Track map of Road Atlanta

The 2020 TireRack.com Grand Prix at Road Atlanta was a sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The race was held at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, on September 5, 2020. This race was the sixth round of the 2020 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the second round of the 2020 Michelin Endurance Cup.

The overall race was won by the #7 Acura Team Penske duo of Hélio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor. In LMP2, Scott Huffaker, Patrick Kelly, and Simon Trummer claimed PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports' second class victory of the season. BMW Team RLL triumphed in GTLM, scoring their second win in as many endurance races with Connor De Phillippi and Bruno Spengler behind the wheel. GTD was won by Meyer Shank Racing's #86 entry of Mario Farnbacher, Matt McMurry, and Shinya Michimi.[1]

Background

Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, where the race was held.

The race was brought about as a replacement to the annual 6 Hours of Watkins Glen, which was canceled in 2020 due to New York state COVID-19 travel and gathering restrictions.[2] In late August, Tire Rack was announced as the title sponsor of the event.[3] After fan entry was prohibited at the previous round at VIR, spectators were allowed to attend the event, albeit subject to strict COVID-19 restrictions, including a lack of paddock access and facemask mandates.[4]

On August 27, 2020, IMSA released their latest technical bulletin, outlining BoP for the race.[5] In DPi, the lone change was a 15 kilogram weight reduction for the Cadillac. Similarly in GTLM, a 20 kilogram weight increase for the Porsche was the only adjustment made. In GTD, the Aston Martin received a 7.1 kilowatt increase to its average power delta, alongside increases to its turbocharger boost ratio. Several GTD cars also underwent fuel capacity adjustments. The Aston Martin, BMW, and Ferrari all received slight increases, while the Lamborghini received a one liter fuel capacity decrease.

Before the race, Ryan Briscoe and Renger van der Zande led the DPi Drivers' Championship with 124 points, ahead of Sébastien Bourdais and João Barbosa, and Oliver Jarvis and Tristan Nunez with 117 points.[6] In LMP2, Cameron Cassels led the Drivers' Championship with 64 points, 1 point ahead of Patrick Kelly in second followed by Henrik Hedman in third.[6] Antonio García and Jordan Taylor led the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 165 points, 19 points ahead of Earl Bamber and Laurens Vanthoor in second, and Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner in third. With 115 points, the GTD Drivers' Championship was led by Jack Hawksworth, ahead of Mario Farnbacher and Matt McMurry in second.[6] Cadillac, Chevrolet, and Lexus were leading their respective Manufactures' Championships while Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R, Performance Tech Motorsports, Corvette Racing, and AIM Vasser Sullivan each led their own Teams' Championships.[6]

Entries

A total of 28 cars took part in the event, split across four classes. 8 were entered in DPi, 2 in LMP2, 6 in GTLM, and 12 in GTD. Due to the endurance nature of the event, many teams drafted in a third driver, with teams in the LMP2 and GTD classes obligated to do so. Tristan Vautier, after running the majority of the early season with JDC-Miller Motorsports' #85 entry, was entered as a third driver in the #5. As a result, Stephen Simpson returned to the #85 to partner Matheus Leist.[7] The preliminary LMP2 class list featured four entries, which reduced to two by the time the green flag dropped. Starworks Motorsport withdrew early, and were followed by Performance Tech Motorsports after travel restrictions prohibited driver Cameron Cassels from traveling to and from his native Canada.[8] In GTD, the third driver demands forced AIM Vasser Sullivan to split the championship-contending duo of Aaron Telitz and Jack Hawksworth, placing Telitz in the #12 and leaving Hawksworth in the #14.[9] GRT Grasser Racing Team also returned to IMSA competition, after most recently competing in the season-opening 24 Hours of Daytona. They fielded a Lamborghini for Richard Heistand, Steijn Schothorst, and Richard Westbrook.[7]

Practice

There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, both on Friday. The first session lasted one hour on Friday morning while the second session lasted 75 minutes on Friday afternoon.[10]

Practice 1

The first practice session took place at 10:00 am ET on Friday and ended with Pipo Derani topping the charts for Whelen Engineering Racing, with a lap time of 1:09.743.[11] Colin Braun was fastest in LMP2 with a time of 1:10.910.[11] The GTLM class was topped by the #912 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Earl Bamber with a time of 1:17.552. Nick Tandy in the sister #911 Porsche GT Team entry was second and John Edwards rounded out the top three.[12] The GTD class was topped by the #44 GRT Magnus Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo of Andy Lally with a time of 1:20.538.[13]

