Detroit Post-Race Notebook

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

***It was a banner day for General Motors in the Motor City on Saturday, with Action Express Racing’s Earl Bamber and Jack Aitken taking their Cadillac V-Series.R to the manufacturer’s first victory on the downtown Detroit street circuit, while Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims came out on top in GTD Pro in their Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

***The double victory in the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic marked only the second time GM cars swept an IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race, the first coming at the Grand Prix of Long Beach in 2018 when Joao Barbosa and Filipe Albuquerque won the race in Action Express’ Corvette DP and the No. 4 Corvette C7.R of Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner took top honors in GTLM.

***GM President Mark Reuss accepted the entrant’s winning trophy on the podium, alongside former Cadillac Vice President Rory Harvey, who now serves as GM’s Executive VP and President of Global Markets. GM’s Chief Product Officer, Sterling Anderson, meanwhile, was on the GTD Pro podium.

***Reuss said: “What a special day for General Motors and the Cadillac Racing and Corvette Racing teams in Detroit. Winning both classes of the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic on the streets of the Motor City is a tremendous achievement for our motorsports, design and engineering teams. Congratulations to Whelen Cadillac and Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports teams on hard-earned victories at our home race.”

***While it marked the 32nd victory for Action Express, it was the 119th win for Pratt Miller Motorsports in IMSA competition, and notably the first for the production-based Corvette in Detroit since the 2008 American Le Mans Series race on Belle Isle, when Gavin and Olivier Beretta drove a Corvette C6.R to GT1 honors.

***More recently, Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy took a Corvette C8.R to first place in GTLM in the 2021 race at Belle Isle, although it was as an invitational non-points round for the class, as the Corvettes, the only cars in the category, were running out of homologation in developing the Z06 GT3.R’s future ABS package.

***Garcia said: “We really wanted this one. We were on pole two years ago, last year we had the pace but we couldn’t manage to go around the Ford. So I’m super happy to be on victory lane on Chevrolet land and underneath the RenCen tower. I think all the big bosses will be as happy as we are.”

***The overall-winning No. 31 Cadillac was the only car to strategically change tires during the 100-minute contest, with Aitken having received fresh right-side Michelin Pilot Sport Endurance Soft compound tires during the car’s one-and-only stop on Lap 27 with 1 hour and 6 minutes to go.

***Bamber explained: “We were just making the job easier at the end of the race if the yellows came for Jack, which was the right call. Our team is great with the strategy at the moment. Whatever gets thrown to them, they know how to react. Just the fact that we could take tires when no one else could just shows what they’re doing on the [pit] lane and on the strategy stuff.”

***While it was Action Express’ first win of the season, it marked the team and Aitken’s seventh consecutive podium finish — an all-time record in the GTP class — dating back to their victory in last year’s Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

***Aitken has taken over the lead of the GTP standings, 144 points ahead of Laurin Heinrich, who is not currently confirmed to take part in the next round at Watkins Glen, with Porsche Penske Motorsport duo Felipe Nasr and Julien Andlauer nine further points back in third.

***Heinrich took responsibility for the incident with the No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Valkyrie of Roman De Angelis, which resulted in the LMH-based prototype getting put into the wall and the No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche 963 receiving a stop-and-hold plus 60-second penalty. It came after an earlier drive-through penalty for a pit lane infraction and a mechanical black flag later in the race for the car, which won last time out at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

***Heinrich wrote on social media: “Pretty poor misjudgment from my side today. When I thought I was clear and wanted to defend for the next corner, there was still overlap. Sorry to Roman De Angelis and Heart of Racing and my own team, JDC-Miller Motorsports for the penalty. Days like this don’t meet my own expectations but they create the base for future success and strength. Thanks to those who are having my back.”

***While the No. 25 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 scored its second consecutive podium, thanks to an overcut strategy that was also taken by the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac and both Penske Porsches, the No. 24 BMW had a mechanical black flag for not adhering to the tire operational requirements, which forced the Belgian squad to change tires during its stop.

