2020 TireRack.com Grand Prix at Road Atlanta

The 2020 TireRack.com Grand Prix at Road Atlanta was a sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The race was held at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, on September 5, 2020. This race was the sixth round of the 2020 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the second round of the 2020 Michelin Endurance Cup.

The overall race was won by the #7 Acura Team Penske duo of Hélio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor. In LMP2, Scott Huffaker, Patrick Kelly, and Simon Trummer claimed PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports' second class victory of the season. BMW Team RLL triumphed in GTLM, scoring their second win in as many endurance races with Connor De Phillippi and Bruno Spengler behind the wheel. GTD was won by Meyer Shank Racing's #86 entry of Mario Farnbacher, Matt McMurry, and Shinya Michimi.[1]

Background

The race was brought about as a replacement to the annual 6 Hours of Watkins Glen, which was canceled in 2020 due to New York state COVID-19 travel and gathering restrictions.[2] In late August, Tire Rack was announced as the title sponsor of the event.[3] After fan entry was prohibited at the previous round at VIR, spectators were allowed to attend the event, albeit subject to strict COVID-19 restrictions, including a lack of paddock access and facemask mandates.[4]

On August 27, 2020, IMSA released their latest technical bulletin, outlining BoP for the race.[5] In DPi, the lone change was a 15 kilogram weight reduction for the Cadillac. Similarly in GTLM, a 20 kilogram weight increase for the Porsche was the only adjustment made. In GTD, the Aston Martin received a 7.1 kilowatt increase to its average power delta, alongside increases to its turbocharger boost ratio. Several GTD cars also underwent fuel capacity adjustments. The Aston Martin, BMW, and Ferrari all received slight increases, while the Lamborghini received a one liter fuel capacity decrease.

Before the race, Ryan Briscoe and Renger van der Zande led the DPi Drivers' Championship with 124 points, ahead of Sébastien Bourdais and João Barbosa, and Oliver Jarvis and Tristan Nunez with 117 points.[6] In LMP2, Cameron Cassels led the Drivers' Championship with 64 points, 1 point ahead of Patrick Kelly in second followed by Henrik Hedman in third.[6] Antonio García and Jordan Taylor led the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 165 points, 19 points ahead of Earl Bamber and Laurens Vanthoor in second, and Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner in third. With 115 points, the GTD Drivers' Championship was led by Jack Hawksworth, ahead of Mario Farnbacher and Matt McMurry in second.[6] Cadillac, Chevrolet, and Lexus were leading their respective Manufactures' Championships while Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R, Performance Tech Motorsports, Corvette Racing, and AIM Vasser Sullivan each led their own Teams' Championships.[6]

Entries

Further information: 2020 IMSA SportsCar Championship § Entries

A total of 28 cars took part in the event, split across four classes. 8 were entered in DPi, 2 in LMP2, 6 in GTLM, and 12 in GTD. Due to the endurance nature of the event, many teams drafted in a third driver, with teams in the LMP2 and GTD classes obligated to do so. Tristan Vautier, after running the majority of the early season with JDC-Miller Motorsports' #85 entry, was entered as a third driver in the #5. As a result, Stephen Simpson returned to the #85 to partner Matheus Leist.[7] The preliminary LMP2 class list featured four entries, which reduced to two by the time the green flag dropped. Starworks Motorsport withdrew early, and were followed by Performance Tech Motorsports after travel restrictions prohibited driver Cameron Cassels from traveling to and from his native Canada.[8] In GTD, the third driver demands forced AIM Vasser Sullivan to split the championship-contending duo of Aaron Telitz and Jack Hawksworth, placing Telitz in the #12 and leaving Hawksworth in the #14.[9] GRT Grasser Racing Team also returned to IMSA competition, after most recently competing in the season-opening 24 Hours of Daytona. They fielded a Lamborghini for Richard Heistand, Steijn Schothorst, and Richard Westbrook.[7]

Practice

There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, both on Friday. The first session lasted one hour on Friday morning while the second session lasted 75 minutes on Friday afternoon.[10]

