The 2024 Motul Course de Monterey (formally known as the 2024 Motul Course de Monterey powered by Hyundai N) was a sports car race held at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca near Monterey, California, on May 12, 2024. It was the fourth round of the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship.
Background Preview
International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was part of the schedule of the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2023. It will be the 11th consecutive year the race is a part of the IMSA SCC. The 2024 Motul Course de Monterey will be the fourth of eleventh scheduled sports car races of 2024 by IMSA. The race was held at the eleven-turn WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on May 12, 2024.
Standings before the race Before the race, Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr led the GTP Drivers' Championship with 1032 points, 58 points ahead of Long Beach race winners Sébastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande. Jack Aitken and Pipo Derani were a further 19 points behind, sitting in third place. GTD Pro did not participate in the Long Beach round, so the GTD Pro Drivers' Championship was led by James Calado, Davide Rigon, and Daniel Serra, with 722 points. They were 98 points ahead of Bryan Sellers, Madison Snow, and Neil Verhagen in second. The GTD Drivers' Championship was led by Philip Ellis and Russell Ward with 987 points, 185 points ahead of second-placed Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher. Parker Thompson were third, 195 points behind Ellis and Ward. Cadillac, Lexus, and Mercedes-AMG were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, whilst Porsche Penske Motorsport, Risi Competizione, and Winward Racing each led their respective Teams' Championships.
Entry list Entrant Car Driver 1 Driver 2 GTP (Grand Touring Prototype) (10 entries) 01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R Sébastien Bourdais Renger van der Zande 5 Proton Competition Mustang Sampling Porsche 963 Gianmaria Bruni Bent Viscaal 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 Mathieu Jaminet Nick Tandy 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 Dane Cameron Felipe Nasr 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 Filipe Albuquerque Ricky Taylor 24 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 Philipp Eng Jesse Krohn 25 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 Connor De Phillippi Nick Yelloly 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R Jack Aitken Pipo Derani 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 Louis Delétraz Jordan Taylor 85 JDC–Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 Tijmen van der Helm Richard Westbrook GTD Pro (GT Daytona Pro) (9 entries) 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 Bryan Sellers Madison Snow 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R Antonio García Alexander Sims 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R Nicky Catsburg Tommy Milner 9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo Oliver Jarvis Marvin Kirchhöfer 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 Ben Barnicoat Jack Hawksworth 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo Mario Farnbacher Ross Gunn 64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3 Mike Rockenfeller Harry Tincknell 65 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3 Joey Hand Dirk Müller 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Laurin Heinrich Sebastian Priaulx GTD (GT Daytona) (15 entries) 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 Frankie Montecalvo Parker Thompson 13 AWA Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R Matt Bell Orey Fidani 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo Roman De Angelis Spencer Pumpelly 32 Korthoff/Preston Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Mikaël Grenier Mike Skeen 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 Albert Costa Manny Franco 43 Andretti Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Jarett Andretti Gabby Chaves 45 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 Danny Formal Kyle Marcelli 55 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 Giammarco Levorato Corey Lewis 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Philip Ellis Russell Ward 66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 Stevan McAleer Sheena Monk 70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 Evo Brendan Iribe Frederik Schandorff 78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 Misha Goikhberg Loris Spinelli 86 MDK Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Anders Fjordbach Kerong Li 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Adam Adelson Elliott Skeer 557 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 Robby Foley Patrick GallagherSource:
Practice There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Sunday, one on Friday afternoon and one on Saturday morning. The first session lasted 90 minutes on Friday afternoon while the second session on Saturday morning lasted 90 minutes.
Qualifying
Saturday's qualification session was divided into two groups with one session for the GTP, GTD Pro and the GTD classes, which lasted 15 minutes each. Cars in GTD Pro and GTD were sent out first. After a ten-minute interval, GTP vehicles drove onto the track. Regulations stipulated teams to nominate one qualifying driver, with the fastest laps determining each classes starting order. IMSA arranged the grid to put GTP vehicles ahead of the GTD Pro and GTD cars.
