The 20th Annual Motul Petit Le Mans was the 2017 edition of the Petit Le Mans automotive endurance race, held on October 4–7, 2017, at the Road Atlanta circuit in Braselton, Georgia, United States. It was the 12th and final race of the 2017 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the fourth Petit Le Mans run since the formation of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2014.
Background edit
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IMSA's president Scott Atherton confirmed Petit Le Mans was part of the series' schedule for the 2017 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Road America's victory lane in August 2016.[1] It was the fourth consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the 20th annual running of the race.[2] The race was the final of 2017's twelve scheduled IMSA automobile endurance races, and the last of four North American Endurance Cup (NAEC) events.[3] It was held at the 12-turn, 2.540-mile (4.088 km) Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia on October 7, 2017. Event creator, Don Panoz served as the grand marshal for the 2017 event.[4]
As the final race of the 2017 season, the race marked the swansong for the PC class. First introduced in 2010, the category ran for eight seasons before a lack of interest lead to IMSA ending the class after the 2017 season.[5][6]
The BMW M6 GTLM also entered it its final IMSA event, ahead of the switch to new-generation GTE machinery for BMW in 2018.[7] BMW would introduce the M8 GTE as it was based on the upcoming G15 8 Series.[8]
This would be the final race for entry for Alex Job Racing as the team would step back from professional racing and focus on their historic restorations.[9]
Stevenson Motorsports also entered their final race after announcing they would shut down operations following the event.[10]
After the Monterey Grand Prix 1 week earlier, Jordan Taylor and Ricky Taylor led the Prototype Drivers' Championship with 288 points, ahead of Dane Cameron and Eric Curran with 259 points, and João Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi with 258 points.[11] With 252 points, James French and Patricio O'Ward clinched the PC Drivers' Championship with one race to spare.[12][11] Antonio García and Jan Magnussen led the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 302 points, ahead of Ryan Briscoe and Richard Westbrook with 283 points.[11] In GTD, the Drivers' Championship was led by Alessandro Balzan and Christina Nielsen with 318 points, ahead of Jeroen Bleekemolen with 292 points.[11] Cadillac, Chevrolet, and Ferrari were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Wayne Taylor Racing, Performance Tech Motorsports, Corvette Racing, and Scuderia Corsa each led their own Teams' Championships.[11]
Entries edit
A total of 39 cars took part in the event split across four classes. 10 cars were entered in P, 3 in PC, 9 in GTLM, and 17 in GTD.[13] In P, Team Penske made their IMSA SportsCar Championship debut.[14] Rebellion Racing made their first appearance since the Sebring round.[15] Jonathan Bomarito joined Marc Goossens and Renger van der Zande in the VisitFlorida Racing entry.[16] Brendon Hartley returned to the #2 Tequila Patrón ESM entry.[17] Ryan Hunter-Reay joined Jordan Taylor and Ricky Taylor in the Wayne Taylor Racing entry.[18] Julien Canal joined Olivier Pla and José Gutiérrez in the PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports entry. In PC, John Falb joined Garett Grist and Tomy Drissi and in the #26 BAR1 Motorsports entry. In GTLM, Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber made their first IMSA SportsCar Championship starts since the 2016 Petit Le Mans.[19] [20] Alessandro Pier Guidi replaced James Calado in the Risi Competizione entry.[13] In GTD, Montaplast by Land-Motorsport made their first appearance since Sebring while Alex Job Racing made their first appearance since the Lime Rock round.[13] Michael Christensen and Michael de Quesada returned to the Alegra Motorsports entry. Sheldon van der Linde joined Connor De Phillippi and Christopher Mies in the Montaplast by Land-Motorsport entry. Patrick Long joined Gunnar Jeannette and Cooper MacNeil in the Riley Motorsports - WeatherTech Racing entry.[21] Trent Hindman joined Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow in the Paul Miller Racing entry.
