The2021 Road Race Showcase at Road Americawas a sports car race sanctioned by theInternational Motor Sports Association(IMSA). The Race was held atRoad AmericainElkhart Lake, Wisconsinon August 8, 2021. The race was the eighth round of the2021 IMSA SportsCar Championshipand the fifth round of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup.
Background
edit
International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the2021 IMSA SportsCar Championship(IMSA SCC) in September 2020. It was the eighth consecutive year it was part of the IMSA SportsCar Championship.[1]The 2021 Road Race Showcase at Road America was the eighth of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2021 by IMSA, and it was the fifth round held as part of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup.[2]The race was held at the fourteen-turn 4.048 mi (6.515 km)Road AmericainElkhart Lake, Wisconsinon August 8, 2021.[3]
During this race weekend, IMSA holds their "State of the Series" annual press conference, in which they confirm and announce their future plans for the series they sanction.
On August 3, 2021, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outlining Balance of Performance for the event.[4]In DPi, theMazda RT24-Preceived a 10 kilogram weight increase. In GTD, theLexus RC F GT3received a 10 kilogram weight increase. TheAston Martin Vantage GT3was given a 6.7 horsepower reduction. TheAudi R8 LMS GT3 EvoandBMW M6 GT3were given fuel capacity reduction of 1 and 2 liters, respectively. No changes were made in GTLM.
Before the race,Filipe AlbuquerqueandRicky Taylorled the DPi Drivers' Championship with 2068 points, ahead ofOliver JarvisandHarry Tincknellin second with 1987 points, andPipo DeraniandFelipe Nasrwith 1954 points.[5]In LMP2,Mikkel JensenandBen Keatingled the Drivers' Championship with 1087 points, ahead ofTristan NunezandSteven Thomas.[5]With 1468 points, Gar Robinson led the LMP3 Drivers' Championship, 96 points ahead ofJon BennettandColin Braun.[5]Antonio GarcíaandJordan Taylorled the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 1852 points, 191 points ahead ofTommy MilnerandNick Tandyfollowed byCooper MacNeilin third.[5]With 1606 points, the GTD Drivers' Championship was led byRoman De AngelisandRoss Gunn,ahead ofBill AuberlenandRobby Foley.[5]Cadillac,Chevrolet,andAston Martinwere leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, whileWTR-Konica Minolta Acura,PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports,Riley Motorsports,Corvette Racing,and Heart of Racing Team each led their own Teams' Championships.[5]
Entries
editA total 35 cars took part in the event split across five classes. 6 were entered in DPi, 4 in LMP2, 7 in LMP3, 3 in GTLM, and 15 in GTD.[6]Ryan Dalzielsubstituted forKyle Tilleyin the Era Motorsport entry due to a clash with theNASCAR Cup Seriesround atWatkins Glen.[7]Jr III Motorsports and Wulver Motorsports made theirIMSA SportsCar Championshipdebuts at this event while Dawson Racing was absent. Dan Goldburg returned to the #38 Performance Tech Motorsports entry after Mateo Llarena filled in atWatkins Glen.NTE Sport returned after skipping theLime Rockround.[8]
Practice
editThere were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Sunday, one on Friday and one on Saturday.[9]The first session on Friday afternoon lasted one hour while the second session on Saturday morning lasted 105 minutes.
