Yahoo Autos Motul Petit Le Mans Wrap: Meyer Shank Closes Out IMSA DPi Era with Win, Championship
It was a dramatic day at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta for overall winners Meyer Shank Racing. Here's a wrap-up of the 10-hour Motul Petit Le Mans from Road Atlanta and what happened in the five classes at the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship wrapped up another season:
DPi
In yet another surprise, if not bizarre ending at the Petit Le Mans, the Meyer Shank Racing team won the race and the WeatherTech Championship, beating their Acura DPi rivals at Wayne Taylor Racing.
The race victory and title were decided with 14 minutes remaining when the Acura of Felipe Albuquerque made contact with a slow-moving GTD car at the exit of Turn 1. A broken suspension hobbled Albuquerque’s ARX-05, securing the victory and the title for Blomquist and Oliver Jarvis, partnered in this race by Helio Castroneves.
Moments before the decisive incident, Blomqvist held off Albuquerque on the front straight in a side-by-side encounter with little margin for error. “There was something happening inside me in the last two hours,” said Blomqvist. “I was so motivated. The car was so good and came to me. I made moves I don’t normally make. I was in a zone.”
The Taylor team’s championship began to come undone with 51 minutes remaining in the ten-hour race at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta by a bizarre development. The two Cadillacs of the Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillacs crashed at Turn 1 while running third and fourth, the only other DPi entries on the lead lap. Blomqvist took the lead during the subsequent pit stop under yellow and held it to the finish, despite the challenge from Albuquerque.
Blomqvist said he was both saving fuel and closing in on the Taylor Acura and would have won on pace after it’s strategy of setting up for the night began to pay dividends. “We were closing in slowly and I believe we would have caught them,” he said. “But that yellow changed a lot.”
The handling in the always ferocious traffic on a sunny day gave the winning Acura “terrible” oversteer, said Jarvis, while chasing the Taylor Acura in the winner take all showdown for the championship and the final race for the DPi class.
“I had a lot of hairy moments out there,” said Castroneves, who co-drove in the team’s season-opening victory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona. “It’s all about everybody working together and not making mistakes,” said Castroneves. “Then they did that last pit stop at the end of the race.” The Meyer Shank stop was shorter due to needing to take on less fuel.
In an exasperating night for the Ganassi, his two DPi prototypes were the only other cars on the lead lap entering the last hour when they made contact and crashed into the barrier at Turn 1. Ranger van der Zande and Earl Bamber finished the race in fourth and eighth place, respectively, then had the unwelcome responsibility of making explanations to their team owner.
LMP2
In LMP2, John Farano won the race and class championship with the Tower Motorsport team, supported by co-drivers Louis Deletraz and Rui Pinto de Andrade. Running a selected schedule, the DragonSpeed USA team were the runners-up with drivers much decorated Juan Pablo Montoya, who challenged Farano for the lead in the closing hours, his son Sebastian and Henrik Hedman.
LMP3
Andretti Autosport’s LMP3 drivers Gabby Chaves, Josh Burdon and Jarett Andretti, son of the late IMSA and IndyCar star John Andretti, scored their first win in the WeatherTech series. The LMP3 championship went to Core Autosport, its eighth.
GTD Pro
The Vasser Sullivan Racing team scored its second victory of the season in the GTD Pro category with drivers Jack Hawksworth, Ben Barnicoat and Kyle Kirkwood. In this case, the surprise came after the checkered flag.
The Risi Competizione Ferrari took the lead exiting Turn 7 after the final re-start with 32 minutes, driven to the front by Daniel Serra in a three-way duel with the Vasser Sullivan Lexus and the Pfaff Motorsports’ Porsche. But the Risi team was disqualified because Serra drove more than four hours during a six-hour span.
“The whole race was just wild,” said Hawksworth, adding, “I had more contact in the last thirty minutes than during the entire season.” Serendipitous or not, Barnicoat said Lexus has put a lot of resources into achieving success in the major endurance races. The team led the majority of laps. “I’m very happy about winning this one,” said Barnicoat.
The Pfaff team and drivers Matt Campbell and Mathieu Jaminet won the GTD Pro championship by starting the race and ended up third. “I think it was the best winning percentage for a championship in IMSA,” he said of the team’s five victories in 10 races. “It was 50 percent and we would have loved to add another one.”