***Dries Vanthoor then received two drive-through penalties, the first for spinning the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 of Jack Hawksworth with 43 minutes to go and the second for rear-ending brother Laurens Vanthoor in the No. 6 Penske Porsche that led to the race’s second caution with 20 minutes to go for debris from the 963. The elder Vanthoor, meanwhile, received a mechanical black flag for a damaged rear wing and diffuser.

***The No. 6 Porsche ran as high as third thanks to race strategist’s Jonathan Diuguid’s overcut call but Vanthoor dropped to fourth with 26 minutes to go after nearly driving into a runoff area after getting caught off-guard by a GTD Pro entry, prior to the eventual contact between brothers.

***Dries Vanthoor took to social media post-race to say: “Before everyone starts roasting things everywhere, I got hit by the GT which pushed me into Laurens. Obviously I apologized. I can guarantee you it’s the last thing you want, ruining your own brother’s race.”

***Porsche Penske worked until 12:30 a.m. on Saturday making extensive repairs to the No. 6 Porsche, which crashed in qualifying in the hands of Kevin Estre, and came from 10th on the grid.

***The No. 10 WTR Cadillac of Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor, meanwhile, ended up with their first podium of the season, maintaining the crew’s streak of top-three finishes on the street circuit since the first race in 2024. “The car was good and Ricky just holding up everybody with the strategy that we took,” said Albuquerque. “It was risky, but it paid off. We are really happy with a podium, especially knowing our season, how it’s going, it shows that we never give up. We need to start somewhere, and this is it. We start the momentum and let’s go forward.”

***Pfaff Motorsports gave the Lamborghini Temerario GT3 its best-ever finish in global GT3 competition thanks to a surprise second place class result for Sandy Mitchell and Andrea Caldarelli, who benefited from the late-race carnage that took the No. 4 Corvette and both Vasser Sullivan Lexus entries out of contention.

***Caldarelli said: “It was a good race. The last ten minutes was so much fun out there. There were so [few] opportunities here and there to try and stay away from crazy contact. It was a good race and really good fun.”

***The Temerario GT3’s first-ever podium result came in the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup season opener at Brands Hatch earlier this month when VSR’s Loris Spinelli and Mattia Michelotto finished third in the Gold Cup category.

***The No. 65 Multimatic Motorsports-run Ford Mustang GT3 EVO also scored an unlikely podium on Saturday after Chris Mies was forced to the pits with 45 minutes to go, while running in second, due to a damaged right-front tire and wheel after contact with Hawksworth and the No. 4 Corvette of Nicky Catsburg. Mies benefitted by the series of two late-race yellows to recover the lost ground.

***Co-driver Fred Vervisch said: “We were battling for the podium early, and we continued to have good pace and fuel save into a great pitstop. We were hit by a competitor, had a puncture and needed to attack again to have a chance at the podium. It was an amazing drive by Chris at the end, and teamwork by the whole team.”

***Despite Catsburg’s late-race penalty for incident responsibility, after he appeared to brake-check the No. 15 Vasser Sullivan Lexus of Aaron Telitz, the Dutchman and co-driver Milner continue to lead the GTD Pro points standings, but now only have an 18-point advantage over the Paul Miller Racing duo of Connor De Phillippi and Neil Verhagen, who remain in second.

***Ford’s Mies and Vervisch sit third, just 20 points behind the No. 4 Corvette crew, with defending class champions Garcia and Sims now in fourth, 31 points adrift from their teammates.

***JOTA Sport co-owners Sam Hignett and David Clark were spotted in the paddock on Saturday, in what’s understood to have been a show of support for GM’s home race. The British squad and fellow Cadillac factory team WTR are set for an increased level of cooperation in next weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

***With several other teams, as well as a number of drivers headed to Le Mans, the WeatherTech Championship takes a four-week break before reconvening at Watkins Glen International for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, which will mark the third leg of the Michelin Endurance Cup and return to all four classes. The event runs from June 26-28.

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