The IMSA Prototype Challenge Presented by Mazda championship had its season-opening race on Saturday afternoon between sessions of the Roar Before the 24 test. The 1 hour 45 minute contest saw multiple teams across both the LMP3 and Mazda Prototype classes opt to go for one driver for the entire race, while the rest featured two co-drivers splitting the driving duties.
The season opener saw Roman De Angelis score the overall win in his No. 4 Ligier JS P3 for ANSA Motorsports. De Angelis, one of the drivers who completed the event as a solo effort, assumed control of the race after pit stops about midway through.
Celebration in victory lane for Roman De Angelis scoring the #IMSAPC checkered flag @DISupdates! #Roar24 pic.twitter.com/NrLa4ohotM
— #IMSA (@IMSA) January 6, 2018
David Droux, with co-driver Austin McCusker, finished second in the No. 47 Forty 7 Motorsports Norma M30 after McCusker led the opening portion of the race. Daniel Morad, co-driving the No. 30 Extreme Speed Motorsports Ligier JS P3 with Kris Wright, made a late charge through the field to finish third.
In the Mazda Prototype Challenge class, Robert Masson emerged in the lead in the second half of the race and cruised home to take the MPC victory in his No. 11 Performance Tech Motorsports Elan DP02. Stuart Rettie finished second in the No. 21 ODU Motorsports entry, while Tazio Ottis, alongside co-driver Bart Wolf in the No. 28 Wolf Motorsports entry, finished third.
Of note, early MPC leader Wyatt Schwab, piloting a second Performance Tech entry, suffered contact that ripped the left-front bodywork off his No. 18 entry. While he continued on after pitting for repairs, Schwab could do no better than seventh in the MPC class, three laps behind race winner Masson.