2019 Chevrolet Sports Car Classic

The 2019 Chevrolet Sports Car Classic was a sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The race was held at The Raceway on Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan, on June 1, 2019. This race was the fifth round of the 2019 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the second round of the 2019 WeatherTech Sprint Cup.

The Raceway on Belle Isle

Background

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The Raceway on Belle Isle, where the race was held.

International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2019 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2018.[1] It was the sixth consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the tenth annual running of the race, counting the period between 2007 and 2013 when it was a round of the Rolex Sports Car Series and the American Le Mans Series respectively. The 2019 Chevrolet Sports Car Classic was the fifth of twelve sports car races of 2019 by IMSA, the shortest in terms of time, and it was the second of seven rounds held as part of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup.[2] The race was held at the fourteen-turn 2.350 mi (3.782 km) Belle Isle Park in Detroit, Michigan on June 1, 2019.[3]

Similar to the Grand Prix of Long Beach, this event ran in conjunction with the Detroit Grand Prix in the IndyCar Series, with one event held on the same day as the IMSA event, and another held a day after as a double-header.

Before the race, Pipo Derani and Felipe Nasr led the DPi Drivers' Championship with 120 points, ahead of Hélio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor in second followed by Jordan Taylor and Renger van der Zande with 113 points in third.[4] In GTD, Mario Farnbacher and Trent Hindman led the Drivers' Championship with 84 points, 4 points ahead of Frankie Montecalvo and Townsend Bell.[4] Cadillac and Lamborghini were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Whelen Engineering Racing and Meyer Shank Racing each led their own Teams' Championships.[4] The event did not count towards the overall in GTD as it only contented towards the WeatherTech Sprint Cup, in an attempt to cut costs for the class.[5]

Entries

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On May 22, 2019, the entry list for the event was released, featuring 23 cars in total. There were 11 cars in the Daytona Prototype International class and 12 entries in the GTD class. The Le Mans Prototype (LMP2) and GT Le Mans (GTLM) classes would not be participating in the event. Due to only counting towards the WeatherTech Sprint Cup, full-season GTD entries Riley Motorsports, Pfaff Motorsports, and Moorespeed decided to forego the Detroit event in favor of pursuing the full-season championship. Meyer-Shank Racing were initially among the teams that decided to miss the Detroit event, until confirming at the eleventh hour a full-time program in both the full-time and sprint championships with both of their cars.[6][7]

Pfaff Motorsports driver Zach Robichon, who was initially due to miss the event, filled a vacant spot at Park Place Motorsports, replacing Patrick Lindsey, who was preparing for the official test sessions for the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans.[8]

Practice

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There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Sunday, one on Friday morning and one on Friday afternoon. The session on Friday morning lasted 90 minutes while the second session on Friday afternoon lasted 110 minutes.[9]

Practice 1

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The first practice session took place at 8:30 am ET on Friday and ended with Pipo Derani topping the charts for Whelen Engineering Racing, with a lap time of 1:20.583. Hélio Castroneves was second fastest in the No. 7 Acura followed by Filipe Albuquerque in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac.[10] The GTD class was topped by the No. 57 Heinricher Racing w/Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo of Katherine Legge with a time of 1:30.304, ahead of Bryan Sellers in the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini. Zacharie Robichon was third fastest in the No. 73 Porsche followed by Richard Heistand in the No. 14 Lexus in fourth position.[11][12] The Mazda Team Joest entries did not set a time due to mechanical issues.[11] The session was red flagged two times. Simon Trummer crashed the No. 84 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac and brought out the first red flag.[12] The final stoppage came when Misha Goikhberg crashed the No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac at turn 2 and collided with Matt Plumb's McLaren. The No. 85 Cadillac suffered extensive damage while the No. 76 McLaren lost a door.[10][11]

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap
1 DPi 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Pipo Derani 1:20.583 _
2 DPi 7 Acura Team Penske Hélio Castroneves 1:20.835 +0.252
3 DPi 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Filipe Albuquerque 1:21.446 +0.863
Sources:[13][14]

Practice 2

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The second and final practice session took place at 12:50 PM ET on Friday and ended with Pipo Derani topping the charts for Whelen Engineering Racing, with a lap time of 1:20.387. Jordan Taylor was second fastest in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac entry followed by Hélio Castroneves in the No. 7 Acura.[15] The GTD class was topped by the No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R of Zacharie Robichon with a time of 1:30.011, ahead of Christina Nielsen in the No. 57 Acura. Bill Auberlen was third fastest in the No. 96 BMW followed by Mario Farnbacher in the No. 86 Acura in fourth and Jack Hawksworth's No. 14 Lexus rounded out the top five.[16] The Compass Racing did not set a time.[15]

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap
1 DPi 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Pipo Derani 1:20.387 _
2 DPi 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac Jordan Taylor 1:20.506 +0.119
3 DPi 7 Acura Team Penske Hélio Castroneves 1:20.610 +0.223
Sources:[17][18]

Qualifying

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Juan Pablo Montoya (pictured in 2021) took the overall pole position for Acura Team Penske.

