Road Atlanta Wednesday Notebook

Photo: John Dagys

***A total of 52 cars are now set for this weekend’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans, following the withdrawals of the No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Oreca 07 Gibson and No. 33 Sean Creeech Motorsport Ligier JS P320 Nissan from LMP2 and LMP3, respectively. It brings the entry down from the 54-car initial entry, which was determined based on the maximum track capacity.

***Sportscar365 understands that several teams were turned away due to the entry capacity limitations.

***IMSA and Michelin have elected not to offer the SLT tire compound for GTP teams to use during a portion of Saturday’s race. The sanctioning body and the series’ official tire was prepared to offer three sets of the SLT compound “should the weather forecast necessitate.” GTP teams will therefore run exclusively on the medium SHT compound this weekend.

***GTP teams complete their first season with the LMDh specification prototypes this weekend, marking the culmination of thousands of hours of work into the new-for-2023 platform that debuted 257 days ago at the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona.

***Ricky Taylor said: “In terms of everything that’s gone into everybody’s programs… If I think about ours, it’s probably more than 200 people between Honda, ORECA, Wayne Taylor Racing, Andretti, Meyer Shank… So much manpower has gone into building this car and developing it throughout the year. It’s not just us, it’s every manufacturer has the same story to tell and the same amount of energy that’s been put into their cars.”

***Porsche Penske Motorsport heads into the weekend with likely the most track time on the 2.54-mile circuit, having completed seven tests days at Road Atlanta according to Porsche LMDh factory director Urs Kuratle.

***The No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo is sporting a special black and pink livery this weekend, having partnered with the Susan G Komen Foundation in hopes of raising $5,700 for the ongoing fight against breast cancer. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The team’s Michelin Pilot Challenge entry is also in the same livery.

***Paul Miller Racing will switch BMW M4 GT3 chassis for its 2024 GTD Pro class campaign according to Bryan Sellers, who confirmed the team will utilize its test car, which has “20 percent” of the mileage of its GTD championship-winning chassis that it has run for the last two seasons.

***Riley Motorsports sustained a sizable accident for its LMP3 test car in a test at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta two weeks ago according to team principal Bill Riley, who told Sportscar365 they were running two Ligiers for driver evaluation purposes for next year’s LMP2 program.

***Two-thirds of Ferrari AF Corse’s FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar lineup is racing this weekend. Le Mans winners James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi have joined the GTD Pro field, while Miguel Molina and Antonio Fuoco are completing their Michelin Endurance Cup programs.

***Ferdinand Habsburg was in the WeatherTech Championship paddock on Wednesday. The 2021 WEC LMP2 champion and Le Mans class winner, who currently drives for Team WRT in the global series, had his most recent IMSA race in last year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona.

***Sean Creech completed a successful first test for its Ligier JS P217 Gibson at Daytona International Speedway last week, ahead of the team’s move to LMP2 competition next year. “It’s a brand-new car for the team,” said team owner Sean Creech. “Some of the weekend mechanics have worked on P2 cars before but for most of the team, it’s a completely different car. I’m impressed with how well it came together.”

***Sportscar365 has learned that longtime Lamborghini North America senior motorsports manager Chris Ward has departed the company. Ward, who was largely responsible for the growth and success of Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America as well as the manufacturer’s GT3 activities on the continent, is now understood to be a free agent. A replacement for Ward has yet to be announced.

***IMSA will hold its annual ‘State of the Sport’ address on Thursday at 12:15 p.m. EDT, where it will unveil the 2024 full-season and Michelin Endurance Cup entry lists for the WeatherTech Championship among other elements for next year. The schedule for next year was previously released at Road America earlier this year.

***While not expected to be released on Thursday, Sportscar365 has learned that IMSA has a reserve list for next season, which is being held internally at this time.

***BMW M Team RLL team co-owner Bobby Rahal was honored as a motorsports legend at the 29th Peterson Gala last weekend for his 25-year racing career where he competed in Formula 1, Can-Am, Le Mans/IMSA, and Indy car competition. Rahal’s team is in the mix for the GTP class title this weekend.

***Aston Martin’s new GT4 product will be available to U.S customers from the start of 2025, Sportscar365 has learned. The Vantage-based product, announced alongside a GT3 Evo package, is set to debut in Europe next year.

***Mazda Motorsports recently unveiled its Heritage Collection, a new program to celebrate the brand’s history in motorsports by fielding a curated collection of Mazda-owned race cars at selected events. Flis Performance, which builds the Mazda MX-5 Cup cars for the Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich Tires championship, will be managing the fleet of cars, which are set its debut at the HSR events at Daytona and Sebring.

***Ben Keating will be pulling double duty this weekend, as the Bronze-rated Texan makes his MX-5 Cup series debut this weekend, driving for Saito Motorsports Group. He said: “I am extremely excited to be racing in the MX-5 Cup… and to be honest, quite nervous. It looks like a total blast to drive and the competition looks like a ton of fun. I have never raced in a series where I may be pushing someone else or might be being pushed by someone.”

***The WeatherTech Championship has a total of three practice sessions on tap for Thursday, beginning at 9:50 a.m. EDT, followed by Practice 2 at 2:35 p.m. and a 90-minute night practice on tap from 7:30-9 p.m. Rain is currently in the forecast through tomorrow morning.

Daniel Lloyd contributed to this report

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John