Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) placed second for the third-consecutive IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race, moving back to the DPi points lead with an exciting finish in the Detroit Grand Prix at Belle Isle Park on Saturday.
Oliver Jarvis and Tom Blomqvist ran second for virtually the entire 100-minute race in the No. 60 MSR with Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-05, taking the checkered flag just 0.398-seconds behind the winning Cadillac. Both drivers had to balance pace and fuel consumption through the all-green flag event, with the team delivering a key pit stop exchange on lap 36 to set the duo up for another post-race champagne shower.
Jarvis and Blomqvist now have accumulated 2,027 points and lead the DPi standings by 30-points.
The top three finishers ran on a one pit stop strategy, with Jarvis leading one lap during the driver exchange. The final 20-minutes were filled with drama as the top four cars ran within two seconds, with Jarvis managing to fight off attacks by two different challengers. Despite the threat behind, Jarvis held off the third and fourth place finishers for the final 15-laps in a nail-biter finish as the No. 60 Acura displayed the fuel alarm with two laps to go.
After winning the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona and missing the podium in the following two races, the MSR team has placed second in the events at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Mid-Ohio and Detroit.
Next up for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is the Sahlen’s Six Hours of Watkins Glen, set for Sunday, June 26. Following The Glen, only three races remain in 2022 DPi competition as MSR looks to race to a third IMSA championship.
The Detroit event weekend is not yet complete for the team, which will look to convert a strong INDYCAR qualifying effort with Simon Pagenaud and Helio Castroneves, both drivers are set to start Sunday’s race from the second row.
Driver Quotes:
Tom Blomqvist:
“That was a seriously stressful end to the race. Oliver did a fantastic job to hold those guys off. It wasn’t easy out there; I don’t know what the 01 was doing – I didn’t know if they just didn’t have the pace at the end or if they were just holding us up to put the 02 into contention. It was a bit weird, but the car was really good today. My first stint was really good as well and I was really comfortable in the car. I’m really happy with the work the MSR guys have done, we’ve made huge strides in the right direction in the past few events and this one we capitalized on the performance. It was a Cadillac event and to sneak ourselves in there with a P2, it couldn’t be much better than that. Big thanks to the team and to Olly, everyone’s done a fantastic job this weekend.”
Oliver Jarvis:
“Firstly, the team has done an amazing job and Tom was awesome all weekend. To come away with a P2 on a street track is pretty awesome. It was a tough race, it felt like the 01 was taking it steady out front trying to bring the 02 into play which made life a little bit difficult. I’m happy to bring the car back in one piece and on the podium and score some good points. Big thanks to the team.”
Source. Sunday Group
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