has electrical troubles. A voltage spike and the car is dead stick. They were fast at Sebring and ran to a win at Long Beach after crunching the wall.
So, Bourdais does a control, alt, delete, and is now back on track. But that will put hi, behind the eight ball. He is off the road a wee bit. Tristan Nunez at the wheel of the #31 moves up to fifth and Bourdais is now 53 seconds behind. Now, the Long Beach race winner is in the lane with the engine off. Electrical woes = intermittent power loss in the electrics. He cannot drive the car. Ganassi Racing thinks there may be an alternator issue on the car but are still looking. Spin quickly for the #28 Mercedes AMG GT3, the Alegra Motorsports entry in GT Daytona in the hands of Michael de Quesada. He eats the curb, runs wide, and spins out all by his lonesome.
He overcommitted to the turn and took a turn on the whirligig. So, Robby Foley leads GT Daytona in the #96 BMW M4 GT3. Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow in the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 won Long Beach. Turner now wants to have some success with it as Foley will hand the car to Bill Auberlen. They had a power steering leak with the car this morning but thankfully dodged a massive bullet and fixed it before the motor race. A good battle in GTD Pro as Jack Hawksworth is reeling in John Edwards in the Rahal Letterman Lanigan BMW M4 GT3. Red markers for GTD Pro and green for GTD. The cars are all equal on performance being GT3 cars.
Roman De Angelis wants a pass on Jack Hawksworth. Ricky Taylor leads the motor race;. You have missed nothing at the top of the shop. Taylor slicing his way past the GTD cars. Manage the tires but don't expect perfection. You will be screaming at the team "get me off these blasted tires!" Well, just hang in there, sunshine. Watch for late race moves too. Over the years we have seen major moves including Alex Zanardi passing Bryan Herta in an IndyCar. There are rules that you can't go off track limits. #01 is back to the paddock. It may just be game over for Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande.
No power steering, no nothing. In the danger zone. Game over for the #01, the Long Beach winners three weeks ago. Henrik Hedman now leads LMP2 in the #81 DragonSpeed entry, in LMP2. Hedman sharing with Juan Pablo Montoya. Patrick Kelly, former LMP2 champion is second. It is his first race of 2022 and he was overseas concentraing on the 24 Hours of Le Mans and racing in Europe. Kelly was dropping his kids off at school and got hit by a school bus, sustaining a head injury. He was a co-creator of Call of Duty, the military video game. Daniel Juncadella, the rapid Spaniard and Mercedes GT3 expert who is sharing with Cooper MacNeil today. He did a lot of simulator work to get ready. Matthieu Jaminet in the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R is going for it.
Cooper MacNeil had this Mercedes AMG GT3 in his car collection and it had been sitting around a while. The team had run the Porsche 911 GT3R and was not satisfied with the Porsche, so they pulled the Benz out of mothballs and here they are. Madison Snow in the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 is going for it as well. Snow and co-driver Bryan Sellers are cautiously optimistic. This car is totally different than the Lamborghini Huracan that PMR used to race. Remember when you had training wheels learning to ride a bike? That's the same deal of changing cars from one season to another. What settings do you use? What suspension settings and spring rates do you use?
The BMW M4 GT3 is a ten-inch longer wheelbase and 22 inches longer in overall length than the Lamborghini. This is a front engine car while the Lamborghini was mid-engine. The BMW teams like PMR are concerned about excessive tire wear towards the end of this motor race. Whopps! We have a spinner and yes, the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes AMG GT3, Russell Ward at the controls has totally shattered the front end of the #57 Mercedes AMG GT3! Ker-runch! Russell Ward was running second in GT Daytona sharing that automobile with Philip Ellis, a German, who now calls Switzerland home.