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap
1 DPi 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Pipo Derani 1:09.743 _
2 DPi 5 JDC-Mustang Sampling Racing Sébastien Bourdais 1:10.132 +0.389
3 DPi 55 Mazda Motorsports Harry Tincknell 1:10.404 +0.661
Sources:[14][15]

Practice 2

The second and final practice session took place at 2:25 pm ET on Friday and ended with Felipe Nasr topping the charts for Whelen Engineering Racing, with a lap time of 1:09.023.[16] Simon Trummer set the fastest time in LMP2.[17] The GTLM class was topped by the #25 BMW Team RLL BMW M8 GTE of Connor De Phillippi with a time of 1:16.875. Laurens Vanthoor in the #912 Porsche GT Team entry was second and Antonio García rounded out the top 3.[17] Steijn Schothorst was fastest in GTD with a time of 1:20.346.[18]

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap
1 DPi 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Felipe Nasr 1:09.023 _
2 DPi 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac Renger van der Zande 1:09.534 +0.511
3 DPi 77 Mazda Motorsports Tristan Nunez 1:09.577 +0.554
Sources:[19][20]

Qualifying

Hélio Castroneves (pictured in 2018) helped take the No. 7 Acura's third pole position of 2020.

Friday's evening qualifying was broken into three sessions, with one session for the DPi and LMP2, GTLM, and GTD classes, which lasted for 15 minutes each, and a ten minute interval between the sessions.[10] The rules dictated that all teams nominated a driver to qualify their cars, with the Pro-Am (LMP2/GTD) classes requiring a Bronze/Silver Rated Driver to qualify the car. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order. IMSA then arranged the grid to put DPis ahead of the LMP2, GTLM, and GTD cars.[21]

The first session was for cars in GTD class. Frankie Montecalvo qualified on pole for the class driving the #12 car for AIM Vasser Sullivan, besting Madison Snow in the Paul Miller Racing entry.[22]

The second session was for cars in the GTLM class. Nick Tandy qualified on pole driving the #911 car for Porsche GT Team, beating Antonio García in the #3 Corvette Racing entry by less than twenty-hundredths of a second. All cars in class qualified within two tenths of the pole time.[23]

The final session of qualifying was for cars in the LMP2 and DPi classes. Hélio Castroneves qualified on pole driving the #7 car for Acura Team Penske, beating Felipe Nasr in the #31Whelen Engineering Racing car by less than one-tenth of a second. Patrick Kelly qualified on pole in LMP2 driving the #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports car.[24][25]

Qualifying results

Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by .

