Sunday September 6, 2020 by Philippe Brasseur
Transported from Watkins Glen to Road Atlanta, the traditional 6 Hours of IMSA gave rise to a thrilling race, as the series has offered regularly for several seasons. Prototypes and GT fought some great battles in their respective categories and, in the end, if Hélio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor clinched a second victory in three events with their Acura DPi prototype from Team Penske, Quebecer Bruno Spengler won his first victory in IMSA, winning with his teammate Connor De Phillippi in the GTLM class.
There was some action in this race from the start, as two LMP2s clashed! Qualified on pole position, Castroneves had a nightmarish start to the race, scoring two penalties for his team’s infringements in the pits, which relegated the former Indy 500 winner to almost two laps behind the leaders. These were then the Cadillacs, led by Renger Van der Zande and Ryan Briscoe, the winners of the last 24 Hours of Daytona.
Halfway through the race, Juan-Pablo Montoya and Dane Cameron, in the second Acura / Team Penske, were in the lead, before a few neutralizations again upset the hierarchy. The last one took place in preparation for the finish and the officials restarted the race for only two laps on the green! A NASCAR type end of race, in which Castroneves and Taylor emerged victorious, less than a second ahead of the Mazda / Multimatic of Jonathan Bomarito and Harry Tincknell. The Cadillac DPi of Nasr / Derani / Albuquerque, Bourdais / Barbosa / Vautier and Van der Zande / Briscoe completed the Top 5, ahead of Montoya / Cameron.
In the GTLM class, Bruno Spengler and Connor De Phillippi put an end to the Corvette winning streak by imposing their BMW M8 GTE. Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner (Corvette C8.R) and Jesse Krohn / John Edwards, in Team Rahal’s second BMW complete the podium in this category.
“It was a real challenge. This track is very demanding and it was my first time here, but I love it, ”said Bruno Spengler. He explains: “It was a difficult race but I liked it. The car was running great and Connor drove like hell! A big thank you to all the mechanics, our engineers, everyone involved… This is my first victory with BMW Team RLL and in IMSA, I am really very happy! ”
Finally in the GTD class, the trio Mario Farnbacher, Matt McMurry and Shinya Michimi notched their first victory of the season, with one of the two Acura NSX GT3 from Michael Shank Racing. Canadian Daniel Morad was less successful, finishing 25th (last) on one of the two Lexuses of the AIM-Vasser-Sullivan team.
In support of these 6 Hours two Porsche GT3 USA Cup races and a 4 hour race in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series were also presented. In the Porsche Cup, Ontarian Jeff Kingsley collected another victory yesterday, his 3rd in 5 starts this season, but he had to lose to his main rival for the title, the American Riley Dickinson, in the second race today. Kingsley, who drives for Kelly Moss Road and Race, remains the championship leader.
The IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge round concluded the program of activities this Sunday. There again, many changes of leaders took place, some teams also betting on refueling strategies which played bad tricks on them at the end of the race. The victory went to the Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R of Robin Liddell, Frank de Pew and Andrew Davis. This is the first win for the Rebel Rock team this season.
Taking advantage of Eric Foss’s Mercedes running out of fuel on the last lap, Seb Priaulx finished 2nd. He was with the Canadian Scott Maxwell in the Ford Mustang GT4 of the Toronto Multimatic team. The podium is completed by Trent Hindman and Alan Brynjolfsson (Porsche 718 Cayman / Archangel Motorsports).
Difficult race on the other hand for Motorsports In Action. The Quebec team sees its McLaren 570s GT4, entrusted to Sheena Monk and Corey Lewis, ranking 14th in all categories and 12th in the Grand Sports class. In the TCR class, the victory goes to Gabby Chaves and Ryan Norman (Hyundai Veloster N).
The next IMSA Series event is in three weeks (September 26-27), at the Mid-Ohio circuit.
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