DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Ten events and 62 hours of racing have brought the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship to its conclusion in this weekend’s Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. With four classes of cars on classic road courses, street circuits and “rovals,” the competition has been as fierce as it has been unpredictable.
And if the past is any barometer, that competition will be fiercer and more unpredictable than ever in Saturday’s 10-hour event, with driver, team and manufacturer championships on the line for a fortunate (and accomplished) few, and the men and women in (and behind) every one of the 54 entries seeking to end the 2024 season on a winning note.
Playing Nice and Maybe Not So Nice
The combination of this being the final race of the season and the fact that titles are on the line has often seen sparks fly among competitors. Take, for example, the 2020 and 2021 races where the Daytona Prototype international (DPi) class titles were not decided until the final laps and not before some hard racing resulted in plenty of broken carbon fiber and ill humor.
Now as then, only two cars have a reasonable chance of claiming the title in the top prototype class (Grand Touring Prototype [GTP] now as opposed to DPi then). However, the competition between the contenders is likely to be clean – if spirited – given that the championship-leading Nos. 7 and 6 Porsche 963s are fielded by Porsche Penske Motorsport. Not that the drivers and crews on each car don’t covet the title, but history has shown that while Roger Penske’s drivers are free, indeed encouraged, to battle hard, they rarely cross the line of putting one another at risk.
Given that the No. 7 only needs to finish within the same zip code as its sister car to claim the title, there is no need for Dane Cameron, Felipe Nasr and endurance driver Matt Campbell to play hardball with their teammates if push should come to shove. More likely, with nothing much to lose by throwing a Hail Mary, Mathieu Jaminet, Nick Tandy, Kevin Estre and the No. 6 crew will play an alternate strategy game, doing whatever the No. 7 doesn’t, in the hope the breaks go their way.
Very different dynamics appear to be in play for the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) and GT Daytona (GTD) classes. The LMP2 is essentially a three-horse race among the points-leading No. 52 Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports, No. 74 Riley and No. 18 Era Motorsport ORECA LMP2 07s. In an evenly matched season that has only produced one repeat winner (the No. 18 Era), the No. 52 needs to finish third or better to clinch the championship hardware regardless of where the others finish. In GTD PRO, the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R looks to keep the No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo at bay for one more weekend, having seen its once-considerable lead all but evaporate before a brilliant performance by Laurin Heinrich and Michael Christensen carried the No. 77 to victory at Indianapolis last month. Again, a top-three finish clinches the title for the AO squad.
As for GTD, Philip Ellis, Russell Ward and the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 clinched the manufacturer title for Mercedes-AMG at Indianapolis and need only come home P14 or better on Saturday to add the driver and team championships to their 2024 haul. But with the championship hardware effectively spoken for, the GTD competitors can all focus on the job at hand – winning the race – free from any worries about points.
Forget the Above
No worries about points? Check that. The IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup titles are in play in all four classes, adding plenty of intrigue to the final 10 hours of the 2024 season. Especially at the four-, eight- and (of course) 10-hour marks, as that’s when points are awarded based on the running order at those stages of the race. Given that they lead their respective classes in the Michelin Endurance Cup standings, the No. 7 Penske Porsche and No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes have a golden opportunity to score an “IMSA Double,” taking both the season and endurance titles in the same season.
Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen can also claim both LMP2 titles. However, it will be no easy assignment given they find the No. 52 is in a dead heat with the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA heading to Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. Meanwhile, although the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 is basically eliminated from winning the GTD PRO season title, it holds the largest Michelin Endurance Cup lead in any class (five points) and could take some solace by holding onto that honor in the team’s first season in GTD PRO.
Auld Lang Syne
As with any season finale, there will be a bittersweet air to the weekend. After all, things will never be the same as they were in 2024. Drivers and crews, indeed teams and manufacturers, have been and will continue to play musical chairs with their eyes on the 2025 WeatherTech Championship.
Thus, as fireworks light up the Georgia sky late Saturday night, fond farewells and good wishes will be exchanged throughout a paddock that will see Acura make its final appearance in GTD and Bryan Sellers drive his final race for Paul Miller Racing as he takes on a management position at DXDT Racing. Meanwhile, Chip Ganassi Racing will make its final IMSA appearance with Cadillac as drivers Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande hit the free agent market, Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti goes from Acura to Cadillac following the finale and, after a one-year hiatus, Meyer Shank Racing prepares to reprise its successful relationship with Acura in 2025.