So, this is the first Full Course Yellow. In replay, we see Russell Ward went off the road and thankfully, he is OK. Turn six is a high commitment corner and the tires in the sand will spear you off the road. Russell Ward got out of that car under his own steam. This track is low grip, narrow, and treacherous. But this is an old school track too, and so the drivers dig it. Pit stop time for the DPi teams and the LMP2's as well. Ricky Taylor is in along with Oliver Jarvis. Four tires and fuel. Tom Blomqvist replaces Oliver Jarvis in the #60 while Filipe Albuquerque gets in to replace Ricky Taylor with two hours to go.
#02 has pitted. Alex Lynn is in. Tristan Nunez stays in the #31 Action Express Cadillac after their stop as well. How will AXR play their strategy? Have team boss Bob Johnson, team manager Gary Nelson, and strategist Tim Keane got a plan? We'll find out. We will see the green flag soon as the marshals continue track cleanup here at Laguna Seca. Michelin focus on the extremes to use their racing tires in order to develop their street tires. Frigidly cold track temps at Daytona and steaming hot temps on the streets of Long Beach, California. All the tracks and conditions are different, but the Michelin tires can handle it as the engineers analyze priceless data for the track and the street just the same.
We can see the Michelin Pilot bridge here at Laguna Seca. All these teams run spec Michelin tires with different compounds. There is a $10 million investment to resurface this track and we will see a brand- new surface here at Laguna Seca when we return with brand new race cars next year in LMDh/GTP. Turner Motorsports have a tad bit of fall off on their tires which is not as much with the M4 GT3 as it was with the old faithful M6 GT3. The WeatherTech Mercedes team had to come back into the lane and pit as a rattle gun failed. Some chaos with a loose tire for both Heart of Racing Aston Martin's. Cooper MacNeil got back into the Mercedes and he wull have to stay fluid to let Juncadella do another stint.
Alex Lynn topped off his petrol in the #02 Ganassi Racing Cadillac. They want toe extend their fuel window. Punch it! We are back to green. Albuqerque, Blomqvist, Vautier, Derani, and Lynn. Pipo Derani now at the wheel of the Whelen #31 Cadillac. Corvette #3 bashes into the side of the #96 BMW. Jordan Taylor gets eaten up by Matty Jaminet as Robby Foley is now the cork in the bottle and we can see the Aston Martin passing the Lexus up the Rahl straightaway and plunging down through The Corkscrew. #42 off and on in the NTE Sport Lamborghini, Jaden Conwright at the controls in his home race here at Laguna Seca.
Aston Martin #27 in the lane for a driver change. Roman De Angelis will hand over to Maxime Martin. Ah. Drive through penalty for hitting pit equipment. Well, well, well. That is different. Major penalty too, improper wave by stop and hold for two laps for the #51 Rick Ware Racing Acura NSX GT3 with Ryan Eversley and Aidan Read. They will not do the other two enduros at Watkins Glen or at Petit Le Mans later in the year. Ricky Taylor has finished his driving stint. He says this race is never easy and they are seeing performance, but strategy is wide open. Albuquerque, Blomqvist, Vautier, Derani, Lynn, the top five.
Very evenly matched driver pairings in every one of the DPi entries this year. Ricky Taylor did not sound 100% in that interview. It sounds like he has a bit of a cold or something. We ride onboard with the #70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3. American Brendon Iribe sharing with Dane Fredrik Schandorff. Good LMP2 battle as Henrik Hedman passes Dennis Andersen and some argy bargy, some hip and shoulder between DragonSpeed and, High Class Racing. Alex Lynn chasing after Pipo Derani for fourth spot. Action Express vs. Ganassi Racing. Madison Snow leads GT Daytona in the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3, a team and a car that won at Long Beach last time out.
Bryan Sellers says track position and fuel mileage will be key. An hour and 40 minutes left. So, we have an hour of the race on the board already. Time is flying by. Pipo Derani reeling in Tristan Vautier. Meanwhile, Matthieu Jaminet continues to lead GTD Pro. Last time out at Long Beach they had a lung nut puncture a radiator, a lug nut from the Corvette team. The team joked their fueler needs a catcher's mitt. A wheel nut flew at the car from Lexus in the lane this morning during the warmup. Deja vu. So, Filipe Albuquerque is now being chased by Tom Blomqvist only 6/10ths of a second behind.
