Yahoo Autos Points tightening as IMSA title races hit the home stretch
As much as fans, teams and drivers may not want an exciting 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season to end, the campaign is indeed winding down as the championships come down to the final few races. Depending on the class — GTD PRO and GTD have their standalone race at VIRginia International Raceway — there are only three or four races left to determine the 2024 champions: Road America, VIR, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
After sitting out the race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, GTP remains in the hands of Dane Cameron, Felipe Nasr and Porsche Penske Motorsports. With two victories, Daytona and Watkins Glen, three third-place finishes and only a single race where they didn’t make the podium, the No. 7 Porsche 963 squad has commanded the championship from the beginning, and leads the championship over its closest rivals by 93 points. In fact, since Road America last year, where Nasr won with Matt Campbell, the No. 7 has outscored all the other GTP entries. Cameron and Nasr lead the Michelin Endurance Cup points as well.
Their closest contenders are the No. 01 Cadillac Racing team with Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande in the Chip Ganassi Racing-run V-Series.R. Winners at Long Beach, the addition of a couple of second-place finishes have them solidly in the title hunt, the difference between them and the leaders less than that between first and sixth in a single race. A bad race for the No. 7 and a win for the No. 01 could radically alter the championship picture.
Likewise, the No. 6 PPM team could be propelled into the title hunt should the others falter. Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy have a victory at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and have 1912 points, 39 behind the No. 01 and 132 behind their sister car.
Beyond that, it’s going to take a lot of luck for any of the others to be contending for the title when the championship rolls into Road Atlanta. Both Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acuras have made trips to victory circle, but the season otherwise has generally been full of misses. Only the No. 40 has made the podium more than once. The No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing team has a trio of poles and second-place finishes, but the defending champions have a big task in front of them to repeat the title.
Further down the order, despite five different winners in six races, BMW M Team RLL, Proton Competition and JDC-Miller MotorSports have all failed to reach the podium this season.
In LMP2, Era Motorsport took the first two victories of the season. But two rough races and a shakeup in the driver lineup has sent it tumbling to third in the championship. Instead it’s a rookie LMP2 team without a victory at the top — Gar Robinson and Felipe Fraga leading the standings with 1308 points on the strength of three podium finishes in four races so far for Riley Motorsports in the No. 74 ORECA.
That lead is tenuous at best. Nick Boulle and Tom Dillmann won at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park where LMP2 was the headliner, and are only 12 points off the championship lead for Inter Europol with PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports. With Jakub Smiechowski, they lead the IMEC points in LMP2. Ryan Dalziel, the constant for Era, is third in the overall standings with 1173 points to Inter Europol’s 1296.
A lineup change complicates AO Racing’s GTD PRO battle with Heart of Racing. Michael. Levitt/Motorsport Images
AO Racing continues at the head of GTD PRO, but the No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R is facing an altered driver lineup going forward, with Seb Priaulx being called away to honor his commitment to Multimatic, leaving Laurin Heinrich in sole possession of the championship lead should the team perform well at Road America.
Ross Gunn — the constant in Heart of Racing’s No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo as Alex Riberas has had several conflicts with the World Endurance Championship — has 1857 points, 98 shy of Heinrich and, for now, Priaulx. The Vasser Sullivan Racing duo of Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth are hot on Heart of Racing’s heels, the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 squad only 22 points back at 1835. After that, it’s a ways back to the Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports team of Alexander Sims and Antonio Garcia, recent winners at CTMP in the Z06 GT3.R.
Paul Miller Racing is still seeking its first win since moving to GTD PRO this season, but Bryan Sellers, Madison Snow and Neil Verhagen lead the Michelin Endurance Cup standings in the class.
With four victories and only one race off the podium, Winward Racing has command of the GTD points, 240 ahead of the closest pursuers. The No. 57 Mercedes AMG GT3 has scored victories in every Michelin Endurance Cup race, plus WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Ward, Ellis and Indy Dontje lead the IMEC points as well, although with a smaller margin.
Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher, still seeking their first victory as pairing in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3, have 1750 points and are in second place thanks to their consistency, and lead Vasser Sullivan Racing’s Parker Thompson by 102 points
