Detroit Post-Race Notebook

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

***With its win in Saturday’s Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic, Meyer Shank Racing scored its first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship victory since Motul Petit Le Mans in 2023. Additionally, it was the first wins with Acura for both Renger van der Zande and Nick Yelloly.

***Yelloly, meanwhile picked up his second career WeatherTech Championship win after inheriting top honors in the 2023 Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen with BMW M Team RLL, in a race that saw the No. 6 Penske Porsche 963 have a post-race technical infraction.

***He said: “I’m super happy to take my, really first [IMSA] win on the road. It’s much nicer when you cross the line first as a team instead of getting it in tech.”

***Van der Zande, meanwhile, became a five-time winner in Detroit, with his first win on the downtown streets adding to the Dutchman’s four previous class wins on Belle Isle.

***Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque gave Cadillac its 100th podium in WeatherTech Championship competition since the brand’s debut in 2017.

***It came after the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R started from eighth on the grid, due to losing its fastest qualifying time after bringing out a red flag in opening practice.

***Albuquerque said post-race that it was “100 percent the plan” to go long on his stint that ultimately got the car to second. “We kept going long, long, long and even started lapping drivers who had pitted before,” he explained. “We lost a little bit of time but it’s part of the game. On that standpoint, it was just perfect, my stint and the pace I was putting.”

***Felipe Nasr, who led for 31 laps after a strategic overcut, said the race’s second full course caution, for debris from a GTD Pro scrap with 37 minutes to go, hindered their run. “We lost pace because we couldn’t get the front tires into the optimal operating window,” he explained.

***Despite their fourth place finish, Nasr and Tandy continue to lead the GTP drivers’ championship, now 70 points ahead of teammates Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell, who maintained Porsche Penske Motorsport’s run of 17 consecutive WeatherTech Championship races with at least one podium finish.

***The No. 7 Porsche duo, meanwhile, extended their lead over their competition, to 297 points ahead of Dries Vanthoor and Philipp Eng of BMW M Team RLL, who remain in third in the title race after missing out on a podium finish.

***Marco Wittmann crossed the line in sixth but his No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 was demoted to eighth after being handed a 17-second post-race penalty, equivalent to a drive-through, due to having team personnel over the wall before the car stopped.

***It promoted the No. 60 MSR Acura of Colin Braun and Tom Blomqvist to sixth, which was on a different strategy to the sister, race-winning No. 93 car. “For us our race was kind of toast,” said Blomqvist. “Unfortunately we weren’t really able to do much, but sometimes thats how it goes. We’ll move on and hopefully make amends at the next one.”

***While the No. 10 WTR Cadillac starred, the sister No. 40 entry of Jordan Taylor and Louis Deletraz came home ninth, one position ahead of the No. 31 Action Express Racing entry of Earl Bamber and Jack Aitken, which made a second stop in the race to go a lap down.

***Deletraz said: “Difficult race. I got boxed in at the start, couldn’t move anywhere and lost position and then we were stuck. Overall, we lacked some pace, so it’s hard to make things happen.”

***Both Seb Priaulx and Mike Rockenfeller claimed their first victories with the Ford Mustang GT3. It marked Rockenfeller’s first WeatherTech Championship win since 2017 and Priaulx’s third career — his first since Detroit last year with AO Racing.

***Ford Performance global director Mark Rushbrook said: “This is our backyard, and we love racing here in Detroit. It’s such a incredible atmosphere here in the city, and it’s special for Ford Motor Company to come here – with such a great partner in Multimatic – with these Mustangs. To get a win here for our employees and families is fantastic.”

***Pfaff Motorsports scored its first podium of the season, and thus first top-three class finish since its switch to Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 machinery.

***It came in a rough-and-tumble GTD Pro race behind, which saw both Nicky Catsburg and Laurin Heinrich penalized 17 seconds each post-race for contact with each other on the final lap while battling for fourth.

***The last-lap drama promoted the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 of Aaron Telitz to fourth, despite having two drive-through penalties of its own, the first for Jack Hakwsworth’s contact with Klaus Bachler early in the running, which resulted in the team prolonging Hawksworth’s stop.

***Telitz said: “What an eventful day. There were plenty of ups and downs, but to still end up fourth in the end shows a really great effort by the whole team to stay focused all the way through to the checkered flag. It’s a short race and so much happened. For a second, it was looking like we could have had a podium there.”

***The No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 Evo’s race unraveled early on when Neil Verhagen went off course, followed by a slow stop and a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Co-driver Madison Snow also went in the runoff in Turn 8 later in the running.

***Max Hesse, in the sister No. 48 BMW, meanwhile, was handed a drive-though penalty for incident responsibility with the No. 65 Multimatic Mustang GT3 of Fred Vervisch.

***The No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Tommy Milner, who got into the No. 77 AO Porsche 911 GT3 R of Bachler and suffered a torn rear deck in the early laps, was the first car to pit with 1 hour and 33 minutes to go.

***Milner said: “We got roughed up a little bit right at the start, and then got roughed up again the next corner after that. Obviously, we had a little issue with the bumper, which of course, doesn’t affect the driving but we knew what to expect at that point. But frustrating for sure.”

***Heinrich and Bachler have seen their points lead reduced to 31 points ahead of Corvette’s Alexander Sims and Antonio Garcia, with Rockenfeller and Priaulx third, 75 points behind the AO duo.

***While a number of WeatherTech Championship teams and drivers are off to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, all four classes will be back in action for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen on June 20-22, which will also mark the third round of the Michelin Endurance Cup.

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