The IMSA GTP championship battle sees the top three in the points standings separated by a total of five points. It is set for nearly a race-winner-take-all decision come Saturday’s race around the 2.54-mile, 12-turn road course.

Drivers and Teams are sharing their thoughts ahead of the grand finale of the inaugural IMSA GTP season at Petit Le Mans.

Cadillac Racing

Cadillac Racing’s objective in the 26th Motul Petit Le Mans is clear cut: finish strong to reap championship rewards.

To achieve the goal of holding the hardware at the conclusion of 10 hours of exhilarating and often stress-inducing racing Oct. 14 will require finishing ahead of the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) competition.

Cadillac Racing sits atop the standings in three of four categories:

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring. Alexander Sims, Pipo Derani in the #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R the 12 Hours of Sebinrg.

* GTP Driver/Team Championship: The No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R holds a three-point lead. Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims teamed with Jack Aitken to win at Sebring and have scored two other podium finishes and two pole starts. Points are accumulated by GTP qualifying position and race finish.

Jack Aitken: “I’m enjoying working again with the whole crew. Luckily, I hadn’t been away too long, so it didn’t take too long to get back up to speed. The championship situation is an interesting one because we have three different situations. In endurance, we are leading comfortably and just need to finish it. In overall, we are leading but it’s very tight and it’s basically a winner-take-all situation. And in the manufacturer championship, we need to make up a bit of a deficit. We’ll just try to have a clean race weekend and show the speed that we know we have and that should put us in the mix for the win.”

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Rolex 24 at Daytona. #01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R.

* IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup: Cadillac Racing paces the GTP manufacturer field entering the fourth race of the series buoyed by the win (Sebring) and runner-up (Watkins Glen) of the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R and the third-place finish (Daytona) of the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R driven by Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande and Scott Dixon. The No. 31 Cadillac leads the Team/Driver Championship by five points, with additional points awaiting at the four-, eight- and 10-hour marks.

Scott Dixon: “I’m really looking forward to Petit. It’s a fun, but difficult race. The confines of the track are pretty tight and then you’ve got a lot of issues from Turn 3 down the Esses into Turn 5. It can create some action, so you definitely have to be on your toes to make sure you give people space and not try to hurt the car. It’s a fun track and a crazy race, one that we’ve led lots of times but just haven’t won it. It’s one of the toughest races of the IMSA season. We’re with a great team with great teammates. Hopefully, we can keep it in one piece and finish off the season well.”

📷 © Luc Warnotte at 6 Hours of The Glen. #01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R.

* IMSA GTP Manufacturer Champion: Cadillac Racing held the top spot until the most recent round at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and is eight points arrears. Points are added through GTP qualifying position and race result.

Cadillac Racing is aiming for its fourth IMSA Manufacturer Championship and fifth IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Manufacturer Championship since 2017. Cadillac Racing has also recorded three Driver/Team Championships, four IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Driver Championships and two IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Team Championships since 2017. Source: Cadillac Racing

#10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 team three points behind the leader.

The #10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 team head to MOTUL Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in the heat of an intense battle for the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship title – just three points behind the leader in the standings. MOTUL Petit Le Mans serves host not only to the season’s finale, but also the iconic 10-hour endurance race.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring. #10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 team in action.

Full season co-drivers Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque will be joined by IMSA Michelin Endurance Championship co-driver Louis Delétraz in their quest for the championship honors.

“Petit Le Mans will be high stakes as usual,” said Ricky Taylor. “Every year it comes down to a championship battle in the most competitive endurance race of the season. It will be great to have Louis back with us. We have all of the right pieces in place to finish the season with a win. We just have to execute when the sun goes down in Atlanta.”

“And just like this, our season is about to end and as always in IMSA, the championship is completely open,” said Filipe Albuquerque. “What is crazy about this year is, that all the four manufacturers can win the championship. It’s going to be an epic finale. Me, my teammates, and the team are prepared - bring on the fight!”

“I’m looking forward to being back with the team for Petit Le Mans,” said Louis Delétraz. “The championship fight is more intense than ever, and I think it’s clear, we want to win. We worked hard as a team to be ready and now we have to execute. WTRAndretti, Ricky, Filipe and myself are ready!”

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Rolex 24 at Daytona. #10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 clinched the victory points.

“It all comes down to this final round,” said Wayne Taylor. “Although mathematically there six cars that can win this, I think that there are four cars that are really in the fight – Porsche, Whelen, us and the BMW. We all tested at Road Atlanta, and it went fairly well. I can’t allow myself to get too stressed about this because there is nothing I can do other than make sure everybody executes, does the right job, and doesn’t get into trouble. If we can do that then we have a good chance of winning this. We’ve come second in the championship the last two years at Petit and there is no driver, no engineer, no mechanic who wants to come second again, so you can be assured that we are doing everything we possibly can in collaboration with HPD and all of our partners. Looking forward to getting there and I feel confident.”

Porsche Penske Motorsport determined to claim the crown at “Petit Le Mans”.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Rolex 24 at Daytona. Both Porsche 963 by Porsche Penske Motorsports.

