4 GTD PRO manufacturers honours at Road Atlanta

IMSAGT

Oct 15

Written By Car Racing Reporter

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Road Atlanta. 4 GTD PRO manufacturers left Motul Petit Le Mans with honours. Porsche won the 3 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTDPRO titles: drivers with Laurin Heinrich, Team with the customer team AO Racing and manufacturers with the Porsche 911 GT3 R. Paul Miller Racing with #1 BMW M4 GT3 wins IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup GTD PRO teams and their drivers Bryan Sellers-Madison Snow-Neil Verhagen the GTD PRO drivers one. Corvette won the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup for GTD PRO manufacturers and Iron Lynx with Lamborghini #19 took its first victory in GTD PRO class.

Laurin Heinrich wins driver title with AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R — 📷 © Luc Warnotte at Road Atlanta. **Laurin Heinrich** wins driver title with **AO Racing** Porsche 911 GT3 R

Porsche clinch 3 additional titles

On top of the six GTP titles clinched in both IMSA SportsCar Championship and IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup, Porsche won the 3 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTDPRO titles: Laurin Heinrich’s drivers championship crown, Team with the customer team AO Racing and manufacturers with the Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Laurin Heinrich with AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R — 📷 © Luc Warnotte at Road Atlanta. **Laurin Heinrich** with **AO Racing** **Porsche 911 GT3 R**

Laurin Heinrich (Porsche 911 GT3 R #77): “Unbelievable! On Friday I set pole position and earned critical points that ultimately decided the title at the finale. We led the race from the start and managed to control the front well. But then we were hit by a setback: we couldn’t shift up and lost five laps. Still, we kept our cool, worked perfectly and never gave up. That was enough. Huge thanks to the team and all my teammates this season. Winning the title is the greatest success in my still fledgling career!”
Gunnar Jeannette (Team principal AO Racing): “Everything was running perfectly initially but then we suffered a steering wheel problem. Our drivers had their work cut out for them because the car only shifted up every third or fourth attempt. The team managed to quickly identify and solve the issue. After that, the race remained a nail-biter to the very end – and it was enough. To be honest, today’s eleventh place was the best of my life.” Source: Porsche

BMW wins two titles

Paul Miller Racing had a reason to celebrate, securing the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup title in the GTD PRO class with their #1 BMW M4 GT3 in its debut year in this category, despite finishing seventh in the race. This championship includes the endurance races at Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, Indianapolis, and Road Atlanta. In the GTD class, the Turner Motorsport #96 BMW M4 GT3, driven by Robby Foley, Patrick Gallagher, and Jake Walker, finished tenth.

Paul Miller Racing #1 BMW M4 GT3 of Madison Snow, Bryan Sellers, and Neil Verhagen. — 📷 Luc Warnotte at Road Atlanta. **Paul Miller Racing** #1 BMW M4 GT3 of **Madison Snow, Bryan Sellers, and Neil Verhagen**.

Paul Miller Racing and the driver trio of Madison Snow, Bryan Sellers, and Neil Verhagen secured the title in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup with a seventh-place finish in the GTD PRO class.

Neil Verhagen (#1 BMW M4 GT3, Paul Miller Racing, 7th place GTD PRO class): “It was an incredible season in the Endurance Cup. To win the title in my first IMSA season, and with this great team, is fantastic. Thanks to the team and BMW M Motorsport for trusting me. I'm already looking forward to everything that the new season will bring.”Source: BMW Group.

Corvette wins IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup for GTD PTO manufacturers

For the fourth time since 2015 – and first in GTD PRO – Chevrolet won the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Manufacturers Championship. The Endurance Cup is a collection of the five IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races, including Petit Le Mans. .

#3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims and Daniel — 📷 © Luc Warnotte at Road Atlanta. #3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R of **Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims and Daniel.**

That accomplishments offset a tough race for the two GTD PRO Corvettes from Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports. The #3 Z06 GT3.R of Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims and Daniel Juncadella placed fifth in class after a frantic 10 hours that saw the trio lead three times but also suffer brake issues that required two extra pit stops in the race.