Due to IMSA’s re-start procedure when the safety car is deployed, five GTD class cars finished ahead of the GTD Pro entries, where all drivers can be gold or platinum rated.
GTD
The Gradient Racing team and Acura of drivers Mario Farnbacher, Till Bechtolsheimer and Kyffin Simpson scored its first victory, and Roman De Angelis and Heart of Racing took home the driver and team championships.
Post-Race Nuggets
Stats Courtesy of IMSA
DPi
No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing
15th career win
Second win of 2022
Won the first and last race of the season
Third Petit Le Mans win
Tom Blomqvist
Second career win
Second win of 2022
First Petit Le Mans win
Oliver Jarvis
Seventh career win
Second win of 2022
Second Petit Le Mans win, won the last two
Helio Castroneves
Ninth career win
Second win of 2022
Second Petit Le Mans win
Third win at Road Atlanta
GTD PRO
Note: No. 62 Risi Competizione crossed the line first but was moved to rear of class due to a drive time violation.
No. 14 Vasser Sullivan
10th career win
Second GTD PRO win of 2022
First win at Petit Le Man
Jack Hawksworth
Ninth career win
Second win of 2022
First Petit Le Mans win
Kyle Kirkwood
Second career win, first GTD PRO win
Second win of 2022
First Petit Le Mans win
Ben Barnicoat
Second career win
Second win of 2022
First Petit Le Mans win
LMP2
No. 8 Tower Motorsport
19th career win
Second win of 2022
Third straight Petit Le Mans win
John Farano
Fourth career win
Second win of 2022
Third straight Petit Le Mans win
Louis Deletraz
Second career win
Second win of 2022
First Petit Le Mans win
Rui Pinto de Andrade
First Career win
GTD
No. 66 Gradient Racing
First career win
Mario Farnbacher
10th career win
First win of 2022
Second Petit Le Mans win
Third win at Road Atlanta win
Till Bechtolsheimer
First career win
Kyffin Simpson
First career win
LMP3
No. 36 Andretti Autosport
Fourth career win
First win of 2022
First Petit Le Mans win
Gabby Chaves
First career win
Jarett Andretti
First career win
Josh Burdon
First career win
Championship Nuggets
DPi
No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing
Third IMSA Championship (2019, 2020, 2022 GTD)
Third Overall Championship for Acura DPi
Oliver Jarvis
First career IMSA Drivers Championship
Won championship in first year driving for Meyer Shank Racing and Acura
Tom Blomqvist
First career IMSA Drivers Championship
Won championship in first year driving for Meyer Shank Racing and Acura
Previously won FIA WEC LMP2 Endurance Driver's Championship in 2021
GTD PRO
No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports
Second IMSA Championship, (2021 GTD, 2022 GTD PRO)
2019 IMSA WT Sprint Cup Drivers Champion (Zacharie Robichon)
Mathieu Jaminet
First IMSA WT Drivers Championship
Competed with Porsche GT Team in 2019 at endurance races during their championship season
Matt Campbell
First IMSA WT Drivers Championship
2018 24 Hours of Le Mans champion in GTE-Am
LMP2
No. 8 Tower Motorsport
Second IMSA Drivers Championship (2016, 2022 - PC)
2012 WEC LMP2 Champions; 2012 Grand-Am DP Endurance Cup Champions
John Farano
First IMSA WT Driver Championship
2012 Continental Sports Car Challenge GS Driver Champion
GTD
No. 27 Heart of Racing Team
First Drivers Championship
2021 IMSA Sprint Cup Champions
Roman De Angelis
First Drivers Championship in third season with Heart Of Racing in GTD
2021 IMSA Sprint Cup Driver Champion
Finished 3rd in championship in 2021
LMP3
No. 54 CORE Autosport
8th IMSA WT Team Championship
2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 PC
2015, 2019 GTLM as Porsche GT Team
2022 LMP3
Colin Braun
Third Drivers Championship (2014, 2015, 2022 PC)
All three Championships have been with CORE Autosport
First LMP3 Championship with CORE
Jonathan Bennett
Third Drivers Championship (2014, 2015 PC)
All three Championships have been with CORE Autosport
First LMP3 Championship with CORE