The Chevrolet Sports Car Classic from the Belle Isle Street Course in Detroit, Michigan wrapped up on Saturday afternoon. It was a race in which strategy calls in both Prototype and GT Daytona were the winning moves as track position turned into a key factor for both classes.
In Prototype the #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi took home the win. Felipe Nasr brought the car in for its final pitstop of the race and took fuel only, with the Brazilian staying behind-the-wheel of the car. This fuel-only move cycled the car to the front of the Prototype field for the final forty minute dash to the finish after the race’s final pitstops.
“A big shout out to the Action Express, Cadillac, and GM guys who helped us get this win,” Curran said. “This is the place to be, and the place to win in our Whelen Cadillac. Hats off to the engineering team who took a not so perfect weekend and turned it around. The team did an awesome job with the car.
“This is my second win in the last number of years and if you are going to win a race, this is the best place to win one. It feels so satisfying to have our first win of the year. It is also a special win as it is Sonny Whelen’s birthday from Whelen. Felipe Nasr did a killer job and put it together perfectly. Again, hats off to all the guys.”
Unable to challenge the #31 Cadillac were the two Team Penske Acrua DPi cars. The #7 Acura with Ricky Taylor and Helio Castroneves getting the better of the #6 Acura with Dane Cameron and Juan Pablo Montoya. The #7 Acura used their advantage to take fuel and tyres on their final stop and maintain their position ahead of their teammates. Those cars ending the race in second and third.
There was drama early on for the pole-sitting #22 Tequila Patron ESM Nissan DPi of Pipo Derani and Johannes Van Overbeek. Derani started the car and initially held the lead before a steering issue beckoned that car to the pits. The team changed the steering wheel and elected not to take fuel or tyres, which seemed to fix the issue. The #22 briefly appeared at the sharp end of the field thanks to a Full Course Yellow but would fall back to seventh by the end of the race, where it would finish.
That Full Course Yellow, the only one in the race, came after David Heinemeier Hansson made contact with the wall at Turn 5, severely damaging the right front suspension of his #15 3GT Racing Lexus RC-F GT3, ending the day for the car.
There was also drama on the final lap of the race for the #77 Mazda Team Joest DPi which ran out of fuel with four corners to go with Oliver Jarvis driving at the time. The #5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi also coasted across the finish line with an empty fuel tank, that car finishing in sixth.
In addition to the #15 Lexus, the #55 Mazda Team Joest DPi also retired after a drive-shaft failure after just five laps, as did the #90 Spirit of Daytona Racing Cadillac DPi, on their return to IMSA competition, which suffered a gearbox failure with forty minutes to go in the race.
Strategy calls were a deciding factor in GTD with Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian claiming a 1-2 finish with their Acura NSX GT3s. The #86 with Mario Farnbacher and Katherine Legge besting the #93 with Justin Marks and Lawson Aschenbach. The #86 and #93 Acura each only took two tyres on their lone pitstop and leap frogged the pole-sitting #48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini who took four tyres in their stop.
From there the two Acuras, which won this race last year, would hold back the championship-leading #48 Lamborghini with Madison Snow at the wheel, eventually leading to a third place finish for Snow and Bryan Sellers.
Co-owner of Meyer Shank Racing, Jim Meyer was delighted with the results saying, “Honestly I’m a little overwhelmed!” The fuel strategy which turned out to be key for the race win was something “…we worked on [and] we perfected it,” said Meyer.
The race was dominated by those three cars with them only relinquishing the lead when it came time for pitstops under the green flag with one hour remaining.
Sixteen drivers that competed in today’s race will now board airliners and make the leap across the pond in time to take part in the Le Mans 24 Hours test day, (the reason this weekend saw no GT Le Mans cars.)
IMSA will return at the end of the month with all three classes competing in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen from Watkins Glen, New York.
Photo courtesy of IMSA
