2023 By the Numbers...So Far!

 Calendar-wise, we are more than half way through the IMSA season! It’s been 143 days since the cars first rolled out for their first competitive laps at the Roar Before the 24, and it’s only 123 days until they park for the winter after Petit Le Mans.

So now seems like the perfect opportunity to take a look back at what we’ve seen so far in 2023! We have had 4 rounds of the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship but we have 7 more to go, starting with the Sahlen’s 6 Hours of the Glen. That race will be the 113^th since the Merge in 2014. It will be the 95^th for the top class of prototype, and Cadillac has won 30 of those races! Chevy is 2^nd in standings for race wins with 20, giving GM a combined 50 wins! Mindboggling! Acura is 3^rd on that list, with 18 wins to their name.  The GTD class has been the ever-present class in IMSA and the Glen will be the 106^th race for them. BMW has won the most races with 20 victories, one ahead of Porsche. In third is a 3-way tie between Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Lexus, each of whom has won 10 times.

I’m expecting between 50 and 54 cars to feature on the entry list, which will be released Wednesday. 55 is the maximum number of cars permitted at the Glen. So who’s good here? Qualifying and racing have shown different stories. In the top class, variety is the name of the game. Nissan took pole in ’14 (Brundle – OAK) and ’17 (Derani – ESM), Honda got it in ’16 (van Overbeek – ESM), and Gibson won the award in ’18 (Braun – CORE). Mazda took pole enroute to their first race win in 2019 with Olly Jarvis,  but the last 2 years it’s been Acura’s party (’21 Taylor WTR, ’22 Blomqvist MSR). Notice anyone missing from that list? Anyone big and dominant when it comes to race wins? That’s right, no poles for GM. Race wins tell a different story. Chevy won in ’14 ’15 and ’16, Cadillac carried on the good work in ’17. It was an Oreca that won in ’18, and as mentioned Mazda won in ’19 and then again in the post-COVID visit in ’21. It was Acura who won last year.

Now seems like an appropriate time to mention I’m only taking into account the 6 Hour race, not any shorter races run at this track as far as we are concerned with race wins. For example, Lexus has wins at Daytona, Sebring, and the Glen in short races but have yet to claim victory in the endurance races.

GTLM is now a defunct class, but let’s still pay tribute to accomplishments there. Qualifying at the Glen always put on a show worth watching! Andy Priaulx’s lone pole came in ’14, Ford held dominant with Westy in ’16 & ’18 and Hand in ’17, but Antonio Garcia won it twice himself in ’19 & ’21. The races were equally diverse. Corvette won in the first year and the last of the class, 2014 and 2021. Porsche took it in 2015 and 2019 with Ford victorious in 2016 and 2018. BMW won for the lone time in ’17. It was a perfect sandwich of wins! In the first year of GTD Pro, BMW took both pole and the win across the line before being disqualified for drive time, a factor that plagued a lot of the grid due to a lengthy red flag. Diversity has been the name of the game in GTD Pro victories with no manufacturer repeating a win at a track, so my money would be on BMW this year at the Glen, with John Edwards looking to finish what he almost did last year!

Last but certainly not least comes GTD. Qualifying has seen Porsche (’14 ’16) and Lexus (’18 ’21) each get pole twice but they’ve yet to win the 6 Hours. Lally and Hindman got it each year that Acura and MSR took victory (’17 & ’19). Last year it was McAleer for Mercedes, but it was a different Mercedes that crossed the finish line in the race first, only later to be disqualified due to the drive time infraction mentioned above.  The race winners? I mentioned MSR already getting it done twice. Last year the Heart of Racing Aston inherited the win after all the drive time infractions were issued, and it was the first double win for the team! The Riley run Viper won in 2015, and the Scuderia Ferrari in 2016, but it’s been Turner’s show 3 times. They won in 2014, 2018 and 2021. This race suits Turner and Don Salama, no matter who is driving their car.

 

Okay, that’s a good generic preview of the Sahlen’s 6 Hours of the Glen…now let’s review the first segment of the 2023 IMSA season!

Podium finishes often give us an idea of who is going to be fighting for the championship long term. Being consistent is key, and while consistency doesn’t always result in a trophy, we frequently see names pop up over and over, and by the end of they year they’re the ones most stressed because they’re still in it for the big prize.

GTP has had 16 podiums this year. Those spots have been occupied by 7 different cars and 22 drivers. In fact, everyone in the class full season has taken home a trophy this year except for Augusto Farfus and Philipp Eng. Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy (points leaders) have visited the most often, standing on the podium in 3 of the 4 races.

