Tandy (Porsche Penske Motorsport 963) overtook Jack Aitken (Cadillac) in the final dozen minutes of the event, which lasted 2h40′ and was reserved for GTP and GTD cars.
The victory was Roger Penske’s 100th in sportscar competition.
Sebastien Bourdais, after taking the Cadillac V-Series.R managed by Chip Ganassi to Pole with a new track record in qualifying, preceded that of Action Express Racing in the hands of Pipo Derani, who challenged him on the outside of the Andretti Hairpin without being able to find an opening.
Bourdais almost went out at the Corkscrew on the first lap, but remained in the lead. Derani then got scared in the first 15 minutes when he touched Mike Skeen’s Mercedes GTD at turn 3. The Brazilian made the pit stop within the first half hour to change only two tyres, reporting that he was not satisfied with the balance of his car.
Behind Derani, the BMW M Hybrid V8 of Philipp Eng (RLL) placed third, ahead of the works 963s of Jaminet and Dane Cameron and the Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06s of Ricky Taylor and Louis Deletraz. After 30 minutes, Cameron got stuck in GTD traffic at Corkscrew, allowing both Acuras to pass him.
The two ARX-06s quickly came under IMSA scrutiny: Taylor was forced to pit early to “resolve tire operating requirements” and was lapped, while Deletraz received a caution for failing to comply the powertrain parameters.
The only full-fledged neutralization of the race occurred after 50 minutes due to debris coming from the rear of the #7 Porsche, which canceled out Bourdais’s great advantage. All the leaders pitted, but Derani, after his early stop, was able to hand the #31 Cadillac to Jack Aitken in just 15″ as the car did not need fuel like its rivals.
Nick Tandy took over the #6 Porsche from Jaminet and briefly took the lead again followed by Aitken, who did not follow IMSA’s instructions when the class split occurred and Tandy passed him (legally) while still running of yellow flag.
Immediately after the green flag waved, Tandy stalled and ran wide at the Andretti Hairpin, handing first place back to Aitken as he transitioned into Turn 2. Bourdais passed the baton to Renger Van Der Zande, who moved from first to third place after having filled up with energy, while Jordan Taylor replaced Deletraz in fourth position.
Van Der Zande passed Tandy at the Corkscrew just before the halfway mark to take second place. Felipe Nasr, in the repaired #7 Porsche, also managed to overtake Jesse Krohn (in the #24 BMW) to snatch fifth place and soon fourth from Jordan Taylor.
Tandy lost a lot of time when he ran wide avoiding a Lamborghini GTD at the Corkscrew, while Krohn went off the road at Turn 3 and caught a sponsor’s banner on the front of his car, falling to the rear of the GTP pack.
Aitken made his final pit stop with just under an hour to go, once again benefiting from a shorter pit stop thanks to the three-stop strategy. Although he rejoined later, Van Der Zande needed a longer stop to get to the finish and returned to the track 5″ behind. CGR also opted to keep the same tyres.
Tandy made a long run in the lead for a few laps and pitted with 46 minutes to go, also remaining on the old tyre, splitting the Cadillacs as he moved back into second place. Aitken’s lead was dented by Tandy in traffic and the two even touched when the Briton tried to sneak past him at Turn 3 in the final 30 minutes.
Aitken was clearly faster on a clear track, but Tandy’s persistence in traffic always gave him a chance to catch up.
With 12′ to go, Aitken got stuck at Turn 4 behind two GTD cars, while a Corvette was trying to pass a Porsche, and ran wide on the dirt. Tandy stormed to the inside and took the win by nearly 6″.
Nasr passed Van Der Zande, who struggled to match the pace earlier, finishing third in the closing stages. Taylor also stormed through Turn 1, after the two had collided at the Corkscrew.
BMW’s chase failed: Connor De Phillippi in the #25 slipped to eighth from fifth on the opening lap and suffered a left-rear problem during the first pit stop. His teammate Nick Yelloly was the victim of a spin, but recovered to seventh place.
AO Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), GTD PRO: Laurin Heinrich, Seb Priaulx
Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images
GTD PRO: Porsche triumphs over McLaren and Corvette
In GTD Pro, the Corvette led the way at the start after taking the front row in qualifying, with Nicky Catsburg in the #4 Z06 GT3.R ahead of teammate Antonio Garcia (#3).
The first neutralization was very benign for the Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S, as Marvin Kirchhofer handed the 720S to Oliver Jarvis at just the right moment to rejoin ahead of the #4 Corvette in which Tommy Milner took over from Catsburg.
Laurin Heinrich, in the AO Racing Porsche 911 he shared with Seb Priaulx, passed Milner after the restart, before also overtaking the McLaren in the fight for victory with a bold move into Turn 6, shortly after the halfway mark.