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap Grid
1 DPi 7 United States Acura Team Penske Brazil Hélio Castroneves 1:08.674 _ 1
2 DPi 31 United States Whelen Engineering Racing Brazil Felipe Nasr 1:08.730 +0.056 2
3 DPi 6 United States Acura Team Penske United States Dane Cameron 1:08.767 +0.093 3
4 DPi 77 Canada Mazda Motorsports United States Tristan Nunez 1:08.916 +0.242 81
5 DPi 55 Canada Mazda Motorsports United Kingdom Harry Tincknell 1:08.948 +0.274 4
6 DPi 5 United States JDC-Mustang Sampling Racing France Sébastien Bourdais 1:09.067 +0.393 5
7 DPi 10 United States Konica Minolta Cadillac Netherlands Renger van der Zande 1:09.079 +0.405 6
8 DPi 85 United States JDC-Miller MotorSports Brazil Matheus Leist 1:09.683 +1.009 7
9 LMP2 52 United States PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports United States Patrick Kelly 1:12.209 +3.535 9
10 LMP2 18 United States Era Motorsport United States Dwight Merriman 1:15.490 +6.816 102
11 GTLM 911 United States Porsche GT Team United Kingdom Nick Tandy 1:16.167 +7.493 11
12 GTLM 3 United States Corvette Racing Spain Antonio García 1:16.181 +7.507 12
13 GTLM 4 United States Corvette Racing United States Tommy Milner 1:16.212 +7.538 13
14 GTLM 912 United States Porsche GT Team Belgium Laurens Vanthoor 1:16.245 +7.571 143
15 GTLM 25 United States BMW Team RLL United States Connor De Phillippi 1:16.253 +7.579 154
16 GTLM 24 United States BMW Team RLL Finland Jesse Krohn 1:16.359 +7.685 165
17 GTD 12 Canada AIM Vasser Sullivan United States Frankie Montecalvo 1:19.757 +11.083 17
18 GTD 48 United States Paul Miller Racing United States Madison Snow 1:19.907 +11.233 18
19 GTD 16 United States Wright Motorsports Belgium Jan Heylen 1:19.920 +11.246 19
20 GTD 86 United States Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Japan Shinya Michimi 1:20.009 +11.335 20
21 GTD 11 Austria GRT Grasser Racing Team Netherlands Steijn Schothorst 1:20.125 +11.451 21
22 GTD 57 United States Heinricher Racing with MSR Curb-Agajanian Canada Misha Goikhberg 1:20.364 +11.690 22
23 GTD 96 United States Turner Motorsport United States Robby Foley 1:20.469 +11.795 23
24 GTD 63 United States Scuderia Corsa United States Jeff Westphal 1:20.606 +11.932 24
25 GTD 14 Canada AIM Vasser Sullivan United States Michael de Quesada 1:20.615 +11.941 25
26 GTD 74 United States Riley Motorsports United States Gar Robinson 1:20.649 +11.975 26
27 GTD 23 United States Heart of Racing Team United Kingdom Ian James 1:20.828 +12.154 286
28 GTD 44 United States GRT Magnus Did Not Participate 27
Sources:[26][27]
  • 1 The No. 77 Mazda Motorsports entry initially qualified fourth for the DPi class. However, the team changed engines after qualifying. By IMSA rules, the entry was moved to the rear of the DPi field on the starting grid.[28]
  • 2 The No. 18 Era Motorsport entry was moved to the back of the LMP2 field as per Article 40.1.4 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).[21]
  • 3 The No. 912 Porsche GT Team entry was moved to the back of the GTLM field as per Article 40.1.4 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).[21]
  • 4 The No. 25 BMW Team RLL entry was moved to the back of the GTLM field as per Article 40.1.4 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).[21]
  • 5 The No. 24 BMW Team RLL entry was moved to the back of the GTLM field as per Article 40.1.4 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).[21]
  • 6 The No. 23 Heart of Racing Team entry was moved to the back of the GTD field as per Article 40.1.4 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).[21]

Race

Post-race

The result kept Briscoe and van der Zande atop the DPi Drivers' Championship with 150 points. Jarvis and Nunez dropped from third to fifth while Derani advanced from fourth to third.[29] As a result of winning the race, Kelly took the lead of the LMP2 Drivers' Championship with 98 points. Merriman and Tilley advanced from fourth to second.[29] The result kept Antonio García and Jordan Taylor atop the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 191 points. De Phillippi and Spengler advanced from sixth to third as a result of winning the race while Bamber and Vanthoor dropped from second to fifth. Edwards and Krohn moved to fourth after being fifth coming into Road Atlanta.[29] As a result of winning the race, Farnbacher and McMurry took the lead of the GTD Drivers' Championship with 150 points. Hawksworth dropped from first to third while Hardwick and Long advanced from sixth to fifth.[29] Cadillac and Chevrolet continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships while Acura took the lead of the GTD Manufactures' Championship.[29] Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R and Corvette Racing kept their respective advantages in the their respective of Teams' Championships. PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports and Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian became the leaders of their respective class Teams' Championships with five rounds remaining in the season.[29]

Results

Class winners are denoted in bold and .

