The 2024 IMSA SportsCar Weekend was a sports car race held at Road America near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, on August 4, 2024. It was the eighth round of the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship.
Background Preview
International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was part of the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2023. It was the eleventh consecutive time the IMSA SCC hosted a race at Road America. The 2024 IMSA SportsCar Weekend was the eighth of eleven scheduled sports car races of 2024 by IMSA. The race was held at the fourteen-turn Road America on August 4, 2024.
Standings before the race Preceding the event, the GTP Drivers' Championship was led by Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr with 2044 points, 93 points ahead of the duo of Sébastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande. Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy sat in third, a further 39 points behind. Felipe Fraga and Gar Robinson were leading the LMP2 Drivers' Championship with 1308 points, 12 points ahead of Nick Boulle and Tom Dillmann, who won the previous race at Mosport Park. Ryan Dalziel sat in third, 135 points behind Fraga and Robinson. The GTD Pro Drivers' Championship was led by Laurin Heinrich and Sebastian Priaulx, with 1955 points. They were 98 points ahead of second-placed Ross Gunn. The GTD Drivers' Championship was led by Philip Ellis and Russell Ward with 2090 points. They sat 340 points ahead of second-placed Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher in second. The Teams' Championships were led by Porsche Penske Motorsport, Riley, AO Racing, and Winward Racing, respectively, whilst the Manufacturers' Championships were led by Porsche in GTP and GTD Pro and Mercedes-AMG in GTD.
Entry list
The entry list was revealed on July 24, 2024, and featured 47 entries: 10 entries in GTP, 12 entries in LMP2, 10 entries in GTD Pro, and 15 entries in GTD. The No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR Oreca did not participate in the event after the CrowdStrike incident two weeks prior to the event. Furthermore, JDC–Miller MotorSports entered an additional Oreca in the LMP2 class for Scott Andrews and Gerry Knaut, whilst Tõnis Kasemets replaced Lance Willsey in the No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier. For the second time this season, Conquest Racing fielded an additional car in the GTD Pro class: the No. 35 Ferrari was driven by Giacomo Altoè and Daniel Serra. The No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche returned to the GTD field after missing the previous round, whilst Triarsi Competizione fielded their No. 023 Ferrari for drivers Alessio Rovera and Onofrio Triarsi. Kenton Koch replaced Mike Skeen behind the wheel of the No. 32 Korthoff/Preston Motorsports Mercedes, whilst Sandy Mitchell replaced Kyle Marcelli behind the wheel of the No. 45 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Lamborghini.
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 LMP2 (Le Mans Prototype 2) (12 entries) 2 United Autosports USA Oreca 07-Gibson Ben Hanley Ben Keating 8 Tower Motorsports Oreca 07-Gibson Charlie Eastwood John Farano 11 TDS Racing Oreca 07-Gibson Mikkel Jensen Steven Thomas 18 Era Motorsport Oreca 07-Gibson Ryan Dalziel Stuart Wiltshire 20 MDK by High Class Racing Oreca 07-Gibson Dennis Andersen Seth Lucas 22 United Autosports USA Oreca 07-Gibson Dan Goldburg Paul di Resta 33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier JS P217-Gibson João Barbosa Tõnis Kasemets 52 Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca 07-Gibson Nick Boulle Tom Dillmann 74 Riley Oreca 07-Gibson Felipe Fraga Gar Robinson 79 JDC–Miller MotorSports Oreca 07-Gibson Scott Andrews Gerry Kraut 88 Richard Mille AF Corse Oreca 07-Gibson Luis Pérez Companc Nicklas Nielsen 99 AO Racing Oreca 07-Gibson Paul-Loup Chatin P. J. Hyett GTD Pro (GT Daytona Pro) (10 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 Ross Gunn Alex Riberas 35 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 Giacomo Altoè Daniel Serra 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) Julien Andlauer Laurin Heinrich GTD (GT Daytona) (15 entries) 023 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 Alessio Rovera Onofrio Triarsi 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 Zacharie Robichon 32 Korthoff/Preston Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Mikaël Grenier Kenton Koch 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 Albert Costa Manny Franco 45 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 Danny Formal Sandy Mitchell 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 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 Robby Foley Patrick Gallagher 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Adam Adelson Elliott Skeer Source:
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 afternoon qualifying session was broken into three sessions, with one session for the GTP, LMP2, GTD Pro and GTD classes, which lasted 15 minutes each. The rules dictated that all teams nominated a driver to qualify their cars, with the Pro-Am LMP2 class requiring a Bronze rated driver to qualify the car. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order. IMSA then arranged the grid to put GTPs ahead of the LMP2, GTD Pro, and GTD cars.
