The 2021 Road Race Showcase at Road America was a sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The Race was held at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on August 8, 2021. The race was the eighth round of the 2021 IMSA SportsCar Championship and the fifth round of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup.
International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2021 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in September 2020. It was the eighth consecutive year it was part of the IMSA SportsCar Championship. [1] The 2021 Road Race Showcase at Road America was the eighth of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2021 by IMSA, and it was the fifth round held as part of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup. [2] The race was held at the fourteen-turn 4.048 mi (6.515 km) Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on August 8, 2021. [3]
During this race weekend, IMSA holds their "State of the Series" annual press conference, in which they confirm and announce their future plans for the series they sanction.
On August 3, 2021, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outlining Balance of Performance for the event. [4] In DPi, the Mazda RT24-P received a 10 kilogram weight increase. In GTD, the Lexus RC F GT3 received a 10 kilogram weight increase. The Aston Martin Vantage GT3 was given a 6.7 horsepower reduction. The Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo and BMW M6 GT3 were given fuel capacity reduction of 1 and 2 liters, respectively. No changes were made in GTLM.
Before the race, Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor led the DPi Drivers' Championship with 2068 points, ahead of Oliver Jarvis and Harry Tincknell in second with 1987 points, and Pipo Derani and Felipe Nasr with 1954 points. [5] In LMP2, Mikkel Jensen and Ben Keating led the Drivers' Championship with 1087 points, ahead of Tristan Nunez and Steven Thomas. [5] With 1468 points, Gar Robinson led the LMP3 Drivers' Championship, 96 points ahead of Jon Bennett and Colin Braun. [5] Antonio García and Jordan Taylor led the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 1852 points, 191 points ahead of Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy followed by Cooper MacNeil in third. [5] With 1606 points, the GTD Drivers' Championship was led by Roman De Angelis and Ross Gunn, ahead of Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley. [5] Cadillac, Chevrolet, and Aston Martin were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while WTR-Konica Minolta Acura, PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, Riley Motorsports, Corvette Racing, and Heart of Racing Team each led their own Teams' Championships. [5]
A total 35 cars took part in the event split across five classes. 6 were entered in DPi, 4 in LMP2, 7 in LMP3, 3 in GTLM, and 15 in GTD. [6] Ryan Dalziel substituted for Kyle Tilley in the Era Motorsport entry due to a clash with the NASCAR Cup Series round at Watkins Glen. [7] Jr III Motorsports and Wulver Motorsports made their IMSA SportsCar Championship debuts at this event while Dawson Racing was absent. Dan Goldburg returned to the #38 Performance Tech Motorsports entry after Mateo Llarena filled in at Watkins Glen. NTE Sport returned after skipping the Lime Rock round. [8]
There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Sunday, one on Friday and one on Saturday. [9] The first session on Friday afternoon lasted one hour while the second session on Saturday morning lasted 105 minutes.
The first practice session took place at 6:10 PM CT on Friday and ended with Harry Tincknell topping the charts for Mazda Motorsports, with a lap time of 2:09.769. [10]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DPi | 55 | Mazda Motorsports | Harry Tincknell | 2:09.769 | _ |
| 2 | DPi | 10 | Konica Minolta Acura | Filipe Albuquerque | 2:10.168 | +0.399 |
| 3 | DPi | 01 | Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing | Kevin Magnussen | 2:10.577 | +0.808 |
| Source: [11] | ||||||
The second and final practice session took place at 9:55 AM CT on Saturday and ended with Ricky Taylor topping the charts for Konica Minolta Acura, with a lap time of 1:49.752. [12]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DPi | 10 | Konica Minolta Acura | Ricky Taylor | 1:49.752 | _ |
| 2 | DPi | 31 | Whelen Engineering Racing | Felipe Nasr | 1:50.411 | +0.659 |
| 3 | DPi | 5 | JDC-Mustang Sampling Racing | Tristan Vautier | 1:50.556 | +0.804 |
| Source: [13] | ||||||
Qualifying was broken into four sessions. [9] Rain fell and increased as qualifying progressed. [14] [15] The first was for cars in GTD class. Aaron Telitz's No. 14 Lexus was fastest overall, lapping at 2 minutes, 07.195 seconds, beating Trent Hindman's No. 16 Porsche by more than six-tenths of a second. Robby Foley was third in the No. 96 BMW followed by Zacharie Robichon in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche. [16]
The second session was for cars in the GTLM and GTD classes. Jordan Taylor's No. 3 Corvette was 26th overall, and was the fastest GTLM car with a 2 minutes, 20.979 second laps. His teammate Nick Tandy qualified the No. 4 Corvette the GTLM grid's front row and Cooper MacNeil's No. 79 Porsche was third. [15] [17] Laurens Vanthoor set the fastest time in the GTD points paying session and earned 35 championship points. [16]
The third session was for cars in the LMP3 class. Dan Goldburg's No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports Ligier was 23rd overall and was the fastest LMP3 car with a 2 minutes, 19.106 seconds lap. [14]
The final session of qualifying was for cars in the DPi and LMP2 classes. Felipe Nasr's No. 31 Cadillac was third overall and would start from began from pole position with a 2 minutes, 7.195 seconds lap. He was seven-tenths clear of Ricky Taylor's No. 10 Acura in second. Kevin Magnussen took third for Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing. Ben Keating's No. 52 Oreca was 22nd overall and was the fastest LMP2 car with a 2 minutes, 18.511 seconds lap. Steven Thomas' No. 11 WIN Autosport Oreca took third and John Farano's No. 8 Tower Motorsport Oreca was third. [17]
Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by ‡.
