Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA
***A total of 16 cars are set for Saturday’s Chevrolet Sports Car Classic, marking the lowest IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship grid of the season by virtue of only two of the five classes in action. Unlike last year which saw WeatherTech Sprint Cup-only points in GTD, the 100-minute race counts towards full-season points for both DPi and GTD classes.
***Among the absences from the GTD class include the No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3, which has planned to forgo Detroit due to the team’s double-clashing events in Saturday’s Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup race at Paul Ricard, as well as Sunday’s Le Mans Test Day.
***Both NTE Sport and Hardpoint, meanwhile, are missing their second consecutive races but are expected to return for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen later this month.
***Kyle Kirkwood claimed his second career WeatherTech Championship pole (pictured above) on the same day the young American paced NTT IndyCar Series practice. Kirkwood, who is fresh off his first Indianapolis 500 and newly signed to Andretti Autosport for the 2023 IndyCar season, is pulling double duty between the two series this weekend.
***Kirkwood was only confirmed in the No. 17 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 earlier this week, which underwent a last-minute driver swap from Jack Hawksworth to Ben Barnicoat due to Hawksworth sustaining an injury in a motocross accident.
***Vasser Sullivan is taking a “race by race” approach for Hawksworth according to a team spokesperson, who declined to reveal the extent of the the Englishman’s injuries. Kirkwood is scheduled to rejoin the team’s GTD Pro entry at Watkins Glen as its previously announced third driver.
***Twelve drivers competing here this weekend are due to head to France for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, including ten of the 12 drivers in the DPi class: Renger van der Zande, Sebastien Bourdais, Alex Lynn, Tristan Vautier, Richard Westbrook, Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque, Olivier Pla, Pipo Derani, Oliver Jarvis plus GTD drivers Ben Barnicoat and Jan Heylen.
***Pla, who replaces Tristan Nunez in the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R for the remainder of the season, becomes the only person to have driven all four DPi models. The Frenchman was part of Tequila Patron ESM’s (Nissan DPi) and Mazda Team Joest’s (Mazda RT24-P) Michelin Endurance Cup lineups in 2018 and 2019-20, respectively, prior to joining Meyer Shank Racing last year in it Acura ARX-05.
***Maxime Martin’s participation in the season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans has not yet been determined according to The Heart of Racing team principal Ian James, who told Sportscar365 they’ll make a joint decision with Aston Martin Racing later in the year depending on the Belgian’s position in the GTWC Europe Endurance Cup standings.
***This weekend, Ross Gunn is subbing for Martin, who is competing in the second round of the GTWC Europe Endurance Cup season at Paul Ricard. The season finale in Barcelona clashes with the 10-hour WeatherTech Championship enduro.
***Martin will not move to Heart of Racing’s GTD Pro class No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for Watkins Glen, with Gunn and Alex Riberas set to complete the race as a duo. James, meanwhile, will rejoin Martin and Roman De Angelis in the No. 27 GTD entry for the next Endurance Cup round.
***The No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Russell Ward and Philip Ellis is the same chassis it utilized in last month’s round at Mid-Ohio. The ex-GTWC America car was put into action following Ward’s accident at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The team has placed an order for an all-new chassis that is now likely to debut later this month at Watkins Glen.
***Ellis brushed the wall in opening practice, causing right-side and right-rear damage to the car prior to a second hit in Practice 2 that damaged the left-side, making for a busy day of repairs for the Texas-based squad.
***Bill Auberlen is coming off victory in last weekend’s BMW M Race of Legends at the Nürburgring, piloting a BMW M2 CS Racing entry from last place after the starting grid was surprisingly inverted. It marked Auberlen’s first start on the Nürburgring GP circuit since the 2000 American Le Mans Series race when he piloted a BMW V12 LMR alongside Jean-Marc Gounon.
***Both the BMW and Cadillac LMDh models are set to be officially launched next week ahead of Le Mans. The German manufacturer teased its Dallara-built prototype on social media while Cadillac has earmarked next Friday for the unveil of its Project GTP machine, which will compete in both the WeatherTech Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship next year.
***While a physical car will not be on display in Le Mans, Sportscar365 understands that the Cadillac’s rollout could happen later this month, with BMW likely next in line followed by Acura, which showed off its ARX-06 car with renders on Friday.
***The Heart of Racing has acquired an Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro track day car, which is set for an outing at the Hypercar Invitational at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca next weekend.
***USA Network and Peacock will carry live coverage of the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic, beginning Saturday at 3 p.m. ET. Leigh Diffey will return to the booth alongside Calvin Fish, with Marty Snider and Dave Burns on pit lane. IMSA Radio will also carry coverage of the race featuring John Hindhaugh and Jeremy Shaw.
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