Practice 1
editThe first practice session took place at 6:10 PMCTon Friday and ended withHarry Tincknelltopping the charts forMazda Motorsports,with a lap time of 2:09.769.[10]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DPi | 55 | Mazda Motorsports | Harry Tincknell | 2:09.769 | _ |
| 2 | DPi | 10 | Konica Minolta Acura | Filipe Albuquerque | 2:10.168 | +0.399 |
| 3 | DPi | 01 | Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing | Kevin Magnussen | 2:10.577 | +0.808 |
| Source:[11] | ||||||
Practice 2
editThe second and final practice session took place at 9:55 AMCTon Saturday and ended withRicky Taylortopping the charts forKonica Minolta Acura,with a lap time of 1:49.752.[12]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DPi | 10 | Konica Minolta Acura | Ricky Taylor | 1:49.752 | _ |
| 2 | DPi | 31 | Whelen Engineering Racing | Felipe Nasr | 1:50.411 | +0.659 |
| 3 | DPi | 5 | JDC-Mustang Sampling Racing | Tristan Vautier | 1:50.556 | +0.804 |
| Source:[13] | ||||||
Qualifying
edit
Qualifying was broken into four sessions.[9]Rain fell and increased as qualifying progressed.[14][15]The first was for cars in GTD class.Aaron Telitz's No. 14 Lexus was fastest overall, lapping at 2 minutes, 07.195 seconds, beatingTrent Hindman's No. 16 Porsche by more than six-tenths of a second.Robby Foleywas third in the No. 96 BMW followed byZacharie Robichonin the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche.[16]
The second session was for cars in the GTLM and GTD classes.Jordan Taylor's No. 3 Corvette was 26th overall, and was the fastest GTLM car with a 2 minutes, 20.979 second laps. His teammateNick Tandyqualified the No. 4 Corvette the GTLM grid's front row andCooper MacNeil's No. 79 Porsche was third.[15][17]Laurens Vanthoorset the fastest time in the GTD points paying session and earned 35 championship points.[16]
The third session was for cars in the LMP3 class. Dan Goldburg's No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports Ligier was 23rd overall and was the fastest LMP3 car with a 2 minutes, 19.106 seconds lap.[14]
The final session of qualifying was for cars in the DPi and LMP2 classes.Felipe Nasr's No. 31 Cadillac was third overall and would start from began from pole position with a 2 minutes, 7.195 seconds lap. He was seven-tenths clear ofRicky Taylor's No. 10 Acura in second.Kevin Magnussentook third forCadillac Chip Ganassi Racing.Ben Keating's No. 52 Oreca was 22nd overall and was the fastest LMP2 car with a 2 minutes, 18.511 seconds lap.Steven Thomas' No. 11 WIN Autosport Oreca took third andJohn Farano's No. 8Tower MotorsportOreca was third.[17]
Qualifying results
editPole positionsin each class are indicated inboldand by ‡.
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GTD | 14 |  Vasser Sullivan Racing
|
Aaron Telitz
|
2:07.195 | _ | 21‡ |
| 2 | GTD | 16 | Wright Motorsports
|
Trent Hindman
|
2:07.862 | +0.667 | 22 |
| 3 | DPi | 31 | Whelen Engineering Racing
|
 Felipe Nasr
|
2:07.919 | +0.724 | 1‡ |
| 4 | GTD | 96 | Turner Motorsport
|
Robby Foley
|
2:07.953 | +0.758 | 23 |
| 5 | GTD | 9 |  Pfaff Motorsports
|
Zacharie Robichon
|
2:08.209 | +1.014 | 24 |
| 6 | GTD | 39 | CarBahn Motorsports with Peregrine Racing
|
Richard Heistand
|
2:08.341 | +1.146 | 25 |
| 7 | GTD | 23 | Heart Of Racing Team
|
Roman De Angelis
|
2:08.569 | +1.374 | 26 |
| 8 | DPi | 10 | WTR-Konica Minolta Acura
|
Ricky Taylor
|
2:08.677 | +1.482 | 2 |
| 9 | GTD | 12 | Vasser Sullivan Racing
|
Frankie Montecalvo
|
