Saturday Paddock Notes

For the second straight season, Corvette has announced changes to their driver lineup from Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca. After Jan Magnussen here last year, this time it’s Oliver Gavin who the team announced would be stepping away from full-time competition in the IMSA Weathertech Championship Series.

“To have been with the same team for 19 seasons has been an immense privilege, and I thank from the bottom of my heart each and every person who has shared that journey with me,” Gavin said.

Gavin’s outstanding record with Corvette Racing includes wins at the Rolex 24, 12 Hours of Sebring, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Change In TCR BoP Process

Earlier this week, IMSA announced a new partnership between themselves and World Sporting Consulting, the group responsible for TCR racing around the world. This partnership will allow IMSA and WSC to collaborate on the Balance of Performance for the cars, a task that was previously the sole discretion of WSC.

“Since 2018, IMSA has thoroughly enjoyed and benefited from our close partnership with WSC, including President Marcello Lotti and Sporting and Series Director Nunzia Corvino,” said Doonan.

“Because of our valued collaboration, we are both pleased to announce that the IMSA and WSC technical teams will join forces and establish a working group to define a specific endurance BoP process. This will be an enhancement to the sharing of vehicle data to date, and the core values of the established TCR platform will be retained,” Doonan added.

IMSA had introduced a weight-based balancing system, but that system “has not necessarily complemented the design efficiency of each manufacturer’s vehicle as homologated by WSC,” IMSA said in its statement.

Laguna Seca’s Emergency Role

As part of the series’ COVID-19 protocols, the media center for this weekend’s race at Laguna Seca is outside the boundaries of the track in the Hospitality Pavilion.

While there has been little opportunity for the space to be used to house guests, it has been used as an evacuation shelter for residents displaced by the wildfires that have impacted California earlier in the summer.

Today, our Hospitality Pavilion at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca is an evacuation relief center. Information, air conditioning, snacks and water are available from 8am to 8pm. Please take pets to SPCA across the street, no pets in the pavilion at this time. pic.twitter.com/29DL1vtVqk

— WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (@WeatherTechRcwy) August 19, 2020

This media center does have a much better view than the window-less bunker previously used.

Free Practice 1

Pipo Derani in the #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R. was quickest in Free Practice 1 by 0.519 seconds over Renger Van Der Zande in the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R.

Acura was third and fourth with the #6 Acura Team Penske ARX-05c of Juan Pablo-Montoya besting Helio Castroneves by just 0.020 seconds.

Corvette topped the charts in GTLM with Jordan Taylor beating the two Porsche 911 RSRs by 0.132 seconds. This was only the first hour of running for the Weathertech cars, but it seems Corvette and Porsche have the legs on the BMWs who ended the session fifth and sixth, both over one second behind Taylor’s time.

In GTD, eight cars are within one second of the top time set by Bill Auberlen in the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M6. Andy Lally in the #44 GRT Magnus Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 was second and Mario Farnbacher in the #86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX.

With so little running and a new, softer, compound of tyres this weekend for GTD, it’s still up in the air who might have the pace to beat.

The session was briefly red-flagged for debris on the track. The #77 Mazda RT-24P ran over a sponsor board, sending a part of it onto the racing surface.

In the final thirty-seconds of the session, the #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA 07 stopped on track before Turn 4. The car appeared to be undamaged. The #52 ORECA also topped the LMP2 class, by virtue of them being the only one entered.

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