Road Atlanta Friday Notebook

Photo: John Dagys

***Tom Blomqvist’s pole for the 25th anniversary Motul Petit Le Mans has seen the DPi points gap reduced from 19 to 14 points after Ricky Taylor qualified third following a high-speed spin in the Esses for the the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05. Taylor drove his car back to the pits and did not return to action in the session.

***It’s unclear if Taylor will need to change all four tires due to the spin and trip through the gravel, which would put the points-leading Acura at the rear of the DPi starting field.

***Ricky Taylor said: “Qualifying was important for points. Going into it, if we outqualified the No. 60 Meyer Shank Acura, they had a lot to lose in terms of championship points. So, we were trying to increase the gap over 20 points which would’ve made a big difference for tomorrow. We would have loved to get the pole and qualify ahead of the No. 60, but in the scheme of the points it didn’t change a whole lot.”

***The No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura will still need to finish one position ahead of the No. 10 WTR in order to win the championship, unless the No. 60 finishes fifth and the No. 10 finishes seventh, which would also hand the title to the Ohio-based squad.

***The LMP3 session was red-flagged when the No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports Ligier JS P320 Nissan of Dan Goldburg and the No. 76 AWA Duqueine D08 Nissan of Anthony Mantella went off the track at the same moment. However, only Goldburg, who was stuck in the gravel, lost his two fastest laps as a penalty for causing the stoppage.

***Kay van Berlo said he put the disappointments of missing out on the Porsche Carrera Cup North America presented by The Cayman Islands championship title behind him by putting the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier on LMP3 class pole, edging out Malthe Jakobsen and Jarett Andretti.

***Van Berlo said: “Even though I’m really disappointed about what happened this morning, it is what it is. We want to win a championship in LMP3 so I’ve got to change my mind and move on.”

***Cetilar Racing’s Giorgio Sernagiotto served a drive through penalty in the opening minutes of the GTD qualifying session. The No. 47 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 left its box before the session has been green flagged.

***Both MSR and WTR’s Acura ARX-06 LMDh cars were on display in the paddock ahead of official testing that’s set to kick off at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on Monday.

***Blomqvist’s name is adorned on the MSR entry (pictured above), with both the Englishman and Helio Castroneves seen getting in and out of the car in the team’s paddock setup. Oliver Jarvis, Blomqvist’s 2022 full-season co-driver, is notably absent. A team representative declined to confirm who will be driving at the test beyond Blomqvist, who confirmed to Sportscar365 that he be getting his first laps in the LMDh machine.

***A PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca 07 Gibson, driven by Tristan Nunez, will join the expected five LMDh cars for the multi-day test. IMSA has requested to include an LMP2 car in order to help gauge the stratification between the new-for-2023 GTP class. Nunez told Sportscar365: “I think it’s a great thing IMSA is doing to set the stage and have a known data point, especially right after a race.”

***BMW’s M Hybrid V8 is expected to arrive in time for the start of testing on Monday despite having an accident in testing at Watkins Glen International earlier this week. It’s unclear who was behind the wheel at the time of the crash but the car has since been taken to Team RLL’s new headquarters in Zionsville, Ind. to undergo repairs. It’s believed to have been the second accident for the car in testing so far.

***In addition to the MSR and WTR Acuras and the Team RLL BMW, Cadillac V-LMDh entries from Action Express Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing are also expected to be present in next week’s test, with Porsche the only manufacturer electing to skip the test, which unlike the December test, is not mandatory for LMDh manufacturers.

***Risi Competizione is one of the teams campaigning the Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 for its final race appearance in the WeatherTech Championship. The 488, which will be replaced by the 296 GT3 in 2023, recently secured a landmark 500th win when Nick Cassidy triumphed in DTM at the Red Bull Ring.

***James Calado will be teaming with Daniel Serra and Davide Rigon for the final race of the car at Petit Le Mans. “I feel sad to know that it’s coming to the end of what’s been an amazing era for the 488,” Calado said. “It’s been a great car. If I win here, it would be my third. It would be an amazing goal and achievement.”

***Calado said he has not yet driven Ferrari’s new GT3 challenger, but said it “would be nice” to join Risi at Daytona or Sebring. Giuseppe Risi confirmed to Sportscar365 that the Houston-based squad will take the new car to the early-season enduros.

***Maxime Martin said he’s aiming to help Roman De Angelis secure the GTD championship with The Heart of Racing in his final race as an Aston Martin factory driver. “Roman is leading the championship, so for sure we will push as much as we can to try to finish on a high,” the Belgian told Sportscar365.

***Martin indicated that it was a “personal choice” to call time on a five-year stint with the British manufacturer. “I’m happy I had the options and we had the possibility to move forward and at the end, I thought it was the right moment for me to go ahead on [a] new challenge,” he said.

***Barwell Motorsport has ruled out contesting January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona after it became apparent that the previous-gen Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo will not be eligible in the race in the WeatherTech Championship next year. Only cars running to Evo2 specification will be able to race according to Lamborghini North America’s senior director of motorsport Chris Ward.

***Lamborghini’s Huracan GT3 EVO2, as well as the all-new Ferrari 296 GT3 and Type 992 Porsche 911 GT3 R, will all be required to take part in IMSA’s Dec. 6-7 test at Daytona International Raceway that will be headlined by the LMDh manufacturers.

***Michael Christensen’s 2017 Rolex 24 at Daytona GTLM class-winning Rolex Daytona watch was sold for €88,000 ($86,000 USD) on Thursday at Bruun Rasmussen Auctioneers in Copenhagen, with the Porsche factory driver set to donate all profits to ‘Save the Children’ in Ukraine.

***Christensen said: “The watch is dear to my heart, as it was awarded to me after one of my biggest and proudest victories. At the same time, the situation in Ukraine is absolutely terrible and sad, and most children in Ukraine are growing up under completely different circumstances than I did. If I can help just a little bit, so they can look forward to a better life, I want to do it.”

***NBC Sports will carry live coverage of the 25th anniversary Motul Petit Le Mans beginning with network NBC coverage on Saturday at 12 p.m. through 3 p.m. ET. Primary coverage will then shift to Peacock until picking back up on USA Network from 7 to 10:30 p.m.. The entire race will also be streamed live on Peacock.

***Leigh Diffey and Calvin Fish will be joined by Brian Till, Dave Burns, James Hinchcliffe and Townsend Bell in the rotating NBC Sports booth, with Kevin Lee, Matt Yocum, Dillon Welch and Hannah Newhouse on pit lane.

***IMSA Radio’s team has expanded with John Hindhaugh, Jeremy Shaw and Shea Adam being joined by Andrew Marriott and Nick Damon for the ten-hour season finale.

Davey Euwema contributed to this report

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