IMSA: Sunday’s Roar Before the 24 final day results

By Jan 7, 2018, 4:05 PM EST
Photo courtesy of IMSA
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The third and final day of the Roar Before the 24 saw two more practice sessions as well as a qualifying session for all three classes of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. However, the qualifying was not to decide the starting grids, but rather pit stall and garage selection, with the fastest cars in each class earning the chance to have the first picks.

In that qualifying, the manufacturers and teams who have been strongest all weekend continued to flex their muscle. Below are reports about the day’s happenings from all three classes:

PROTOTYPE: FELIPE NASR QUALIFIES FIRST ACTION EXPRESS, CADILLAC

The No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R from Action Express went fastest in qualifying, with Felipe Nasr turning a blistering time of 1:35.806, the fastest lap of any driver all weekend.

Second went to Tristan Vautier in the No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Racing Cadillac, with Felipe Albuquerque making it an Action Express 1-3 by putting his No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac in third. Renger Van Der Zande put the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac in fourth, making it a Cadillac 1-2-3-4 in the first qualifying session of the year.

Fifth went to Acura Team Penske, which has seen steady improvement all weekend from their Acura ARX-05 machines. Dane Cameron ended up in fifth in the No. 6 entry, with the sister No. 7, in the hands of Ricky Taylor, qualifying sixth.

Of note: the No. 90 Spirit of Daytona entry led the Sunday morning practice (Practice 6 of the weekend), while the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing entry led the final practice of the weekend (Practice 7) on Sunday afternoon.

JOEY HAND PUTS FORD, CHIP GANASSI ON TOP IN GTLM

Ford Chip Ganassi Racing, which dominated Saturday’s running of the Roar, went fastest in qualifying, with Joey Hand putting the No. 66 Ford GT on top. Second went to Oliver Gavin in the No. 4 Corvette Racing C7.R, the team’s best result of the weekend.

Ryan Briscoe was third in the sister No. 67 Chip Ganassi Ford, with Earl Bamber fourth in the No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR for Porsche GT Team. Fifth went to Antonio Garcia in the No. 3 entry from Corvette Racing.

Of note: the No. 66 Ford GT from Ford Chip Ganassi Racing was also fastest during Practice 6 of the weekend on Sunday morning, while the No. 912 Porsche went to the top of the time sheets in Practice 7 that afternoon.

GRT GRASSER RACING TEAM TOPS GT DAYTONA QUALIFYING

Mirko Bortolotti put the No. 11 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 on top of GT Daytona qualifying and continued a strong weekend for the GRT Grasser team, which had held the fastest lap of the GT Daytona field entering Sunday.

Andy Lally put the Magnus Racing No. 44 Audi R8 LMS GT3 in second, followed by Patrick Long in the No. 58 Wright Motorsports Porsche GT3 R. Fourth went to the No. 86 Acura NSX GT3 from Michael Shank Racing, with the No. 69 HART Racing Acura NSX GT3 in fifth.

Of note: Paul Miller Racing took a brief stint at the top of the GTD leaderboard in Practice 6 with their No. 48 Lamborghini Huracan GT3, while GRT Grasser’s second entry, the No. 19 Lamborghini, went quickest in Practice 7.

Results from Sunday are linked below:

Practice 6
Practice 7
 Qualifying
Combined Results

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IndyCar disappointed by delay of video game but aiming to launch at start of 2024

By Mar 27, 2023, 3:00 PM EDT
IndyCar video game 2024
IndyCar
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An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”