2018 IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship preview — GTD

By Oct 5, 2018, 11:00 AM EDT
IMSA
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IMSA Wire Service

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Heading into the Motul Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta – the season finale for the 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – this is the third in a four-part series in which the primary championship contenders in each of the three classes are compared.

Wednesday, we previewed the GTLM class. Thursday, we looked at the Prototype class. Today, we will look at the GTD class and Saturday we’ll have an all-encompassing look at next week’s overall event.

Here’s how the Lamborghini vs. Acura battle for the GT Daytona (GTD) title shapes up:

No. 48 Paul Miller Racing

Lamborghini Huracán GT3

Bryan Sellers/Madison Snow

Engine: 5.2-liter, normally aspirated V10 (mid-engine)

Points: 303 – 1st

2018 Victories: 2

2018 Podiums: 7

How The No. 48 Can Clinch the Title: The No. 48 will eliminate the No. 33 Mercedes-AMG from the championship by starting the race. It will win the title outright if it finishes on the podium, regardless of the No. 86 Acura’s performance. There are several other scenarios that also could bring the No. 48 the championship depending on the finishing position for the No. 86.

2018 Performance: The No. 48 team has led the standings since March, when it won its first race of the season in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts. It opened the year with five consecutive podium results and has been on the podium seven times in 10 races thus far – including a second win at Lime Rock Park in July.

Noteworthy: Paul Miller Racing has finished inside the top three in the GTD standings three times in the past four seasons, but this would the first championship for the team, as well as Sellers and Snow.

What They’re Saying:

BRYAN SELLERS – “The battle this season has been intense, the championship is coming down to the final race and it is a testament to how strong the season has been. We have had great results, great team performances, and we are hoping to finish it off the right way. The (No.) 86 team has done a fantastic job all season, and I expect nothing less than a stellar performance for 10 hours. With that said we need to deliver the same.”

MADISON SNOW – “We are currently leading the championship and have no plans on that status changing before the season is over. It is a close battle between us and the Acura. Our Lamborghini doesn’t have anywhere near the BoP of the Acura, but I believe that we will be able to keep the points lead at the end of the race.”

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No. 86 Meyer Shank Racing

Acura NSX GT3

Katherine Legge

Engine: 3.5-liter, twin-turbo V6 (mid-engine)

Points: 297 – 2nd

2018 Victories: 2

2018 Podiums: 6

How The No. 86 Can Clinch the Title: Among several other possibilities, the No. 86 team would clinch the title with a victory at Motul Petit Le Mans AND a finish of fourth or lower by the No. 48. The No. 86 team holds the tiebreaker, as both it and the No. 48 have two victories, but the No. 86 has more second-place finishes (three to one).

2018 Performance: The No. 86 team is heating up at the right time, with a victory in the most-recent race, the America’s Tire 250 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, for full-season driver Legge and co-driver Alvaro Parente following a third-place run at Michelin GT Challenge at VIRginia International Raceway in August. The key to the team’s season could have been Rounds 3 through 5, as its victory at the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic in Detroit by Legge and Mario Farnbacher, was sandwiched by second place results in the Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio and the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen. Those results were key drivers in the team’s decision to expand from an originally planned Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup program to the full WeatherTech Championship season.

Noteworthy: The championship would be a first for both Legge and the Meyer Shank Racing organization. Legge would continue the streak of female GTD champions following Christina Nielsen’s back-to-back titles in 2016 and 2017.

What She’s Saying:

KATHERINE LEGGE – “I think that preparation and being smart is the key to Petit. It’s a long race and there are so many factors that are out of your control, all you can do is try to put yourself in the best possible position for the end, without taking risks. Then in the last hour you go for it.”

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Others in mathematical contention for the GTD title:

* No. 33 Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 (Ben Keating, Jeroen Bleekemolen).

After New York whirlwind, Josef Newgarden makes special trip to simulator before Detroit

By Jun 2, 2023, 10:00 AM EDT
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DETROIT – There’s no rest for the weary as an Indy 500 winner, but Josef Newgarden discovered there are plenty of extra laps.

The reigning Indy 500 champion added an extra trip Wednesday night back to Concord, N.C., for one last session on the GM Racing simulator before Sunday’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.

