Road America Saturday Notebook

Photo: Michelin

***Qualifying saw new track records achieved in the LMP3, GTD Pro and GTD classes, with all three categories between two to three seconds faster than the previous marks, owing to the track re-pavement. Pipo Derani’s 1:47.730 lap time, meanwhile, was more than one-second quicker than the DPi track record held by Dane Cameron from 2019.

***Nico Pino had a scary moment after setting his pole time in LMP3 when No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier JS P320 Nissan had all four wheels off the ground on the exit of Turn 1 after running wide. “[The team] replayed it like six times during qualifying,” he said. “I’ve seen it already. It didn’t feel like that much but it was a bit of ‘air time.'”

***The Chilean teenager was a relative late addition to the LMP3 grid this weekend, having been confirmed on Monday in the team’s Ligier as a substitute for Lance Willsey, who is absent this weekend due to other commitments. Willsey initially appeared on the pre-event entry list.

***The No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R of Klaus Bachler pulled off track during its qualifying run after being instructed by the team due to being on the brink of running out of fuel. Bachler qualified fifth in GTD Pro and seventh amongst the production-based cars.

***Both the No. 11 TDS Racing Oreca 07 Gibson and No. 78 Forte Racing by US RaceTronics Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 cars are replacement chassis, with both teams working through the night to be ready for this afternoon’s qualifying session. Steven Thomas qualified third in class while Misha Goikhberg set the sixth quickest time in GTD.

***The Shane Senevirante-led Forte crew worked until 5 a.m. on Saturday building up a spare Lamborghini chassis around parts from its primary car, prior to returning to the track just a few hours later to make final preparations.

***Inception Racing, which qualified a season-best second in GTD with Brendan Iribe, is utilizing its chassis from last month’s CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa this weekend according to team manager Bas Leinders, who told Sportscar365 that its primary IMSA-based McLaren 720S GT3 Evo has been sent back to the UK for repairs following Iribe’s accident at Lime Rock Park. Leinders said the car at Road America is now slated to complete the season.

***Leinders revealed ambitions of expanding into a two-car GTD program next year. “Running two cars would be an objective, but honestly when everything moved up earlier (with IMSA’s entry deadlines), it makes it a little bit more difficult,” he said. “Hopefully people are interested will also come forward and say, ‘Hey, why not race in a McLaren with us?'”

***The No. 59 Proton Competition Porsche 963 battled braking and gear selection issues on its first day of WeatherTech Championship track action according to Gianmaria Bruni, which saw the car miss the opening portion of Practice 2 as a result of the gearbox issues.

***Proton is set to take delivery of its second Porsche 963 in ten days’ time, with a shakedown scheduled at Porsche’s Weissach facility prior to it being shipped to Japan for next month’s 6 Hours of Fuji FIA World Endurance Championship race.

***The team’s use of the No. 59 in the WeatherTech Championship is unrelated to the number’s previous heritage from longtime Porsche team Brumos Racing.

***George Kurtz said he’s hopeful that IMSA or SRO Motorsports Group will change the date of either the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen or CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa in order to prevent a clash between the two endurance races next June, following the release of the 2024 WeatherTech Championship calendar on Friday. Kurtz is one of a number of drivers that took part in both events this year, while also serving as the CEO of CrowdStrike.

***Kurtz told Sportscar365: “I’m hopeful that both IMSA and SRO can coordinate schedules and make it work for all parties involved. There’s just so many pro drivers in each category that would be impacted. Obviously I enjoy the race and we’re the headline sponsor but there’s so many people that would be impacted so hopefully they can coordinate and come up with an alternate date on either one of the race.”

***NTT IndyCar Series star Colton Herta could again be part of BMW M Team RLL’s lineup according to BMW M Motorsport boss Andreas Roos, who didn’t discount the 23-year-old American returning to the cockpit of the BMW M Hybrid V8 in future Michelin Endurance Cup races.

***Herta tested the Dallara-chassised GTP class car at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last weekend alongside Jesse Krohn and Connor De Phillippi. “[Colton] also drove at Daytona for us this year, so there could be a possibility that he’s in the car again, but it’s also because of driver availability,” Roos said. “He’s part of our driver lineup, so it’s also to see how he can also give some feedback [on] how the car developed in this time.”

***In addition to the $4 million repaving project, there have been a number of other upgrades at Road America since last year, including a trail around the outside of the Carousel that required an expansion of the track property, a new viewing area dubbed the “Beach” as well as a LED paddock lighting system and several wood carvings spread around the 640-acre grounds.

***IMSA President John Doonan clarified that the WeatherTech Sprint Cup will continue next year for the GTD class, despite not having been mentioned during Friday’s 2024 schedule announcement. The Heart of Racing’s Roman De Angelis and Marco Sorensen currently lead this year’s Sprint Cup standings.

***AWA is planning to announce the driver lineup for its two-car Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R program in the next few weeks according to team principal Andrew Wojteczko, who told Sportscar365 that they expect to take delivery of the cars in early November. Wojteczko said they have no plans to continue running LMP3 machinery next year, with its Duqueine D08 Nissans set to be sold, placing a sole focus on the Corvette GTD program.

***Brenna Schubert captured the second annual PT Autosport Aspiring Driver Shootout, earning a $100,000 racing partnership over the next two years with the team’s junior racing program. Twelve candidates were chosen from 137 applications received from aspiring drivers spanning three continents, six countries, and 31 different U.S. states. PT Autosport competes in the IMSA-sanctioned Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America in partnership with JDX Racing.

***Coverage of Sunday’s two-hour and 40-minute race will be on USA Network beginning at 11 a.m. EDT with the NBC Sports broadcast team of Brian Till and Calvin Fish, with Matt Yocum and Hannah Newhouse in the pit lane. John Hindhaugh, Jeremy Shaw and Shea Adam will call the action for IMSA Radio.

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