2016 Petit Le Mans

The Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda was the 2016 edition of the Petit Le Mans automotive endurance race, held on October 1, 2016, at the Road Atlanta circuit in Braselton, Georgia, United States. It was the 12th and final race of the 2016 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship,^[1] and the third Petit Le Mans run since the formation of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2014.

International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2016 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2015.^[2] It was the third consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the 19th Petit Le Mans.^[2] The Petit Le Mans was the last of twelve scheduled automobile endurance races of 2016 by IMSA, and the last in the four round North American Endurance Cup (NAEC).^[2] The race took place at the 12-turn, 2.540-mile (4.088 km) Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia on October 1, 2016.^[2]

Before the race, Eric Curran and Dane Cameron were leading the Prototype Drivers' Championship with 285 points, ahead of João Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi in second by one point, and Jordan Taylor and Ricky Taylor in third with 278 points.^[3] With 329 points, Alex Popow and Renger van der Zande led the Prototype Challenge Drivers' Championship over Robert Alon and Tom Kimber-Smith by 10 points.^[3] In GTLM, Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner led the Drivers' Championship with 314 points, 11 ahead of Ryan Briscoe and Richard Westbrook.^[3] In GTD, the Drivers' Championship was led by Alessandro Balzan and Christina Nielsen with 299 points; the duo held a thirty two-point advantage over Jeroen Bleekemolen and Ben Keating.^[3] Chevrolet and Audi were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Action Express Racing, Starworks Motorsport, Corvette Racing, and Scuderia Corsa each led their own Teams' Championships.^[3]

There were four practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, three on Thursday and one on Friday. The first two one-hour sessions were on Thursday morning and afternoon. The third held later that evening ran for 90 minutes; the fourth on Friday morning lasted an hour.^[4]

In the first practice session, Olivier Pla set the fastest lap in the No. 60 MSR Ligier-Honda at 1 minute,14.157 seconds, 0.539 seconds faster than Bomarito's No. 55 Mazda. Dane Cameron was third fastest in the No. 31 AER vehicle.^[5] The fastest PC car was Renger van der Zande's No. 8 Starworks Motorsports entry with a 1 minute, 16.235 seconds, followed by Stephen Simpson's No. 85 JDC car.^[6] With a 1:18.840 lap, García led the GTLM class in the No. 3 Corvette, ahead of Fisichella's No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE.^[6] Alex Riberas in the No. 23 Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing Porsche recorded the fastest time in GTD.^[5]

In the second session, Negri was fastest with a time of 1 minute, 13.923 seconds, ahead of the two Mazdas.^[7] The seven-vehicle PC class was led by BAR1's No. 20 car, driven by Mowlem with a time of 1 minute, 16.707 seconds.^[8] Ferrari paced GTLM with Scuderia Corsa's 488 of Serra lapping 1:18.354 from Hand's second-placed No. 66 CGR Ford GT.^[8] Bergmeister led GTD with a time of 1:21.340.^[8]

The third practice session ran at night and saw Pla's No. 60 MSR vehicle set the fastest time overall at 1 minute, 13.541 seconds. Bomarito was almost five-tenths behind in second, with the No. 5 AER car of Barbosa third.^[9] A 1:18.240 lap saw Coletti's No. 7 Starworks Motorsport car lead PC.^[10] Müller's No. 66 Ford lead GTLM over Alessandro Pier Guidi's No. 68 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari and Westbrook's No. 67 Ford by more than one-tenth of a second.^[8] Audi paced GTD with Magnus' R8 of Seefreid lapping 1:21.187, ahead of Lawson Aschenbach's No. 9 Stevenson Audi.^[10]

