It is the finale, of the inaugural season, for the IMSA VP Sports Car Challenge, right here, at Road Atlanta. Today is championship day. If yesterday's 45-minute race was anything to go by, expect some great action as we put a bow on the first season of the series, which actually has a long history, first as Prototype Challenge for LMP3 cars and even before that, when the older generation open cockpit Prototype Challenge cars were a part of what is now the WeatherTech Championship, many moons ago, called the American Le Mans Series of course, if you study sports car racing history like I do. Bijoy Garg in LMP3 and Sebastian Carazo in GSX were yesterday's race winners here at Road Atlanta. Will they repeat? Will new drivers spray the champagne for the first time, in the final race of 2023?
Stay tuned to find out. As mentioned, this championship used to be Prototype Challenge. But with the addition of GSX for the GT4 cars it has grown immensely. I also believe, that formerly, these races were an hour and a half long. But now with the new format, splitting it into two 45-minute races per weekend, makes perfect sense especially since a number of the drivers in the championship are amateur level Bronze or Silver rated drivers. Some of them, do compete in other IMSA championships as well, such as Michelin Pilot Challenge which races later today, or the WeatherTech Championship which will run the Petit Le Mans, tomorrow.
The inaugural season of the championship is coming to a close today, and then we can call championships. We are an hour or two north of Atlanta, Georgia, depending on traffic. Well, as we know, there are many corners, great passing zones, and uphill and down dale portions of this track. It is a thriller. Before we get to today's race, recall Jagger Jones and Bijoy Garg battled like crazy and remember, too, the start of the race for the whole field was a pig's breakfast. We saw Dan Goldburg with a penalty that puts his hopes of an LMP3 championship title, on ice.
Race one ended under yellow. The #3 car of Bijoy Gatg was penalized, a three spot grid penalty as we hear from Brian Till and Jeremy Shaw in the commentary box. This is a great format. It works well and trains drivers and mechanics for a future racing in the WeatherTech Championship, the top category. Two cars, Moisey Uretsky and Brady Behrman, will not race, nor will Bob Michaelian or Alex Kirby. All those drivers had either wrecks, or mechanical troubles. Bijoy Garg will win the title when the race starts, for LMP3. But he is still going to race for the win.
Dan Goldburg was tossed out of the fight and he will go for it and so will everyone else. Green flag! Away we go! Look at Jones and Goldburg, scrapping already! Much better start today. Yesterday's start was scruffy! Let's race! Sebastian Carazo, he has made his move to the lead, the inaugural GSX champion! OK. Jagger Jones has rocketed away from everyone else. The Duqueine cars needed more time to balance out. Jones opening a margin over Goldburg. Garg is the champion. Nothing matters except winning the motor race.
A good first lap from Jagger Jones over Dan Goldburg. Troubles for the #89 car of Adam Thomas, the older BMW M4 F82 model, the second car for Split Decision Motorsports. In replay, there was a touch from one of the Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT4's which was not necessary. That was an unwanted assist. Adam Thomas is the main individual behind Split Decision Motorsports, put together in memory of Rob Farley and David Gregor who were sadly killed in a traffic accident. May God Bless them, and their memories are being honored by having the race team in the first place.
In GSX, Greg Liefooghe is being harried by Patrick Wilmot with the second Split Decision BMW, the new G82 M4 GT4 model which has a definite edge over the previous generation car. My goodness. There's six crew members running two cars. Amazing effort. Liefooghe has the line covered. I mentioned Carazo as being the champion elect. No. It is Francis Selldorff in the Turner Motorsports #95 BMW M4 GT4. At Stephen Cameron Racing, Greg Liefooghe is setting up for the Michelin Pilot Challenge finale later this morning with another BMW GT4 car.
Vincent Barletta incurred a penalty and was sent to the tail end of the grid so he is playing catch up. Selldorff is the GSX champion. So, he can race today, just like Bijoy Garg. Willmot has everything to gain and some of his rivals have nothing to lose. Willmot is looking to take third spot in the championship standings before this race is done and dusted this morning. Meanwhile, up front, Jones is gapping both Goldburg and Garg. We've watched these two race all year long. Jagger Jones is ahead by five seconds and reset fastest lap every lap so far. Oh dear! The #89 is off the road, backed into the tires! Unassisted, wheel spin before the track out curb, and he hits the tires on the... boom. No damage.
He's back underway. Hats off to Jagger Jones, in his first prototype races. He has time in lots of different cars but not wheel to wheel racing experience, until now. Jagger Jones, son of P.J. Jones, and grandson of Parnelli Jones, a legendary racing family. Dan Goldburg is driving his own race and Bijoy Garg will have to find a way by, cleanly of course. Jagger Jones remains the overall and LMP3 leader. You haven't missed anything. In GSX, Sebastian Carrazo leads the motor race over Greg Liefooghe by 3.2 seconds.