Danny Formal led at the start in the GTD Class with the Lamborghini Huracan of Wayne Taylor Racing, ahead of the BMW M4 of Turner Motorsport of Patrick Gallagher.
But the M4 took the lead after the neutralization, and Robby Foley (replacing Gallagher) looked destined for the class win until he spun and collided with Jordan Taylor’s Acura in the final five minutes at Turn 4. The off the track that followed was a real surprise, enough to put the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes of the Russell Ward/Philip Ellis duo into the lead, while the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche of Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer finished in third place, with the latter saving himself from a straight turn into Turn 6 late on.
Cla | No | Drivers | Char | Laps | Time | Delay |
1 | 6 | Nick Tandy Mathieu Jaminet |
Porsche | 119 | 2:40’09.438 | |
2 | 31 | Pipo Derani Jack Aitken |
Cadillac | 119 | 2:40’15.202 | 5,764 |
3 | 7 | Dane Cameron Felipe Nasr |
Porsche | 119 | 2:40’44.111 | 34,673 |
4 | 40 | Jordan Taylor Louis Delétraz |
Edited | 119 | 2:40’52.883 | 43,445 |
5 | 01 | R.van der Zande S. Bourdais |
Cadillac | 119 | 2:40’55.046 | 45,608 |
6 | 10 | Ricky Taylor F. Albuquerque |
Edited | 119 | 2:40’55.588 | 46,150 |
7 | 25 | C. De Phillippi Nick Yellowly |
BMW | 119 | 2:40’57.053 | 47,615 |
8 | 85 | T. van der Helm R. Westbrook |
Porsche | 119 | 2:41’26.781 | 1’17.343 |
9 | 24 | Jesse Krohn Philipp Eng |
BMW | 118 | 2:40’21.145 | |
10 | 5 | Gianmaria Bruni Bent Viscaal |
Porsche | 118 | 2:40’21.764 | |
11 | 77 | Laurin Heinrich Seb Priaulx |
Porsche | 111 | 2:40’41.313 | |
12 | 9 | M. Kirchhöfer Oliver Jarvis |
McLaren | 111 | 2:40’50.387 | |
13 | 4 | Tommy Milner Nicky Catsburg |
Chevrolet | 111 | 2:40’51.637 | |
14 | 14 | Jack Hawksworth Ben Barnicoat |
Lexus | 111 | 2:41’16.565 | |
15 | 57 | Russell Ward Philip Ellis |
Mercedes | 111 | 2:41’25.441 | |
16 | 3 | Antonio Garcia Alexander Sims |
Chevrolet | 111 | 2:41’26.565 | |
17 | 23 | Ross Gunn Mario Farnbacher |
Aston Martin | 111 | 2:41’27.259 | |
18 | 557 | Robby Foley P.Gallagher |
BMW | 111 | 2:41’28.899 | |
19 | 120 | Adam Adelson Elliott Skeer |
Porsche | 111 | 2:41’34.812 | |
20 | 32 | Mike Skeen Mikaël Grenier |
Mercedes | 110 | 2:40’15.389 | |
21 | 45 | Kyle Marcelli Danny Formal |
Lamborghinis | 110 | 2:40’16.252 | |
22 | 1 | Bryan Sellers Madison Snow |
BMW | 110 | 2:40’29.288 | |
23 | 65 | Joey Hand Dirk Müller |
Ford | 110 | 2:40’40.292 | |
24 | 64 | Harry Tincknell M. Rockenfeller |
Ford | 110 | 2:40’46.447 | |
25 | 27 | Roman De Angelis Spencer Pumpelly |
Aston Martin | 110 | 2:40’58.312 | |
26 | 55 | G. Levorato Corey Lewis |
Ford | 110 | 2:41’04.161 | |
27 | 78 | Misha Goikhberg Loris Spinelli |
Lamborghinis | 110 | 2:41’09.571 | |
28 | 12 | F.Montecalvo Parker Thompson |
Lexus | 109 | 2:40’14.199 | |
29 | 43 | Jarett Andretti Gabby Chaves |
Porsche | 109 | 2:40’34.259 | |
30 | 13 | Orey Fidani Matthew Bell |
Chevrolet | 109 | 2:40’34.862 | |
31 | 66 | Sheena Monk Stevan McAleer |
Edited | 109 | 2:40’49.563 | |
32 | 86 | Kerong Li Anders Fjordbach |
Porsche | 109 | 2:41’14.931 | |
33 | 70 | Brendan Iribe F. Schandorff |
McLaren | 109 | 2:41’34.746 | |
34 | 34 | Manny Franco Albert Costa |
Ferrari | 79 | 1:58’39.164 |
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