The 2019 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 1, 2019. This race was the fifth round of the 2019 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the second round of the 2019 WeatherTech Sprint Cup.
International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2019 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2018. [1] It was the sixth consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the tenth 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. The 2019 Chevrolet Sports Car Classic was the fifth of twelve sports car races of 2019 by IMSA, the shortest in terms of time, and it was the second of seven rounds held as part of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup. [2] The race was held at the fourteen-turn 2.350 mi (3.782 km) Belle Isle Park in Detroit, Michigan on June 1, 2019. [3]
Similar to the Grand Prix of Long Beach, this event ran 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.
Before the race, Pipo Derani and Felipe Nasr led the DPi Drivers' Championship with 120 points, ahead of Hélio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor in second followed by Jordan Taylor and Renger van der Zande with 113 points in third. [4] In GTD, Mario Farnbacher and Trent Hindman led the Drivers' Championship with 84 points, 4 points ahead of Frankie Montecalvo and Townsend Bell. [4] Cadillac and Lamborghini were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Whelen Engineering Racing and Meyer Shank Racing each led their own Teams' Championships. [4] The event did not count towards the overall in GTD as it only contented towards the WeatherTech Sprint Cup, in an attempt to cut costs for the class. [5]
On May 22, 2019, the entry list for the event was released, featuring 23 cars in total. There were 11 cars in the Daytona Prototype International class and 12 entries in the GTD class. The Le Mans Prototype (LMP2) and GT Le Mans (GTLM) classes would not be participating in the event. Due to only counting towards the WeatherTech Sprint Cup, full-season GTD entries Riley Motorsports, Pfaff Motorsports, and Moorespeed decided to forego the Detroit event in favor of pursuing the full-season championship. Meyer-Shank Racing were initially among the teams that decided to miss the Detroit event, until confirming at the eleventh hour a full-time program in both the full-time and sprint championships with both of their cars. [6] [7]
Pfaff Motorsports driver Zach Robichon, who was initially due to miss the event, filled a vacant spot at Park Place Motorsports, replacing Patrick Lindsey, who was preparing for the official test sessions for the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans. [8]
There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Sunday, one on Friday morning and one on Friday afternoon. The session on Friday morning lasted 90 minutes while the second session on Friday afternoon lasted 110 minutes. [9]
The first practice session took place at 8:30 am ET on Friday and ended with Pipo Derani topping the charts for Whelen Engineering Racing, with a lap time of 1:20.583. Hélio Castroneves was second fastest in the No. 7 Acura followed by Filipe Albuquerque in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac. [10] The GTD class was topped by the No. 57 Heinricher Racing w/Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo of Katherine Legge with a time of 1:30.304, ahead of Bryan Sellers in the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini. Zacharie Robichon was third fastest in the No. 73 Porsche followed by Richard Heistand in the No. 14 Lexus in fourth position. [11] [12] The Mazda Team Joest entries did not set a time due to mechanical issues. [11] The session was red flagged two times. Simon Trummer crashed the No. 84 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac and brought out the first red flag. [12] The final stoppage came when Misha Goikhberg crashed the No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac at turn 2 and collided with Matt Plumb's McLaren. The No. 85 Cadillac suffered extensive damage while the No. 76 McLaren lost a door. [10] [11]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DPi | 31 | Whelen Engineering Racing | Pipo Derani | 1:20.583 | _ |
| 2 | DPi | 7 | Acura Team Penske | Hélio Castroneves | 1:20.835 | +0.252 |
| 3 | DPi | 5 | Mustang Sampling Racing | Filipe Albuquerque | 1:21.446 | +0.863 |
| Sources: [13] [14] | ||||||
The second and final practice session took place at 12:50 PM ET on Friday and ended with Pipo Derani topping the charts for Whelen Engineering Racing, with a lap time of 1:20.387. Jordan Taylor was second fastest in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac entry followed by Hélio Castroneves in the No. 7 Acura. [15] The GTD class was topped by the No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R of Zacharie Robichon with a time of 1:30.011, ahead of Christina Nielsen in the No. 57 Acura. Bill Auberlen was third fastest in the No. 96 BMW followed by Mario Farnbacher in the No. 86 Acura in fourth and Jack Hawksworth's No. 14 Lexus rounded out the top five. [16] The Compass Racing did not set a time. [15]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DPi | 31 | Whelen Engineering Racing | Pipo Derani | 1:20.387 | _ |
| 2 | DPi | 10 | Konica Minolta Cadillac | Jordan Taylor | 1:20.506 | +0.119 |
| 3 | DPi | 7 | Acura Team Penske | Hélio Castroneves | 1:20.610 | +0.223 |
| Sources: [17] [18] | ||||||
Friday's late afternoon qualification session was broken into two sessions that lasted 15 minutes each. Cars in GTD were sent out first and, after a ten-minute interval, DPi vehicles drove onto the track. All cars were required to be driven by one participant and the starting order was determined by the competitor's fastest lap. [19] IMSA then arranged the grid so that the DPi field started in front of all GTD cars.
The first was for cars in the GTD class. Robby Foley set the fastest time driving the No. 96 car for Turner Motorsport. [20] However, the team were sent to the back of the GTD grid after the car failed post-qualifying technical inspection where it was discovered that the BMW was found to not have complied with mandated camber range settings. [21] As a result, Zacharie Robichon's No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche was promoted to pole position. [22] Christina Nielsen in the No. 57 Acura started in second position followed by Trent Hindman's No. 86 Acura. The No. 8 Starworks Motorsport Audi of Parker Chase did not set a time due to suspension problems. [23]
The final session of qualifying was for cars in the DPi class. Juan Pablo Montoya qualified on pole driving the No. 6 car for Acura Team Penske, beating teammate Hélio Castroneves in the No. 7 Acura by 0.207 seconds. [24] Jonathan Bomarito qualified the No. 55 Mazda Team Joest entry in third position followed by Pipo Derani's No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac. [23] João Barbosa in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac started from fifth place. [25] Following in sixth was the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac Cadillac DPi-V.R of Renger van der Zande followed by Tristan Nunez's No. 77 Mazda in seventh place. [25] The duo of JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillacs were eighth and tenth: Simon Trummer in the No. 84 car was faster than the sister No. 85 entry of Misha Goikhberg. They were separated by the ninth-placed Victor Franzoni in the No. 50 Juncos Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R. [24] [20]
Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by ‡.
With a total of 152 points, Derani and Nasr's second place finish kept them atop DPi Drivers' Championship while Cameron and Montoya's victory allowed them to advance from fourth to second. Jordan Taylor and Renger van der Zande dropped from third to fifth. [28] GTD drivers, teams, and manufactures did not score full season points due to the event only counting towards the WeatherTech Sprint Cup. Cadillac continued to top the DPi Manufactures' Championship while Whelen Engineering Racing continued to top the DPi Teams' Championship with seven rounds left in the season. [28]
Class winners are denoted in bold and ‡.
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