Practice edit
There were four practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, three on Thursday and one on Friday. The first two one-hour sessions were on Thursday morning and afternoon. The third held later that evening ran for 90 minutes; the fourth on Friday morning lasted an hour.[22]
Practice 1 edit
The first practice session took place at 11:10 am ET on Thursday and ended with Renger van der Zande topping the charts for VisitFlorida Racing, with a lap time of 1:12.650.[23] James French set the fastest time in PC.[24] The GTLM class was topped by the #912 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR of Laurens Vanthoor with a time of 1:18.320.[24] Jeroen Mul was fastest in GTD.[23]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | P | 90 | VisitFlorida Racing | Renger van der Zande | 1:12.650 | _ |
| 2 | P | 10 | Wayne Taylor Racing | Jordan Taylor | 1:12.683 | _0.033 |
| 3 | P | 6 | Team Penske | Hélio Castroneves | 1:12.691 | +0.041 |
| Sources:[25][26] | ||||||
Practice 2 edit
The second practice session took place at 3:15 pm ET on Thursday and ended with Juan Pablo Montoya topping the charts for Team Penske, with a lap time of 1:12.445.[27] The PC class was topped by the #38 Performance Tech Motorsports Oreca FLM09 of Patricio O'Ward with a time of 1:16.152.[28] Alessandro Pier Guidi was fastest in GTLM while Katherine Legge set the fastest time in GTD.[29][28]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | P | 6 | Team Penske | Juan Pablo Montoya | 1:12.445 | _ |
| 2 | P | 13 | Rebellion Racing | Mathias Beche | 1:12.697 | +0.252 |
| 3 | P | 31 | Whelen Racing Engineering | Dane Cameron | 1:12.759 | +0.314 |
| Sources:[30][31] | ||||||
Night Practice edit
The night practice session took place at 7:30 pm ET on Thursday and ended with Brendon Hartley topping the charts for Tequila Patrón ESM, with a lap time of 1:12.017.[32] Patricio O'Ward set the fastest time PC by 0.407 seconds ahead of Buddy Rice in the #20 BAR1 Motorsports entry.[33] The GTLM class was topped by the #25 BMW Team RLL BMW M6 GTLM of Alexander Sims with a time of 1:17.818. Nicky Catsburg was second in the sister #24 car and Tommy Milner rounded out the top 3.[34] Jack Hawksworth was fastest in GTD.[34]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | P | 2 | Tequila Patrón ESM | Brendon Hartley | 1:12.017 | _ |
| 2 | P | 5 | Mustang Sampling Racing | Filipe Albuquerque | 1:12.327 | +0.310 |
| 3 | P | 90 | VisitFlorida Racing | Renger van der Zande | 1:12.488 | +0.471 |
| Sources:[35][36] | ||||||
Final Practice edit
The fourth and final practice session took place at 11:40 am ET on Friday and ended with Hélio Castroneves topping the charts for Team Penske, with a lap time of 1:11.968.[37] James French set the fastest time in PC.[38] The GTLM class was topped by the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE of Toni Vilander with a time of 1:17.497.[39] Connor De Phillippi was fastest in GTD with a time of 1:20.175.[39]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | P | 6 | Team Penske | Hélio Castroneves | 1:11.968 | _ |
| 2 | P | 2 | Tequila Patrón ESM | Brendon Hartley | 1:11.991 | +0.023 |
| 3 | P | 22 | Tequila Patrón ESM | Pipo Derani | 1:12.019 | +0.051 |
| Source:[40] | ||||||
Qualifying edit
In Friday afternoon's 90-minute four-group qualifying, each category had separate 15-minute sessions. Regulations stipulated that teams nominate one qualifying driver, with the fastest laps determining each class' starting order. IMSA arranged the grid to put Prototypes ahead of the PC, GTLM and GTD cars.[41][22]
The first was for cars in GTD class. Matteo Cressoni qualified on pole for the class driving the #63 Scuderia Corsa entry, besting Andy Lally in the #93 Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian entry.[42]
The second session of qualifying was for cars in the GTLM class. Toni Vilander qualified on pole driving the #62 car for Risi Competizione, beating Richard Westbrook in the #67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing car by less than one tenth of a second.[43]
The third session of qualifying was for cars in the PC class. James French set the fastest time driving the #38 Performance Tech Motorsports entry.[42]
The final session of qualifying was for the P class. Hélio Castroneves qualified on pole driving the #6 car for Team Penske, besting Pipo Derani in the #22 Tequila Patrón ESM entry.[44]
Qualifying results edit
Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by ‡. All Prototype and Prototype Challenge cars were grouped together on the starting grid, regardless of qualifying position.