Porsche Penske Motorsport has a chance to sweep the title pool in the top GTP class at the final round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The factory squad travels to the 10-hour race at Road Atlanta in the US state of Georgia with its two Porsche 963 as the leaders of the manufacturers’ standings.

“Everything is on the line at this season’s last race of the new GTP era. We’d hoped for a finale like this – a dream for the fans and competitors,” says Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President of Porsche Motorsport. “In the last few months, we have made noticeable progress, both in terms of the car and in the processes of our young team. Our recent results have made this obvious. Our last win in Indianapolis gave us another significant boost. We’re heading into ‘Petit Le Mans’ feeling highly motivated and have a very clear goal: We want to celebrate a title in the first year with the Porsche 963!”

📷 © Luc Warnotte at 6 Hours of The Glen. Victory but disqualification for #6 Porsche 963.

The two driver crews Jaminet/Tandy and Campbell/Nasr also have a chance of winning the drivers’ championship, with the Porsche Penske Motorsport teams rank third and fifth in the driver and team championships. With a win in Braselton, Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet could take home the title. The gap to the top is only five points. Team colleagues Felipe Nasr and Matt Campbell would need support: the pair sits 73 points behind the leaders. Victory at Road Atlanta is rewarded with 350 points, with 35 additional points for pole position.

Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy share the #6 car with Laurens Vanthoor.

Laurens Vanthoor (Porsche 963 #6): “Given my extensive experience in the IMSA series and my great love for the American racetracks, I really hoped to be taking part here. The fact that I get to compete in the ‘Petit Le Mans’ in the Porsche 963 is a great pleasure for me. On the other hand, the situation as a third driver is always a bit strange. I’ll do my job as well as I can and try to hand over the car to my colleagues Mathieu and Nick in a favourable position. Then, they can drive to the title. That’s the big goal.”

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring. After crashing 7 laps from the end of the 12 hours race, Felipe Nasr, Matt Campbell and Michael Christensen were classified 11th overall.

Matt Campbell and Felipe Nasr will receive support from Josef Newgarden who won the Indianapolis 500 for Team Penske..

Josef Newgarden (Porsche 963 #7): “I’ve been fortunate enough to get some testing in over the last few weeks behind the wheel of the Porsche 963 and it’s been a blast to drive. My teammates have worked very hard to get me up to speed and to ensure I’m comfortable as we prepare for Petit. I’m absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to drive in the top class at this legendary race and to help Porsche Penske Motorsport have a shot at the championship with both cars. My goal is to drive the car to be best of my abilities, make no mistakes, and hand the Porsche 963 over to my teammates in one piece and in a good position. If we can do that, we’ll be successful.”

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Watkins Glen. #5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963.

In the top GTP class, the customer teams JDC-Miller MotorSports and Proton Competition tackle the race with one Porsche 963 each. Mike Rockenfeller and Tijmen van der Helm are joined in the cockpit of the US team’s #5 car by Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button. Proton Competition’s #59 vehicle will be driven by Porsche works driver Gianmaria Bruni, Harry Tincknell and Neel Jani. Source: Porsche

Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly in contention for the driver’s title

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. #25 BMW M V8 Hybrid.

BMW M Team RLL will close the inaugural IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season for its BMW M Hybrid V8 racing cars at this weekend’s Petit Le Mans, at Road Atlanta, looking to cap the year with a second GTP class victory and, potentially, a driver’s title. BMW M works drivers Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly are currently in fourth place in the GTP driver’s championship, only 38 points from the lead. They aim to add one more great finish to their season that has already seen one victory among five podium finishes.

Bobby Rahal (Team Principal BMW M Team RLL): “There is no question that our GTP programme was a tremendous undertaking for BMW M Team RLL, BMW M Motorsport, and everyone involved with the BMW M Hybrid V8. Certainly the victory at Watkins Glen was a highlight and five podiums so far for the number 25 car is a great accomplishment. Comparing where we were only one year ago when we began with this new formula to our test last week at Road Atlanta in preparation for Petit Le Mans we have made some great gains. Historically, Petit has been a good weekend for us so we can’t help but be optimistic.”

📷 © Luc Warnotte at 12 Hours of Sebring. #25 BMW M V8 Hybrid.

For the 10-hour Petit Le Mans race, De Phillippi and Yelloly will be joined in the cockpit of the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 by fellow BMW M works driver Sheldon van der Linde. Marco Wittmann joins fellow BMW M works drivers Augusto Farfus and Philipp Eng in the #24 BMW M Hybrid V8 with the aim of securing the first podium for the car.

Connor De Phillippi (#25 BMW M Hybrid V8): “The 2023 season has been a rollercoaster of emotions and the finale at Petit Le Mans is going to be one last firework show. We recently had a great two day test and feel we are as prepared as we can be. With nearly 60 cars on a 70 second lap, it is going to be a hectic race and we all arrive there with one goal in mind. Win!” Source: BMW Group