Pos Class No. Team Drivers Chassis Laps Time/Retired
Engine
1 DPi 7 United States Acura Team Penske Brazil Hélio Castroneves
United States Ricky Taylor
Acura ARX-05 273 6:00:54.929
Acura AR35TT 3.5L Turbo V6
2 DPi 55 Canada Mazda Motorsports United States Jonathan Bomarito
United States Ryan Hunter-Reay
United Kingdom Harry Tincknell
Mazda RT24-P 273 +0.983
Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0L Turbo I4
3 DPi 31 United States Whelen Engineering Racing Portugal Filipe Albuquerque
Brazil Pipo Derani
Brazil Felipe Nasr
Cadillac DPi-V.R 273 +2.067
Cadillac 5.5L V8
4 DPi 5 United States JDC-Mustang Sampling Racing Portugal João Barbosa
France Sébastien Bourdais
France Tristan Vautier
Cadillac DPi-V.R 273 +3.442
Cadillac 5.5L V8
5 DPi 10 United States Konica Minolta Cadillac Australia Ryan Briscoe
Netherlands Renger van der Zande
Cadillac DPi-V.R 273 +3.993
Cadillac 5.5L V8
6 DPi 6 United States Acura Team Penske United States Dane Cameron
Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya
Acura ARX-05 265 Crash
Acura AR35TT 3.5L Turbo V6
7 LMP2 52 United States PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports United States Scott Huffaker
United States Patrick Kelly
Switzerland Simon Trummer
Oreca 07 264 +9 Laps
Gibson 4.2L GK428 V8
8 GTLM 25 United States BMW Team RLL United States Connor De Phillippi
Canada Bruno Spengler
BMW M8 GTE 254 +19 Laps
BMW S63 4.0L Turbo V8
9 GTLM 4 United States Corvette Racing United Kingdom Oliver Gavin
United States Tommy Milner
Chevrolet Corvette C8.R 254 +19 Laps
Chevrolet 5.5L V8
10 GTLM 24 United States BMW Team RLL United States John Edwards
Finland Jesse Krohn
BMW M8 GTE 254 +19 Laps
BMW S63 4.0L Turbo V8
11 GTLM 911 United States Porsche GT Team France Frédéric Makowiecki
United Kingdom Nick Tandy
Porsche 911 RSR-19 254 +19 Laps
Porsche 4.2L Flat-6
12 GTLM 3 United States Corvette Racing Spain Antonio García
United States Jordan Taylor
Chevrolet Corvette C8.R 254 +19 Laps
Chevrolet 5.5L V8
13 GTLM 912 United States Porsche GT Team New Zealand Earl Bamber
Belgium Laurens Vanthoor
Porsche 911 RSR-19 252 +21 Laps
Porsche 4.2L Flat-6
14 GTD 86 United States Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian Germany Mario Farnbacher
United States Matt McMurry
Japan Shinya Michimi
Acura NSX GT3 Evo 245 +28 Laps
Acura 3.5L Turbo V6
15 GTD 48 United States Paul Miller Racing United States Corey Lewis
United States Bryan Sellers
United States Madison Snow
Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 245 +28 Laps
Lamborghini 5.2L V10
16 GTD 16 United States Wright Motorsports United States Ryan Hardwick
Belgium Jan Heylen
United States Patrick Long
Porsche 911 GT3 R 245 +28 Laps
Porsche 4.0L Flat-6
17 GTD 74 United States Riley Motorsports United States Lawson Aschenbach
United States Ben Keating
United States Gar Robinson
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 245 +28 Laps
Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2L V8
18 GTD 12 Canada AIM Vasser Sullivan United States Townsend Bell
United States Frankie Montecalvo
United States Aaron Telitz
Lexus RC F GT3 245 +28 Laps
Lexus 5.0L V8
19 GTD 23 United States Heart of Racing Team Canada Roman De Angelis
United Kingdom Ian James
United Kingdom Darren Turner
Aston Martin Vantage GT3 245 +28 Laps
Aston Martin 4.0L Turbo V8
20 GTD 57 United States Heinricher Racing w/ MSR Curb-Agajanian Canada Mikhail Goikhberg
United States Trent Hindman
Portugal Álvaro Parente
Acura NSX GT3 Evo 244 +29 Laps
Acura 3.5L Turbo V6
21 GTD 11 Austria GRT Grasser Racing Team United States Richard Heistand
Netherlands Steijn Schothorst
United Kingdom Richard Westbrook
Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 243 +30 Laps
Lamborghini 5.2L V10
22 GTD 63 United States Scuderia Corsa United States Cooper MacNeil
Finland Toni Vilander
United States Jeff Westphal
Ferrari 488 GT3 237 Crash
Ferrari F154CB 3.9L Turbo V8
23 LMP2 18 United States Era Motorsport United States Colin Braun
United Kingdom Kyle Tilley
United States Dwight Merriman
Oreca 07 232 +41 Laps
Gibson 4.2L GK428 V8
24 DPi 77 Canada Mazda Motorsports United Kingdom Oliver Jarvis
United States Tristan Nunez
France Olivier Pla
Mazda RT24-P 230 +43 Laps
Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0L Turbo I4
25 GTD 14 Canada AIM Vasser Sullivan United States Michael de Quesada
United Kingdom Jack Hawksworth
Canada Daniel Morad
Lexus RC F GT3 204 +69 Laps
Lexus 5.0L V8
26 GTD 96 United States Turner Motorsport United States Bill Auberlen
United States Robby Foley
United States Dillon Machavern
BMW M6 GT3 182 Mechnical
BMW 4.4L Turbo V8
27 GTD 44 United States GRT Magnus United States Andy Lally
United States John Potter
United States Spencer Pumpelly
Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 166 Crash
Lamborghini 5.2L V10
28 DPi 85 United States JDC-Miller MotorSports Brazil Matheus Leist
South Africa Stephen Simpson
Cadillac DPi-V.R 54 Rear End
Cadillac 5.5L V8
Sources:[30][31]

