2018 Chevrolet Sports Car Classic

The 2018 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 June 2, 2018. The race was the fifth round of the 2018 IMSA SportsCar Championship.

Background

Similar to the Grand Prix of Long Beach, this event was held in conjunction with the Detroit Grand Prix in the IndyCar series, with one event held on the same day as the IMSA event, and another held a day after as a double-header.

International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2018 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2017.[1] It was the fifth consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the ninth 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.[1] The 2018 Chevrolet Sports Car Classic was the fifth of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2018 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.[1] The race was held at the fourteen-turn 2.350 mi (3.782 km) Belle Isle Park on June 2, 2018.[1] After the Sports Car Challenge of Mid-Ohio three weeks earlier, Filipe Albuquerque and João Barbosa led the Prototype Drivers' Championship with 119 points, ahead of Eric Curran and Felipe Nasr with 109 points, and Jordan Taylor and Renger van der Zande with 104 points.[2] In GTD, the Drivers' Championship was led by Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow with 95 points, ahead of Katherine Legge and Álvaro Parente with 87 points. Cadillac and Lamborghini were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Mustang Sampling Racing and Paul Miller Racing each led their own Teams' Championships.[2]

On May 25, 2018, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outlining Balance of performance for the GTD class.[3] The Lexus RC F GT3 received a 25 kilogram weight increase. The Mercedes AMG GT3 received a 10 kilogram weight break. No changes made in P.


Entries

Further information: 2018 IMSA SportsCar Championship § Entries

A total of 26 cars took part in the event split across two classes.[4] 14 cars were entered in P, and 12 in GTD. In P, Spirit of Daytona Racing made their first appearance since Sebring. Performance Tech Motorsports skipped to focus on testing before the Watkins Glen round.[5] Harry Tincknell returned to the Mazda Team Joest No. 55 entry. GTD saw a number of driver changes. Robby Foley joined Bill Auberlen in the Turner Motorsport entry while Mario Farnbacher substituted for Álvaro Parente in the Meyer Shank Racing No. 86 entry due to a clash with the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup round at Circuit Paul Ricard.[6] Bernd Schneider joined Kenny Habul in the SunEnergy1 Racing entry.[7] Jeff Segal substituted for Alessandro Balzan in the Scuderia Corsa entry due to a medical procedure.[8]

Practice

There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, two on Friday. The first ninety-minute session was on Friday morning. The second on Friday afternoon lasted 110 minutes.[9]

Practice 1

The first practice session took place at 8:15 am ET on Friday and ended with Ricky Taylor topping the charts for Acura Team Penske, with a lap time of 1:21.909.[10]

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap
1 P 7 Acura Team Penske Ricky Taylor 1:21.909 _
2 P 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Felipe Nasr 1:22.115 +0.206
3 P 5 Mustang Sampling Racing João Barbosa 1:22.513 +0.604
Source:[11]

Practice 2

The second and final practice session took place at 1:05 pm ET on Friday and ended with Hélio Castroneves topping the charts for Acura Team Penske, with a lap time of 1:22.363.[12]

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap
1 P 7 Acura Team Penske Hélio Castroneves 1:22.363 _
2 P 22 Tequila Patrón ESM Pipo Derani 1:22.388 +0.025
3 P 5 Mustang Sampling Racing João Barbosa 1:22.427 +0.064
Source:[13]


Qualifying

Friday afternoon's 40-minute qualifying session was divided into two groups.[9] Both categories had 15-minute individual sessions, and regulations stipulated teams to nominate a single driver to qualify their cars. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order with the grid arranged to put the Prototype cars ahead of all GTD entries.[14]

Qualifying results

Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by ‡.

