Laguna Seca stat attack
Yesterday’s IMSA race at Laguna Seca produced some interesting stats from its result sheet in the prototype classes.
Up front in GTP, Chip Ganassi’s full-season Cadillac Racing V-Series.R scored its first win of the 2023 campaign, meaning four teams have won the opening four races.
Earlier in the season Meyer Shank Racing won at Rolex, Action Express took the Sebring honours and Porsche Penske Motorsport was victorious at Long Beach.
The victory was also the first for Cadillac Racing in prototype competition at the Laguna racetrack and the second overall. Max Papis drove a Cadillac CTS-V to the win in the 2005 Speed World Challenge GT race. Cadillac, which has won two of the four GTP races this season, has increased its prototype win total to 29 since 2017 and 68 in all classes since 2004.
For driver Sebastien Bourdais, it was also his first-ever IMSA win at Laguna.
In LMP2, it was French outfit TDS Racing’s first IMSA class victory.
Earlier in the meeting, on Saturday, it was also notable that Matt Campbell’s run in Qualifying behind the wheel of the #7 Penske Porsche scored the 963’s first competition pole position globally. The 963 now has a pole and win under its belt in its first season of competition, both results coming in IMSA.
DSC’s full report of the Laguna Seca race can be found HERE >>>
A round of applause for ‘The Doctor’
Valentino Rossi’s performance in the second of yesterday’s World Challenge Europe races at Brands Hatch deserves further plaudits.
The Italian was superb en route to his first podium in World Challenge competition. Along with Maxime Martin, Rossi steered the #46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 to second place and looked confident and composed throughout his stint.
P2 in Brands Hatch for the first sprint race of the season!!!!
Yeeeeeeaaaaaahhhh🤘🏼🤘🏼🤘🏼 pic.twitter.com/rp3dmGaSDm— Valentino Rossi (@ValeYellow46) May 14, 2023
Will this prove to be the first of many standout performances in GT racing for the Moto GP icon?
The full race can be watched on-demand over on the GT World YouTube channel with the embedded player below:
Monster Energy to add to Spa 24 fan experience
Monster Energy has partnered with the 24 Hours of Spa in 2023 to create a ‘Monster Village’ in the Spa-Francorchamps fan village during the event. The area is set to add to the experience of fans trackside, with off-track entertainment throughout the event.
“We are thrilled to partner up for the 75th edition of the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa,” said Roy Van Kempen, senior marketing manager of Benelux for Monster Energy. “This event has a storied legacy and represents the pinnacle of endurance racing, which perfectly aligns with Monster Energy’s brand values. We are looking forward to an incredible weekend of racing and entertainment.”
The attractions at the Monster Village will range from race simulators to a barber stand. There will also be a live demonstration by the legendary Fred Crosset, with the 10-time Belgian Trials Champion showcasing his one-of-a-kind skills for the crowd. His performance will be accompanied by the official Monster DJ, Ma1a, who will perform at the Monster Energy booth.
Spa Classic a success for Peter Auto
The 2023 running of Peter Auto’s Spa Classic was a great success over the weekend, with a strong crowd of over 22,000 fans trackside and a bump in its online audience.
The event features 13 races and a selection of F1 demos, with race cars from every key era of motorsport represented.
This included a pair of Group C races featuring big grids of significant cars, and many notable names behind the wheel. The entry hosted a variety of significant cars from the era from Aston Martin, Jaguar, Nissan, Porsche, Peugeot, Tiga, Spice, Olmas, Lola and Mercedes-Benz.
There were some familiar names to DSC readers on the entry too, including Zak Brown, Richard Dean, Phil Keen, Phil Quaife, Jon Minshaw, Shaun Lynn, Erik Maris, Andrew Bentley, Richard Meins, Olly Bryant and Kriton Lendoudis.
Philip Kadoorie won the opening race in a 1990 Porsche 962 C, while ELMS/Le Mans Cup regular Lendoudis took the victory in Race 2 driving a 1990 Mercedes-Benz C11.
Endurance Racing Legends also attracted huge fields of modern prototype and GT machinery from the LMP1, LMP2, GT1 and GT2 eras. David Hart took Race 1’s winner’s trophy in a 2005 Courage C60 while Christian Glasel steered his 2004 MG EX257 to first place in the second race.
Results from the meeting can be found HERE >>>
Images courtesy of Peter Auto, Cadillac Racing