Practice 1

The first practice session took place at 10:00 am ET on Friday and ended with Pipo Derani topping the charts for Whelen Engineering Racing, with a lap time of 1:09.743.[11] Colin Braun was fastest in LMP2 with a time of 1:10.910.[11] The GTLM class was topped by the #912 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Earl Bamber with a time of 1:17.552. Nick Tandy in the sister #911 Porsche GT Team entry was second and John Edwards rounded out the top three.[12] The GTD class was topped by the #44 GRT Magnus Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo of Andy Lally with a time of 1:20.538.[13]

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap
1 DPi 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Pipo Derani 1:09.743 _
2 DPi 5 JDC-Mustang Sampling Racing Sébastien Bourdais 1:10.132 +0.389
3 DPi 55 Mazda Motorsports Harry Tincknell 1:10.404 +0.661
Sources:[14][15]

Practice 2

The second and final practice session took place at 2:25 pm ET on Friday and ended with Felipe Nasr topping the charts for Whelen Engineering Racing, with a lap time of 1:09.023.[16] Simon Trummer set the fastest time in LMP2.[17] The GTLM class was topped by the #25 BMW Team RLL BMW M8 GTE of Connor De Phillippi with a time of 1:16.875. Laurens Vanthoor in the #912 Porsche GT Team entry was second and Antonio García rounded out the top 3.[17] Steijn Schothorst was fastest in GTD with a time of 1:20.346.[18]

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap
1 DPi 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Felipe Nasr 1:09.023 _
2 DPi 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac Renger van der Zande 1:09.534 +0.511
3 DPi 77 Mazda Motorsports Tristan Nunez 1:09.577 +0.554
Sources:[19][20]

Qualifying

Friday's evening qualifying was broken into three sessions, with one session for the DPi and LMP2, GTLM, and GTD classes, which lasted for 15 minutes each, and a ten minute interval between the sessions.[10] The rules dictated that all teams nominated a driver to qualify their cars, with the Pro-Am (LMP2/GTD) classes requiring a Bronze/Silver Rated Driver to qualify the car. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order. IMSA then arranged the grid to put DPis ahead of the LMP2, GTLM, and GTD cars.[21]

The first session was for cars in GTD class. Frankie Montecalvo qualified on pole for the class driving the #12 car for AIM Vasser Sullivan, besting Madison Snow in the Paul Miller Racing entry.[22]

The second session was for cars in the GTLM class. Nick Tandy qualified on pole driving the #911 car for Porsche GT Team, beating Antonio García in the #3 Corvette Racing entry by less than twenty-hundredths of a second. All cars in class qualified within two tenths of the pole time.[23]

The final session of qualifying was for cars in the LMP2 and DPi classes. Hélio Castroneves qualified on pole driving the #7 car for Acura Team Penske, beating Felipe Nasr in the #31Whelen Engineering Racing car by less than one-tenth of a second. Patrick Kelly qualified on pole in LMP2 driving the #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports car.[24][25]

