Performance Tech Motorsports IMSA Prototype Challenge drivers are moving into the spotlight in 2021 as the LMP3 series joins the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship as a new class.
The race saw several highs and lows for the No. 57 Heinricher Racing with Meyer Shank Racing squad on Saturday. The six-hour endurance event brought together Misha Goikhberg, Alvaro Parente and Trent Hindman who fought through early damage to the race car to bring home a seventh-place result at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
The Whelen Engineering Cadillac team finished third in today’s running of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
WeatherTech Racing drivers Cooper MacNeil (Hinsdale, Ill.), Toni Vilander (Kankaanpää, Finland), and Jeff Westphal (San Mateo, Calif.) will start the IMSA WeatherTech Championship race at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta from eighth in GTD.
The Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R will start the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race from the front in second tomorrow at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
It has been eight months since the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship held and endurance race, but this weekend, the sports car racing series heads to Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. The No. 18 Era Motorsport Oreca earned a third place finish at the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January, and after a series of podium finishes in the subsequent sprint events, the team is ready to climb higher up the podium for this weekend’s endurance event.
With consecutive podium finishes (P3 – Road America and P2 – VIR) in the last two 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races BMW Team RLL has now amassed a total of 80 podium finishes since beginning its BMW racing program in 2009.The team is hoping to add a second season’s win at the six-hour Tirerack.com Grand Prix at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, in Braselton Ga. On Sept. 5th. BMW Team RLL triumphed at this year’s Rolex 24 At Daytona in January, the only event of 2020 not affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The six-hour race at Road Atlanta replaces the six-hour race at Watkins Glen International.
Heading to Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta tied for both the team and driver championships, the No. 86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 squad is hoping to move into the sole lead following the six hour race on Saturday as the team looks to follow up its run to the 2019 IMSA championship with another title in 2020.
It was a full throttle sprint to the finish for Mario Farnbacher on Saturday, as he took the No. 86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 from fourth to second in the final five laps of the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR. Farnbacher was relentless in his pursuit of the fabled VIR Michelin Man trophy, optimizing every opportunity to move froward late in the race to claim a runner-up result for the second IMSA race in a row.
BMW Team RLL drivers Connor De Phillippi and Bruno Spengler shared the duo’s first ever podium with a second-place finish in today’s Michelin GT Challenge at VIR. The pair, driving the No. 25 BMW M8 GTE, completed 85 laps around Virginia International Raceway in the two-hour-and-forty-minute race, finishing 3.5 seconds behind the winning No. 3 Corvette. Teammates John Edwards and Jesse Krohn fell victim to a mechanical issue early in the race and ultimately finished 19 laps down.
WeatherTech Racing drivers Cooper MacNeil (Hinsdale, Ill.) and Toni Vilander (Kankaanpää, Finland) will start the IMSA WeatherTech Championship Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) from seventh in GTD.
A very wet and rainy day one at Virginia International Raceway saw the No. 86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 of Mario Farnbacher and Matt McMurry only post 27 laps ahead of the Friday evening qualifying session. Making his third qualifying run of the 2020 IMSA season, McMurry put the No. 86 Acura in fourth for the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR on Saturday. With rain forecasted for the first day of on-track activity at Virginia International Raceway the morning practice session was the only opportunity for Farnbacher and McMurry to get a feel for the Acura NSX GT3 under somewhat dry conditions.
BMW Team RLL qualified third and sixth in the GTLM class for tomorrow’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Michelin GT Challenge race at VIRginia International Raceway, in Alton, Virginia. Connor De Phillippi qualified the No. 25 BMW M8 GTE in the third starting position with a 1:41.095-minute lap, only .706 seconds behind the pole-winning Porsche. De Phillippi and co-driver Bruno Spengler stand sixth in GTLM driver points. With a 1:41.716-minute lap, John Edwards will start the No. 24 BMW M8 GTE from the sixth position tomorrow. Edwards and co-driver Jesse Krohn, the third-place finishers at Road America and two of the four BMW Team RLL quartet that won the 2020 Rolex 24 At Daytona, stand fourth in GTLM driver points.
After coming up just one lap shy of taking their first victory of the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season at Road America earlier this month, Mario Farnbacher and Matt McMurry are once again aiming for the top step of the podium at VIRginia International Raceway for the Michelin GT Challenge on Saturday.
Era Motorsports endured an action-packed race on Sunday at Road America to secure a third consecutive third place finish in the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season. The No. 18 Oreca raced strong all weekend long, surviving multiple hits and treacherous weather on Sunday to earn an additional podium finish in the team’s debut sports car racing season.
Townsend Bell and Frankie Montecalvo earned the third consecutive win for AIM VASSER SULLIVAN (AVS) in the No. 12 Lexus RC F GT3 in Sunday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Road America. Bell battled in the closing laps under rainy weather conditions to score the first win in the Lexus RC F GT3 for the driver duo. The race was halted for nearly 22 minutes due to inclement weather before restarting for the final few laps.
A run that was gaining momentum at Road America for Heinricher Racing came to an early end on Sunday. The Heinricher Racing with Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 was looking to capitalize on its strong pace in wet conditions after an intense rainstorm rolled through the area. Instead, the No. 57 Acura went off track and into the wall—ending the race for Alvaro Parente and Misha Goikhberg.
BMW Team RLL gave a much improved and more competitive performance in this afternoon’s two-hour-and-forty-minute IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar race at Road America, finishing third in the GTLM class with the No. 24 MOTUL BMW M8 GTE of John Edwards and Jesse Krohn. After spending much of the race in a top-three position Connor De Phillippi and Bruno Spengler finished sixth in the No. 25 MOTUL BMW M8 GTE following a rainstorm that came in the last 40 minutes of the contest and turned everything upside down.
It was a wet and wild race to the finish at Road America for the IMSA SportsCar Weekend on Sunday. Meyer Shank Racing drivers Matt McMurry and Mario Farnbacher had an outstanding run from dry to wet conditions to place the No. 86 Acura NSX GT3 second on Sunday.
The Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R piloted by Ryan Briscoe will start the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Road America from row three tomorrow.