The 2024 Petit Le Mans (officially known as the 2024 Motul Petit Le Mans) was a sports car race held at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, on October 12, 2024. It was the eleventh and final round of the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship, as well as the fifth and final round of the Michelin Endurance Cup. The event was the 27th running of the Petit Le Mans since its inception.
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 year the IMSA SCC hosted the race at Road Atlanta. The 2024 Petit Le Mans was the final of eleven scheduled sports car races of 2024 by IMSA, and was held at the twelve-turn Road Atlanta on October 12, 2024.
Balance of performance Ahead of the event, IMSA published a bulletin regarding the latest balance of performance (BoP) changes in the GTP, GTD Pro, and GTD classes. In the GTP class, the Porsche received a 1-kilogram increase in weight, with a 3 kilowatts power decrease. The Battle on the Bricks-winning BMW had a weight increase of 5 kilograms, with a 3 kilowatts increase in power. The car weights for the Acura, Cadillac, and Lamborghini remained the same, but the Acura had a 2-kilowatts power reduction, the Cadillac received a 1-kilowatt power reduction, with the Lamborghini gaining one additional kilowatt of power. In the GT classes, the McLaren had a weight break of 10 kilograms, whilst the Acura received a power increase of 11.3 horsepower. All other GT cars ran with the same BoP as during the previous event at Indianapolis.
Standings before the race Preceding the event, Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr led the GTP Drivers' Championship with 2,650 points, 124 ahead of teammates Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy. Renger van der Zande and Sébastien Bourdais sat in third, an additional 40 points behind. After their second place at Indianapolis, Nick Boulle and Tom Dillmann led the LMP2 Drivers' Championship by 98 points over Felipe Fraga and Gar Robinson. The GTD Pro Drivers' Championship leader Laurin Heinrich had a 99-point advantage over second-placed Ross Gunn, with Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow in third, 219 points behind. Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth were in fourth. The GTD Drivers' Championship was led by Philip Ellis and Russell Ward with 3,006 points, 222 points ahead of Patrick Gallagher, with Mikaël Grenier in third. The Teams' Championships were led by Porsche Penske Motorsport, Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, AO Racing, and Winward Racing, respectively, whilst the Manufacturers' Championships were led by Porsche in GTP and GTD Pro. Mercedes-AMG had already clinched the GTD Manufacturers' Championship.
Entry list
The entry list was revealed on October 2, 2024, and featured 54 entries: 11 entries in GTP, 10 in LMP2, 13 in GTD Pro, and 20 entries in GTD.
Entrant Car Driver 1 Driver 2 Driver 3 Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) (11 entries) 01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R Sébastien Bourdais Scott Dixon Renger van der Zande 5 Proton Competition Mustang Sampling Porsche 963 Gianmaria Bruni Alessio Picariello Bent Viscaal 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 Kévin Estre Mathieu Jaminet Nick Tandy 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 Dane Cameron Matt Campbell Felipe Nasr 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 Filipe Albuquerque Brendon Hartley Ricky Taylor 24 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 Philipp Eng Augusto Farfus Jesse Krohn 25 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 Connor De Phillippi Maxime Martin Nick Yelloly 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R Jack Aitken Tom Blomqvist Pipo Derani 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 Louis Delétraz Colton Herta Jordan Taylor 63 Lamborghini – Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63 Matteo Cairoli Andrea Caldarelli Romain Grosjean 85 JDC–Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 Phil Hanson Tijmen van der Helm Richard Westbrook Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) (10 entries) 2 United Autosports USA Oreca 07-Gibson Ben Hanley Ben Keating Nico Pino 8 Tower Motorsports Oreca 07-Gibson Sebastián Álvarez John Farano Frederik Vesti 11 TDS Racing Oreca 07-Gibson Mikkel Jensen Hunter McElrea Steven Thomas 18 Era Motorsport Oreca 07-Gibson Ryan Dalziel Dwight Merriman Connor Zilisch 20 MDK by High Class Racing Oreca 07-Gibson Dennis Andersen Scott Huffaker Seth Lucas 22 United Autosports USA Oreca 07-Gibson Bijoy Garg Dan Goldburg Paul di Resta 52 Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca 07-Gibson Nick Boulle Tom Dillmann Jakub Śmiechowski 74 Riley Oreca 07-Gibson Josh Burdon Felipe Fraga Gar Robinson 88 Richard Mille AF Corse Oreca 07-Gibson Luis Pérez Companc Nicklas Nielsen Lilou Wadoux 99 AO Racing Oreca 07-Gibson Matthew Brabham Paul-Loup Chatin P. J. Hyett GT Daytona Pro (GTD Pro) (13 entries) 027 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo Mario Farnbacher Zacharie Robichon Marco Sørensen 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 Bryan Sellers Madison Snow Neil Verhagen 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R Antonio García Daniel Juncadella Alexander Sims 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R