2015 Chevrolet Sports Car Classic

The 2015 Chevrolet Sports Car Classic was a sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The race was held at The Raceway on Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan on May 30, 2015. The race was the fifth round of the 2015 United SportsCar Championship.

Background

Preview

International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2015 IMSA Tudor United SportsCar Championship (IMSA TUSC) in August 2014.[1][2] It was the second consecutive year the event was held as part of the Tudor United SportsCar Championship, and the sixth annual running of the race, counting the period between 2007 and 2013 when it was a round of the Rolex Sports Car Series and the American Le Mans Series respectively.[2] The 2015 Chevrolet Sports Car Classic was the fourth of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2015 by IMSA, the shortest in terms of time, and was the third round not held on the held as part of the North American Endurance Cup.[2] The event was held at the fourteen-turn 2.350 mi (3.782 km) Belle Isle Park on May 30, 2015.[2] The PC category would participate in the event for the first time.[3]

Entry list

Twenty-three cars were officially entered for the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic, with the bulk of the entries in the Prototype (P) and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) categories.[4] Action Express Racing (AER) fielded two Chevrolet Corvette DP cars while VisitFlorida Racing (VFR) and Wayne Taylor Racing (WTR) fielded one. Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) entered one Ford-powered Riley MkXXVI. Mazda Motorsports had one Lola B12/80, and Michael Shank Racing (MSR) entered one Ligier JS P2 chasis with Honda HR28TT twin-turbocharged 2.8-liter V6 engine.[5][6] The DeltaWing skipped to undergo further testing.[7] The Prototype Challenge (PC) class was composed of six Oreca FLM09 cars. CORE Autosport, JDC-Miller MotorSports, Performance Tech PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, RSR Racing, and Starworks Motorsport entered one car each. In the list of GTD entrants, ten GT-specification vehicles were represented by six different manufacturers. With the absence of the Grand Touring Le Mans (GTLM) class from the field, only three racing classes were represented in Belle Isle.[2][3]

Qualifying

Qualifying results

Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by ‡. P stands for Prototype, PC (Prototype Challenge), and GTD (Grand Touring Daytona).

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap Grid
1 P 5 Action Express Racing Christian Fittipaldi 1:24.746 _ 1‡
2 P 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Ricky Taylor 1:24.796 +0.050 2
3 P 90 VisitFlorida.com Racing Michael Valiante 1:25.156 +0.410 3
4 P 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Scott Pruett 1:25.987 +1.241 4
5 P 31 Action Express Racing Eric Curran 1:26.009 +1.263 5
6 P 60 Michael Shank Racing with Curb/Agajanian John Pew 1:26.889 +2.143 6
7 PC 38 Performance Tech Motorsports James French 1:29.317 +4.571 7‡
8 PC 11 RSR Racing Chris Cumming 1:29.321 +4.575 8
9 PC 8 Starworks Motorsport Mirco Schultis 1:30.687 +5.941 9
10 PC 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Mike Guasch 1:30.780 +6.034 10
11 PC 54 CORE Autosport Jon Bennett 1:31.180 +6.434 11
12 P 07 SpeedSource Tom Long 1:31.308 +6.562 12
13 PC 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Misha Goikhberg 1:31.741 +6.995 13
14 GTD 48 Paul Miller Racing Dion von Moltke 1:33.546 +8.800 14‡
15 GTD 33 Riley Motorsports Ben Keating 1:34.261 +9.515 15
16 GTD 007 TRG-AMR North America Christina Nielsen 1:34.338 +9.592 16
17 GTD 73 Park Place Motorsports Patrick Lindsey 1:34.656 +9.910 17
18 GTD 23 Team Seattle / Alex Job Racing Ian James 1:34.821 +10.075 18
19 GTD 58 Wright Motorsports Madison Snow 1:35.031 +10.267 19
20 GTD 63 Scuderia Corsa Bill Sweedler 1:35.632 +10.886 20
21 GTD 44 Magnus Racing John Potter 1:35.801 +11.055 21
22 GTD 22 Alex Job Racing Cooper MacNeil 1:37.080 +12.334 22
23 GTD 97 Turner Motorsport Michael Marsal 1:37.218 +12.472 23
Source:[8]

Race

Race Results

Class winners are denoted in bold and ‡. P stands for Prototype, PC (Prototype Challenge), and GTD (Grand Touring Daytona).