2:08.702 | +1.507 | 27 |
| 10 | DPi | 55 |  Mazda Motorsports
|
 Oliver Jarvis
|
2:08.716 | +1.521 | 3 |
| 11 | GTD | 1 | Paul Miller Racing
|
Madison Snow
|
2:09.110 | +1.915 | 28 |
| 12 | DPi | 01 | Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing
|
 Kevin Magnussen
|
2:09.194 | +1.999 | 4 |
| 13 | GTD | 76 | Compass Racing
|
Jeff Kingsley
|
2:09.321 | +2.126 | 29 |
| 14 | GTD | 32 | Gilbert Korthoff Motorsports
|
Shane Lewis
|
2:09.990 | +2.795 | 30 |
| 15 | GTD | 88 | Team HardpointEBM
|
Rob Ferriol
|
2:10.173 | +2.978 | 31 |
| 16 | GTD | 66 | Gradient Racing
|
Till Bechtolsheimer
|
2:10.263 | +3.068 | 32 |
| 17 | GTD | 19 |  GRT Grasser Racing Team
|
Misha Goikhberg
|
2:10.266 | +3.071 | 33 |
| 18 | DPi | 5 | JDC-Mustang Sampling Racing
|
 Tristan Vautier
|
2:10.497 | +3.302 | 5 |
| 19 | DPi | 60 | Meyer Shank RacingwithCurb-Agajanian
|
Olivier Pla
|
2:10.500 | +3.305 | 6 |
| 20 | GTD | 44 | Magnus Racingwith Archangel Motorsports
|
John Potter
|
2:12.194 | +4.999 | 34 |
| 21 | GTD | 42 | NTE Sport
|
Don Yount
|
2:14.383 | +7.188 | 35 |
| 22 | LMP2 | 52 | PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports
|
Ben Keating
|
2:18.511 | +11.316 | 7‡ |
| 23 | LMP3 | 38 | Performance Tech Motorsports
|
Dan Goldburg
|
2:19.106 | +11.911 | 11‡ |
| 24 | LMP3 | 74 | Riley Motorsports
|
Gar Robinson
|
2:19.419 | +12.224 | 12 |
| 25 | LMP2 | 11 | WIN Autosport
|
Steven Thomas
|
2:19.941 | +12.746 | 8 |
| 26 | GTLM | 3 | Corvette Racing
|
Jordan Taylor
|
2:20.979 | +13.784 | 18‡ |
| 27 | LMP3 | 36 | Andretti Autosport
|
Jarett Andretti
|
2:21.170 | +13.975 | 13 |
| 28 | GTLM | 4 | Corvette Racing
|
Nick Tandy
|
2:21.606 | +14.411 | 19 |
| 29 | LMP3 | 54 | CORE Autosport
|
Jon Bennett
|
2:21.885 | +14.690 | 14 |
| 30 | LMP3 | 61 | Wulver Motorsports
|
Augie Pabst
|
2:22.170 | +14.975 | 15 |
| 31 | GTLM | 79 | WeatherTech Racing
|
Cooper MacNeil
|
2:24.174 | +14.979 | 20 |
| 32 | LMP2 | 8 | Tower Motorsport By Starworks
|
John Farano
|
2:24.176 | +14.981 | 9 |
| 33 | LMP3 | 30 | Jr III Motorsports
|
 Theodor Olsen
|
2:24.600 | +17.405 | 17 |
| 34 | LMP3 | 91 | Riley Motorsports
|
Jim Cox
|
2:25.260 | +18.065 | 17 |
| 35 | LMP2 | 18 | Era Motorsport
|
Dwight Merriman
|
2:27.462 | +20.267 | 10 |
| Sources:[18][19][20][21][22] | |||||||
Race
editPost-race
editAs a result of winning the race, Derani and Nasr advanced from third to second in the DPi Drivers' Championship.[23]The result kept Keating and Jensen atop the LMP2 Drivers' Championship.[23]The result of the race meant Robinson was still in the lead of the LMP3 Drivers' Championship with 1800 points, but his advantage was reduced to 50 points as a result of Bennett and Braun's victory.[23]The result kept Antonio García and Jordan Taylor atop the GTLM Drivers' Championship.[23]As a result of finishing second place, Auberlen and Foley re took the lead of the GTD Drivers' Championship from De Angelis and Gunn. Robichon and Vanthoor advanced from fourth to third while Sellers and Snow dropped from third to fourth.[23]Cadillac, Chevrolet, and Aston Martin continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships while WTR-Konica Minolta Acura, PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, Riley Motorsports, and Corvette Racing kept their respective advantages in the their respective of Teams' Championships. Turner Motorsport took the lead of the GTD Teams' Championship with four rounds remaining in the season.[23]
Race results
editClass winners are denoted inboldand ‡.