Earl Bamber Nicky Catsburg Tommy Milner 9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo James Hinchcliffe Oliver Jarvis Marvin Kirchhöfer 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 Ben Barnicoat Jack Hawksworth Kyle Kirkwood 19 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 Mirko Bortolotti Jordan Pepper Franck Perera 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo Roman De Angelis Ross Gunn Alex Riberas 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 Alessandro Pier Guidi Davide Rigon Daniel Serra 64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3 Christopher Mies Mike Rockenfeller Harry Tincknell 65 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3 Joey Hand Dirk Müller Frédéric Vervisch 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Julien Andlauer Michael Christensen Laurin Heinrich 82 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3 Vincent Abril Thomas Neubauer Toni Vilander GT Daytona (GTD) (20 entries) 023 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 Alessio Rovera Charlie Scardina Onofrio Triarsi 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 Frankie Montecalvo Aaron Telitz Parker Thompson 13 AWA Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R Matt Bell Orey Fidani Lars Kern 21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 François Heriau Simon Mann Miguel Molina 32 Korthoff/Preston Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Mikaël Grenier Kenton Koch Mike Skeen 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 Albert Costa Manny Franco Cédric Sbirrazzuoli 43 Andretti Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Jarett Andretti Gabby Chaves Scott Hargrove 44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo Andy Lally John Potter Spencer Pumpelly 45 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 Graham Doyle Danny Formal Kyle Marcelli 47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 Antonio Fuoco Roberto Lacorte Giorgio Sernagiotto 55 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 Ryan Hardwick Giammarco Levorato Corey Lewis 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Indy Dontje Philip Ellis Russell Ward 66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 Tatiana Calderón Stevan McAleer Sheena Monk 70 Inception Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 Brendan Iribe Ollie Millroy Frederik Schandorff 78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 Devlin DeFrancesco Misha Goikhberg Loris Spinelli 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Rui Andrade Scott Andrews Salih Yoluç 83 Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 Sarah Bovy Rahel Frey Michelle Gatting 86 MDK Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Klaus Bachler Anders Fjordbach Kerong Li 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 Robby Foley Patrick Gallagher Jake Walker 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Adam Adelson Jan Heylen Elliott Skeer Source:
Practice There were three practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, one on Thursday morning, one on Thursday afternoon, and one on Thursday evening. The first session on Thursday morning lasted 90 minutes while the second session on Thursday afternoon lasted 75 minutes, and the final session on Thursday evening lasted 90 minutes.
In the first session, Sébastien Bourdais set the fastest lap in the No. 01 CGR Cadillac at 1 minute, 11.013 seconds, 0.476 seconds quicker than Aitken's No. 31 WCR car. Mathieu Jaminet put the No. 6 Penske Porsche in third overall. BMW were fourth after a lap by Eng, and Nasr's No. 7 Penske Porsche was fifth. Felipe Fraga led LMP2 in Riley's No. 74 car with a 1:12.823 lap, 0.249 seconds ahead of Hanley's No. 2 United Autosports Oreca. Jordan Pepper led GTD Pro in Iron Lynx's No. 19 car, followed by Gunn's No. 23 Heart Aston Martin. Molina's No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari paced GTD, followed by Spinelli's No. 78 Forte car.
In the second session, Jordan Taylor's No. 40 WTR Acura lapped quickest at 1:11.081, ahead of the No. 31 Cadillac of Aitken and Tandy's No. 6 Penske car. Albuquerque was fourth in the No. 10 WTR Acura and Eng in the No. 24 BMW was fifth. Jensen led LMP2 with a 1:13:373 lap in TDS Racing's No. 11 Oreca, 0.001 seconds ahead of Zilisch's Era Motorsport car. Serra's 1:18.722 lap led the GTD Pro class in Risi's No. 62 Ferrari, 0.015 seconds faster than Hawksworth's No. 14 VasserSullivan Lexus; Gunn's No. 23 Heart Aston Martin was third. Parker Thompson's No. 12 VasserSullivan Lexus recorded the fastest time amongst all GTD cars, followed by Philip Ellis' No. 57 Winward car.
Van der Zande led the final session in the No. 01 CGR car with a lap of 1 minute, 11.626 seconds. Caldarelli's No. 63 Lamborghini was second-fastest. Nasr was third in the No. 7 Penske Porsche and Farfus in the No. 24 BMW was fourth. Hanley in LMP2 led for United Autosports with a 1-minute, 13.178 lap, from Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports' Tom Dillmann and Mikkel Jensen's No. 11 TDS Racing car. Heinrich led GTD Pro in AO Racing's No. 77 car with a 1:19.273 lap, 0.044 seconds faster than Snow's No. 1 Paul Miller BMW. Foley's No. 96 Turner car paced GTD, followed by Bachler's No. 86 MDK Porsche.
Qualifying Friday'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 .