Laguna Seca Thursday Notebook

Photo: Jonathan Grace

***A total of 34 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship entries are set for this weekend’s Motul Course de Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, marking the first sprint race of the season for GTD Pro entries, which were not part of last month’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

***Among the changes for this weekend include Bent Viscaal set for his WeatherTech Championship debut in the No. 5 Proton Competition Porsche 963 and Mario Farnbacher in the No. 23 The Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo for the FIA World Endurance Championship-tied Alex Riberas.

***Ford Performance’s ‘Champion Spirit’ livery made its public debut on Thursday in the paddock (pictured above), with the part art car, part heritage design to run on the pair of Multimatic Motorsports-run Ford Mustang GT3s for the next two GTD Pro races.

***Ford Performance global motorsports director Mark Rushbrook said: “A textbook definition of a livery is an identifying design or insignia that denotes affiliation often found on people or vehicles. For me, the term immediately recalls some of the great racing patterns found on iconic Ford cars over time. I bet that if you are like me, you have already recalled some of your favorite racing patterns or even a driver’s number.”

***There have been no Balance of Performance changes to the GT3-based categories for the third consecutive event, with the technical configuration effectively remaining unchanged for the GTD Pro and GTD classes, aside some slight changes in fuel capacity, since the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March.

***The Acura ARX-06 is the only GTP car, meanwhile, to have been given a power increase since Long Beach, with the ORECA-chassied LMDh car getting a 5 kW (6.7 horsepower) boost, while the Cadillac V-Series.R (-5 kW/6.7 hp), BMW M Hybrid V8 (-4 kW/5.3 hp), and Porsche 963 (-2 kW/2.6 hp) have all slightly lost power.

***Only the Cadillac (-6 kg) and Porsche (-7 kg) have had weight adjustments since last month’s street race, meanwhile.

***Wayne Taylor will only be missing his second WeatherTech Championship race this weekend, with the South African taking part in the Monaco Historic Grand Prix at the wheel of a 1977 Wolf WR1 Formula 1 car that WTR purchased two years ago. The car, that was driven by Jody Scheckter and Keke Rosberg, has been fully restored and has lapped Putnam Park and Daytona International Speedway in preparation for the event.

***Taylor told Sportscar365: “I’m looking forward to it but it’s going to be difficult as my head will be there [in Monaco] and I’m also going to want to [follow the IMSA action] from Monaco. One consolation is that they’re nine hours apart!”

***Taylor confirmed to Sportscar365 that his part-ownership agreement in Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti is locked in through “at least” 2027, confirming his commitment to the team for the medium term.

***Will Turner revealed that Turner Motorsport’s signature yellow and blue livery, which have been on the team’s BMWs for the last 26 years, came as inspiration from the Renault Lagunas that ran in the British Touring Car Championship in the 1990s. He recalled ordering VHS tapes of BTCC races to see what colors “popped out” on race cars.

***Turner recalled: “Sure enough, besides the Marlboro Ferraris back then, these Renault Lagunas were yellow and blue. It was a bight blue and a bright yellow. They popped out in the wet, in the magazines and on television. I just went with those colors and went with their paint scheme, in a way, and obviously have changed it over the years but kept with the core colors because they pop out in pictures.”

***Turner will be making its 555th and 556th starts with BMW in Saturday’s Michelin Pilot Challenge race, with start No. 557, which its BMW M4 GT3 of Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher will race, coming in Sunday’s two-hour and 40-minute WeatherTech Championship race, surpassing legendary outfit Schnitzer Motorsport for race starts with the German brand.

***Renger van der Zande admitted that his move in the Corkscrew on Dane Cameron to win the 2017 WeatherTech Championship race at Laguna Seca in VisitFlorida Racing’s Ligier JSP217 Gibson LMP2 car put him ‘on the map’ in North American sports car racing.

***Van der Zande said: “After that I went to Cadillac, and I’ve been with Cadillac since that year. Sometimes in careers those moves can make a big difference and I think it’s been a bit of a career-changing moment.”

***The moving of the IMSA-sanctioned test at Daytona International Speedway from its traditional December slot to mid-November is understood to have been made due to track availability.

***Action Express Racing will utilize a two-driver lineup for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen according to the team’s director of race team operations Chris Mitchum, who cited Tom Blomqvist’s NTT IndyCar Series commitments in the month of June. Blomqvist will return to the No. 31 Cadillac for the final two Michelin Endurance Cup rounds at Indianapolis and Motul Petit Le Mans, however.

***Cadillac and Samsung TV Plus have announced the premiere of “No Perfect Formula” a new documentary showcasing Cadillac Racing’s return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2023. The 90-minute show will debut on Hagerty Channel #1194 on the Samsung TV Plus App on May 31 at 7 p.m. EDT.

***Track action kicks off on Friday with a lone 90-minute WeatherTech Championship practice session that begins at 1:45 p.m. PDT (4:45 p.m. PDT). Pilot Challenge, Lamborghini Super Trofeo and Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin will also have practice sessions throughout the day.

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