WeatherTech Mercedes Beats Pfaff Porsche to GTD Pro Honors

WeatherTech Racing won the GTD Pro class at Motul Petit Le Mans after Mercedes-AMG factory driver Daniel Juncadella held off Porsche ace Kevin Estre at the end of the ten hours.

Juncadella, Jules Gounon and Maro Engel claimed the No. 79 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo’s fourth win of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, making the Proton Competition-run operation the most successful GTD Pro team in terms of wins.

The Pro championship, however, went to Lexus drivers Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat who clinched by taking the start at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

The Proton crew vaulted Juncadella from third into the class lead when all GT cars pitted under a caution period with an hour and 20 minutes to go.

Any possibility of a fuel-saving race to the flag was thrown out by another caution — the 11th of the day — after an incident between two GTP contenders at Turn 1.

The GTD Pro contest instead turned into a flat-out battle between Juncadella and Estre, who was drafted into the No. 9 Pfaff Porsche 911 GT3 R for the WeatherTech Championship season finale alongside Patrick Pilet and Klaus Bachler.

Estre remained less than a second behind Juncadella until another caution occurred with 14 minutes to go, but the Frenchman didn’t find a way past the Mercedes-AMG in the brief time before one final interruption caused by drama further back in the field.

Contact between the Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 of Mirko Bortolotti and the Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R of Jan Heylen resulted in the latter taking rear-end damage that ended up in a fire at the rear of the car.

Heylen was second at the time in the GTD class, which was won by the Forte Racing powered by US RaceTronics Lamborghini driven by Loris Spinelli, Misha Goikhberg and Patrick Liddy.

The US RaceTronics-run squad rebounded from a trio of penalties, including two for causing incidents and another for stopping outside of the pit box area.

Like the WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG, the No. 78 Lamborghini rose into the lead during the busy final round of stops.

Heylen’s late-race heartbreak handed second in GTD to the Turner Motorsport trio of Robby Foley, Michael Dinan and Patrick Gallagher.

Partnered with Trent Hindman and Max Root, Wright Motorsports driver Alan Brynjolfsson took a podium on his final race before a hiatus from driving, and was the best-finishing Bronze-rated driver.

Risi Competizione Ferrari drivers Daniel Serra, Davide Rigon and Alessandro Pier Guidi completed the podium in GTD Pro behind the top three GTD finishers.

Champions-Elect Endure Challenging Day

The GTD Pro and GTD class champions both dropped out of the race in separate incidents.

Vasser Sullivan’s Hawksworth and Barnicoat were looking to put the cherry on top of their confirmed title win, however their No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 retired from the lead when Barnicoat spun at Turn 3 on cold tires and struck an advertising board.

Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow secured the GTD crown before heading to Road Atlanta.

Their race ended when co-driver Corey Lewis hit the back of the Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06, causing steering rack damage to the No. 1 BMW M4 GT3.

Another notable casualty was the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, competing in its final WeatherTech Championship race before Chevrolet introduces a GT3 car next year.

The No. 3 Corvette started well and was leading GTD Pro in the sixth hour with Tommy Milner driving when it abruptly slowed with a “yet-to-be-determined engine issue” according to the team.

RESULTS: Motul Petit Le Mans