2017 IMSA, America's Tires 250 Laguna Seca, GT Daytona.

The GTD class winning Ferrari leads a GTD Audi and a Cadillac DPi at Turn 4 during the race.

As usual the GT Daytona cars were the largest part of the field entered for the IMSA WeatherTech Sport Car Championship race at Laguna Seca.  There were sixteen GTD cars with eight marques represented.   The fastest car in practice, the Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan, led the race early on but as a result of a first lap incident with a GTLM Corvette eventually had to pit to repair the damage.  Thereafter it was a close contest for the lead with various cars involved including the Porsches, one of the Acuras and the Turner Motorsports BMW.  Eventually, fuel consumption played a big part as a number of the leaders had to make a splash and dash.  Suddenly, Alexandro Balzan and Christina Nielsen inherited the lead in the Ferrari which they held to the end.  It was Ladies first and second as Katherine Legge shared the driving of the second placed Acura.

GTD car battle exiting the iconic Corkscrew.

One of the Acuras takes to the gravel under braking for turn ten as the WeatherTech Porsche speeds by.

GT Daytona Drivers

Top, Left - Ben Keating, Riley Motorsports Team AMG.
Top, Center - Katherine Legge, Michael Shank Racing.
Top, Right - Jeroen Bleekemolen, Riley Motorsports Team AMG.
Middle, Left - Oswaldo Negri Jnr, Michael Shank Racing.
Middle, Center - Christina Nielsen, Scuderia Corse.
Middle, Right - Jeff Segal, Michael Shank Racing.
Bottom, Left - Andrew Davis, Stevenson Motorsports.
Bottom, Center - Brian Sellers, Paul Miller Racing.
Bottom, Right - Patrick Long, Alegra Motorsports.

The WeatherTech girls pose with the WeatherTech drivers Cooper MacNeil and Gunnar Jeannette. 

It was good to see Scott Pruett in the pit lane. Scott of course has driven in Indy Car, Nascar and Sport Cars and now drives the Lexus GTD cars.

The GTD Results

The sixteen GT Daytona cars all finished between 18th and 33rd overall.

1st in class, Scuderia Corse, Alessandro Balzan/Christina Nielsen, Ferrari 488 GT3, 107 laps.

The winning Ferrari in the Rainey Curve during the race.

2nd in class, Michael Shank Racing, Andy Lally/Katherine Legge, Acura NSX GT3, 107 laps.

The Second placed Acura leading another during the race.

3rd in class, Park Place Motorsports, Patrick Lindsay/Jorg Bergmeister, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 107 laps.

The Park Place Motorsports Porsche exiting Turn Ten.

4th in class, CoreMotorsport, Colin Braun/Jonathan Bennett, Porsche GT3 R, 106 laps.

The Core Motorsport Porsche during qualifying at Turn Six. 

5th in class, Turner Motorsport, Jesse Krohn/Jens Klingmann, BMW M6 GT3, 106 laps.

The Turner Motorsports BMW cutting the apex at Turn Ten.

6th in class, Riley Motorsports WeatherTech Racing, Cooper MacNeil/Gunnar Jeannette, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 106 laps.

The WeatherTech Porsche exiting the Corkscrew.

7th in class, Paul Miller Racing, Bryan Sellers/Madison Snow, Lamborghini Huracan GT3, 106 laps.

The Paul Miller Lamborghini showing signs of its first lap accident.

8th in class, Riley Motorsports Team AMG, Jeroen Bleekemolen/Ben Keating, Mercedes AMG GT3, 106 laps.

Mercedes cutting the Corkscrew apex during the race.

9th in class, Change Racing,  Corey Lewis/Jeroen Mul, Lamborghini Huracan GT3, 106 laps.

Change Racing Lamborghini about to be lappeg by a LMGT Corvette.

10th in class, Michael Shank Racing, Jeff Segal/Oswaldo Negri, Acura NSX GT3, 106 laps.

Acura on the Fan Grid Walk.

11th in class, Stevenson Motorsports, Andrew Davis/Lawson Aschenbach, Audi R8 LM3 GT3, 106 laps.

Audi leads Porsche through the Corkscrew.

12th in class, Sun Energy1 Racing, Tristan Vautier/Kenny Habul, Mercedes AMG GT3, 106 laps.

Mercedes speeds down the Corkscrew in practice.

13th in class, 3GT Racing, Scott Pruett/Jack Hawksworth, Lexus RCF GT3, 106 laps.

The Scott Pruett Lexus.

14th in class, 3GT Racing, Sage Karam/Robert Alon, Lexus RCFGT3, 105 laps.

Lexus leading the winning Ferrari

15th in class, Lone Star Racing, Mike Skeem/Dan Knox, Mercedes AMG GT3, 105 laps.

Lone Star Racing Pit Stop.

16th in class, Alegra Motorsports, Patrick Long/Daniel Morad, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 47 laps.

The Patrick Long Porsche in practice at Turn Ten on Saturday.

For the GTLM cars at Laguna Seca, click here.

For the IMSA Prototype cars at Laguna Seca, click here.

For the Lamborghini Super Trofeo cars at Laguna Seca, click here.