Friday's late afternoon qualification session was broken into two sessions that lasted 15 minutes each. Cars in GTD were sent out first and, after a ten-minute interval, DPi vehicles drove onto the track. All cars were required to be driven by one participant and the starting order was determined by the competitor's fastest lap.[19] IMSA then arranged the grid so that the DPi field started in front of all GTD cars.

The first was for cars in the GTD class. Robby Foley set the fastest time driving the No. 96 car for Turner Motorsport.[20] However, the team were sent to the back of the GTD grid after the car failed post-qualifying technical inspection where it was discovered that the BMW was found to not have complied with mandated camber range settings.[21] As a result, Zacharie Robichon's No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche was promoted to pole position.[22] Christina Nielsen in the No. 57 Acura started in second position followed by Trent Hindman's No. 86 Acura. The No. 8 Starworks Motorsport Audi of Parker Chase did not set a time due to suspension problems.[23]

The final session of qualifying was for cars in the DPi class. Juan Pablo Montoya qualified on pole driving the No. 6 car for Acura Team Penske, beating teammate Hélio Castroneves in the No. 7 Acura by 0.207 seconds.[24] Jonathan Bomarito qualified the No. 55 Mazda Team Joest entry in third position followed by Pipo Derani's No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac.[23] João Barbosa in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac started from fifth place.[25] Following in sixth was the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac Cadillac DPi-V.R of Renger van der Zande followed by Tristan Nunez's No. 77 Mazda in seventh place.[25] The duo of JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillacs were eighth and tenth: Simon Trummer in the No. 84 car was faster than the sister No. 85 entry of Misha Goikhberg. They were separated by the ninth-placed Victor Franzoni in the No. 50 Juncos Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R.[24][20]

Qualifying Results

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

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap Grid
1 DPi 6   Acura Team Penske   Juan Pablo Montoya 1:19.373 _ 1
2 DPi 7   Acura Team Penske   Hélio Castroneves 1:19.580 +0.207 2
3 DPi 55   Mazda Team Joest   Jonathan Bomarito 1:19.960 +0.587 3
4 DPi 31   Whelen Engineering Racing   Pipo Derani 1:19.991 +0.618 4
5 DPi 5   Mustang Sampling Racing   João Barbosa 1:20.239 +0.866 5
6 DPi 10   Konica Minolta Cadillac   Renger van der Zande 1:20.448 +1.075 6
7 DPi 77   Mazda Team Joest   Tristan Nunez 1:20.508 +1.135 7
8 DPi 84   JDC-Miller Motorsports   Simon Trummer 1:20.663 +1.290 8
9 DPi 50   Juncos Racing   Victor Franzoni 1:21.075 +1.702 9
10 DPi 85   JDC-Miller Motorsports   Misha Goikhberg 1:23.313 +3.940 10
11 DPi 54   CORE Autosport   Jon Bennett 1:24.631 +5.258 11
12 GTD 96   Turner Motorsport   Robby Foley 1:29.704 +10.331 231
13 GTD 73   Park Place Motorsports   Zacharie Robichon 1:29.735 +10.362 12‡
14 GTD 57   Heinricher Racing w/Meyer Shank Racing   Christina Nielsen 1:30.126 +10.753 13
15 GTD 86   Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian   Trent Hindman 1:30.242 +10.869 14
16 GTD 14   AIM Vasser Sullivan   Richard Heistand 1:30.453 +11.080 15
17 GTD 12   AIM Vasser Sullivan   Frankie Montecalvo 1:30.505 +11.132 16
18 GTD 48   Paul Miller Racing   Ryan Hardwick 1:30.763 +11.390 17
19 GTD 76   Compass Racing   Matt Plumb 1:30.814 +11.441 18
20 GTD 44   Magnus Racing   John Potter 1:30.926 +11.553 19
21 GTD 63   Scuderia Corsa   Cooper MacNeil 1:31.953 +12.580 20
21 GTD 74   Lone Star Racing   Gar Robinson 1:31.970 +12.597 21
22 GTD 8   Starworks Motorsport None None N/A 22
Sources:[26][27]
  • 1 The No. 96 Turner Motorsport entry initially qualified on pole position for the GTD class. However, the car was found to not have complied with mandated camber range settings. By IMSA rules, the entry was moved to the rear of the GTD field on the starting grid.[21]