A wheel nut holing a radiator. Like a coin into a slot. Have you ever? No, I've never. Who has the advantage with the Acura battle? The Oreca chassis is the backbone of the Acura and the aerodynamics can find a sweet spot. Acura have won on the west coast here the last three years. The LMP2 battle is massive for both PR1/Mathiasen cars! Steven Thomas in #11 passes Patrick Kelly in the #52. Thomas has had driver coaching from veteran Canadian racer, Ross Bentley. Thomas is 54 years old and has driven for just three years. There's something rattling around inside the McLaren on acceleration. Now, what on earth could that be? Loose diffuser on the McLaren. Not good. They were penalized during their pit stop for too many men over the wall and that diffuser will be wobbling around for the final hour and a half. Jeepers creepers! Not good for the aerodynamics on that GT3 machine.
We have seen tons of great racing here at Laguna Seca over the years. The Monterey County Board of Supervisors has granted $9.7 million to refurbish this racetrack for a resurfacing and a new walkover bridge. We see lots of character in the old surface. The Albuquerque/Blomqvist scrum continues at the front ahead of Vautier, Derani, and Lynn. An off-course excursion for the #18 Era Motorsports LMP2 entry. He is back on the road now, Dwight Merriman at the controls. We also see Juan Pablo Montoya spinning the #81 Dragonspeed entry spinning in the pit lane too. He goes up the curb, gets into the dust, and spins. Finally he drives away and will do his drive through penalty.
Stephen Thomas has fallen to third in LMP2 with teammate Patrick Kelly retaking the lead in class. Thomas completely apologizing for what he did. The team says, "shake it off. We can recover." Picking up tire clag offline to make passes can catch you out. Blomqvist is now right behind Filipe Albuquerque. Blomqvist will be right on top of Albuquerque. The Cadillac's shine on tracks like Long Beach, torque for speed off corner exit. Drivability on rough tracks for the Cadillac's while the Acura's are nimbler and can shine at a track like Laguna Seca with more corners. Some of the pictures we are seeing do show the aerial view and we can see the passes going on from above.
Blomqvist now reeling in Albuquerque. All the best to Ryan Eversley who lost his grandma, and his dad John Eversley is dealing with heart issues. Get well soon. He is sharing the Rick Ware Racing Acura with Aidan Read. Pipo Derani pits early. Action Express showing their strategy for short pitting and everyone else will surely follow. Tristan Nunez felt the tires were falling away. But Pipo Derani is having better luck on the tires as we see Blomqvist reeling in Albuquerque and the Acura's stay out with an hour and 18 minutes to go yet. Just past halfway. Josh Pierson has just taken over the #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports car.
He leads LMP2 in World Endurance Championship points and will be the youngest ever driver to start the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. The DPi cars are sticking with their strategy. The Acura's are fighting the #02 in the championship. #31 looking for a race win and wants to get into the championship picture. Right now, we see the #02, the #5, the #10, in the fight. We will see but I suspect AXR will move into the championship picture before long. Blomqvist to the lane. So much of slicing the pie is about tire degradation. Earlier pit stops can help for a longer stint to the finish of the motor race.
#5 in the lane too for JDC-Miller Motorsports. Tristan Vautier out and Richard Westbrook in. Westbrook is a fan of the sprint races. Championship leader #02 off in the gravel! Holy cow! #10 dives for pit lane in the nick of time. So, who will cycle to the lead here? It looks like #02 will get back on track going up the hill to the top of The Corkscrew. Filipe Albuquerque stays in the Acura. Blomqvist can go deeper on the brakes compared to Albuquerque and does the undercut. #02 into the lane and back out. Lynn actually walloped the wall a little bit there. He missed his braking marker still turning and got the trajectory all wrong. Did he damage the suspension, the geometry and the pickup points?