Qualifying results Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and with . ClassEntryDriverTime1GTP10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Filipe Albuquerque1:48.601—12GTP40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Jordan Taylor1:48.863 +0.26223GTP01 Cadillac Racing Renger van der Zande1:48.920 +0.31934GTP5 Proton Competition Mustang Sampling Gianmaria Bruni1:49.392 +0.79145GTP31 Whelen Cadillac Racing Pipo Derani1:49.408 +0.80756GTP25 BMW M Team RLL Connor De Phillippi1:49.445 +0.84467GTP6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Nick Tandy1:49.465 +0.86478GTP85 JDC–Miller MotorSports Richard Westbrook1:49.745 +1.14489GTP7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Dane Cameron1:49.976 +1.375910LMP299 AO Racing P. J. Hyett1:53.738 +5.1371111LMP22 United Autosports USA Ben Keating1:54.110 +5.5091212LMP222 United Autosports USA Dan Goldburg1:54.129 +5.5281313LMP252 Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Nick Boulle1:54.303 +5.7021414LMP288 Richard Mille AF Corse Luis Pérez Companc1:54.317 +5.7161515LMP211 TDS Racing Steven Thomas1:54.688 +6.0871616LMP220 MDK by High Class Racing Dennis Andersen1:55.459 +6.8581717LMP233 Sean Creech Motorsport Tõnis Kasemets1:55.662 +7.0611818LMP274 Riley Gar Robinson1:56.322 +7.7212219LMP28 Tower Motorsports John Farano1:58.055 +9.4541920LMP279 JDC–Miller MotorSports Gerry Kraut1:58.333 +9.7322021LMP218 Era Motorsport Stuart Wiltshire1:58.536 +9.9352122GTD Pro4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Nicky Catsburg2:02.198 +13.5972323GTD Pro3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Alexander Sims2:02.392 +13.7912424GTD Pro35 Conquest Racing Giacomo Altoè2:02.729 +14.1282525GTD Pro14 Vasser Sullivan Jack Hawksworth2:02.912 +14.3112626GTD Pro64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Mike Rockenfeller2:02.913 +14.3122727GTD Pro9 Pfaff Motorsports Oliver Jarvis2:03.023 +14.4222828GTD Pro1 Paul Miller Racing Madison Snow2:03.363 +14.7622929GTD Pro23 Heart of Racing Team Alex Riberas2:03.384 +14.7833030GTD Pro65 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Dirk Müller2:03.443 +14.8423131GTD Pro77 AO Racing Julien Andlauer2:03.588 +14.9873232GTD32 Korthoff/Preston Motorsports Mikaël Grenier2:03.634 +15.0333333GTD27 Heart of Racing Team Zacharie Robichon2:03.764 +15.1633434GTD023 Triarsi Competizione Onofrio Triarsi2:03.841 +15.2403535GTD96 Turner Motorsport Patrick Gallagher2:03.981 +15.3803636GTD57 Winward Racing Russell Ward2:04.150 +15.5493737GTD45 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Danny Formal2:04.276 +15.6753838GTD55 Proton Competition Giammarco Levorato2:04.303 +15.7023939GTD34 Conquest Racing Manny Franco2:04.304 +15.7034040GTD12 Vasser Sullivan Frankie Montecalvo2:04.369 +15.7684141GTD70 Inception Racing Brendan Iribe2:04.529 +15.9284242GTD78 Forte Racing Misha Goikhberg2:04.877 +16.2764343GTD120 Wright Motorsports Adam Adelson2:05.194 +16.5934444GTD66 Gradient Racing Sheena Monk2:05.720 +17.1194545GTD86 MDK Motorsports Kerong Li2:06.509 +17.9084646GTD13 AWA Orey Fidani2:07.340 +18.7394747GTP24 BMW M Team RLLNo Time Established10Sources:
The No. 74 Riley entry was moved to the back of its class after changing the engine of the car.
Race Post-race The result kept Cameron and Nasr atop the GTP Drivers' Championship with 2386 points while race winners Jaminet and Tandy advanced to second. As a result of finishing seventh, Boulle and Dillmann took the lead of the LMP2 Drivers' Championship. Hanley and Keating jumped from sixth to fourth. The final results of GTD Pro meant Heinrich continued to lead the Drivers' Championship, but his advantage was reduced to 76 points by third-place finisher Gunn. Ellis and Ward's fourth-place finish allowed them to keep their advantage over race finishers Foley and Gallagher in the GTD Drivers' Championship. Porsche and Mercedes-AMG continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships. Porsche Penske Motorsport, AO Racing, and Winward Racing kept their respective advantages in their of Teams' Championships while Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports became the leader of the LMP2 Teams' Championship with three rounds remaining.
Class winners are in bold and .