Qualifying results

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

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap Grid
1 DPi 7 Acura Team Penske Hélio Castroneves 1:08.674 _ 1‡
2 DPi 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Felipe Nasr 1:08.730 +0.056 2
3 DPi 6 Acura Team Penske Dane Cameron 1:08.767 +0.093 3
4 DPi 77 Mazda Motorsports Tristan Nunez 1:08.916 +0.242 81
5 DPi 55 Mazda Motorsports Harry Tincknell 1:08.948 +0.274 4
6 DPi 5 JDC-Mustang Sampling Racing Sébastien Bourdais 1:09.067 +0.393 5
7 DPi 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac Renger van der Zande 1:09.079 +0.405 6
8 DPi 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Matheus Leist 1:09.683 +1.009 7
9 LMP2 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Patrick Kelly 1:12.209 +3.535 9‡
10 LMP2 18 Era Motorsport Dwight Merriman 1:15.490 +6.816 102
11 GTLM 911 Porsche GT Team Nick Tandy 1:16.167 +7.493 11‡
12 GTLM 3 Corvette Racing Antonio García 1:16.181 +7.507 12
13 GTLM 4 Corvette Racing Tommy Milner 1:16.212 +7.538 13
14 GTLM 912 Porsche GT Team Laurens Vanthoor 1:16.245 +7.571 143
15 GTLM 25 BMW Team RLL Connor De Phillippi 1:16.253 +7.579 154
16 GTLM 24 BMW Team RLL Jesse Krohn 1:16.359 +7.685 165
17 GTD 12 AIM Vasser Sullivan Frankie Montecalvo 1:19.757 +11.083 17‡
18 GTD 48 Paul Miller Racing Madison Snow 1:19.907 +11.233 18
19 GTD 16 Wright Motorsports Jan Heylen 1:19.920 +11.246 19
20 GTD 86 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Shinya Michimi 1:20.009 +11.335 20
21 GTD 11 GRT Grasser Racing Team Steijn Schothorst 1:20.125 +11.451 21
22 GTD 57 Heinricher Racing with MSR Curb-Agajanian Misha Goikhberg 1:20.364 +11.690 22
23 GTD 96 Turner Motorsport Robby Foley 1:20.469 +11.795 23
24 GTD 63 Scuderia Corsa Jeff Westphal 1:20.606 +11.932 24
25 GTD 14 AIM Vasser Sullivan Michael de Quesada 1:20.615 +11.941 25
26 GTD 74 Riley Motorsports Gar Robinson 1:20.649 +11.975 26
27 GTD 23 Heart of Racing Team Ian James 1:20.828 +12.154 286
28 GTD 44 GRT Magnus Did Not Participate 27
Sources:[26][27]
  • 1 The No. 77 Mazda Motorsports entry initially qualified fourth for the DPi class. However, the team changed engines after qualifying. By IMSA rules, the entry was moved to the rear of the DPi field on the starting grid.[28]
  • 2 The No. 18 Era Motorsport entry was moved to the back of the LMP2 field as per Article 40.1.4 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).[21]
  • 3 The No. 912 Porsche GT Team entry was moved to the back of the GTLM field as per Article 40.1.4 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).[21]
  • 4 The No. 25 BMW Team RLL entry was moved to the back of the GTLM field as per Article 40.1.4 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).[21]
  • 5 The No. 24 BMW Team RLL entry was moved to the back of the GTLM field as per Article 40.1.4 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).[21]
  • 6 The No. 23 Heart of Racing Team entry was moved to the back of the GTD field as per Article 40.1.4 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).[21]

Race

Post-race

The result kept Briscoe and van der Zande atop the DPi Drivers' Championship with 150 points. Jarvis and Nunez dropped from third to fifth while Derani advanced from fourth to third.[29] As a result of winning the race, Kelly took the lead of the LMP2 Drivers' Championship with 98 points. Merriman and Tilley advanced from fourth to second.[29] The result kept Antonio García and Jordan Taylor atop the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 191 points. De Phillippi and Spengler advanced from sixth to third as a result of winning the race while Bamber and Vanthoor dropped from second to fifth. Edwards and Krohn moved to fourth after being fifth coming into Road Atlanta.[29] As a result of winning the race, Farnbacher and McMurry took the lead of the GTD Drivers' Championship with 150 points. Hawksworth dropped from first to third while Hardwick and Long advanced from sixth to fifth.[29] Cadillac and Chevrolet continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships while Acura took the lead of the GTD Manufactures' Championship.[29] Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R and Corvette Racing kept their respective advantages in their respective of Teams' Championships. PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports and Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian became the leaders of their respective class Teams' Championships with five rounds remaining in the season.[29]

Results

Class winners are denoted in bold and ‡.