Meyer Shank Racing are the new leaders, the Daytona 24 Hours winners from back in January. They are going for win number two on the season. We have not seen a repeat winner in IMSA 2022 yet. Could this be the day? We are closing in on the final stints for the Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship. The order has not changed except to say that Pipo Derani has passed Richard Westbrook who in turn has gone past the #02 Ganassi Cadillac. Good battle between the two BMW's here. Madison Snow monstering Robby Foley. Foley pinches the turn in turn five and now he is going to go for it. These chaps don't want to be stymied by the prototypes. This is an amazing circuit, twisting and diving. So many different types of racing here at Laguna Seca. Cars, motorcycles, vintage racing, you name it.
So, Tom Blomqvist is now two and a half seconds up on Albuquerque. Will Pipo Derani be close enough to make inroads on these two Acura's? Traffic everywhere. You come up on a car, and then, ten minutes later, the same automobile has a different driver at the wheel of it. Tom Blomqvist drove GT cars for BMW Team RLL in IMSA. Wow! This is some ugly traffic with GTD and LMP2. Pick the bones out of that! Pit stop time at Turner Motorsports and a driver change as Bill Auberlen is now going to get into the car and take over from Robby Foley. Fuel in the tank and new boots on the car. Albuquerque side by side with Blomqvist! Here comes Blomqvist! Nope. Nope. Albuquerque wants to stay out front.
Meyer Shank and Action Express are both keen on winning here. Both of them will be trying hard to get with it and try to beat the #10. The #20 entry in LMP2 was in the way. They nearly split that MP2 car and Albuquerque permanently slammed the door right in Blomqvist's face! Some tracks you will have a spotter but harder to do it at a place like Laguna Seca. The #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche in the lane for service. Matt Campbell takes over from Matthieu Jaminet. Lexus #14 in the lane too. Jack Hawksworth finishes his stint handing over to Ben Barnicoat. Madison Snow got out of the #1 BMW M4 GT3 and Bryan Sellers is now back in the car. He was beside himself waiting for the car to hit the lane! He wanted to go!
Ricky Taylor leads DPi. Josh Pierson in LMP2. Matty Campbell in GTD Pro and Daniel Morad in GTD. WTR, PR1/Mathiasen, Pfaff Motorsports, and Alegra Motorsports. Daniel Morad has run for a long time with Alegra. He has run a number of races but not necessarily a full season. The Mercedes is a very well-balanced car. The WeatherTech team have determined that a Mercedes is the car for them compared to running both a Mercedes and a Porsche as they did in the first two enduros. Blomqvist has Albuquerque in his sites. Pipo Derani third, 12 seconds in-arrears of the Acura boys. 55 minutes to go. We are just a short way in from the Monterey peninsula and we saw the marine layer earlier in the morning over the Pacific Ocean. But the weather is good.
Acura #60 us tryng to catch up to the #60 as we see Pipo Derani who won in class in 2018 here at Laguna Seca. AXR is the best of the Cadillac's. Tristan Nunez says racing with Action Express is a huge opportunity for his career. They had a difficult start with the rear tires but the track is coming back to them. They are chasing with one pit stop left to go. Tristan Nunez threw the first pitch out at the Detroit Tigers game vs. the New York Yankees. That's a massive honor representing Cadillac and Whelen. They are looking forward to Detroit on the street circuit. Tristan Nunez was studying how to pitch a baseball and it looks like he got it bang on the money. Belle Isle will see their final Grand Prix race in Detroit before 2023 when the race moves next year back to downtown Detroit.
Rob Ferriol and Katherine Legge in the lane in the Hardpoint Porsche in GTD. They will get to the end of the race. Not sure which of them will take that car to the finish. 2.238 miles, crazy elevation change, and The Corkscrew. What more can you say? A great track. So, Filipe Albuquerque continues to lead Tom Blomqvist with just a wee bit over 45 minutes left. The DPi cars can pit, and they don't have to do all the fuel save. Who will roll the dice first? Blomqvist does the undercut. Will it work for Meyer Shank this time? Pipo Derani assumes second spot for now. Earl Bamber in the #02 Cadillac is now a lap down. Blomqvist locks up downhill on cold tires, pushing, pushing, pushing. Nick Tandy went straight on on his out lap at pit exit last fall.