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GTD | 14 |  Vasser Sullivan Racing | Aaron Telitz | 2:07.195 | _ | 21‡ |
| 2 | GTD | 16 | Wright Motorsports | Trent Hindman | 2:07.862 | +0.667 | 22 |
| 3 | DPi | 31 | Whelen Engineering Racing |  Felipe Nasr | 2:07.919 | +0.724 | 1‡ |
| 4 | GTD | 96 | Turner Motorsport | Robby Foley | 2:07.953 | +0.758 | 23 |
| 5 | GTD | 9 |  Pfaff Motorsports | Zacharie Robichon | 2:08.209 | +1.014 | 24 |
| 6 | GTD | 39 | CarBahn Motorsports with Peregrine Racing | Richard Heistand | 2:08.341 | +1.146 | 25 |
| 7 | GTD | 23 | Heart Of Racing Team | Roman De Angelis | 2:08.569 | +1.374 | 26 |
| 8 | DPi | 10 | WTR-Konica Minolta Acura | Ricky Taylor | 2:08.677 | +1.482 | 2 |
| 9 | GTD | 12 | Vasser Sullivan Racing | Frankie Montecalvo | 2:08.702 | +1.507 | 27 |
| 10 | DPi | 55 |  Mazda Motorsports |  Oliver Jarvis | 2:08.716 | +1.521 | 3 |
| 11 | GTD | 1 | Paul Miller Racing | Madison Snow | 2:09.110 | +1.915 | 28 |
| 12 | DPi | 01 | Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing |  Kevin Magnussen | 2:09.194 | +1.999 | 4 |
| 13 | GTD | 76 | Compass Racing | Jeff Kingsley | 2:09.321 | +2.126 | 29 |
| 14 | GTD | 32 | Gilbert Korthoff Motorsports | Shane Lewis | 2:09.990 | +2.795 | 30 |
| 15 | GTD | 88 | Team Hardpoint EBM | Rob Ferriol | 2:10.173 | +2.978 | 31 |
| 16 | GTD | 66 | Gradient Racing | Till Bechtolsheimer | 2:10.263 | +3.068 | 32 |
| 17 | GTD | 19 |  GRT Grasser Racing Team | Misha Goikhberg | 2:10.266 | +3.071 | 33 |
| 18 | DPi | 5 | JDC-Mustang Sampling Racing |  Tristan Vautier | 2:10.497 | +3.302 | 5 |
| 19 | DPi | 60 | Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian | Olivier Pla | 2:10.500 | +3.305 | 6 |
| 20 | GTD | 44 | Magnus Racing with Archangel Motorsports | John Potter | 2:12.194 | +4.999 | 34 |
| 21 | GTD | 42 | NTE Sport | Don Yount | 2:14.383 | +7.188 | 35 |
| 22 | LMP2 | 52 | PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports | Ben Keating | 2:18.511 | +11.316 | 7‡ |
| 23 | LMP3 | 38 | Performance Tech Motorsports | Dan Goldburg | 2:19.106 | +11.911 | 11‡ |
| 24 | LMP3 | 74 | Riley Motorsports | Gar Robinson | 2:19.419 | +12.224 | 12 |
| 25 | LMP2 | 11 | WIN Autosport | Steven Thomas | 2:19.941 | +12.746 | 8 |
| 26 | GTLM | 3 | Corvette Racing | Jordan Taylor | 2:20.979 | +13.784 | 18‡ |
| 27 | LMP3 | 36 | Andretti Autosport | Jarett Andretti | 2:21.170 | +13.975 | 13 |
| 28 | GTLM | 4 | Corvette Racing | Nick Tandy | 2:21.606 | +14.411 | 19 |
| 29 | LMP3 | 54 | CORE Autosport | Jon Bennett | 2:21.885 | +14.690 | 14 |
| 30 | LMP3 | 61 | Wulver Motorsports | Augie Pabst | 2:22.170 | +14.975 | 15 |
| 31 | GTLM | 79 | WeatherTech Racing | Cooper MacNeil | 2:24.174 | +14.979 | 20 |
| 32 | LMP2 | 8 | Tower Motorsport By Starworks | John Farano | 2:24.176 | +14.981 | 9 |
| 33 | LMP3 | 30 | Jr III Motorsports |  Theodor Olsen | 2:24.600 | +17.405 | 17 |
| 34 | LMP3 | 91 | Riley Motorsports | Jim Cox | 2:25.260 | +18.065 | 17 |
| 35 | LMP2 | 18 | Era Motorsport | Dwight Merriman | 2:27.462 | +20.267 | 10 |
| Sources: [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] | |||||||
As a result of winning the race, Derani and Nasr advanced from third to second in the DPi Drivers' Championship. [23] The result kept Keating and Jensen atop the LMP2 Drivers' Championship. [23] The result of the race meant Robinson was still in the lead of the LMP3 Drivers' Championship with 1800 points, but his advantage was reduced to 50 points as a result of Bennett and Braun's victory. [23] The result kept Antonio García and Jordan Taylor atop the GTLM Drivers' Championship. [23] As a result of finishing second place, Auberlen and Foley re took the lead of the GTD Drivers' Championship from De Angelis and Gunn. Robichon and Vanthoor advanced from fourth to third while Sellers and Snow dropped from third to fourth. [23] Cadillac, Chevrolet, and Aston Martin continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships while WTR-Konica Minolta Acura, PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, Riley Motorsports, and Corvette Racing kept their respective advantages in the their respective of Teams' Championships. Turner Motorsport took the lead of the GTD Teams' Championship with four rounds remaining in the season. [23]
Class winners are denoted in bold and ‡.
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