LMP2 has only had 3 rounds, so only 9 possible podiums. The only drivers to visit twice are George Kurtz, Ben Hanley, Mikkel Jensen, and Steven Thomas. There have been 23 drivers and 7 different cars.

LMP3 is the least experienced class for 2023 so far with just two races, but impressively the 6 podium positions have been occupied by 6 different cars and 21 different drivers.

GTD Pro is where the gaps in the championship are most evidential. 4 races have meant 16 podiums, yet we’ve only had 4 cars and 14 drivers stand on them. Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth (championship leaders) have been on every one. Pfaff and WeatherTech have been on 3. There have been no trophies this season for Alex Riberas and Ross Gunn.

GTD also has had 4 races and 16 podiums, but we get a lot more diversity in this class than the Pro version. 9 cars and 27 different drivers have held trophies. Sellers/Snow (1^st 1^st), De Angelis/Sorensen (1^st 2^nd), and Andlauer/Udell (3^rd 3^rd) have each made 2 appearances.  

 

Qualifying:

GTP – 4 races, 4 different polesitters for 3 different manufacturers. Acura took Daytona (Blomqvist) and Long Beach (Albuquerque). Cadillac got Sebring (Derani) and Porsche claimed Laguna Seca (Campbell).

I’ve paid close attention to the choice of qualifying driver ever since BamThor won the 2019 GTLM championship aided by Laurens qualifying every time. The strategies for choosing a qualifying driver is very diversified in this class. CGR has used Bourdais every time. The two Porsches and BMWs swap drivers every time. Tandy Jaminet Tandy Jaminet. Nasr Campbell Nasr Campbell. Farfus Eng Farfus Eng. Yelloly De Phillippi Yelloly De Phillippi. For the Acura camp, Albuquerque got a pole in his only attempt this year, and Blomqvist has been out every session except at Laguna Seca. Similarly, Pipo has gotten the call at every round except Long Beach, where Alexander Sims drove for such a short amount of time he didn’t even get a full green flag lap.

LMP2 – This is mandated Bronze qualifies, so there’s no mystery. Ben Keating got pole at Daytona and Sebring, and looked on for another one until George Kurtz snatched it away at Laguna! We are on for a real treat at the Glen, with Steven Thomas right on pace with them as well.

LMP3 – Only two races to go off of, but both poles claimed by silvers under 30. Nico Pino got it at Daytona with Glenn van Berlo at Sebring. AWA and Riley always qualify their bronze drivers, but we could get any wildcard claiming pole at the Glen.

GTD Pro – 4 races, 4 polesitters, 4 manufacturers, 4 teams. Diversity. Maro Engel for Mercedes at Daytona. Antonio Garcia for Corvette at Sebring. Jack Hawksworth for Lexus at Long Beach. Klaus Bachler for Porsche at Laguna. By that logic, it’ll either be Risi Ferrari, GRT Lamborghini, Turner BMW, or the Heart of Racing Aston Martin who wins pole at Watkins Glen.

3 Garcia has done every one except Laguna. It’s been Hawksworth for every race except Daytona for the 14 Lexus. Dani Juncadella similarly has been given the honors for the WeatherTech Mercedes every race since Engel took pole at the Rolex. Variety for Pfaff and Heart of Racing means Pilet and Gunn will qualify at the Glen. Looking at our Endurance cars, Serra and Auberlen have been the only qualifiers for Risi and Turner. The 63 Lambo is up in the air, with Caldarelli getting the call for Daytona but Perera doing it for Sebring.

GTD – 4 races, 4 polesitters, 4 manufactuers, 4 teams. Diversity. Hey wait… this is where it gets interesting. The class was opened this year to any driver regardless of rating. We’ve had Phillip Ellis (Gold, Mercedes), Kyle Marcelli (Gold, Acura), Marco Sorensen (Platinum, Aston Martin), and Alec Udell (Silver, Porsche).

Car	Daytona	Sebring	Long Beach	Laguna Seca
1	Snow	Snow	Snow	Snow
12	Telitz	Telitz	Montecalvo	Montecalvo
27	De Angelis	James	Sorensen	De Angelis
32	Grenier	Grenier	Skeen	Skeen
57	Ellis	Ellis	Ward	Ward
66	Farnbacher	Monk	Monk	Monk
70	Kirchhofer	Iribe	Iribe	Iribe
77	Estre	Brynjolfsson	Brynjolfsson	Brynjolfsson
78	Goikhberg	Spinelli	Goikhberg	Goikhberg
80	Priaulx	Hyett	Hyett	Priaulx
91	Andlauer	Metni	Metni	Metni
92	Bleekemolen	Brule	Bleekemolen	Udell
96	Foley	Gallagher	Gallagher	Gallagher