That the #3 team made the race was an achievement. The Corvette suffered right-rear chassis damage in a crash during Thursday’s night practice, and mechanics worked into early Friday morning to patch and weld the damaged portion back together. Garcia qualified the No. 3 Corvette fourth in class and remained in contention through the end. The result was good enough to clinch third place in the GTD PRO Drivers and Teams standings for Garcia and Sims, and the No. 3 Corvette team, respectively.

The #4 Corvette of Tommy Milner, Nicky Catsburg and Earl Bamber showed strong form early from its second-place starting position. Milner was at the wheel when he was hit by an LMP2 car with the impact damaging the front and rear suspension on the right side of the car. The No. 4 crew worked quickly to repair it and get it back in the race, albeit more than 50 laps down. The trio finished 12th in class.

ANTONIO GARCIA, #3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It looked really good from the start until we had our first brake issue that put us a lap down. We kind of kept it there and with the lack of yellows that’s all we could do… just carry on and stay there. It was a gut-check race the whole way. With two hours to go, the last issue more or less put us out of it. We did fight our way back but needed some more yellows and action on track to get something good to happen. The guys did an amazing job. It was a difficult season with some challenges for all of us. I think we deserved a few more wins this year, but that’s the way it is. I’m proud of how the team worked and responded even in hard times – just like Thursday night and trying to repair the whole car just in time for qualifying. It’s a hard job for them but it was nice to fight for the win for them.”

ALEXANDER SIMS, #3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “It was a typical Petit Le Mans. All sorts of things happened in the race, unfortunately probably one too many things for us. We had issues with the brakes early in the race with the caliper. We’re not entirely sure what happened when I went out toward the end. Immediately the brake pedal was really long… potentially a lack of fluid from the previous issues. We’ll diagnose and understand that better for the future. It put us one or two laps down. Although we finally got back on the lead lap, there were so many cars between myself and the leader that I couldn’t really make my way through enough. But I had fun. I had a really eventful last stint carving through a lot of GTD cars. I’d say the second half of the race was pretty clean. There were very few yellows and not too much mayhem. There was probably a lot less carnage than people expected. It was a joy to drive the Corvette as always. The whole Pratt Miller team did a great job to give us all a great, fast, consistent racecar after Thursday. I can’t thank them enough. Unfortunately we had those two issues that put us back too much.” Source: Corvette Racing.

First IMSA win for Iron Lynx Lamborghini

Iron Lynx took its first victory in the United States by winning the IMSA Sportscar Championship season-ending Petit Le Mans in the GTD Pro class with Jordan Pepper, Mirko Bortolotti and Franck Perera behind the wheel of the #19 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Road Atlanta. Jordan Pepper, Mirko Bortolotti and Franck Perera behind the wheel of the #19 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2.

By leading at the 4-hour and 8-hour marks, the team clinched the maximum points for the Endurance Cup but were to far from the leaders in the Cups standings to hope any title in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup for drivers and teams. Lamborghini missed the manufacturer's IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup by one point to Corvette.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Road Atlanta. Jordan Pepper, Mirko Bortolotti and Franck Perera with #19 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2.

Andrea Piccini, Iron Lynx Team Principal & CEO: "We are super happy, but sometimes when everything goes right, it almost looks easy. We started well, we led most of the race and everything went smoothly. The drivers, the team, everyone did a perfect job So this goes out to the whole team, because everyone has put in so much effort in what we've done until now and it's been so hard to get to this win. So it is very special to win a race like Petit Le Mans, especially after a long and difficult journey to get here." Source: Iron Lynx

Risi Competizione Ferrari Second

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Road Atlanta. Risi Competizione #62 Ferrari 296 GT3 ahead of 4 Ferrari 296 GT3 GTD class.

Daniel Serra, Davide Rigon and Alessandro Pier Guidi finished second with their #62 Ferrari 296 GT3.

Both Aston martin Vantage end third and fourth in class

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Road Atlanta. Both Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage.

Ross Gunn, sharing the #23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo with Alex Riberas and Roman De Angelis ended third which denied him the drivers’ title by just four points. Z. Robichon, M. Sorensen and M. Farnbacher ‘s Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage #027 ends fourth.