After a 30-year run on the Belle Isle course, the race has been moved to a nine-turn, 1.7-mile layout downtown, so two extra hours on the simulator were worth it for Newgarden.

INDYCAR IN DETROIT: Entry list, schedule, TV info for this weekend

JOSEF’S FAMILY TIES: Newgarden wins Indy 500 with wisdom of father, wife

“I really wanted to do it,” he told NBC Sports at a Thursday media luncheon. “If there’s any time that the sim is most useful, it’s in this situation when no one has ever been on a track, and we’re able to simulate it as best as we can. We want to get some seat time.

“It’s extra important coming off the Indy 500 because you’ve been out of rhythm for a road or street course-type environment, so I really wanted some laps. I was really appreciative to Chevy. There was a few guys that just came in and stayed late for me so I could get those laps before coming up here. I don’t know if it’s going to make a difference, but I feel like it’s going to help for me.”

After a whirlwind tour of New York for two days, Newgarden arrived at the simulator (which is at the GM Racing Technical Center adjacent to Hendrick Motorsports) in time for a two hour session that started at 6 p.m. Wednesday. He stayed overnight in Charlotte and then was up for an early commercial flight to Detroit, where he had more media obligations.

Newgarden joked that if he had a jet, he would have made a quick stop in Nashville, Tennessee, but a few more days away from home (where he has yet to return in weeks) is a worthy tradeoff for winning the Greatest Spectacle in Racing – though the nonstop interviews can take a toll.

“It’s the hardest part of the gig for me is all this fanfare and celebration,” Newgarden said. “I love doing it because I’m so passionate about the Indy 500 and that racetrack and what that race represents. I feel honored to be able to speak about it. It’s been really natural and easy for me to enjoy it because I’ve been there for so many years.

“Speaking about this win has been almost the easiest job I’ve ever had for postrace celebrations. But it’s still for me a lot of work. I get worn out pretty easily. I’m very introverted. So to do this for three days straight, it’s been a lot.”

Though he is terrified of heights, touring the top of the Empire State Building for the first time was a major highlight (and produced the tour’s most viral moment).

“I was scared to get to the very top level,” Newgarden said. “That thing was swaying. No one else thought it was swaying. I’m pretty sure it was. I really impressed by the facility. I’d never seen it before. It’s one of those bucket list things. If you go to New York, it’s really special to do that. So to be there with the wreath and the whole setup, it just felt like an honor to be in that moment.”

Now the attention shifts to Detroit and an inaugural circuit that’s expected to be challenging. Along with a Jefferson Avenue straightaway that’s 0.9 miles long, the track has several low-speed corners and a “split” pit lane (teams will stop on both sides of a rectangular area) with a narrow exit that blends just before a 90-degree lefthand turn into Turn 1.

Newgarden thinks the track is most similar to the Music City Grand Prix in Nashville.

“It’s really hard to predict with this stuff until we actually run,” he said. “Maybe we go super smooth and have no issues. Typically when you have a new event, you’re going to have some teething issues. That’s understandable. We’ve always got to massage the event to get it where we want it, but this team has worked pretty hard. They’ve tried to get feedback constantly on what are we doing right, what do we need to look out for. They’ve done a ton of grinding to make sure this surface is in as good of shape as possible.

“There’s been no expense spared, but you can’t foresee everything. I have no idea how it’s going to race. I think typically when you look at a circuit that seems simple on paper, people tend to think it’s not going to be an exciting race, or challenging. I find the opposite always happens when we think that way. Watch it be the most exciting, chaotic, entertaining race.

Newgarden won the last two pole positions at Belle Isle’s 2.35-mile layout and hopes to continue the momentum while avoiding any post-Brickyard letdown.

“I love this is an opportunity for us to get something right quicker than anyone else,” he said. “A new track is always exciting from that standpoint. I feel I’m in a different spot. I’m pretty run down. I’m really trying to refocus and gain some energy back for tomorrow. Which I’ll have time to today, which is great.

“I don’t want that Indy 500 hangover. People always talk about it. They’ve always observed it. That doesn’t mean we have to win this weekend, but I’d like to leave here feeling like we had a really complete event, did a good job and had a solid finish leading into the summer. I want to win everywhere I go, but if we come out of here with a solid result and no mistakes, then probably everyone will be happy with it.”