Qualifying Points:

GTP:

01 CGR Cadillac	115
6 Penske Porsche	107
7 Penske Porsche	114
10 WTRAndretti Acura	121
24 BWM M Team RLL	98
25 BMW M Team RLL	98
31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac	112
60 MSR Acura	123

Acura	134
BMW	114
Cadillac	127
Porsche	125

                                 

 

Best consistent qualifying of the year so far goes to the 60. Their worst starting position has been 5^th! Compare that to the BMWs, who’s best starting spot between the two cars was 4^th at Long Beach for Nick Yelloly. 3 out of the 4 races, a BMW has started last. Where they finish is a different conversation for later, but there are points to be gained through qualifying and that’s important to acknowledge!

 

LMP2:

With only two points scoring races, this is harder to get a solid read on.

0.4	63
8	49
11	60
18	46
20	51
35	60
51	50
52	67

 

The 52 has had the strongest qualifying performance of the year with Keating taking two poles, but the points have only been awarded for one of those races (none for Daytona). Early sights say the defending champion car of Tower Motorsports still needs to improve on qualifying performance, but the weakest link is still Era. If they can find a bit more speed for Dwight Merriman in qualifying, all of a sudden they become more of a conversation in the championship battle.

 

LMP3: Insufficient data with only one race to read.

GTD Pro:

3	117		Aston	126
9	114		Chevy	117
14	125		Lexus	125
23	126		Mercedes	114
79	114		Porsche	114

 

Ok, so remember when I said earlier that Aston was the only car without a podium in GTD Pro? Well, they’re taking names and kicking exhaust pipes in qualifying! They don’t have a pole, but they’ve started on the front row for every race except Sebring, where they started 3^rd. Interestingly enough, Lexus and Aston both have an average starting position of 2.25 in class, but Lexus has started from every spot except 5^th. Mercedes has been up and down, as has Porsche. Corvette was great at Sebring, but started either 4^th or 5^th for the other 3 races. If Aston stays consistent at the front, they don’t need a pole to still claim the most points from qualifying by the end of the season.

GTD:

1	104		Acura	114
12	116		Aston	118
27	111		BMW	108
32	97		Lambo	97
57	68		Lexus	120
66	78		McLaren	104
70	92		Mercedes	111
77	67		Porsche	111
78	87
80	75
91	69
92	79
96	93

 

Big round of applause for the 12 Lexus, who’s average starting position of 4^th has also gained them the most points through qualifying thus far this year! You’ll notice there are a few individual cars in the red. Well, the 57 Mercedes lost it’s starting position at Daytona for needing to switch chassis then at Sebring when Ellis got out of the car in qualifying which penalized them to back of the class. The 77 and 91 Porsches have both qualified their Bronze drivers every race since Daytona and have an average starting spot of 14^th and 13^th respectively. Manufacturer wise, I’m most surprised by Lamborghini’s lack of performance. This is a manufacturer that has won the GTD title. For them to have earned 23 fewer points than the leader is quite shocking. Remember, it’s not points per car, but points for the best placed car representing each brand, so there isn’t the same power in numbers that might appear elsewhere.

 

 

At the line:

GTP:

0.1	Q	F	Diff		6	Q	F	Diff		7	Q	F	Diff		10	Q	F	Diff
D24	4	3	1		D24	9	8	1		D24	2	7	-5		D24	3	2	1
S12	2	7	-5		S12	4	3	1		S12	7	5	2		S12	3	4	-1
LB	3	8	-5		LB	6	1	5		LB	8	3	5		LB	1	7	-6
LS	6	1	5		LS	2	2	0		LS	1	9	-8		LS	5	4	1
Total			-4					7					-6					-5
24	Q	F	Diff		25	Q	F	Diff		31	Q	F	Diff		60	Q	F	Diff
D24	7	6	1		D24	8	9	-1		D24	6	5	1		D24	1	1	0
S12	6	8	-2		S12	8	2	6		S12	1	1	0		S12	5	6	-1
LB	5	4	1		LB	4	2	2		LB	7	5	2		LB	2	6	-4
LS	8	5	3		LS	7	8	-1		LS	4	3	1		LS	3	6	-3
Total			3					6					4					-8

*italics denote DNF

Initial thoughts? Both the 6 Porsche and the 25 BMW have made up a LOT of positions in the races, especially considering there aren’t that many cars to pass in the class! On the exact opposite end of the spectrum, the 60 Acura has struggled quite a bit. Take away their dominant Daytona where they qualified on pole and won, they’ve been going backwards this year. It’s also been a very difficult year for the Ganassi Cadillac. They’ve had the two DNFs, which really impacted their championship early on. That said, the race at Laguna Seca turned them around and put them on the right trajectory, especially going into Le Mans.