For the Global Mazda MX-5 Cup, click here.

John Etherton asserts his copyright to all of the photos on this blogpost.  However, you may post the photos elsewhere on the web as long as you credit the photographer, John Etherton, and this blog post, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com and provide a link to this page.

John Etherton affirme son droit d'auteur à l'ensemble des photos sur ce billet de blog. Cependant, vous pouvez poster des photos ailleurs sur le web aussi longtemps que vous créditez le photographe, John Etherton, et ce blog, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com et fournissez un lien vers cette page.

Pirelli World Challenge GT & GTS Racing - Sonoma 2016

Pirelli World Challenge GT cars turning into the hairpin at the end of Sonoma's drag strip.  Car number 45, Porsche 911 GT3, was racing in the GTA class

Supporting the Indy Car GoPro Grand Prix at Sonoma in September were some really excellent GT races that were part of the 2016 Pirelli World Challenge Championships road racing series.  They featured some extremely close and competitive racing, some well known drivers such as Patrick Long and a mouth watering selection of GT cars.   It is not in many series where you see cars from Audi, Cadillac, McLaren, Porsche, Nissan, Maserati, Mercedes, Bentley, Ferrari, Lotus and Aston Martin out on the track!  

Ryan Eversley in the Acura TLS-GT that was racing in the GT class.   Here he is seen exiting turn 3.   Acura is a brand used by Honda.   This car has a 3.5 litre turbocharged engine producing 550hp.

GT Class
The GT class is for FIA GT3 cars, luxury brand sports or GT vehicles.  They can be two door coupé or sedan models with rear wheel drive and have turbocharged or normally aspirated engines with 500hp plus.  The PWC attracts an amazing variety of cars into this class as can be seen below:

John Fogarty in the McLaren 650S GT3 entering turn 2 at Sonoma.

Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 3.8 litre turbocharged GT car.

Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 6.2 litre GT Coupé entering the turn 7 hairpin.

Johnny O'Connell, four times driver's champion in this series in his Cadillac ATS-VR GT3. 

Kyle Marcelli in his Audi R8 LMS Ultra.

Adderley Fong in the Bentley Continental GT3

Gunnar Jeanette in a Porsche 991 GT3R

GTA Class
The GTA class is for GT cars driven by Gentlemen drivers rather than the professionals or semi-professionals.   They race with the GT cars.

The Mexican driver, Martin Fuentes, in a Ferrari 458 Italia GT3

Andy Wilzoch in the Flying Lizards Porsche GT3R

Drew Regitz in the Audi R8 LMS GT3

Tim Pappas in a Porsche

GTS Class
The GTS cars have lower power than the GT cars and are 300-400hp and have a lower permissible prep level.

Ford Mustang Boss 302 driven by Nate Stacy

Martin Barkey in a KTM XBow GT4

Scott Heckart in a Sin R1 GT4

Greg Milzcik in an Aston Martin Vantage GT4

Jeff Courtney in a Maserati Gran Tourismo MC Trofeo leads a similar car through Turn 2.

The Lotus Evora GT4 of Kevin Marshall

Harry Gottsacker's Ginetta GT4 leads a group in the GTS race.

Tony Gaples in a Chevrolet Camaro Z28

GT CUP Class
The GT Cup class is for 2015-2016 Porsche 991 GT3 Cup spec cars with about 400hp.  They race with the GT cars.

Preston Calvert in his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in Turn 3.

The GT Race
This was an exciting race which Austin Cindric led for a long time in his McLaren before finally getting beaten by Johnny O'Connel's Cadillac.  Top GTA car was the Porsche of Michael Schein who just beat the Ferrari of Martin Fuentes.

Austin Cindric's McLaren leads on the first lap at the hairpin turn 7.  He is followed by 2 Cadillacs, 2 more McLarens, a Porsche and a Nissan.

Further down the field the Acura battles it out with the Porsches, Ferrari and Bentley.

The field exits the hairpin and enters the Esses.  Close racing throughout.

The No.97 Porsche of Gunnar Jeanette spins on the exit of the hairpin.

Patrick Long's Porsche finished in eighth position.  Here he leads a Nissan and a Ferrari.

The battle for the lead between McLaren and Cadillac between turns 3 and 4.

The GTS Race
The GTS race was also great entertainment with Nate Stacy just holding off the pack to take a win in his Mustang.

Stacy's Mustang leads the field into the second corner on lap 1.

Further down the field a Sin R1 leads the Maseratis.

After a lap or two the Mustang had a definite lead from the KTM XBows. The sixth place Ginetta eventually finished second. 

Ginetta about to gobble up a KTM XBow.

Mark Klenin eventually finished eighth in his Maserati.

Top XBow driver was Hugh Plumb in third place.

John Etherton asserts his copyright to all of the photos on this blogpost.  However, you may post the photos elsewhere on the web as long as you credit the photographer, John Etherton, and this blog post, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com and provide a link to this page.

John Etherton affirme son droit d'auteur à l'ensemble des photos sur ce billet de blog. Cependant, vous pouvez poster des photos ailleurs sur le web aussi longtemps que vous créditez le photographe, John Etherton, et ce blog, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com et fournissez un lien vers cette page.