MONTEREY, Calif. — The WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca 120 evolved into a two-car battle for Grand Sport (GS) class honors in round three of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge.
The two-hour contest at the iconic California race track of the same name appeared to have been decided by a quicker pit stop for the No. 28 RS1 Porsche 718 GT4 RS Clubsport driven by Stevan McAleer and Trent Hindman.
But Jesse Lazare, who shared the No. 69 Motorsports in Action McLaren Artura GT4 that Michael de Quesada guided to the Motul Pole Award one day earlier, caught and passed Hindman with 28 minutes remaining and held on to win by 0.691 seconds.
The domination by the leading duo was demonstrated by the fact that the third-place No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT4 was 16 seconds behind at the end of 75 laps of racing.
Daniel Morad (co-driver Bryce Ward) hunted down and passed Jack Hawksworth in the No. 50 Hattori Motorsports Toyota Supra GT4 Evo for the final podium position, but Hawksworth and co-driver Jaden Conwright had nothing to be ashamed of in fourth place after a technical infringement in qualifying forced them to start from the back of the 25-car GS field.
De Quesada controlled the pace throughout his opening 62-minute stint, but Lazare found himself in second place to start the second half of the race. Hindman initially looked comfortable at the front in the Porsche, but the pace of the pole-winning McLaren became apparent and Hindman was powerless to hold off Lazare.
“It was almost a perfect race,” Lazare said. “We lost a bit of time in the pits, and I lost a little bit on my out lap getting the tires up to temperature quick enough. But we kept a steady pace and were finally able to catch up to the Porsche, passed him and kept him behind us.
“Our gear ratios, in particular, really suited these corners on this track,” he added. “We had torque in all the right places, with great power down and grip. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Earlier in the day, de Quesada called the race “one of the most prestigious races on our calendar,” so he was thrilled to capture his first victory in Michelin Pilot Challenge competition.
“You never really know what’s going to happen, so I kept an open mind,” he said. “We definitely capitalized on the pole position, and it was absolutely awesome to get a win here.”
It was Lazare’s third Michelin Pilot Challenge win, and the first for him and McLaren since the 2023 season finale at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. Hindman took the second-place finish in stride and paid tribute to the RS1 pit crew that vaulted the No. 28 Porsche into the lead.
“Our guys are animals on the wheel gun,” he remarked. “I wanted to try to take advantage of that, so I pushed hard on the out lap and was able to open a bit of a gap. But there’s no doubt they had some speed in that car and it was going to be a fight. At the end of the day, I didn’t want to jeopardize a quality result.”
Miller, Taylor, No. 17 Earn Third Straight TCR Win of Season
Chris Miller and Mikey Taylor kept their perfect 2024 season intact in the Touring Car (TCR) portion of the Michelin Pilot Challenge by following the same recipe of success.
As he did in the first two races this year, Miller put the No. 17 Unitronic/JDC-Miller MotorSports Audi RS3 LMS TCR in contention at WeatherTech Raceway, then Taylor powered the car into the lead and on to victory lane.
Miller passed a pair of Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Hyundais in the final 21 minutes of the two-hour race to secure the third win in as many outings this season for the No. 17 Audi. It’s been a rewarding beginning to 2024 for the JDC-Miller team after a shot at winning the TCR championship slipped away in the 2023 finale at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
“We’re focused on winning this championship after it got away from us in Atlanta last year,” Taylor said.
Taylor started second in TCR but a miscue behind a GS car during his stint dropped him to fifth place when he turned the No. 17 over to Miller on a pit stop. Miller trailed leader Mason Filippi in the No. 98 BHA Hyundai Elantra N TCR by eight seconds with 45 minutes remaining but chipped away the deficit quickly.
Miller shoved his way past Robert Wickens in the No. 33 BHA Hyundai through the Andretti Hairpin with 21 minutes to go. Two laps later, he followed a pair of GS cars past Filippi in the same spot to grab the lead and went on to win by 1.254 seconds.
“I don’t think we had crazy outright speed, but on old tires, which is what this track is known for, we were OK,” Miller said. “It was a couple tough passes. The GS guys helped me out a little bit, making some holes, and we took what we could.
“It feels great, feels great,” Miller added. “I had my mind on my wedding next week a little bit, but it feels good to be here. Great points for the team and just happy for everyone in the program.”
The win was the ninth for Taylor in Michelin Pilot Challenge competition and the eighth for Miller. Meanwhile, Filippi and co-driver Mark Wilkins, trying to repeat as the WeatherTech Raceway TCR winners, felt that second place was the best they could do on this day.
“I think we did the best we could today,” Wilkins said. “We can’t compete with that car with the pace right now that they can run, so for us, we were just trying to make as few mistakes as possible. We ran really a perfect day in my opinion, so second is a win for us today.”
Flawless Pit Stop Pushes No. 4 Ansa Motorsports To Victory
The mandatory pit stop is a crucial component of Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America races. Nico Jamin and Kiko Porto executed theirs perfectly, leading to the overall and Pro class victory in Saturday’s race that boasted a series record field of 40 cars.