#10 should respond soon. They are in danger zone. They will lose the lead if a Full Course Yellow appears. Now, the #31 into the lane for tires and fuel with Pipo Derani finishing it off. Action Express knows they have to make the most of what they've got. The dominos are beginning to fall. Albuquerque in the lane now. #60 will be pushing, pushing, pushing for the race lead. Albuquerque was trapped behind an LMP2 car headed for the stop. So, they are down and away and where will they come out? Albuquerque might have enough of a gap.
Blomqvist will be chasing. Albuquerque is squirming on the tires as they are stone cold. Albuquerque in the lead but Blomqvist has lit the afterburners. Blomqvist has lapped traffic. Good pass. Albuquerque tries to skate away. He is in the sweet spot, but Blpmqvist is coming. Watch the traffic. Albuquerque now in the zone on the tires. This is the prime opportunity for Blomqvist to send it. Not quite though. Albuquerque is still top of the shop. It ain't over 'til it's over, to quite good ol' Yogi Berra. So, Albuquerque now leads Blomqvist with just 35+ minutes on the clock. Matt Campbell is the leader in GTD Pro for Pfaff Motorsports.
Great driver lineup between Campbell from Australia and Jaminet from France. Zacharie Robichon and Laurens Vanthoor won the 2021 GTD title. Ben Barnicoat is their closest competitor in GTD Pro in Lexus RC F GT3 #14. This has not been a Lexus track, but they are getting close and in third, Connor De Phillippi, is third. The two of them will be back at the Nurburgring for another race in the NLS prepping for the big kahuna, the 24 Hours of the Nurburgring, coming up at the end of the month. Auberlen and Sellers have BMW's out front in GT Daytona. Auberlen and Sellers in the BMW M4 GT3's don't want to be abusing their tires and getting on the power too soon in their cat and mouse game.
Jeff Westphal in the #39 CarBahn with Peregrine Racing Lamborghini. He is in the fight with Jan Heylen in the #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche. Team manager Steve Dinan, he went out and won as a driver in an SRO race you read about here on the blog. A Happy Birthday to Jan Heylen as well. Heylen, late move on Ross Gunn in the #23 GT Daytona Pro Heart of Racing Aston Mattin! Yikes! Same spec cars but the driver ratings and lineups are different. Heylen to the inside of Ross Gunn. Book it. Give Heylen the place. Gunnwon't give up. Let's have at it, mate. Now, an LMP2 car breaks up their party for a second. Heylen to the outside. No dice. Heylen wants a podium as Filipe Albuquerque is barely hanging on through traffic.
Blomqvist will be in this hornet's nest as well, look. Blomqvist told to save fuel when possible. Just shy of half an hour to go. Blomqvist wants by Albuquerque, still. Down through The Corkscrew. Is a move for the win being plotted? You bet your bottom dollar it is. The overall lead battle ranges. Five and a half story elevation drop through The Corkscrew. 2.238 miles, 11 turns. This place was built in 1957 and modified in 1988. Down The Corkscrew is five and a half stories and is a really tricky deal with cars all around you. Albuquerque managing traffic. You need luck and experience in motor racing. That's for dead sure.
Aaron Telitz now at the wheel of the #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 starting from the rear going up seven places. Six places for Jan Heylen, Louis Deletraz up four, Ryan Dalziel up four, and another driver up four but I don't know who. Bill Auberlen has a three second advantage in GT Daytona over Jeff Westphal. Blomqvist reeling in Albuquerque. Just 17 minutes left to run. Albuquerque has not blinked. It is a nine to ten second delta between the DPi and the GTD cars. This is not a cakewalk. Meyer Shank Racing had a brilliant Rolex 24 win, but they want more. Speaking of wanting more, Action Express should get on the podium today but they too, want to pick up where they left off in the second half of last year.