Pos Class No. Team Drivers Chassis Laps Time/Retired
Engine
1 DPi 7 Acura Team Penske Hélio Castroneves
Ricky Taylor 		Acura ARX-05 273 6:00:54.929‡
Acura AR35TT 3.5L Turbo V6
2 DPi 55 Mazda Motorsports Jonathan Bomarito
Ryan Hunter-Reay
Harry Tincknell 		Mazda RT24-P 273 +0.983
Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0L Turbo I4
3 DPi 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Filipe Albuquerque
Pipo Derani
Felipe Nasr 		Cadillac DPi-V.R 273 +2.067
Cadillac 5.5L V8
4 DPi 5 JDC-Mustang Sampling Racing João Barbosa
Sébastien Bourdais
Tristan Vautier 		Cadillac DPi-V.R 273 +3.442
Cadillac 5.5L V8
5 DPi 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac Ryan Briscoe
Renger van der Zande 		Cadillac DPi-V.R 273 +3.993
Cadillac 5.5L V8
6 DPi 6 Acura Team Penske Dane Cameron
Juan Pablo Montoya 		Acura ARX-05 265 Crash
Acura AR35TT 3.5L Turbo V6
7 LMP2 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Scott Huffaker
Patrick Kelly
Simon Trummer 		Oreca 07 264 +9 Laps‡
Gibson 4.2L GK428 V8
8 GTLM 25 BMW Team RLL Connor De Phillippi
Bruno Spengler 		BMW M8 GTE 254 +19 Laps‡
BMW S63 4.0L Turbo V8
9 GTLM 4 Corvette Racing Oliver Gavin
Tommy Milner 		Chevrolet Corvette C8.R 254 +19 Laps
Chevrolet 5.5L V8
10 GTLM 24 BMW Team RLL John Edwards
Jesse Krohn 		BMW M8 GTE 254 +19 Laps
BMW S63 4.0L Turbo V8
11 GTLM 911 Porsche GT Team Frédéric Makowiecki
Nick Tandy 		Porsche 911 RSR-19 254 +19 Laps
Porsche 4.2L Flat-6
12 GTLM 3 Corvette Racing Antonio García
Jordan Taylor 		Chevrolet Corvette C8.R 254 +19 Laps
Chevrolet 5.5L V8
13 GTLM 912 Porsche GT Team Earl Bamber
Laurens Vanthoor 		Porsche 911 RSR-19 252 +21 Laps
Porsche 4.2L Flat-6
14 GTD 86 Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian Mario Farnbacher
Matt McMurry
Shinya Michimi 		Acura NSX GT3 Evo 245 +28 Laps‡
Acura 3.5L Turbo V6
15 GTD 48 Paul Miller Racing Corey Lewis
Bryan Sellers
Madison Snow 		Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 245 +28 Laps
Lamborghini 5.2L V10
16 GTD 16 Wright Motorsports Ryan Hardwick
Jan Heylen
Patrick Long 		Porsche 911 GT3 R 245 +28 Laps
Porsche 4.0L Flat-6
17 GTD 74 Riley Motorsports Lawson Aschenbach
Ben Keating
Gar Robinson 		Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 245 +28 Laps
Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2L V8
18 GTD 12 AIM Vasser Sullivan Townsend Bell
Frankie Montecalvo
Aaron Telitz 		Lexus RC F GT3 245 +28 Laps
Lexus 5.0L V8
19 GTD 23 Heart of Racing Team Roman De Angelis
Ian James
Darren Turner 		Aston Martin Vantage GT3 245 +28 Laps
Aston Martin 4.0L Turbo V8
20 GTD 57 Heinricher Racing w/ MSR Curb-Agajanian Mikhail Goikhberg
Trent Hindman
Álvaro Parente 		Acura NSX GT3 Evo 244 +29 Laps
Acura 3.5L Turbo V6
21 GTD 11 GRT Grasser Racing Team Richard Heistand
Steijn Schothorst
Richard Westbrook 		Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 243 +30 Laps
Lamborghini 5.2L V10
22 GTD 63 Scuderia Corsa Cooper MacNeil
Toni Vilander
Jeff Westphal 		Ferrari 488 GT3 237 Crash
Ferrari F154CB 3.9L Turbo V8
23 LMP2 18 Era Motorsport Colin Braun
Kyle Tilley
Dwight Merriman 		Oreca 07 232 +41 Laps
Gibson 4.2L GK428 V8
24 DPi 77 Mazda Motorsports Oliver Jarvis
Tristan Nunez
Olivier Pla 		Mazda RT24-P 230 +43 Laps
Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0L Turbo I4
25 GTD 14 AIM Vasser Sullivan Michael de Quesada
Jack Hawksworth
Daniel Morad 		Lexus RC F GT3 204 +69 Laps
Lexus 5.0L V8
26 GTD 96 Turner Motorsport Bill Auberlen
Robby Foley
Dillon Machavern 		BMW M6 GT3 182 Mechanical
BMW 4.4L Turbo V8
27 GTD 44 GRT Magnus Andy Lally
John Potter
Spencer Pumpelly 		Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 166 Crash
Lamborghini 5.2L V10
28 DPi 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Matheus Leist
Stephen Simpson 		Cadillac DPi-V.R 54 Rear End
Cadillac 5.5L V8
Sources:[30][31]