In a disjointed race due to three full-course caution periods, Jamin and Porto took the win under the final yellow in the No. 4 Ansa Motorsports, Lamborghini Broward Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2. It’s the pair’s second victory in three races this season.
Jamin held second place when the mandatory 10-minute pit window opened on the restart from the second caution with 23 minutes left in the 50-minute race. Jamin was among the first to pit. Knowing he’d have fresher tires due to his co-driver’s limited green-flag running between the yellows, Porto put down the hammer on his first laps and rode into first place by the time the pit cycle finished.
“I knew that when I got in the car (the tires) were going to have like good condition to really push, and not necessarily save the tires,” Porto said. “When I went on the track, I just tried to do like quali laps because the car was good and the rubber was still there.”
Porto still held a comfortable gap when the final caution came out with two minutes left. The No. 1 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti, Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán, with co-drivers Danny Formal and Ryan Norman, finished second.
“It’s awesome,” Jamin added. “We’ve put a lot of work with the team, Ansa Motorsports, to bring a really good program together with fast drivers. Everyone is doing a great job. I’m so happy for the team to get this second win of the season. That race was crazy, man; the start was absolutely hectic. Huge battles on track but always respectful with every driver.”
Pink Unicorn Rolls to ProAm Class Victory
Andy Lee and Slade Stewart took the ProAm class pole in the No. 14 Flying Lizard Motorsports, Lamborghini Newport Beach Huracán and were never seriously challenged on their drive to victory. It’s their first win together in their second season in the popular pink unicorn car nicknamed “Sparklefarts.”
“It all comes down to the team,” Lee said. “Our crew gave us just an incredible car so it made our jobs relatively easy. All we had to do was maintain and not make mistakes. Slade got in and just held it true all the way to the end. We’ve been working on this for a couple of years so it’s so good to finally share the top step with him.”
“I was just being as consistent as I could every lap,” added Stewart, who won the 2022 LB Cup class championship, “and bringing Sparklefarts home under the checkered.”
Late Driver Pairing Meshes Well to Win in Am
Al Morey and Cole Kleck weren’t even officially paired to drive the No. 28 Alliance Racing, Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán until the day before their debut race together. Unfazed, they rolled to the Am class win, finishing just ahead of their Alliance teammates Andre Lagartixa and Robert Soroka in the No. 25 Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán.
“What I tried to do was keep the nose clean from (starting) P2,” said Morey, who began the race in the No. 28, “avoid some of the wreckage in those yellow periods we had, save the tires and give (Kleck) as much information as I could when I handed the car to him.”
Added Kleck, “He’s the best teammate I could have right now. He gave me the tires to go win the race, and we won the race. It feels great.”
“First-time win,” chimed in Morey. “I can’t even believe it.”
Staab Grabs Maiden Win in LB Cup
Michael Staab took a wire-to-wire victory in LB Cup. He put the No. 48 Precision Performance Motorsports, Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán on the class pole and didn’t look back in achieving his first Super Trofeo triumph.
“I’d never run Laguna,” he said. “From every practice, I was just pushing it more, trying new things. I just put it all together and made it happen. It’s my first actual professional win, so I’m on a real big high right now!”
The new pavement at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca was a perfect match for the new Corvette, which earned its first pole position with the Corvette Z06 GT3.R model that debuted this season.
Corvette Sweeps GTD PRO Front Row
Nicky Catsburg won the Motul Pole Award in Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) with his record-setting lap of 1 minute, 19.727 seconds (101.054 mph) in the Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.
In fact, Catsburg was followed by Antonio Garcia in the team’s sister car, the No. 3 Corvette, at 1:20.038, giving Corvette a sweep in the first IMSA race at WeatherTech Raceway since its offseason repave.
While Corvette was dominating GTD PRO, Danny Formal took charge of GTD with a lap of 1:20.866 in the Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 – the first pole position for the team as a full-season GTD program.
In part because of the new surface, pole position was an important target for Catsburg and co-driver Tommy Milner, along with Garcia and his co-driver, Alexander Sims.
“We really put our emphasis on qualifying,” Catsburg said. “We know track position is going to be important here. It’s a low-degradation track now. We put a lot of effort into it, and it worked. The car felt amazing, so it was pretty much just doing some laps and letting the time get toward me. It worked out.”
Marvin Kirchhoefer recorded the third-fastest lap (1:20.244) in GTD PRO in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3 EVO he shares with Oliver Jarvis. Formal talked about WTRAndretti’s effort to get the Lamborghini up to speed in a short time frame.
“I’m just so happy with my teammates,” said Formal, who co-drives the No. 45 with Kyle Marcelli. “Everyone has been working so, so hard to get this program from zero to a pole position in three races. It’s pretty incredible.”
The temporarily renumbered No. 557 Turner Motorpsort BMW M4 GT3 co-driven by Patrick Gallagher and Robby Foley landed alongside the WTRAndretti Lambo on the front row in GTD with Gallagher’s lap of 1:20.995. The number celebrates the team’s 557th race with BMW – the most by any team in the world.
The WeatherTech Championship GTD points-leading No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 co-driven by Russell Ward and Philip Ellis will start third in GTD. Ward and Ellis are looking for their third victory in four races this season after claiming GTD honors at both the Rolex 24 At Daytona and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.