| Pos | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | P | 6 |  Team Penske
|
 Hélio Castroneves
|
1:11.314 | _ | 1‡ |
| 2 | P | 22 | Tequila Patrón ESM
|
Pipo Derani
|
1:11.475 | +0.161 | 2 |
| 3 | P | 2 | Tequila Patrón ESM
|
 Brendon Hartley
|
1:11.499 | +0.185 | 3 |
| 4 | P | 13 |  Rebellion Racing
|
Mathias Beche
|
1:11.623 | +0.309 | 4 |
| 5 | P | 90 | VisitFlorida Racing
|
 Renger van der Zande
|
1:11.934 | +0.620 | 5 |
| 6 | P | 52 | PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports
|
 Olivier Pla
|
1:12.106 | +0.792 | 6 |
| 7 | P | 10 | Wayne Taylor Racing
|
Ricky Taylor
|
1:12.121 | +0.807 | 131 |
| 8 | P | 85 | JDC-Miller MotorSports
|
 Mikhail Goikhberg
|
1:12.388 | +1.074 | 7 |
| 9 | P | 5 | Mustang Sampling Racing
|
Christian Fittipaldi
|
1:12.393 | +1.079 | 8 |
| 10 | P | 31 | Whelen Racing Engineering
|
Eric Curran
|
1:13.051 | +1.737 | 9 |
| 11 | PC | 38 | Performance Tech Motorsports
|
James French
|
1:16.059 | +4.755 | 10‡ |
| 12 | PC | 26 | BAR1 Motorsports
|
Garett Grist
|
1:17.244 | +5.930 | 11 |
| 13 | PC | 20 | BAR1 Motorsports
|
Don Yount
|
1:17.628 | +6.314 | 12 |
| 14 | GTLM | 62 | Risi Competizione
|
 Toni Vilander
|
1:17.660 | +6.346 | 14‡ |
| 15 | GTLM | 67 | Ford Chip Ganassi Racing
|
 Richard Westbrook
|
1:17.705 | +6.391 | 392 |
| 16 | GTLM | 3 | Corvette Racing
|
 Antonio García
|
1:17.714 | +6.400 | 15 |
| 17 | GTLM | 66 | Ford Chip Ganassi Racing
|
Joey Hand
|
1:17.729 | +6.415 | 16 |
| 18 | GTLM | 25 | BMW Team RLL
|
Bill Auberlen
|
1:17.731 | +6.417 | 17 |
| 19 | GTLM | 4 | Corvette Racing
|
Oliver Gavin
|
1:17.823 | +6.509 | 18 |
| 20 | GTLM | 24 | BMW Team RLL
|
 Martin Tomczyk
|
1:18.084 | +6.770 | 19 |
| 21 | GTLM | 912 | Porsche GT Team
|
 Gianmaria Bruni
|
1:18.161 | +6.847 | 20 |
| 22 | GTLM | 911 | Porsche GT Team
|
Patrick Pilet
|
1:18.426 | +7.112 | 21 |
| 23 | GTD | 63 | Scuderia Corsa
|
Matteo Cressoni
|
1:20.661 | +9.347 | 22‡ |
| 24 | GTD | 93 | Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian
|
Andy Lally
|
1:20.739 | +9.425 | 23 |
| 25 | GTD | 15 | 3GT Racing
|
Jack Hawksworth
|
1:20.798 | +9.484 | 24 |
| 26 | GTD | 29 | Montaplast by Land-Motorsport
|
 Sheldon van der Linde
|
1:20.830 | +9.516 | 25 |
| 27 | GTD | 96 | Turner Motorsport
|
Jesse Krohn
|
1:20.904 | +9.590 | 26 |
| 28 | GTD | 28 | Alegra Motorsports
|
 Michael Christensen
|
1:20.968 | +9.654 | 27 |
| 29 | GTD | 86 | Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian
|
Oswaldo Negri Jr.