Bijoy Garg's race craft has improved all year long but he went into desperation mode yesterday. He does deserve the championship and you must, as a racing driver, leave your emotions outside of the race car or you will have a world of pain to deal with. Keep a clear head and focus. Hit your marks. Brian Thienes and Courtney Crone are in their own fight for the points. Crone fourth and Thienes in fifth place. A trio of BMW M4 GT4's we can see, and now, the LMP3 cars are coming up to lap the GSX cars. This is what multi-class racing is all about.
Again, be circumspect, but there's some close racing as Patrick Willmot is right on Greg Liefooghe's six! Now, he is being respectful and not pushing Liefooghe to the limit. Francis Selldorff too, showing us what he is made of and why he is a champion. He is a college student as well, or a college graduate just recently I believe, maybe in the winter. Courtney Crone, driving the "Red Dragon" in fourth place. She backs off, braking early to turn five to get the run between turns five and six and make a clean pass. Poor old Bijoy Garg made a divebomb move and got stymied behind a GSX car allowing Dan Goldburg to pass.
Be patient. Slow down and go fast. Prototypes are much faster down the hill than the production cars. The GSX cars are absolutely on their limit as Brian Thienes decides discretion is the better part of valor in this traffic. 20 points is not enough to move Crone ahead of Thienes in the championship. Garg goes off the road and back on again. This could be manna from heaven for Dan Goldburg as he can catch up. Courtney Crone is losing a place and now, she is up a place to third. We've been racing now for 17 minutes and are getting close to the halfway mark.
Jagger Jones is checking out in the lead of the motor race even in traffic. He has lost some of the lead. But he is proving himself. He is an impressive driver, another one who will be a college graduate. It is not often someone can get through college in three and a half years, and he is also becoming a racing driver. Wow. Kudos to Jagger Jones. His grandfather and his dad, both, extremely successful. Grandfather Parnelli Jones, the 1963 Indianapolis 500 winner, six decades ago. The GSX battle rages. Selldorff clears Wilmot but Wilmot, look, he is answering the bell.
Here comes Selldorff. It is a drag race between the two BMW's coming to turn ten. Selldorff maintains third spot. Wilmot, if he is going to do anything about the title, he needs to go now, and Greg Liefooghe is pulling away. Split Decision Motorsports had cross weight trouble but the issue is in an opposite direction. Bijoy Garg harrying Courtney Crone who wolds the position. Man oh man, this race is flying by. You cannot move in response. Make the move first to defend as the lead car, but the following car cannot duck out and you respond to it, that is blocking.
We have a long way to go yet. More racing today, too. Michaelin Pilot Challenge finale coming up, plus qualifying for the big one, the Petit Le Mans, tomorrow. Trouble for the #14 Ford Mustang GT4 for KohR Motorsports. He is back on the road. A Control, Alt, Delete. Griffin swept GSX at the debut races at Daytona International Speedway at the beginning of January. We'll be back at Daytona Beach in January for a new season. Crone covering Garg to the left back into turn ten. Bijoy Garg knows he has to bide his time for now.
Crone is smartly running her own race. Jagger Jones though about looking inside Greg Liefooghe in turn six and Liefooghe did indeed leave the door open. Selldorff putting the pressure on Liefooghe. Frankie Selldorff, Francis Selldorff's dad, was a racer. Selldorff, a Senior at Boston College, studying computer science and finance. So, he is a racer but also someone with a business mind. Selldorff has dropped off Liefooghe just a wee bit. Analyzing data, in certain jobs, the perfect experience is being a race car driver. Analyze data and keep emotion out of the cockpit.
Don't lose your head and get the red mist. Channel your emotion. If you don't channel the bullet coming out of the gun, it is nothing but exploding gunpowder. Don't let extraneous nonsense get into your mind. Liefooghe has a ton of experience, and he has run perfectly. Recall at Virginia International Raceway, this battle between the two drivers was in reverse. Past the halfway mark and we continue to see this scrap play out. Bijoy Garg slies past Courtney Crone for third place. Selldorff loses time to Liefooghe. That was a self preservation mode against the LMP3 car.
Sebastian Carazo, from Puerto Rico, he had a faultless race yesterday and it appears he is on track for another possible win today to round out the season. Carazo, Liefooghe, Wilmot, the top three. Sebastian Carazo had troublesome races at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Lime Rock Park earlier in the year. But he has been extremely fast and in the last two rounds he has rebounded to collect maximum points. You cannot afford to finish off the podium in races that are this close. Carazo is finishing strongly in these last races of the year.
