IMSA News & Notes
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| The winning No. 60 Ligier Honda |
2017 WeatherTech Championship Concludes In Spectacular Fashion
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. –
And on Monday night, those champions were honored at the WeatherTech Night of Champions, held before a capacity crowd in the Paris Ballroom of Chateau Elan, just a few miles from the race track.
"Tonight we honor the drivers, teams and manufacturers who have all earned the right to call themselves champions, through their extraordinary on-track performances throughout the 2016 season in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship," said IMSA President Scott Atherton.
"Congratulations to everyone for their hard work and sacrifice in making this the most competitive, and we believe the most prestigious form of sports car racing in North America. The competition throughout all four classes was nothing short of outstanding."
The Prototype championship went to drivers Eric Curran and Dane Cameron, and their No. 31 Action Express Whelen Chevrolet Corvette Daytona Prototype. It was the third straight title for Action Express, but the previous two went the team's other entry, the No. 5, driven by Christian Fittipaldi and Joao Barbosa. The No. 5 car finished the season in second, just three points back. Wayne Taylor Racing's No. 10 Konica Minolta Corvette DP, with drivers Ricky and Jordan Taylor, were third, three points behind the No. 5.
In the GT Le Mans class, Corvette Racing's Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin took the crown, while in Prototype Challenge, Starworks Motorsport drivers Alex Popow and Renger van der Zande were the champions.
In GT Daytona, the largest of the four classes, Christina Nielsen and Alessandro Balzan won, giving their Scuderia Corsa Ferrari team its second straight title. Nielsen, who came to Petit Le Mans in 2015 with a one-point lead for the title but couldn't close the deal, made motorsports history this year by becoming the first female driver to win a major full-season professional sports car racing championship in North America.
[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]ENDURANCE HONORED: In the four longest WeatherTech Championship races – the Rolex 24 Hours At Daytona, the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, the Sahlen's Six Hours at Watkins Glen, and the 10-hour Petit Le Mans – the is a championship-within-a-championship called the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup.
The Action Express No. 5 Mustang Sampling Corvette DP co-driven by Barbosa and Fittipaldi won the team and driver honors for the third consecutive year, while Honda took its first manufacturer title.
Chevrolet won the GT Le Mans Endurance Cup, with Corvette Racing taking the award for the second straight year with drivers Milner and Gavin. PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports repeated in Prototype Challenge with drivers Tom Kimber-Smith, Robert Alon and Jose Gutierrez. In GT Daytona, Audi was the Endurance Cup manufacturer champion, with Magnus Racing capturing team honors and Scuderia Corsa's Nielsen and Balzan the driver champions.
PEW GOES OUT ON TOP: IMSA President Atherton gave special recognition to driver John Pew, 60, who won in his 119th – and final – Prototype race for Michael Shank Racing. Pew said he may be back, but driving something a little less demanding than the Prototype, which he described as almost a "full-time job" due to the extensive training and preparation needed to perform at that level.
"Saturday, we all witnessed a storybook ending for John's career," Atherton said. "John, Ozz [Negri) and Olivier Pla delivered a dominant performance in their No. 60 Honda Ligier to close out the season atop the victory podium. Hollywood couldn't have scripted it."
POST-RACE PENALTY: Following the post-race audit by IMSA officials, it was determined that Patrick Lindsey did not drive the minimum amount of time mandated in the rules. As a result, the No. 73 Park Place Porsche entry was moved from second to the rear of the GT Daytona finishing order for Petit Le Mans, and all cars finishing behind the No. 73 were moved up.
The No. 63 Ferrari drivers Balzan and Nielsen finished second in the race, putting them into a tie with No. 23 Alex Job Team Seattle drivers Mario Farnbacher and Alex Riberas for first in the Patron Endurance Cup driver standings. By virtue of their two victories at Sebring and Watkins Glen, Nielsen and Balzan won the tiebreaker and the 2016 Patron Endurance Cup GTD driver championship.
GREEN RACING RECOGNIZED: The DEKRA Green Award went to the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari team for having the "cleanest, fastest and most efficient car." The Green Racing Award for GT Le Mans manufacturers, supported by the Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Society of Engineers, went to Ford.
VIPER'S SUCCESSFUL SWAN SONG: The No. 33 Dodge Viper GT3-R of team owner Ben Keating and co-drivers Jeroen Bleekemolen and Marc Miller gave the Viper a proper sendoff by qualifying it on the pole and winning the race.
Keating, the world's largest Viper dealer, has largely paid to develop and race the car out of his pocket, running against competitors who typically have some help from the factory. But since Dodge announced that the Viper would go out of production next year, they only gave Keating and team manager Bill Riley limited support, and while the Viper is eligible to race next year, Keating will move to another brand.
"I'm extremely excited," Keating said. "I learned to race in a Viper. It's an emotional thing to be racing a Viper for the last time in IMSA, to put it on the pole and win Petit Le Mans. It's really special."
NEXT UP: One of the shortest off-seasons in motorsports cranks back up with a WeatherTech Championship two-day test at Daytona International Speedway on Nov. 15-16. The 2017 season begins with the Rolex 24 At Daytona on Jan. 28-29.
The biggest change will be new cars in the Prototype class for 2017. Retiring are the Daytona Prototype cars, which came into the WeatherTech Championship from the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series, after GRAND-AM merged with the American Le Mans Series. Some LM P2 Prototype cars that evolved from prototypes that competed in the ALMS will be eligible to race at current performance level, but indications are most all of the teams will be fielding new equipment next season. The new Prototypes are expected to more aerodynamically efficient and have more horsepower.