The 18th Annual petit Le Mans presented by Mazdawas the 2015 version of thePetit Le Mansautomotive endurance race, was held on October 1–3 2015 at the Road Atlanta circuit inBraselton, Georgia.This was the second Petit Le Mans in theUnited SportsCar Championship.The race was won overall byRichard Lietz,Patrick Pilet,andNick Tandyin the #911Porsche North AmericaPorsche 911 RSR.Originally scheduled to run for 10 hours, the race was concluded after 8 hours (199 laps) were completed due to heavy rain, darkness, visibility, and hydroplaning.[1]This marked the first time in the event's history that a GT car won overall.[2][3]
Background
edit
Preview
editInternational Motor Sports Association(IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the2015 IMSA Tudor United SportsCar Championship(IMSA TUSC) in August 2014.[4]It was the second consecutive year the event was held as part of the Tudor United SportsCar Championship, and the 19th Petit Le Mans. The 2015 Petit Le Mans was the twelfth of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2015 by IMSA, and was the fourth round of the Patron North American Endurance Cup.[5]The race was held at the twelve-turn, 2.540-mile (4.088 km)Road AtlantainBraselton, Georgiaon October 3, 2015.[5]
Entry list
editThe official entry list consisted of 37 cars, including 9 in prototype, 8 in prototype challenge, 8 in GTLM and 12 in GTD.[6]
Practice
editThere were four practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, three on Thursday and one on Friday. The first two one-hour sessions were on Thursday morning and afternoon. The third held later that evening ran for 90 minutes; the fourth on Friday morning lasted an hour.[7]
Practice 1
editThe first practice session took place at 11:10 amETon Thursday and ended withOswaldo Negri Jr.topping the charts forMichael Shank RacingwithCurb/Agajanian,with a lap time of 1:15.163.[8]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | P | 60 | Michael Shank RacingwithCurb/Agajanian | Oswaldo Negri Jr. | 1:15.163 | _ |
| 2 | P | 01 | Chip Ganassi Racing | Scott Pruett | 1:15.627 | +0.464 |
| 3 | P | 0 | DeltaWing Racing CarswithClaro/TracFone | Katherine Legge | 1:15.757 | +0.594 |
| Source:[9] | ||||||
Practice 2
editThe second practice session took place at 3:35 pmETon Thursday and ended withJoey Handtopping the charts forChip Ganassi Racing,with a lap time of 1:16.937.[10]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | P | 01 | Chip Ganassi Racing | 1:16.937 | _ |
| 2 | P | 0 | DeltaWing Racing CarswithClaro/TracFone | 1:17.155 | +0.218 |
| 3 | P | 31 | Action Express Racing | 1:17.352 | +0.415 |
| Source:[11] | |||||
Night Practice
editThe night practice session took place at 7:30 pmETon Thursday and ended withJordan Taylortopping the charts forWayne Taylor Racing,with a lap time of 1:29.369.[12]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | P | 10 | Wayne Taylor Racing | 1:29.369 | _ |
| 2 | P | 5 | Action Express Racing | 1:29.436 | +0.067 |
| 3 | P | 01 | Chip Ganassi Racing | 1:29.421 | +2.052 |
| Source:[13] | |||||
Final Practice
editThe fourth and final practice session took place at 10:05 amETon Friday and ended withJoão Barbosatopping the charts forAction Express Racing,with a lap time of 1:23.262.[14]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | P | 5 | Action Express Racing | João Barbosa | 1:23.262 | _ |
| 2 | P | 01 | Chip Ganassi Racing | Scott Pruett | 1:23.626 | +0.394 |
| 3 | GTLM | 911 | Porsche North America | Nick Tandy | 1:24.015 | +0.783 |
| Source:[15] | ||||||
Qualifying
editRichard Westbrooksecured overall pole for the event.[16]
Qualifying results
editPole positionsin each class are indicated inboldand by ‡.