Scott Blind is ffith as we watch a battle between two more Porsche Cayman's for Angus Rogers and Will Wachs. Wachs is a lap down. Angus Rogers is moving up and he had his best result of the season yesterday, second to Vincent Barletta in the Bronze Cup championship. Angus Rogers has been in it all year long. Liefooghe and Selldorff continue their scrap. Selldorff wants by Liefooghe as you can see on your screen if you are following this race at home.
Vincent Barletta is a wee bit behind after a drive through penalty but will hold third place in the GSX standings. The manufacturers' championship in GSX is at stake, BMW vs. Porsche. BMW have had strength in numbers in GSX in 2023. BMW have wrapped up the inaugural GSX manufacturers' championship. The GT4/GSX category is strong in terms of competitiveness and manufacturer interest. The GSX battle has indeed settled down. Patrick Wilmot is coming and fast, Wilmot and Thomas in the two Split Decision Motorsports cars. Again, we have spoken of the challenges, the memories of their teammates.
This will make them feel good. Genie garage doors is their team sponsors. They are borrowing a G82 BMW M4 GT4 and they will have a new car of their own for 2024, for next year. They have big heads everywhere. Big heads on a stick! Hilarious! Bijoy Garg is cutting some fast laps. He is not going to catch Dan Goldburg unless there is a Full Course Yellow. He will have to get moving if he wants to make inroads and we are within the final eight minutes of racing for the season. Jagger Jones putting a mark on racing just like his father P.J. and grandfather Parnelli. He continues negotiating the GSX traffic.
A substantial speed differential between the LMP3 and the GSX cars. The prototypes are 150-160 miles an hour down the straightaways and higher speed corners. The GSX cars are maybe 10-20 miles an hour slower. The season winding down and the championships have been decided in favor of Bijoy Garg and Francis Selldorff. Sebastian Carazzo in second in the championship, but he has rebounded and will be back next year I am sure. Six rounds, a dozen races. Many of these drivers could move up into places like Michelin Pilot Challenge and the WeatherTech Championship. Next year, we are going to see Performance Tech Motorsports take a hiatus from the WeatherTech Championship and step back to VP Sports Car Challenge with an LMP3 car for next year.
We have the LMP3 cars exiting the WeatherTech Championship after Petit Le Mans and so they will be in VP Challenge in the future. Was there a voice we just heard? I'll be back. That was Francis Selldorff doing his Arnold Schwarzenegger impression. He is closing up on Greg Liefooghe and giving him all he can handle with just over four minutes left on the board. Bob Stallings, a longtime IMSA team owner, is supprting this effort for the Red Dragon in VP Sports Car Challenge, a gentleman who has owned cars in the WeatherTech Championship in the past. Closing in on the checkered flag.
We have seen wonderful racing all year and a great race both yesterday and today. Jagger Jones continues leading. Dan Goldburg second, 8.7 seconds behind. He has just uncorked his best lap of the race, but Jagger Jones is slowing! Oh no! Trouble for car #87! Deary me! Dan Goldburg flashes right by! Jagger Jones' race has all come apart! He is stopped on the road with two laps to go! His dream is dashed! What a heartbreak for him! It can't be a fuel issue, can it? Don't tell me. White flag. One lap to go. Dan Goldburg looking for his fourth win of the year.
Heartbreaking for Jagger Jones! Unbelievable! Goldburg has to be surprised. He knew he was going to push hard. Oh no! Goldburg has spun off! I told you it wasn't over! Criminy! Bijoy Garg makes a move for the lead! Now, this is going to be a mano e mano race for the win! What on earth?! A momentary lapse of concentration for Goldburg and now, Bijoy Garg will win! #3 scores win number eight! How bizarre! Bijoy Garg is two for two to win the title. Sebastian Carazo leads GSX by three and a half seconds. The battle is for second between Greg Liefooghe and Francis Selldorff.
Again, it is not over yet. Selldorff still right on Liefooghe's tail. Carazo two for two! Selldorff third. Liefooghe second. Selldorff is the champion in GSX! Unreal! Incident under review between #73 and #47. Jagger Jones could be out of fuel. Goldburg ducked under one of the other LMP3's and did not need to try making that pass. Unbelievable! Are you kidding me?
Overall/LMP3: #3 Bijoy Garg Jr III Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan
GSX: #27 Sebastian Carazo Kellymoss with Riley Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS
Champions
LMP3: #3 Bijoy Garg Jr III Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan
GSX: #95 Francis Selldorff Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 (G82)
Thanks so much for joining us for the inaugural season of IMSA VP Sports Car Challenge! Congratulations to the champions. Bijoy Garg and Francis Selldorff. We'll see you next year, in 2024, to do it all over again. For now, so long, everyone, from Road Atlanta.
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