Final race classification
Pos Class No. Team Drivers Chassis Tire Laps Time/Retired
Engine
1 P 31 Action Express Racing Eric Curran
Dane Cameron
Corvette Daytona Prototype C 59 1:40:49.112‡
Chevrolet 5.5 L V8
2 P 60 Michael Shank Racing with Curb/Agajanian John Pew
Oswaldo Negri Jr.
Ligier JS P2 C 59 +18.631
Honda HR28TT 2.8 L V6 Turbo
3 P 5 Action Express Racing João Barbosa
Christian Fittipaldi
Corvette Daytona Prototype C 59 +19.207
Chevrolet 5.5 L V8
4 P 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Joey Hand
Scott Pruett
Ford EcoBoost Riley DP C 59 +20.391
Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L V6 Turbo
5 P 90 VisitFlorida.com Racing Richard Westbrook
Michael Valiante
Corvette Daytona Prototype C 59 +21.513
Chevrolet 5.5 L V8
6 PC 8 Starworks Motorsport Mirco Schultis
Renger van der Zande
Oreca FLM09 C 59 +45.524‡
Chevrolet 6.2 L V8
7 P 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Jordan Taylor
Ricky Taylor
Corvette Daytona Prototype C 59 +46.080
Chevrolet 5.5 L V8
8 P 07 SpeedSource Tom Long
Joel Miller
Mazda Prototype C 59 +46.593
Mazda Skyactiv-D 2.2 L Turbo I4 (Diesel)
9 PC 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Misha Goikhberg
Stephen Simpson
Oreca FLM09 C 59 +1:01.774
Chevrolet 6.2 L V8
10 PC 38 Performance Tech Motorsports James French
James Vance
Oreca FLM09 C 59 +1:17.299
Chevrolet 6.2 L V8
11 GTD 23 Team Seattle / Alex Job Racing Mario Farnbacher
Ian James
Porsche 911 GT America C 57 +2 Laps‡
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
12 GTD 007 TRG-AMR North America James Davison
Christina Nielsen
Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 C 57 +2 Laps
Aston Martin 6.0 L V12
13 GTD 48 Paul Miller Racing Christopher Haase
Dion von Moltke
Audi R8 LMS ultra C 57 +2 Laps
Audi 5.2 L V10
14 GTD 22 Alex Job Racing Leh Keen
Cooper MacNeil
Porsche 911 GT America C 57 +2 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
15 GTD 73 Park Place Motorsports Patrick Lindsey
Spencer Pumpelly
Porsche 911 GT America C 57 +2 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
16 GTD 97 Turner Motorsport Michael Marsal
Markus Palttala
BMW Z4 GT3 C 57 +2 Laps
BMW 4.4 L V8
17 GTD 44 Magnus Racing John Potter
Andy Lally
Porsche 911 GT America C 56 +3 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
18

DNF

GTD 58 Wright Motorsports Jan Heylen
Madison Snow
Porsche 911 GT America C 54 Accident
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
19 PC 54 CORE Autosport Jon Bennett
Colin Braun
Oreca FLM09 C 54 +5 Laps
Chevrolet 6.2 L V8
20 GTD 63 Scuderia Corsa Bill Sweedler
Townsend Bell
Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 C 46 +13 Laps
Ferrari 4.5 L V8
21

DNF

PC 11 RSR Racing Chris Cumming
Bruno Junqueira
Oreca FLM09 C 38 Accident
Chevrolet 6.2 L V8
22

DNF

PC 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Mike Guasch
Tom Kimber-Smith
Oreca FLM09 C 32 Accident
Chevrolet 6.2 L V8
23

DNF

GTD 33 Riley Motorsports Jeroen Bleekemolen
Ben Keating
Dodge Viper GT3-R C 22 Accident
Dodge 8.3 L V10
Sources:[9][10]
Tyre manufacturers
Key
Symbol Tyre manufacturer
C Continental

References

  1. ^ Dagys, John (August 10, 2014). "2015 TUSC, CTSC Schedules Released". Sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media, LLC. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e Pruett, Marshall (August 10, 2014). "IMSA: 2015 TUDOR Championship schedule revealed". Racer. Archived from the original on March 23, 2015. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Detroit In, VIR Out for PC Teams in 2015". Sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media, LLC. October 31, 2014. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  4. ^ DiZinno, Tony (May 21, 2015). "25 Cars on Detroit Entry List". Sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media, LLC. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  5. ^ Dagys, John (May 28, 2015). "SpeedSource Scales Back to Single Mazda Prototype for Detroit". Sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media, LLC. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  6. ^ "IMSA: Hometown heroes: Chevrolet and Ford in the Motor City". Racer. May 28, 2015. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  7. ^ Dizinno, Tony (May 18, 2015). "DeltaWing to Forego Detroit, Focus on Further Testing". John Dagys Media, LLC. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  8. ^ "Qualifying" (PDF). Dailysportscar.com. May 29, 2015. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  9. ^ "Unofficial Race Report" (PDF). May 30, 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 1, 2018. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  10. ^ "2015 Chevrolet Sports Car Classic". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved October 18, 2024.