Standings after the race

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

References

  1. "Action-Packed TireRack.com Grand Prix Highlights Michelin's Endurance". michelinracingusa.com. 5 September 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  2. "Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen race moved from Watkins Glen International to Atlanta". stargazette.com. 3 August 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  3. "Michelin to Serve as Title Sponsor for 6H Road Atlanta". sportscar365.com. 24 August 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  4. "Michelin Endurance Challenge Weekend Race Week Is Here". motorsportamerica.com. 7 September 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  5. "TB-IWSC-20-20-Road-Atlanta-1-BoP-Tables-08272020-Revised.pdf" (PDF). imsa.com. 27 August 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "00_Championship Point - Official.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. August 26, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  7. 1 2 "Entry List: TireRack.com Grand Prix". frontstretch.com. 3 September 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  8. "Performance Tech Withdraws; Two LMP2s for Road Atlanta". sportscar365.com. 2 September 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  9. "IMSA Road Atlanta entry list features notable additions for 6-hour race". motorsports.nbcsports.com. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  10. 1 2 "2020 IMSA Official Schedule and SR MRRA1 082620 V1" (PDF). results.imsa.com/noticeBoard.php. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  11. 1 2 Dagys, John (September 4, 2020). "Derani Tops Opening Practice at Road Atlanta". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  12. O'Malley, J.J. (September 4, 2020). "Cadillacs 1-2 in first Road Atlanta practice". racer.com. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  13. Malsher-Lopez, David (September 4, 2020). "IMSA Road Atlanta: Derani, AXR lead opening practice". us.motorsport.com. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  14. "03_Results_Practice 1.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. September 4, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  15. "06_Fastest Lap By Driver_Practice 1.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. September 4, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  16. O'Malley, J.J. (September 4, 2020). "Nasr keeps Whelen Cadillac on top in second Road Atlanta practice". racer.com. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  17. 1 2 Malsher-Lopez, David (September 4, 2020). "IMSA Road Atlanta: Nasr keeps Action Express on top in FP2". us.motorsport.com. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  18. Dagys, John (September 4, 2020). "Nasr Keeps AXR Cadillac On Top in Practice 2". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  19. "03_Results_Practice 2.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. September 4, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  20. "06_Fastest Lap By Driver_Practice 2.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. September 4, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "2020 IMSA SPORTING REGULATIONS and SERIES SUPPLEMENTARY REGULATIONS" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 December 2023. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  22. Malsher-Lopez, David (September 4, 2020). "IMSA Road Atlanta: Acura, Porsche, Lexus take poles". us.motorsport.com. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  23. O'Malley, J.J. (September 4, 2020). "Castroneves grabs pole for IMSA Road Atlanta six hour". racer.com. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  24. "Helio Castroneves Wins TireRack.com Grand Prix Pole". frontstretch.com. 4 September 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  25. Dagys, John (September 4, 2020). "Castroneves Takes Pole for 6H Road Atlanta". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  26. "03_Results_Qualifying.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  27. "00_Grid_Race_Official.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. September 5, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  28. Dagys, John (September 7, 2020). "Road Atlanta Post-Race Notebook". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  29. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 "00_Championship Points - Official.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. September 9, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  30. "03_Results_Race_Official.PDF" (PDF). September 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  31. "2020 TIRERACK.COM GRAND PRIX". racing-reference.info. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
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