 

LMP2:

0.4	Q	F	Diff		8	Q	F	Diff		11	Q	F	Diff		18	Q	F	Diff
D24	5	2	3		D24	9	5	4		D24	3	10	-7		D24	8	9	-1
S12	4	5	-1		S12	6	1	5		S12	3	2	1		S12	8	3	5
LS	1	3	-2		LS	7	8	-1		LS	3	1	2		LS	8	7	1
Total			0					8					-4					5
20	Q	F	Diff		35	Q	F	Diff		51	Q	F	Diff		52	Q	F	Diff
D24	7		-1		D24	2	4	-2		D24	6	6	0		D24	1	7	-6
S12	5	6	-1		S12	2	8	-6		S12	7	7	0		S12	1	4	-3
LS	6	6	0		LS	4	4	0		LS	5	5	0		LS	2	2	0
Total			-2					-8					0					-9

*italics denote DNF

If you’ve stuck with me thus far, then this chart makes complete sense. The 8 Tower Motorsport entry which struggles in qualifying has made up the most positions of anyone. They won Sebring, and even with the DNF at Laguna Seca, they are showing why they won the championship last year, by consistently finishing ahead of where they started. The biggest disappointment of the year thus far has been the 52 PR1 Mathiasen.  Keating has plunked the car on pole twice, but their only trophy has come from Laguna, when they finished where they started. They expect to be up front, but haven’t gotten all the way to the front this year. Watkins should help them sent that straight. Francois Heriau has also been super strong in qualifying in 2023, but the results haven’t been there yet for the 35 TDS Racing entry. When it clicks, they’ll be serious contenders.

 

LMP3:

13	Q	F	Diff		17	Q	F	Diff		33	Q	F	Diff		36	Q	F	Diff
D24	8	4	4		D24	9	1	8		D24	1	2	-1		D24	2	7	-5
S12	7	2	5		S12	5	4	1		S12	8	7	1		S12	1	9	-8
Tota			9					9					0					-13
38	Q	F	Diff		74	Q	F	Diff		85	Q	F	Diff
D24	3	3	0		D24	5	9	-4		D24	6	5	1
S12	6	6	0		S12	3	1	2		S12	2	3	-1
Total			0					-2					0

*italics denote DNF

With only two races to go off of so far, this is the trickiest class to read. AWA, the team which already wins my award for Most Improved, has visited the podium with each car this year, including the win at Daytona where the 17 was the only car on the lead lap at the end. In fact, the 17 had a more than half an hour buffer back to second place! They’ve gained 9 spots per car, showing how much better they race than qualify. Andretti has struggled badly, with 2 DNFs after two front row starting positions! I’m very surprised by that. Also, the 74 Riley entry won’t be in the red for long! They know how to win races from wherever they start, so that -2 will swap over quickly with more opportunity.

GTD Pro:

With the two GT classes, I’ve overcomplicated things by adding in the Overall Qualifying and Overall Finishing positions for each, as well as the Overall differences. Since the two classes are coexisting on track at the same time, I thought this might be an interesting feature to look at for 2023, and I was right!

 

 

 

3	Q	OA	F	OA	Diff	OA		9	Q	OA	F	OA	Diff	OA
D24	4	11	2	4	2	7		D24	8	19	5	10	3	9
S12	1	1	5	5	-4	-4		S12	6	24	1	1	5	23
LB	4	5	2	2	2	3		LB	3	4	3	3	0	1
LS	5	7	4	15	1	-8		LS	1	1	3	13	-2	-12
Total					1	-2		Total					6	21

 

14	Q				OA						F				OA				Diff				OA				23	Q		OA		F		OA		Diff		OA
D24	3				6						3				5				0				1				D24	2		4		7		18		-5		-14
S12	2				2						2				2				0				0				S12	3		4		8		20		-5		-16
LB	1				2						1				1				0				1				LB	2		3		4		6		-2		-3
LS	4				6						2				12				2				-6				LS	2		4		5		16		-3		-12
Total																		2				-4				Total									-15		-45
79	Q						F						Diff				OA
D24	1		3				1		2				0				1
S12	8		27				3		3				5				24
LB	5		14				5		15				0				-1
LS	3		5				1		8				2				-3
Total												7				21

*italics denote DNF

What jumps out first? How about the massive negative numbers below Aston Martin. -15 positions in class, but -45 positions overall! On average, they’ve lost 11.25 spots overall per race! Compare that to Pfaff, masters of strategy, and WeatherTech, who’ve gained 5.25 spots per race. The Mercedes has also gained more spots than anyone else in class, with the huge performance at Sebring contributing massively. Lexus, although leading the championship, have finished behind out of class cars in half of the races this year.

