WeatherTech SportsCar Championship had reached Detroit, where the Prototype and GTD cars would race for an hour and 40 minutes on the tight street circuit.
The Tequila Patron Extreme Speed Motorsports #22 had taken Pole Position with Johannes van Overbeek and Pipo Derani, while Acura Team Penske #6 and #7 were the next two cars in line.
In the GTD category we had Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow on Pole Position for Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini #48, ahead of the two Meyer Shank Racing Acura #86 and #93 cars.
The GTLM cars were not present at this round since the majority of that field had been shipped to Le Mans for the test day, which will be run on the day post Detroit.
Photo Courtesy of IMSA / Jake Galsted
The elbows were really out at the start of the race in the Prototype category. Whelen Engineering #31 and JDC-Miller Motorsports #99 had a brush with each other, almost putting #99 into the tire wall.
Misha Goikhberg in the #99 continued to slide around on the track, and was soon thereafter overtaken by Scott Sharp in the other ESM #2.
Pipo Derani in #22 got some issues with the control of the car, and fell back through the field. He ended up pitting, since the car was impossible to control. The team swapped the steering wheel, and that appeared to solve the issue.
So that sent Juan Pablo Montoya in the Acura Team Penske #6 to the front of the field.
David Heinemeier Hansson in the 3GT Racing Lexus #15 and Cooper MacNeil in the Scuderia Corsa Ferrari #63 had an intense fight too, where the two swapped a bit of paint.
Photo Courtesy of IMSA / Michael L. Levitt
Jonathan Bomarito in the Mazda Team Joest #55 came crawling into the pits, since he had some kind of problem with the drive on his car. The team tired to fix the issue, but ended up being pushed back to their tent.
Dominik Baumann in the 3GT Racing Lexus #14 put Justin Marks in the Meyer Shank Racing Acura #93 under a lot og pressure, but wasn’t able to make it past.
DHH in #15 ended up in the tire wall after only 15 minutes of running, which damaged the front of the car so much, that the team had to retire. He did however manage to get it back to the pits, so we avoided a Safety Car.
Whelen Engineering #31 and Mazda Team Joest #77 touched each other during the braking for Turn 3, when #31 changed its lane, while #77 was up on the side of it. Both cars made it through the corner and somehow avoided damage to the cars.
The Safety Car was deployed, since there were some debries on the back straight, that Race Control would like got get removed.
Most of the Prototype field decided to pit. Only the Mustang Sampling Cadillac #5 and the CORE Autosport ORECA #54 stayed on the track, and thus took P1 and P2.
At the restart of the race, the yellow JDC-Miller Motorsports ORECA #85 was in troubles in Turn 3. Robert Alon was side by side with Acura Team Penske #6 and Konica Minolta Wayne Taylor Racing #10, and there wasn’t any more room for him on the outside, so he spun around, and had to make the whole field pass, before he could rejoin the race. The Stewards called it as a racing incident, so nobody was penalized.
Photo Courtesy of IMSA / Jake Galsted
Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini #48 was first of the leading cars in GTD to make their driver chance and refuelling. That resulted in the Meyer Shank Racing Acura #86 pitting too, in response.
Both #86 and #93 were able to get out ahead of #48, so it was an Acura 1-2 in the GTD category, with an hour left.
The Mustang Sampling Cadillac #5 was the first Prototype to do what was planned to be their final pitstop. Filipe Albuerquerque had to keep the car going for 48 minutes, which was right on the limit of what was capable.
Pipo Derani had got the ESM #22 back to the front of the field before he pitted, and handed over to Johannes van Overbeek for the final 43 minutes of the race.
Whelen Engineering Cadillac #31 pitted shortly after, and Felipe Nasr rejoined the track with a full tank of fuel.
The two Acura Team Penske cars continued out on the track, as the only two Prototype cars, who hadn’t done their final pitstops.
Nasr in the Whelen Engineering Cadillac #31 was third ahead of Oliver Jarvis in the Mazda Team Joest and Filipe Albuerquerque in the Mustang Sampling Cadillac #5.
Photo Courtesy of IMSA / Jake Galsted
Dane Cameron in the Acura Team Penske #6 rejoined in second, but was leapfrogged by Ricky Taylor in the sister car #7, with him pitting one lap later.
So the new standings was #31 ahead of #7 and #6.
The battle for fourth in GTD was very intense, with the Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsports #33, Scuderia Corsa Ferrari #63 and the 3GT Racing Lexus #14 within a few seconds of each. The fight got broken up by passing Prototype cars, before the gaps were closed again.
The JDC-Miller Motorsport ORECA #99 got into troubles, when it was fighting with the Mustang Sampling Cadillac #5. Stephen Simpson tried to pass Filipe Albuerquerque while they were in traffic, misjudged the gap, and ended up brushing the 3GT Racing Lexus #14. The Stewards decided to give #99 a drive-through for the contact.
Johannes van Overbeek spun with 10 minutes to go, losing one position and dropping to 8th.
The Whelen Engineering Cadillac #31 with Felipe Nasr and Eric Curran won the race ahead of the Acura Team Penske #7 and #6.
There was drama for both the Mustang Sampling Cadillac #5 and Mazda Team Joest #77, who both ran out of fuel. #77 a few turns before the finishing line, while #5 was able to roll across the line in 6th. That promoted the Tequila Patron Extreme Speed Motorsports #2 into fourth.
Photo Courtesy of IMSA / Jake Galsted
GTD was won by Mario Farnbacher and Katherine Legge for the Meyer Shank Racing Acura #86 ahead of their teammates in the #93 and Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini #48.
The two Action Express cars, Whelen Engineering #31 and Mustang Sampling #5 are equal on points at the top of the Prototype standings, while Acura Team Penske #7 and Konica Minolta Wayne Taylor Racing #10 are tied for second.
GTD is lead by the Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini #48 ahead of the Meyer Shank Racing Acura #86 and the Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsports #33.
The WeatherTech SportsCar Championship has a 4-week break now, before the 6 Hours at the (Watkins) Glen, will be run with all 3 categories present on 1 July.