Race

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Post-race

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With a total of 152 points, Derani and Nasr's second place finish kept them atop DPi Drivers' Championship while Cameron and Montoya's victory allowed them to advance from fourth to second. Jordan Taylor and Renger van der Zande dropped from third to fifth.[28] GTD drivers, teams, and manufactures did not score full season points due to the event only counting towards the WeatherTech Sprint Cup. Cadillac continued to top the DPi Manufactures' Championship while Whelen Engineering Racing continued to top the DPi Teams' Championship with seven rounds left in the season.[28]

Race Results

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Class winners are denoted in bold and ‡.

Pos Class No. Team Drivers Chassis Laps Time/Retired
Engine
1 DPi 6   Acura Team Penske   Dane Cameron
  Juan Pablo Montoya
Acura ARX-05 58 1:40:15.563‡
Acura AR35TT 3.5 L Turbo V6
2 DPi 31   Whelen Engineering Racing   Pipo Derani
  Felipe Nasr
Cadillac DPi-V.R 58 +0.820s
Cadillac 5.5 L V8
3 DPi 7   Acura Team Penske   Hélio Castroneves
  Ricky Taylor
Acura ARX-05 58 +14.887s
Acura AR35TT 3.5 L Turbo V6
4 DPi 84   JDC-Miller Motorsports   Stephen Simpson
  Simon Trummer
Cadillac DPi-V.R 58 +15.050s
Cadillac 5.5 L V8
5 DPi 85   JDC-Miller Motorsports   Misha Goikhberg
  Tristan Vautier
Cadillac DPi-V.R 58 +16.205s
Cadillac 5.5 L V8
6 DPi 5   Mustang Sampling Racing   Filipe Albuquerque
  João Barbosa
Cadillac DPi-V.R 58 +22.583s
Cadillac 5.5 L V8
7 DPi 54   CORE Autosport   Jon Bennett
  Colin Braun
Nissan DPi 58 +26.978s
Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Turbo V6
8 DPi 50   Juncos Racing   Victor Franzoni
  Will Owen
Cadillac DPi-V.R 58 +27.390s
Cadillac 5.5 L V8
9 DPi 10   Konica Minolta Cadillac   Jordan Taylor
  Renger van der Zande
Cadillac DPi-V.R 57 +1 lap
Cadillac 5.5 L V8
10 DPi 77   Mazda Team Joest   Oliver Jarvis
  Tristan Nunez
Mazda RT24-P 57 +1 lap
Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0 L Turbo I4
11 GTD 14   AIM Vasser Sullivan   Jack Hawksworth
  Richard Heistand
Lexus RC F GT3 56 +2 laps‡
Lexus 5.0 L V8
12 GTD 73   Park Place Motorsports   Patrick Long
  Zacharie Robichon
Porsche 911 GT3 R 56 +2 laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
13 GTD 12   AIM Vasser Sullivan   Townsend Bell
  Frankie Montecalvo
Lexus RC F GT3 56 +2 laps
Lexus 5.0 L V8
14 GTD 44   Magnus Racing   Andy Lally
  John Potter
Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 56 +2 laps
Lamborghini 5.2 L V10
15 GTD 48   Paul Miller Racing   Ryan Hardwick
  Bryan Sellers
Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 56 +2 laps
Lamborghini 5.2 L V10
16 GTD 8   Starworks Motorsport   Parker Chase
  Ryan Dalziel
Audi R8 LMS Evo 56 +2 laps
Audi 5.2 L V10
17 GTD 74   Lone Star Racing   Lawson Aschenbach
  Gar Robinson
Mercedes-AMG GT3 56 +2 laps
Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8
18 GTD 76   Compass Racing   Paul Holton
  Matt Plumb
McLaren 720S GT3 56 +2 laps
McLaren M480T 4.0 L Twin-turbo V8
19 GTD 57   Heinricher Racing w/Meyer Shank Racing   Katherine Legge
  Christina Nielsen
Acura NSX GT3 Evo 56 +2 laps
Acura 3.5 L Turbo V6
20

