Meyer Shank Racing closes the 2023 IMSA season in style!
On 14 October, the Road Atlanta circuit hosted the annual final of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season. After an intense 10 hours of racing, Meyer Shank Racing repeated last year’s performance to win Petit Le Mans once again. The PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports team claimed the crown in the LMP2 class.
Despite falling two laps behind due to contact with a GT3 in the second hour of the race, Colin Braun/Tom Blomqvist/Helio Castroneves fought hard with an excellent race strategy to give Meyer Shank Racing a second consecutive win at Road Atlanta and the team’s third victory of the season.
As the green flag waved with slightly more than six minutes to go after yet another neutralisation, a new twist disrupted the race when a fire broke out in a GT3. This caused Petit Le Mans to end with the Safety Car deployed and another win for the Ohio team’s Acura.
Wayne Taylor Racing competed to clinch the first title of the GTP era. The #10 Acura ARX-06, in P3 with one hour remaining, left the track in the first turn after a dust-up with the #1 Cadillac. The contact violently hurled Filipe Albuquerque’s car into the tyre wall, sending the Portuguese driver to the hospital for more thorough examination.
In the LMP2 class, while CrowdStrike by APR’s #4 ORECA 07 won the race ahead of TDS Racing’s #35, the #52 pole-sitter fielded by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports and shared by Ben Keating/Paul-Loup Chatin/Alex Quinn scored the championship trophy by finishing third despite a spin-out and detour into the gravel.
But the race winning team didn’t exactly leave empty-handed! Drivers Ben Hanley and Georges Kurtz won the IMSA Michelin Endurance LMP2 Cup, and the latter also earned the Jim Trueman Bronze Cup and an automatic invitation to the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans.
AF Corse’s #88 ORECA 07 and ERA Motorsport’s #18 rounded out the top 5.
The #20 entered by High Class Racing incurred a two-minute penalty after causing a collision, finishing sixth.
Other unlucky competitors: the Tower Motorsports team’s #8 left the track during the formation lap and again three minutes into the race in turn 3, and TDS Racing’s #11 ORECA 07 contender for the title broke down three hours 20 minutes from the chequered flag.
2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Calendar
19 – 21 January | Roar Before the Rolex 24 at Daytona (GTP – LM P2 – GTD Pro – GTD)
25 – 28 January | Rolex 24 at Daytona (GTP – LM P2 – GTD Pro – GTD
13 – 16 March | 12 Hours of Sebring (GTP – LMP2 – GTD Pro – GTD)
19 – 20 April | Long Beach (GTP – GTD)
10 – 12 May | Laguna Seca (GTP – GTD Pro – GTD)
31 May – 1 June | Detroit (GTP – GTD Pro)
27 – 30 June | Watkins Glen (GTP – LM P2 – GTD Pro – GTD)
12 – 14 July | Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (LM P2 – GTD Pro – GTD)
2 – 4 August | Road America (GTP – LM P2 – GTD Pro – GTD)
23 – 25 August | VIR (GTD Pro – GTD)
20 – 22 September | Indianapolis (GTP – LM P2 – GTD Pro – GTD)
9 – 12 October | Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta (GTP – LM P2 – GTD Pro – GTD)