Ross Gunn, chasing after Bryan Sellers, two different classes between GTD and GTD Pro. Jan Heylen is really pshing and speaking of pushing, here comes Blomqvist! He is right on Albuquerque's six! There are different settings on the steering wheel to adjust like the traction control to arrest the car if it wriggles around on you. Don't take too much power out of it because the traction control can do that. This is the battle for the victory. Acura vs. Acura. Wayne Taylor Racing looking to break through for their first win of the year and Meyer Shank Racing looking for their second 2022 triumph. In GT Daytona, Jan Heylen has passed Bill Auberlen and now, Jeff Westphal is right on Auberlen's six!
So, the BMW man is feeling the heat. Exiting turn five, tucking it to the inside, Heylen has the power and uses it. What can Westphal do? In LMP2, Louis Deletraz leads ahead of Ryan Dalziel, Juan Pablo Montoya, Josh Pierson, and Jonathan Bomarito. Albuquerque leads Blomqvist by 1.6 seconds. Blomqvist coming in a hurry. He is frustrated, trying to get out of the dirty air kicked up behind the #10 as Michael De Quesada wallops the fence! He has thankfully gotten out of that fence and I don't know if there is damage to the car or not. He is spewing gravel all over the shop there, look, into a very tricky turn. He was off the road and back on.
He very nearly got stuck. Alegra Motorsports missed the Long Beach race three weeks ago. The class battles, the drivers in there, don't want to open the door for the prototype drivers even if they have to. Six minutes to go. Tom Blomqvist is coming in a hurry, and it seems the #10 team has managed this race well. Blomqvist wants to see Albuquerque make an error. Third place up for grabs in GTD Pro as Connor De Philippi is holding off Antonio Garcia with Ben Barnicoat second. So, we can see a battle between Lexus, BMW, and Corvette. Garcia wants it and wants by Connor De Philippi. The Corvette's tires are a wee bit fresher than those on the BMW.
For Corvette, no confidential Michelin tires and antilock brakes are the changes they are getting used to. In GT Daytona, Auberlen is keeping it clean trying to hold off Jeff Westphal. What does he have left in the locker? White flag coming soon. Pipo Derani and Action Express are still the best of the Cadillac's in third, in a podium place. We are getting into the meat of the season and there will be five more 2 hour and 40-minute sprint races in 2022. This is the first of these race format events this year. White flag next time by. Traction control kicking in to avoid oversteer. Acura have to perform and have to win on a strong circuit. They are going for four straight here at Laguna Seca and Ricky Taylor for three straight with two different teams.
Into the final turn, one lap to go for Filipe Albuquerque. 165 miles an hour into the braking zone. Right in front, Matty Campbell and Pfaff Motorsports leading in GTD Pro. This is a Porsche track as well. But now, look, here comes Blomqvist. Traffic ahead with the #51 Rick Ware Racing Acura NSX GT3. into The Corkscrew one more time, passing Ryan Eversley. Piece of cake. Blomqvist not close enough. Albuquerque and Taylor win it. Pfaff Motorsports wins GTD Pro with Matthieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell. LMP2 with Louis Deletraz and Canadian John Farano will win LMP2. GT Daytona goes to birthday boy Jan Heylen alongside Ryan Hardwick.
Overall/DPi: #10 Taylor/Albuquerque Wayne Taylor Racing, Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 DPi
LMP2: #8 Deletraz/Farano Tower Motorsport Oreca 07
GT Daytona Pro: #9 Jaminet/Campbell Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R
GT Daytona: #16 Hardwick/Heylen Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R
That is a wrap from Laguna Seca Raceway and the Monterey Peninsula. Two weeks from now IMSA will be back in action at a totally different circuit, the two and a quarter mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. We will see you there, for yet another chapter that will be written in the saga that is the 2022 WeatherTech Championship season. For now, bye bye.
It won't be long before we see the WeatherTech Championship back in action.
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