Blomqvist “Wasn’t Giving Up” in Come-from-Behind DPi Title

Photo: Phil Aboott/IMSA

Tom Blomqvist described Saturday’s Motul Petit Le Mans as a “proper dogfight” of a race between the two Acura ARX-05 DPis and that he “wasn’t giving up” after a number of missed wins earlier this season.

Blomqvist and co-driver Oliver Jarvis were crowned the final DPi champions in their Meyer Shank Racing Acura following a dramatic conclusion to the ten-hour enduro at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta that also resulted in the race victory.

Quick pit work by the Ohio-based squad put Blomqvist ahead of title rival Filipe Albuquerque in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura in the final hour, where he then extended the gap through traffic until the Portuguese star got clipped by a GTD car.

It resulted in damage to Albuquerque’s Acura and eventual retirement with less than 15 minutes to go.

When asked post-race if he knew about Albuquerque’s collision with the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Philip Ellis, Blomqvist said “not immediately.”

“I think my engineer came on the radio and said he was four seconds back,” he said.

“Initially I cleared one guy literally just before Turn 4 and as we know the Esses is not somewhere you want to get stuck behind some of the slower traffic because you can lose two or three seconds just like that.

“I thought I just got through and he maybe got stuck behind. Then I heard he was in the pits with damage. I’m guessing he tried to follow me through and it didn’t work out.

“That was a proper dogfight today. There were times where we really didn’t have the pace. But we kinda expected it a little bit. We set up our car to kind come alive in the night and thankfully it worked out for us.

“The guys did a fantastic job with the strategy in the pits. I think myself, to eke out the fuel at the critical time to enable us.

“Our only opportunity was if there was a yellow, we knew we were doing a bit better on fuel and we could hopefully jump them if we came in nose-to-tail and that’s exactly what happened.”

That scenario played out when Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Earl Bamber and Renger van der Zande collided in Turn 1 to bring out a yellow with 50 minutes to go, setting up the final pit stop sequence.

“It helped us in that it gave that yellow to put us back on the gearbox of the 10 and knowing that they were doing a bit better on fuel at that point, it was our opportunity,” Blomqvist said.

“Obviously we have to be very thankful for that.

“To be honest, I was hoping that — let’s say it was an all-green race — that [the CGR cars] would get in the mix because I think they were the quicker cars today. I think it was their race, really.

“We were hitting quite a big fuel number and we were closing in [on Albuquerque]. To be honest, even if it went green I think I was going to get to him. But the next thing was trying to get past.

“Neither one of us had really anything to lose, so either way I think there was going to be fireworks.

“We managed to get ahead and the car was really good. I managed to get a gap quite early on. I started being a bit brave in traffic — I had to be.

“We obviously know Filipe is very aggressive in traffic and I had to do the same. It worked out a little bit for us.

“Some things didn’t go our way this season. But I think ultimately this one was meant to be.”

After missing out on a number of wins earlier this year, Blomqvist said he wasn’t going to let that happen again in Saturday’s title-decider.

“I haven’t felt that feeling in the car for a long, long time,” he said. “When there’s something really to chase and you really feel on top of the car. I felt like I was able to go that little extra mile.

“I wasn’t giving up today. There was no way this thing was going down without a fight.

“I’m just so grateful and thankful to all the guys and girls at the team for giving us such a good car today, all season long.

“We started with a win and we ended with a win and we had the championship as well. It was amazing.”

Jarvis Lauds WTR as “Formidable Competitor”

Newly crowned champion Jarvis paid credit to Wayne Taylor Racing and the season-long fight they had with the fellow Acura entrant.

“I also think we have to recognize the job the 10 did this year,” Jarvis said. “They’ve been a formidable competitor. They got the better of us on a few occasions.

“Today went our way but they’ve really been there. It’s a great team and have always been in the championship fight. Full credit to them.

“They had a quick car today and had it under control at one point. But that’s IMSA racing; it can go any way and can change very quickly. Today went our way.”

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