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. ^ "Action-Packed TireRack.com Grand Prix Highlights Michelin's Endurance". michelinracingusa.com. September 5, 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
  2. ^ "Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen race moved from Watkins Glen International to Atlanta". stargazette.com. August 3, 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
  3. ^ "Michelin to Serve as Title Sponsor for 6H Road Atlanta". sportscar365.com. August 24, 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
  4. ^ "Michelin Endurance Challenge Weekend Race Week Is Here". motorsportamerica.com. September 7, 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
  5. ^ "TB-IWSC-20-20-Road-Atlanta-1-BoP-Tables-08272020-Revised.pdf" (PDF). imsa.com. August 27, 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d "00_Championship Point - Official.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. August 26, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Entry List: TireRack.com Grand Prix". frontstretch.com. September 3, 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
  8. ^ "Performance Tech Withdraws; Two LMP2s for Road Atlanta". sportscar365.com. September 2, 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
  9. ^ "IMSA Road Atlanta entry list features notable additions for 6-hour race". motorsports.nbcsports.com. August 26, 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
  10. ^ a b "2020 IMSA Official Schedule and SR MRRA1 082620 V1" (PDF). results.imsa.com/noticeBoard.php. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  11. ^ a b Dagys, John (September 4, 2020). "Derani Tops Opening Practice at Road Atlanta". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  12. ^ O'Malley, J.J. (September 4, 2020). "Cadillacs 1-2 in first Road Atlanta practice". racer.com. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  13. ^ Malsher-Lopez, David (September 4, 2020). "IMSA Road Atlanta: Derani, AXR lead opening practice". us.motorsport.com. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  14. ^ "03_Results_Practice 1.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. September 4, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  15. ^ "06_Fastest Lap By Driver_Practice 1.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. September 4, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  16. ^ O'Malley, J.J. (September 4, 2020). "Nasr keeps Whelen Cadillac on top in second Road Atlanta practice". racer.com. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  17. ^ a b Malsher-Lopez, David (September 4, 2020). "IMSA Road Atlanta: Nasr keeps Action Express on top in FP2". us.motorsport.com. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  18. ^ Dagys, John (September 4, 2020). "Nasr Keeps AXR Cadillac On Top in Practice 2". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  19. ^ "03_Results_Practice 2.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. September 4, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  20. ^ "06_Fastest Lap By Driver_Practice 2.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. September 4, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  21. ^ a b c d e f "2020 IMSA SPORTING REGULATIONS and SERIES SUPPLEMENTARY REGULATIONS" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
  22. ^ Malsher-Lopez, David (September 4, 2020). "IMSA Road Atlanta: Acura, Porsche, Lexus take poles". us.motorsport.com. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  23. ^ O'Malley, J.J. (September 4, 2020). "Castroneves grabs pole for IMSA Road Atlanta six hour". racer.com. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  24. ^ "Helio Castroneves Wins TireRack.com Grand Prix Pole". frontstretch.com. September 4, 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
  25. ^ Dagys, John (September 4, 2020). "Castroneves Takes Pole for 6H Road Atlanta". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  26. ^ "03_Results_Qualifying.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
  27. ^ "00_Grid_Race_Official.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. September 5, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  28. ^ Dagys, John (September 7, 2020). "Road Atlanta Post-Race Notebook". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  29. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "00_Championship Points - Official.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. September 9, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  30. ^ "03_Results_Race_Official.PDF" (PDF). September 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
  31. ^ "2020 TIRERACK.COM GRAND PRIX". racing-reference.info. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
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