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap Grid
1 P 22 Tequila Patrón ESM Pipo Derani 1:22.273 _ 1‡
2 P 6 Acura Team Penske Juan Pablo Montoya 1:22.992 +0.719 2
3 P 7 Acura Team Penske Hélio Castroneves 1:23.275 +1.002 3
4 P 5 Mustang Sampling Racing João Barbosa 1:23.278 +1.005 4
5 P 99 JDC-Miller MotorSports Misha Goikhberg 1:23.384 +1.111 5
6 P 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Eric Curran 1:23.469 +1.196 6
7 P 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Renger van der Zande 1:23.558 +1.285 7
8 P 77 Mazda Team Joest Tristan Nunez 1:23.969 +1.696 8
9 P 55 Mazda Team Joest Jonathan Bomarito 1:24.566 +2.293 9
10 P 2 Tequila Patrón ESM Scott Sharp 1:24.637 +2.364 10
11 P 90 Spirit of Daytona Racing Matt McMurry 1:24.688 +2.415 11
12 P 52 AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports Sebastián Saavedra 1:25.371 +3.098 12
13 P 54 CORE Autosport Jon Bennett 1:25.741 +3.468 13
14 GTD 48 Paul Miller Racing Bryan Sellers 1:28.942 +6.669 15‡
15 GTD 86 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanin Katherine Legge 1:29.390 +7.117 16
16 GTD 93 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanin Justin Marks 1:29.717 +7.444 17
17 GTD 14 3GT Racing Dominik Baumann 1:29.787 +7.514 18
18 GTD 15 3GT Racing David Heinemeier Hansson 1:30.114 +7.814 19
19 GTD 33 Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsport Ben Keating 1:30.196 +7.923 20
20 GTD 63 Scuderia Corsa Cooper MacNeil 1:30.282 +8.009 21
21 GTD 16 Wright Motorsports Michael Schein 1:30.717 +8.444 22
22 GTD 75 SunEnergy1 Racing Kenny Habul 1:30.776 +8.503 23
23 GTD 58 Wright Motorsports Christina Nielsen 1:30.878 +8.605 24
24 GTD 96 Turner Motorsport Robby Foley 1:31.640 +9.367 25
25 GTD 44 Magnus Racing did not participate 261
26 P 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Robert Alon no time2 14
Sources:[15][16]
  • 1 The No. 44 Magnus Racing entry was moved to the back of the GTD field for starting the race with a different driver than who qualified.
  • 2 The No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports entry had its two fastest laps deleted as penalty for causing a red flag during its qualifying session.

Race

Post-race

The result kept Albuquerque and Barbosa atop the Prototype Drivers' Championship with 144 points while Nasr and Curran tied them on points.[17] The result kept Sellers and Snow atop the GTD Drivers' Championship with 122 points. Aschenbach and Marks advanced from sixth to fourth.[17] Cadillac and Lamborghini continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships while Mustang Sampling Racing, and Paul Miller Racing kept their respective advantages in the Teams' Championships with seven rounds remaining.[17]

Results

Class winners are denoted in bold and ‡.

Final race classification
Pos Class No. Team Drivers Chassis Tire Laps Time/Retired
Engine
1 P 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Felipe Nasr
Eric Curran 		Cadillac DPi-V.R C 68 1:40.14.245‡
Cadillac 5.5 L V8
2 P 7 Acura Team Penske Hélio Castroneves

Ricky Taylor

Acura ARX-05 C 68 +1.016
Acura AR35TT 3.5 L Turbo V6
3 P 6 Acura Team Penske Dane Cameron
Juan Pablo Montoya 		Acura ARX-05 C 68 +14.127
Acura AR35TT 3.5 L Turbo V6
4 P 2 Tequila Patrón ESM Ryan Dalziel
Scott Sharp 		Nissan Onroak DPi C 68 +45.698
Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Turbo V6
5 P 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Jordan Taylor
Renger van der Zande 		Cadillac DPi-V.R C 68 +49.570
Cadillac 5.5 L V8
6 P 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Filipe Albuquerque
João Barbosa 		Cadillac DPi-V.R C 68 +50.664
Cadillac 5.5 L V8
7 P 22 Tequila Patrón ESM Pipo Derani
Johannes van Overbeek 		Nissan Onroak DPi C 68 +1:16.531
Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Turbo V6
8 P 52 AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports Sebastián Saavedra
Gustavo Yacamán 		Ligier JS P217 C 68 +1 lap
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
9