Standings after the race
edit
- Note:Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
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- Note:Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
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- Note:Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
References
edit- ^Pruett, Marshall (September 9, 2020)."IMSA reveals 2021 WeatherTech Championship calendar".racer.RetrievedJuly 26,2023.
- ^Pruett, Marshall (March 4, 2021)."IMSA moves VIR, Petit Le Mans after Le Mans 24 date change".racer.RetrievedOctober 13,2023.
- ^Malsher-Lopez, David (September 9, 2020)."IMSA reveals 2021 schedule, LMP3 to join WeatherTech series".us.motorsport.RetrievedJuly 26,2023.
- ^Dagys, John (August 3, 2021)."Mazda Handed Weight Increase for Road America".sportscar365.RetrievedApril 21,2023.
- ^abcdef"00_Championship Points - Official.pdf"(PDF).results.imsa.July 20, 2021.RetrievedAugust 28,2023.
- ^Dagys, John (July 28, 2021)."New LMP3 Teams Boost Road America Entry".sportscar365.RetrievedApril 21,2023.
- ^Dagys, John (August 6, 2021)."Road America Friday Notebook".sportscar365.RetrievedApril 21,2023.
- ^Dagys, John (July 23, 2021)."Hildebrand Returns in NTE Sport Audi for Road America".sportscar365.RetrievedApril 21,2023.
- ^ab"2021 IMSA Official Schedule and SR Road America 072821 V1"(PDF).results.imsa /noticeBoard.php.RetrievedOctober 13,2023.
- ^Kish, Ryan (August 6, 2021)."Tincknell leads rain-shortened opening practice at Road America".racer.RetrievedApril 21,2023.
- ^"03_Results_Practice 201.PDF"(PDF).results.imsa.RetrievedApril 21,2023.
- ^Dagys, John (August 7, 2021)."Taylor Tops Second Practice at Road America".sportscar365.John Dagys Media.RetrievedApril 21,2023.
- ^"03_Results_Practice 202.PDF"(PDF).results.imsa.RetrievedApril 21,2023.
- ^ab"Nasr Scores Pole In Whelen Cadillac As Weather Plays A Part".dailysportscar.August 8, 2021.RetrievedOctober 13,2023.
- ^abKish, Ryan (August 7, 2021)."Rain riles Road America qualifiers".racer.RetrievedOctober 13,2023.
- ^abDagys, John (August 7, 2021)."Nasr Takes Pole in Wet, Wild Road America Qualifying".sportscar365.RetrievedOctober 13,2023.
- ^abBradley, Charles (August 7, 2021)."Road America IMSA: Felipe Nasr takes pole in AXR Cadillac".motorsport.RetrievedOctober 13,2023.
- ^"LMP2-DPi 20Position 20and 20Points.PDF"(PDF).results.imsa.RetrievedApril 21,2023.
- ^"LMP3 20Position 20and 20Points.PDF"(PDF).results.imsa.RetrievedApril 21,2023.
- ^"03_Results_Qualifying 20-20GTD 20Points 20-20GTLM 20Position 20- 20Points.PDF"(PDF).results.imsa.RetrievedApril 21,2023.
- ^"03_Results_Qualifying 20-20GTD 20Position.PDF"(PDF).results.imsa.RetrievedApril 21,2023.
- ^"01_Grid_Race_Official.PDF"(PDF).results.imsa.RetrievedApril 21,2023.
- ^abcdefghijklmnopqrs"00_Championship Points - Official.pdf"(PDF).results.imsa.August 10, 2021.RetrievedAugust 28,2023.
- ^"03_Results_Race_Official.PDF"(PDF).results.imsa.RetrievedApril 21,2023.
- ^"2021 IMSA SPORTSCAR WEEKEND".racing-reference.info.RetrievedAugust 28,2023.