Pla led the final session in No. 60 MSR Ligier-Honda with a lap of 1 minute, 10.786 seconds. Nunez's No. 55 Mazda was second-fastest, followed by ESM's Derani.^[11] French's No. 38 PTM Oreca led PC with a 1:15.925 lap, faster than Kimber-Smith's No. 52 PR/1 vehicle.^[11][12] Ferrari occupied first and second in GTLM with Serra's No. 68 Scuderia Corsa car faster than Vilander's Risi 488 by two-tenths of a second.^[11] Lally's No. 44 Magnus Racing Audi R8 led GTD, and Jeroen Bleekemolen, in the No. 33 Riley Motorsport Dodge, was second in class.^[12]

In Friday afternoon's 90-minute four-group qualifying, each category had separate 15-minute sessions. Regulations stipulated that teams nominate one qualifying driver, with the fastest laps determining each class' starting order. IMSA arranged the grid to put Prototypes ahead of the PC, GTLM and GTD cars.^[13][4]

Olivier Pla in the No. 60 MSR Ligier-Honda took his second pole position of the season with a lap of 1 minute, 13.061 seconds.^[14] He was joined on the grid's front row by Tristan Nunez whose best lap in the No. 55 Mazda was 0.459 seconds slower.^[15] Dane Cameron's No. 31 AER Corvette DP took third followed by Tom Long's No. 70 Mazda.^[15][14] Fittipaldi's No. 5 AER car started from fifth.^[15]

Alon set the fastest time in PC to take pole for PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports with a 1:16.411 time. Popow qualified the No. 8 Starworks entry second followed by Johnny Mowlem's No. 20 BAR1 car.^[16] Koch was fourth for Performance Tech and Coletti qualified fifth.^[15] In GTLM, Westbrook took his third pole of the season with a time of 1 minute, 18.131 seconds.^[17] He was joined by Antonio García's No. 3 Corvette on the grid's front row with his best lap being 0.152 seconds slower, and Toni Vilander drove the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 to third place.^[17] Hand was fourth in the slower Ford with the No. 68 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari of Serra fifth.^[15] The fastest BMW was Edwards' No. 100 RLL M6 in sixth, and Milner's No. 4 Corvette took seventh.^[15][18]

Bleekemolen took pole in GTD in Riley Motorsports' No. 33 Dodge with a 1-minute, 21.305 seconds time. Matt McMurry's No. 73 Park Place Porsche qualified second, and Mario Farnbacher's No. 23 AJR car was third. Rounding out the top five in the class were the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 of Nielsen, and Aschenbach's No. 9 Stevenson Motorsports Audi R8 LMS.^[15]

Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by ‡. All Prototype and Prototype Challenge cars were grouped together on the starting grid, regardless of qualifying position.

• ¹ The No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing entry was moved to the back of the Prototype grid as per 40.1.5 of the Sporting regulations (Tire change).^[13]
• ² The No. 20 BAR1 Motorsports entry was moved to the back of the PC grid as per 43.1 of the Sporting regulations (Starting driver change).^[13]

Curran and Cameron took the Prototype Drivers' championship with 314 points. They were 3 points clear of Barbosa and Fittipaldi.^[21] With 355 points, Popow and van der Zande won the PC Drivers' Championship, beating Alon and Kimber-Smith on countback.^[21] Gavin and Milner took the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 345 points. They were 17 points clear of Briscoe and Westbrook in second. García and Magnussen were third with 319 points.^[21] Balzan and Nielsen won the GTD Drivers' Championship with 332 points, 32 points ahead of Bleekemolen and Keating. Sellers and Snow were third with 293 points.^[21] Chevrolet and Audi heir respective Manufactures' Championships, while Action Express Racing, Starworks Motorsport, Corvette Racing, and Scuderia Corsa won their respective Teams' Championships.^[21]

Class winners are denoted in bold and with ‡. P stands for Prototype, PC (Prototype Challenge), GTLM (Grand Touring Le Mans) and GTD (Grand Touring Daytona).^[22]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
• Note: Bold names include the Drivers', Teams', and Manufactures' Champion respectively.

• Race Results