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | P | 90 | VisitFlorida.com Racing | Richard Westbrook | 1:27.860 | _ | 1‡ |
| 2 | P | 5 | Action Express Racing | Christian Fittipaldi | 1:28.920 | +1.060 | 2 |
| 3 | P | 01 | Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates | Joey Hand | 1:29.627 | +1.767 | 3 |
| 4 | GTLM | 912 | Porsche North America | Earl Bamber | 1:30.3041 | +2.444 | 36 |
| 5 | GTLM | 911 | Porsche North America | Nick Tandy | 1:30.398 | +2.538 | 35 |
| 6 | P | 10 | Wayne Taylor Racing | Ricky Taylor | 1:30.621 | +2.761 | 4 |
| 7 | P | 31 | Action Express Racing | Dane Cameron | 1:30.884 | +3.024 | 5 |
| 8 | GTLM | 4 | Corvette Racing | Oliver Gavin | 1:31.685 | +3.825 | 17‡ |
| 9 | GTLM | 24 | BMW Team RLL | Lucas Luhr | 1:31.763 | +3.903 | 18 |
| 10 | LMPC | 52 | PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports | Tom Kimber-Smith | 1:32.378 | +4.518 | 6‡ |
| 11 | LMPC | 16 | BAR1 Motorsports | Johnny Mowlem | 1:32.924 | +5.064 | 7 |
| 12 | GTLM | 62 | Risi Competizione | Giancarlo Fisichella | 1:32.989 | +5.129 | 19 |
| 13 | GTLM | 25 | BMW Team RLL | Bill Auberlen | 1:33.680 | +5.820 | 20 |
| 14 | GTLM | 3 | Corvette Racing | Antonio García | 1:33.773 | +5.913 | 21 |
| 15 | PC | 88 | Starworks Motorsport | Alex Popow | 1:33.903 | +6.043 | 16 |
| 16 | PC | 11 | RSR Racing | Chris Cumming | 1:35.825 | +7.965 | 8 |
| 17 | PC | 85 | JDC-Miller MotorSports | Chris Miller | 1:36.838 | +10.260 | 9 |
| 18 | PC | 8 | Starworks Motorsport | Mirco Schultis | 1:38.120 | +10.260 | 10 |
| 19 | GTD | 93 | Riley Motorsports | Cameron Lawrence | 1:38.295 | +10.435 | 22‡ |
| 20 | GTD | 73 | Park Place Motorsports | Spencer Pumpelly | 1:38.886 | +11.026 | 23 |
| 21 | GTD | 22 | Alex Job Racing | Leh Keen | 1:38.899 | +11.039 | 24 |
| 22 | P | 0 | Claro/TracFoneDeltaWing Racing | Katherine Legge | 1:39.618 | +11.758 | 11 |
| 23 | GTD | 45 | Flying Lizard Motorsports | Guy Cosmo | 1:41.604 | +13.744 | 25 |
| 24 | GTD | 33 | Riley Motorsports | Ben Keating | 1:41.698 | +13.838 | 26 |
| 25 | GTD | 63 | Scuderia Corsa | Jeff Segal | 1:41.750 | +13.890 | 27 |
| 26 | GTD | 64 | Scuderia Corsa | Daniel Serra | 1:42.627 | +14.767 | 28 |
| 27 | PC | 54 | CORE Autosport | Anthony Lazzaro | 1:42.775 | +14.915 | 12 |
| 28 | GTD | 007 | TRG-AMR | Christina Nielsen | 1:42.911 | +15.051 | 29 |
| 29 | GTD | 48 | Paul Miller Racing | Dion von Moltke | 1:43.620 | +15.760 | 30 |
| 30 | GTD | 23 | Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing | Mario Farnbacher | 1:44.320 | +16.460 | 31 |
| 31 | GTD | 44 | Magnus Racing | John Potter | 1:47.000 | +19.140 | 32 |
| 32 | GTLM | 17 | Team Falken Tire | Bryan Sellers | No time | _ | 34 |
| 33 | P | 07 | Mazda Motorsports | None | No time | _ | 14 |
| 34 | PC | 38 | Performance Tech Motorsports | None | No time | _ | 37 |
| 35 | P | 60 | Michael Shank RacingwithCurb-Agajanian | None | No time | _ | 13 |
| 36 | P | 70 | Mazda Motorsports | None | No time | _ | 15 |
| 37 | GTD | 97 | Turner Motorsport | None | No time | _ | 33 |
| Source:[17][18] | |||||||
- 1The No. 912 Porsche North America entry had its fastest lap deleted as penalty for causing a red flag during its qualifying session.