DNF

GTD 96   Turner Motorsport   Bill Auberlen
  Robby Foley
BMW M6 GT3 53 Transmission
BMW 4.4 L Turbo V8
21

DNF

DPi 55   Mazda Team Joest   Jonathan Bomarito
  Ryan Hunter-Reay
Mazda RT24-P 39 Crash
Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0 L Turbo I4
22

DNF

GTD 86   Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian   Mario Farnbacher
  Trent Hindman
Acura NSX GT3 Evo 20 Crash
Acura 3.5 L Turbo V6
23

DNF

GTD 63   Scuderia Corsa   Cooper MacNeil
  Toni Vilander
Ferrari 488 GT3 0 Crash
Ferrari F154 3.9 L Turbo V8
Sources:[29][30]

Standings after the race

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  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
  • : Points count towards WeatherTech Sprint Cup championship only.
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
  • : Points count towards WeatherTech Sprint Cup championship only.
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
  • : Points count towards WeatherTech Sprint Cup championship only.

References

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  1. ^ Klein, Jamie (August 4, 2018). "IMSA reveals largely unchanged 2019 schedule". motorsport.com. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  2. ^ Pruett, Marshall (August 3, 2018). "IMSA releases 2019 schedule". racer.com. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  3. ^ "2019 IMSA Schedule Released". dailysportscar.com. August 4, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c "00_Championship Points - Official.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. May 7, 2019. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  5. ^ Dagys, John (3 August 2018). "IMSA Launches Sprint Cup for GTD". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  6. ^ Dagys, John (21 May 2019). "Riley, Pfaff Among GTD Teams Set to Forgo Detroit". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  7. ^ Dagys, John (21 May 2019). "MSR Commits to Detroit, Sprint Cup With Both Acura NSX GT3s". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  8. ^ Dagys, John (22 May 2019). "Robichon Joins Park Place for Detroit in Sprint Cup Bid". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  9. ^ "Detroit Grand Prix 2019: Here's the full schedule, ticket info". clickondetroit.com. April 26, 2019. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  10. ^ a b Dagys, John (May 31, 2019). "Derani Quickest; JDC-Miller Crashes in Opening Practice". sportscar365.com. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  11. ^ a b c "Derani speeds through opening Detroit GP practice". racer.com. May 31, 2019. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  12. ^ a b Malsher-Lopez, David (May 31, 2019). "Detroit IMSA: Derani, Legge lead opening practice". motorsport.com. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  13. ^ "03_Results_Practice 1.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. May 31, 2019. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  14. ^ "06_Fastest Lap By Driver_Practice 1.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. May 31, 2019. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  15. ^ a b Dagys, John (May 31, 2019). "Derani Quickest Again in Practice 2 in Detroit". sportscar365.com. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  16. ^ Malsher-Lopez, David (May 31, 2019). "Detroit IMSA: Derani on top again in second practice". motorsport.com. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  17. ^ "03_Results_Practice 2.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. May 31, 2019. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  18. ^ "06_Fastest Lap By Driver_Practice 2.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. May 31, 2019. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  19. ^ "2019 IMSA SPORTING REGULATIONS and SERIES SUPPLEMENTARY REGULATIONS" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on February 5, 2020. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  20. ^ a b "Montoya Puts Acura On Pole At Detroit (Updated)". dailysportscar.com. June 1, 2019. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  21. ^ a b Dagys, John (May 31, 2019). "Turner BMW Loses GTD Pole". sportscar365.com. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  22. ^ O'Malley, J.J. (May 31, 2019). "Robichon awarded Detroit IMSA GTD pole". racer.com. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  23. ^ a b O'Malley, J.J. (May 31, 2019). "Montoya saves best for last lap in Detroit IMSA qualifying". racer.com. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  24. ^ a b Malsher-Lopez, David (June 1, 2019). "Detroit IMSA: Acura Team Penske locks out front row". motorsport.com. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  25. ^ a b Dagys, John (May 31, 2019). "Montoya Leads Acura Penske Front Row Sweep in Detroit". sportscar365.com. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  26. ^ "05/31-06/01 Chevrolet Sports Car Classic--03 Results Qualifying" (PDF). 31 May 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  27. ^ "01_Grid_Race_Official.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. June 1, 2019. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  28. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "00_Championship Points - Official.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. June 4, 2019. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  29. ^ "03_Results_Race_Official.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. June 4, 2019. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  30. ^ "2019 Chevrolet Sports Car Classic". racing-reference.info. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
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