|
1:20.998 | +9.684 | 28 |
| 30 | GTD | 16 | Change Racing
|
Jeroen Mul
|
1:21.063 | +9.749 | 29 |
| 31 | GTD | 14 | 3GT Racing
|
Sage Karam
|
1:21.115 | +9.801 | 30 |
| 32 | GTD | 57 | Stevenson Motorsports
|
Andrew Davis
|
1:21.220 | +9.906 | 31 |
| 33 | GTD | 48 | Paul Miller Racing
|
Madison Snow
|
1:21.393 | +10.079 | 32 |
| 34 | GTD | 73 | Park Place Motorsports
|
Patrick Lindsey
|
1:21.470 | +10.156 | 33 |
| 35 | GTD | 23 | Alex Job Racing
|
Townsend Bell
|
1:21.648 | +10.334 | 34 |
| 36 | GTD | 75 | SunEnergy1 Racing
|
Dion von Moltke
|
1:21.915 | +10.601 | 35 |
| 37 | GTD | 33 | Riley Motorsports - Team AMG
|
Ben Keating
|
1:21.959 | +10.645 | 373 |
| 38 | GTD | 50 | Riley Motorsports - WeatherTech Racing
|
Cooper MacNeil
|
1:22.177 | +10.863 | 36 |
| 39 | GTD | 54 | CORE Autosport
|
Jon Bennett
|
1:23.379 | +12.605 | 384 |
| Sources:[45][46] | |||||||
- 1 The No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing entry was moved to the back of the P field as per Article 43.6 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).[41]
- 2 The No. 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing entry was moved to the back of the GTLM field due to failing post qualifying technical inspection.
- 3 The No. 33 Riley Motorsports - Team AMG entry was moved to the back of the GTD field as per Article 43.6 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).[41]
- 4 The No. 54 CORE Autosport entry was moved to the back of the GTD field as per Article 43.6 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).[41]
Race edit
Post-race edit
Jordan Taylor, and Ricky Taylor took the Prototype Drivers' Championship with 310 points. They were 19 points ahead of Cameron, and Curran in second position. Barbosa and Fittipaldi followed in third place with 291 points, ahead of Goikhberg and Simpson in fourth with 277 points and Ryan Dalziel and Sharp in fifth with 273 points.[47] With 283 points, French and O'Ward won the PC Drivers' Championship, 39 points ahead of Yount in second.[47] García and Magnussen took the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 334 points. They were 17 points ahead of Auberlen and Sims in second position. Hand and Müller followed in third place with 306 points, ahead of Briscoe and Westbrook with 306 points and Pilet and Werner with 295 points.[47] With 340 points, Balzan and Nielsen won the GTD Drivers' Championship, 20 points ahead of Bleekemolen in second. Lindsey was in third position with 298 points and Klingmann was fourth with 294 points.[47] Cadillac, Chevrolet, and Ferrari won their respective Manufactures' Championships while Wayne Taylor Racing, Performance Tech Motorsports, Corvette Racing, and Scuderia Corsa won their respective Teams' Championships.[47]
Race result edit
Class winners are denoted in bold and with ‡
Standings after the race edit
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
References edit
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- ^ "By the Numbers: 20 Statistics for the 20th Motul Petit Le Man". racer.com. October 4, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ "IMSA: 2017 WeatherTech series calendar set". Racer. August 5, 2016. Archived from the original on August 24, 2022. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ "Panoz Named Grand Marshal for 20th Anniversary Petit Le Mans". sportscar365.com. October 3, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ "IMSA's Prototype Challenge class era ends at Petit Le Mans". nbcsports.com. October 3, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ "2017 Goodbyes: ORECA FLM 09". dailysportscar.com. December 29, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ Boeriu, Horatiu (October 8, 2017). "BMW Team RLL celebrates victory at the Petit Le Mans". bmwblog.com. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ Altoveros, Jose (September 13, 2017). "Frankfurt 2017: BMW unleashes M8 GTE as WEC challenger". autoindustriya.com. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ "Alex Job Steps Away From Pro Racing". dailysportscar.com. November 27, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ "Stevenson Motorsports to end IMSA program". racer.com. September 1, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e "00_Championship Points - Official.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. September 26, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ "Performance Tech Motorsports Goes Seven-For-Eight To Win 2017 IMSA Prototype Challenge WeatherTech Championship". autoweek.com. October 7, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ a b c Kilshaw, Jake (September 27, 2017). "38 Entries for Petit Le Mans". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ Glendenning, Mark (September 28, 2017). "Penske confirms Petit Le Mans entry". racer.com. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ Pruett, Marshall (September 28, 2017). "Rebellion returns with revised Petit line-up". racer.com. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ Glendenning, Mark (September 27, 2017). "Bomarito joins Visit Florida team for Petit Le Mans". racer.com. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ Dagys, John (September 18, 2017). "Hartley Rejoins ESM for Petit Le Mans". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ Malsher-Lopez, David (August 29, 2017). "Hunter-Reay to race WTR Cadillac at Petit Le Mans". motorsport.com. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ "Bamber, Tandy join Porsche GT Team for Petit Le Mans". racer.com. September 7, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ Dagys, John (September 7, 2017). "Porsche Confirms Tandy, Bamber for Petit Le Mans". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ "WeatherTech Racing adds Long for Petit Le Mans". racer.com. September 26, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ a b Dagys, John (October 4, 2017). "Continental Tire Keys to the Race: Petit Le Mans". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
- ^ a b Kilshaw, Jake (October 5, 2017). "Visit Florida Quickest in Opening Practice at Road Atlanta". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
- ^ a b Pruett, Marshall (October 5, 2017). "Visit Florida tops opening Petit Le Mans practice". racer.com. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ "03_Results.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. October 5, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
- ^ "07_ Driver Fastest Lap.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. October 5, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ Kilshaw, Jake (October 5, 2017). "Montoya, Penske Pace Road Atlanta Practice 2". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
- ^ a b Pruett, Marshall (October 5, 2017). "Montoya, Penske top second Petit practice". racer.com. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ Malsher-Lopez, David (October 5, 2017). "Petit Le Mans: Montoya puts Penske Oreca on top in FP2". motorsport.com. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ "03_Results.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. October 5, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
- ^ "07_ Driver Fastest Lap.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. October 5, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ Kilshaw, Jake (October 5, 2017). "Hartley Puts ESM on Top in Night Practice". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
- ^ Malsher-Lopez, David (October 5, 2017). "Petit Le Mans: Hartley scorches to P1 in ESM Nissan". us.motorsport.com. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ a b "Nissan's Hartley heads Petit night practice". racer.com. October 6, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ "03_Results.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. October 5, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
- ^ "07_ Driver Fastest Lap.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. October 5, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ Kilshaw, Jake (October 6, 2017). "Castroneves Sets Pace in Final Practice". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
- ^ Malsher-Lopez, David (October 6, 2017). "Petit Le Mans: Castroneves fastest in final practice". motorsport.com. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ a b Pruett, Marshall (October 6, 2017). "Castroneves keeps Penske on top in Petit practice". racer.com. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ "03_Results.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. October 6, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
- ^ a b c d "2017 IMSA Sporting Regulations & Series Supplementary Regulations of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship sanctioned by IMSA" (PDF). IMSA. April 10, 2017. pp. 39, 81–83, 125. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
- ^ a b Malsher-Lopez, David (October 6, 2017). "Petit Le Mans: Castroneves grabs pole on Penske's IMSA return". motorsport.com. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ Kilshaw, Jake (October 6, 2017). "Vilander Leads Ferrari GT Qualifying Sweep at Road Atlanta". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ Kilshaw, Jake (6 October 2017). "Castroneves, Penske on Petit Le Mans Pole in Sports Car Return". sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
- ^ "03_Results.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. October 5, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
- ^ "01_Starting Grid - Official.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. October 7, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "00_Championship Points - Official.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. October 9, 2017. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
- ^ "03_Official Results.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
- ^ "2017 Motul Petit Le Mans". racing-reference.info. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
External links edit