Results
editClass winners denoted inboldand with ‡.
References
edit- ^DiZinno, Tony (3 October 2015)."Barfield, Drivers Discuss Decision to End Petit Le Mans Early".sportscar365.com.Retrieved5 March2023.
- ^DiZinno, Tony (3 October 2015)."Tandy, Pilet Score Historic Overall Win in Rain-Shortened Petit Le Mans".sportscar365.com.Retrieved5 March2023.
- ^Dagys, John (3 October 2015)."Action Express Wins Prototype Class, Championship at Petit Le Mans".sportscar365.com.Retrieved5 March2023.
- ^Dagys, John (10 August 2014)."2015 TUSC, CTSC Schedules Released".Sportscar365.com.John Dagys Media, LLC.Retrieved25 October2024.
- ^abPruett, Marshall (August 10, 2014)."IMSA: 2015 TUDOR Championship schedule revealed".Racer.com. Archived fromthe originalon March 23, 2015.Retrieved25 October2024.
- ^DiZinno, Tony (23 September 2015)."37 Cars on Petit Le Mans Entry List".sportscar365.com.Retrieved5 March2023.
- ^Dagys, John (September 30, 2015)."Continental Tire Keys to the Race: Petit Le Mans".sportscar365.com.John Dagys Media, LLC.RetrievedJuly 12,2023.
- ^"TUSCC: Petit Le Mans, Road Atlanta, Thursday Free Practice".dailysportscar.com.October 2, 2015.RetrievedJuly 12,2023.
- ^"ResultsQuery"(PDF).dailysportscar.com.October 2, 2015.RetrievedJuly 12,2023.
- ^DiZinno, Tony (October 1, 2015)."Hand Quickest in Wet Practice 2 at Road Atlanta".sportscar365.com.John Dagys Media.RetrievedJuly 12,2023.
- ^"ResultsQuery"(PDF).dailysportscar.com.October 2, 2015.RetrievedJuly 12,2023.
- ^DiZinno, Tony (October 1, 2015)."Pew Crash Puts Shank's Petit Le Mans Participation in Doubt".sportscar365.com.RetrievedJuly 12,2023.
- ^"ResultsQuery"(PDF).dailysportscar.com.October 2, 2015.RetrievedJuly 12,2023.
- ^Dagys, John (October 2, 2015)."Barbosa Quickest in Mixed-Condition Practice 4".sportscar365.com.RetrievedJuly 12,2023.
- ^"ResultsQuery"(PDF).dailysportscar.com.October 2, 2015.RetrievedJuly 12,2023.
- ^Pruett, Marshell (2 October 2015)."IMSA: Petit Le Mans poles set at rainy Road Atlanta".racer.com.Retrieved7 March2023.
- ^"Road_Atlanta_Qualifying.pdf"(PDF).imsatiming.com.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2021-10-20.Retrieved7 March2023.
- ^"Corrected Grid Official"(PDF).imsatiming.com.3 October 2015. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 6 March 2018.Retrieved25 October2024.
- ^"Road_Atlanta-2015-10-03.html".racingsportscars.com.Retrieved5 March2023.
- ^"Unofficial Race Report"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2016-02-22.Retrieved5 March2023.