Qualifying results Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and with . ClassEntryDriverTime1GTP01 Cadillac Racing Sébastien Bourdais1:12.445—12GTP31 Whelen Cadillac Racing Pipo Derani1:12.557 +0.11223GTP24 BMW M Team RLL Philipp Eng1:12.649 +0.20434GTP6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Mathieu Jaminet1:12.664 +0.21945GTP25 BMW M Team RLL Connor De Phillippi1:12.704 +0.25956GTP7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Dane Cameron1:12.771 +0.32667GTP10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Ricky Taylor1:12.905 +0.46078GTP40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Louis Delétraz1:13.084 +0.63989GTP85 JDC–Miller MotorSports Tijmen van der Helm1:13.184 +0.739910GTP5 Proton Competition Mustang Sampling Bent Viscaal1:13.314 +0.8691011GTD Pro4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Nicky Catsburg1:19.727 +7.2821112GTD Pro3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Antonio García1:20.038 +7.5931213GTD Pro9 Pfaff Motorsports Marvin Kirchhöfer1:20.244 +7.7991314GTD Pro14 Vasser Sullivan Jack Hawksworth1:20.431 +7.9861415GTD Pro77 AO Racing Sebastian Priaulx1:20.473 +8.0281516GTD Pro23 Heart of Racing Team Mario Farnbacher1:20.667 +8.2221617GTD45 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Danny Formal1:20.866 +8.4211718GTD557 Turner Motorsport Patrick Gallagher1:20.995 +8.5501819GTD Pro1 Paul Miller Racing Madison Snow1:21.003 +8.5591920GTD57 Winward Racing Russell Ward1:21.051 +8.5742021GTD27 Heart of Racing Team Spencer Pumpelly1:21.051 +8.6062122GTD12 Vasser Sullivan Frankie Montecalvo1:21.074 +8.6292223GTD32 Korthoff/Preston Motorsports Mike Skeen1:21.088 +8.6432324GTD Pro64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Mike Rockenfeller1:21.136 +8.6912425GTD78 Forte Racing Misha Goikhberg1:21.335 +8.8902526GTD70 Inception Racing Brendan Iribe1:21.353 +8.9082627GTD34 Conquest Racing Manny Franco1:21.823 +9.3782728GTD Pro65 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Dirk Müller1:21.921 +9.4762829GTD55 Proton Competition Corey Lewis1:22.051 +9.6062930GTD43 Andretti Motorsports Jarett Andretti1:22.346 +9.9013031GTD120 Wright Motorsports Adam Adelson1:22.458 +10.0133132GTD66 Gradient Racing Sheena Monk1:22.563 +10.1183233GTD13 AWA Orey Fidani1:23.294 +10.8493334GTD86 MDK Motorsports Kerong Li1:23.437 +10.99234Sources:
Race
Post-race The final results kept Cameron and Nasr atop the GTP Drivers' Championship with 1357 points, 50 ahead of second-place finishers Aitken and Derani, who in turn, were a further 38 points in front of Bourdais and van der Zande. With 981 points, Heinrich and Priaulx's victory allowed them to take the lead of the GTD Pro Drivers' Championship. Fifth-place finishers García and Sims advanced from eighth to fifth while the absent Serra, Rigon, and Calado dropped to tenth. Ellis and Ward's victory allowed them to extend their advantage to 213 points over second-place finishers Foley and Gallagher in the GTD Drivers' Championship. Cadillac and Mercedes-AMG continued to top their respective Manufactures' Championships while Porsche took the lead of the GTD Pro Manufactures' Championship. Porsche Penske Motorsport and Winward Racing kept their respective advantages in their of Teams' Championships while AO Racing became the leader of the GTD Pro Teams' Championship with seven rounds remaining.
Race results Class winners are denoted in bold and with .