DNF

P 77 Mazda Team Joest Oliver Jarvis

Tristan Nunez

Mazda RT24-P C 67 Out of Fuel
Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0L Turbo I4
10 P 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Robert Alon
Simon Trummer 		Oreca 07 C 67 +1 lap
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
11 P 99 JDC-Miller MotorSports Misha Goikhberg
Stephen Simpson 		Oreca 07 C 67 +1 lap
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
12 P 54 CORE Autosport Jon Bennett
Colin Braun 		Oreca 07 C 66 +2 Laps
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
13 GTD 86 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanin Katherine Legge
Mario Farnbacher 		Acura NSX GT3 C 65 +3 Laps‡
Acura 3.5 L Turbo V6
14 GTD 93 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanin Justin Marks
Lawson Aschenbach 		Acura NSX GT3 C 65 +3 Laps
Acura 3.5 L Turbo V6
15 GTD 48 Paul Miller Racing Bryan Sellers
Madison Snow 		Lamborghini Huracán GT3 C 64 +4 Laps
Lamborghini 5.2 L V10
16 GTD 33 Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsport Jeroen Bleekemolen
Ben Keating 		Mercedes AMG GT3 C 64 +4 Laps
Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8
17 GTD 63 Scuderia Corsa Jeff Segal
Cooper MacNeil 		Ferrari 488 GT3 C 64 +4 Laps
Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8
18 GTD 14 3GT Racing Dominik Baumann

Kyle Marcelli

Lexus RC F GT3 C 64 +4 Laps
Lexus 5.0L V8
19 GTD 96 Turner Motorsport Robby Foley
Bill Auberlen 		BMW M6 GT3 C 64 +4 Laps
BMW 4.4 L Turbo V8
20 GTD 75 SunEnergy1 Racing Kenny Habul
Bernd Schneider 		Mercedes AMG GT3 C 64 +4 Laps
Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8
21 GTD 16 Wright Motorsports Michael Schein

Wolf Henzler

Porsche 911 GT3 R C 64 +4 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
22 GTD 44 Magnus Racing John Potter
Andy Lally 		Audi R8 LMS GT3 C 64 +4 Laps
Audi 5.2L V10
23 GTD 58 Wright Motorsports Patrick Long

Christina Nielsen

Porsche 911 GT3 R C 64 +4 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
24

DNF

P 90 Spirit of Daytona Racing Matt McMurry
Tristan Vautier 		Cadillac DPi-V.R C 35 Did Not Finish
Cadillac 5.5 L V8
25

DNF

GTD 15 3GT Racing Jack Hawksworth
David Heinemeier Hansson 		Lexus RC F GT3 C 10 Crash
Lexus 5.0L V8
26

DNF

P 55 Mazda Team Joest Jonathan Bomarito
Harry Tincknell 		Mazda RT24-P C 6 Drivetrain
Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0L Turbo I4
Sources:[18][19]
Tyre manufacturers
Key
Symbol Tyre manufacturer
C Continental
M Michelin

Standings after the race

  • 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.


References

  1. ^ a b c d Goodwin, Graham (August 6, 2017). "IMSA Announce 2018 Calendar". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  2. ^ a b "00_Championship Points - Official.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. May 8, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 14, 2023. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  3. ^ Dagys, John (May 25, 2018). "BMW M8 GTE, Lexus Hit with BoP Adjustments". sportscar365.com. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  4. ^ Dagys, John (May 23, 2018). "SDR Returns; 25 Cars for Detroit". sportscar365.com. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  5. ^ Dagys, John (May 23, 2018). "Performance Tech to Skip Detroit". sportscar365.com. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  6. ^ Dagys, John (May 30, 2018). "Second MSR Acura Confirmed for Detroit". sportscar365.com. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  7. ^ "2018 Chevrolet Sports Car Classic Official Entry List" (PDF). May 31, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 22, 2018. Retrieved May 12, 2018.
  8. ^ Dagys, John (May 29, 2018). "Segal to Sub for Balzan in Detroit". sportscar365.com. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Continental Tire Keys to the Race: Detroit". sportscar365.com. May 31, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  10. ^ Myrehn, Ryan (June 1, 2018). "Ricky Taylor Sets Pace in Detroit Practice 1". sportscar365.com. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  11. ^ "03_Results_Practice 1.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. June 1, 2018. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  12. ^ Myrehn, Ryan (June 1, 2018). "Castroneves Quickest in Practice 2 at Detroit". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  13. ^ "03_Results_Practice 2.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. June 1, 2018. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  14. ^ "2018 IMSA Sporting Regulations & Series Supplementary Regulations of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship" (PDF). International Motor Sports Association. May 16, 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 29, 2018. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  15. ^ "03_Results_Qualifying.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. June 1, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 14, 2023. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  16. ^ "01_Starting Grid_Race_Official.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. June 2, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 14, 2023. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "00_Championship Points - Official.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. June 5, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 14, 2023. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  18. ^ "03_Results_Race_Official.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. June 2, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 7, 2023. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  19. ^ "2018 Chevrolet Sports Car Classic". racing-reference.info. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
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