Michelin Detroit Notebook

Belle Isle Swan Song

This marks the last race at Belle Isle Park. The race will now head back to downtown Detroit. Sports cars made their racing debut on Belle Isle in 2007 and have run since 2014 with IMSA.

Corvette and Cadillac combined for six overall victories in the last seven races with brothers Ricky and Jordan Taylor winning three of those as teammates. Juan Pablo Montoya set the IMSA lap record on Belle Isle at 1:19.373.

Manufacturers and the Motor City

Detroit brings the importance of manufacturer involvement in IMSA to the surface.

Twelve Different manufacturers have won in the 2022 WeatherTech or Michelin Pilot Challenge competition and 16 have podiumed.

Michelin works with 27 different chassis and engine combinations in IMSA, each with a different technical challenge.

Where’s the Yellow Corvette?

The GTD Pro class has two teams in France. Corvette Racing and WeatherTech Racing are taking part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans test this weekend.

According to Michelin WeatherTech Championship Series Manager, Hans Emmel, a total of 13 American Michelin engineers and support staff will be headed to Le Mans to support the test.

More than 70 drivers that competed in the Rolex 24 at Daytona will be racing in the 90th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Michelin looks to take the overall win for the 25th straight year.

DPi Delivers Excitement

The average margin of victory in DPi over the last three Detroit Grand Prix has been a mere 0.803 seconds. The closest finish for IMSA in Detroit came in 2014 when Ricky Taylor held off Richard Westbrook by 0.207 in a duel of Corvettes.

Comerica Free Prix Day Action

Friday’s Free Prix Day features lots of IMSA track time. There will be a 90-minute morning practice session, a massive two-hour session of Friday afternoon and a pair of 15-minute qualifying sessions at the end of the day.

Records

Qualifying
DPi: Juan Pablo Montoya/1:19.373/2019
GTD: Bryan Sellers/1:28.942/2018

Race
DPi: Felipe Nasr/1:20.492/2021
GTD: Bernd Schneider/1:29.023/2018

Tire Allotments

DPi: 9 sets – IMSA Medium
GTD: 5 sets – Michelin Pilot Sport GT S9M