Petit Le Mans: Friday Paddock Notes

There are less than 24 hours to go until the 26th annual Motul Petit Le Mans. RJ was ready to tackle the day after receiving a blistering ride around Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta this morning, with Joey Hand at the wheel of a new Ford Mustang Dark Horse. (It’s fast.)

Between a fascinating qualifying session for the main event tomorrow, plus a very, very fascinating Michelin Pilot Challenge finale, there was a lot to talk about today – so here’s the rest of today’s news in our daily notebook!

Updated IMSA Championship Standings after Qualifying

Louis Deletraz’s pole position puts his WTRAndretti co-drivers Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque on 2492 points.

They now have a nine-point lead over Action Express Racing’s Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims (2483), and an 11-point lead over Porsche Penske Motorsports’ Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy (2481). Whichever car finishes ahead will likely win the championship and would certainly do so if they win the race.

Connor de Philippi and Nick Yelloly (2447) can finish no lower than fourth to win the title; a win for the #25 BMW would require the #10, #31, and #6 cars to all finish third or lower.

Felipe Nasr and Matt Campbell (2411) are certain to play a facilitating role in the #6’s title bid as well as Porsche’s bid for the Manufacturer’s Championship. If catastrophe strikes the Tandy/Jaminet crew, the #7 needs to finish either first or second to have any chance at the title.

Finally, Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun (2361) need to win the race and have all of the following happen for Meyer Shank Racing to overcome a 131-point deficit to win the title: The #7 must finish third or lower, the #25 fifth or lower, the #6 to finish exactly eighth, the #31 to finish exactly ninth, and the #10 to finish last in class.

LMP2 is still a winner-take-all battle between TDS Racing’s Steven Thomas and Mikkel Jensen (1712) and PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports’ Ben Keating and Paul-Loup Chatin (1695). A win for either car clinches the title.

If the #52 PR1 Mathiasen car finishes fourth or better, they just need to finish one position ahead of the #11 TDS Racing car to win it.

George Kurtz and Ben Hanley (1608) of CrowdStrike by APR, meanwhile, must win the race with the #11 finishing seventh or lower, plus the #52 finishing fifth or lower.

A breakdown of the Michelin Endurance Cup and Jim Trueman Award standings, which are not impacted by qualifying, can be found in our championship preview posted earlier today.

Newgarden unphased by pressure to deliver, enjoying Road Atlanta’s challenge

Two-time IndyCar Series champion and Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden will be expected to aid Porsche in their fight for the IMSA GTP Manufacturers’ Championship – which is a fair expectation even in this heavily-specialised age of motorsport.

But even with only three pre-event tests under his belt before Petit Le Mans, Newgarden is not bothered by the pressure to deliver right away.

“There’s always pressure, I think, whenever you show up at a racetrack, especially at an event at this level with an iconic brand like Porsche, you’re expected to do the job – which is fine. That’s racing. There’s always going to be an expectation to deliver. It’s no different than when we show up at the Indy 500.

“There’s a high expectation to have a good day. So we thrive in that. I think the right attitude for tomorrow is to do what we know how to do and that’s to execute on our points and try to control what is in our control. I think if we can do that, we can put ourselves in a good position and potentially win the championship.”

Newgarden, who’d never driven around Road Atlanta before this week, immediately fell in love with the undulating, swift circuit combined with the Porsche 963. “I mean, I literally just said ‘wow’ when I drove a couple of laps! It’s an unbelievable racetrack. To have the opportunity to drive a proper race car like this 963 around this track was really eye-opening.

“I love it. This is how race tracks should be, it’s very old-school, it’s what a racer would dream up. It’s penalising, and it’s very demanding. I’ve enjoyed it from the very first lap.

It’s quite the step up from the Oreca LMP2 that Newgarden drove at the Daytona 24 Hours, and a different challenge from his usual ride in IndyCar – but represents a major opportunity for the Penske ace to impress in another discipline.

Pfaff plaid – not gone entirely!

Among the noteworthy videos that have gone up from the official IMSA YouTube Channel is Marshall Pruett’s chat with Pfaff Motorsports General Manager, Steve Bortolotti, who’s fielded many concerned comments in the wake of Pfaff’s move to McLaren and the loss of the team’s signature red and black plaid livery.

Fans of this look may not be left entirely out in the cold however, as Bortolotti explained yesterday, saying that the Pfaff McLaren could have some plaid on the car. “It won’t be this beautiful, red plaid, the way we see it. It won’t be ‘papaya plaid’ either.

“But we will have some plaid, somewhere on the car. Maybe a little splash of plaid!” Bortolotti said.

Eversley already looking ahead to next chapter

As you’ve heard within the last 24 hours, Ryan Eversley announced that he will not return as a Honda works driver in 2024.

It’s a cruel cut in the already unforgiving racing business, but Eversley is taking things in stride heading into next season.

DSC can confirm that Eversley has received a competitive offer to race in the SRO Motorsports America paddock in the GT4 America series, one that the Atlanta-area native is already excited about – pending the deal being finalised in the coming weeks.

Eversley finished third in his final start with LA Honda World Racing alongside Mike LaMarra.

CSJ Motorsports bowing out as AMR North America distributor

CSJ Motorsports has announced it will not renew its commitment to being the official North American distributor and parts supplier for Aston Martin Racing (AMR) for 2024 and beyond.

“We were told by several groups and individuals in the paddock when we entered the sport that the previous support for AMR teams was not on par with other manufacturers in major league sports car racing,” said co-founder Susan Jary.

“We listened to what each and every individual and team said and strived from the beginning to improve the level of service provided for all. The goal with any project is to leave it better than you found it and we can say with confidence we were able to accomplish that the last four years.”

The fruits of CSJ’s turnaround can be seen in the proliferation of Aston Martin customer teams throughout the IMSA and SRO America paddocks in GT3 and GT4 which have enjoyed tangible success in the sport.

Cy and Susan Jary will now be pursuing other options within the motorsports industry.

Garg, Carazo, and Zilisch complete weekend sweeps

Bijoy Garg capitalized on the late-race misfortunes of Jagger Jones and Dan Goldburg to take his sixth straight VP Racing Sportscar Challenge win to close out a title-winning campaign.

The #3 Jr III Racing Ligier JS P320 took the lead on the final lap after Jones’ car broke down with two laps to go, then Goldburg collided with a lapped car on the final lap and slid through the gravel, as Garg drove past him to the victory.

Goldburg finished second and Courtney Crone finished third in the race.

In the GSX class, Sebastian Carazo swept both races in his #27 KellyMoss with Riley Porsche 718 Cayman GT4.

Gregory Liefooghe was second, and Turner Motorsport’s Francis Selldorff finished third to clinch the GSX championship. It was the first of two titles won today by Will Turner’s team – Vin Barletta and Robby Foley would win the Michelin Pilot Challenge GS titles in a wild final round.

Connor Zilisch, meanwhile, completed a weekend sweep in the Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup finale, winning over team-mate Selin Rollan by a whopping 0.196 seconds. Max Opalski rounded out the podium in third.

Jared Thomas finished fifth and officially became the first repeat champion in MX-5 Cup history, securing the $250,000 USD champions’ prize from Mazda in the process.

Feature image © Michael L. Levitt / IMSA

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