GTD Pro Manu:

Aston	BMW	Chevy	Ferrari	Lambo	Lexus	Mercedes	Porsche
7	9	2	10	4	3	1	5
8	7	5	6	4	2	3	1
4		2			1	5	3
5		4			2	1	3
6	8	3.25	8	4	2	2.5	3

*italics denotes DNF

First thing first, do not compare these numbers to what you’ll see with GTD. The much smaller class skews the data, so they have to be treated individually.

Lexus’s average finishing position of 2 is simply awesome. 2.5 for Mercedes-AMG and 3 for Porsche, with Chevy hot on their heels with 3.25 means the class is still wide open! Except for Aston Martin, which has an average finishing position of 6 when most weekends the class has 5 cars. They know they need podiums and wins, and the best news for them is their strength at the next three tracks on the schedule!

GTD:

*italics denote DNF

This chart is far more complex than the previous ones. First off, who’s done well? They’ve been massively under the radar this year, but Wright Motorsport is doing it again. 21 places gained in class, 27 overall, and no races where positions have been lost.  While they’re still far from the podium, they’re building a consistent resume! The car 2^nd in the championship has been consistent as well, gaining positions in every race. Both of these come as a result of poor qualifying, it needs to be said. Whereas we go to the complete opposite end of the spectrum to take a look at the 12 Lexus. They’ve lost places from qualifying in every race except Daytona, and have the second worst record in class, beaten only by the 32 Mercedes, who’s lost 13 positions in class and 20 overall. It is interesting, to me at least, that as far as the championship is concerned, the points leader and 2^nd have both gained race positions from their qualifying, whereas 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th have all lost.

 

GTD Manu:

Acura	Aston	BMW	Ferrari	Lambo	Lexus	McLaren	Mercedes	Porsche
4	1	8	10	7	5	3	15	9
12	9	1	13	11	5	4	10	3
9	2	1		7	3	6	4	10
13	4	2		9	14	5	12	1
9.5	4	3	11.5	8.5	6.75	4.5	10.25	5.75

*italics denote DNF

Finishing averages are interesting here. The first thing I see is how BMW’s finishing average is 3, well ahead of Aston (4), McLaren (4.5), Lexus (6.75), and Porsche (5.75), all chasing them in the championship. Also, look at the colors, because they represent different teams. Heart of Racing has twice been beaten this year by partial season runner Magnus. PMR has 3 times finished higher than Turner. Korthoff has outperformed Winward everywhere except Laguna when both cars retired. Porsche has been a complete hodgepodge, with a different car finishing best in each race (16 at Daytona, 92 at Sebring, 77 at Long Beach, 91 at Laguna). By that pattern, the 80 will be the best placed Porsche at Watkins Glen. The biggest shock of this chart is Mercedes-AMG with an average finish of 10.25.

 

Pace:

GTP:

01 Cadillac – Renger van der Zande 3 – 0 Seb Bourdais

               Renger set the fast lap of the class at Sebring, was 2^nd quickest at Laguna, and 4^th at Daytona. The furthest he’s been off the fast lap was 0.321. He’s having a killer year! But don’t overlook Bourdais. He was the starting driver at Laguna, not getting the shiny new tires that Renger did. That race, he was 1.112 off Renger’s fast lap. Otherwise, he’s been less than 2 tenths off his teammate. They are truly well matched, and a potent combo for the championship!

Porsche Penske Motorsport

6 – Nick Tandy 3 – 1 Matthieu Jaminet

               Tandy was the fastest of the Porsche drivers at 2 of the races so far this season, 2^nd to Campbell at Long Beach as well. He and Matthieu have been very closely matched, working well together, as evidenced by their points lead. Jaminet is never far off his teammates either, always within half a second of the fastest Porsche driver.

7 – Matt Campbell 2 – 2 Felipe Nasr

               These men are very well matched (seeing a theme for this category yet?). Each of their fastest laps at Daytona (.084) and Laguna Seca (.083) were set in a window of time so quick that most can’t stop a clock in that window. They worked well together last year with Pfaff, and have picked right back up.

10 WRTAndretti Acura – Ricky Taylor 3 – 1 Filipe Albuquerque

               None of the Konica Minolta drivers has set a fast lap yet, which is kind of a surprise, but they haven’t been far off! Ricky and Filipe were separated by 0.04 at Daytona, 0.087 at Sebring, and 0.038 at Long Beach. These two are a perfect match. They’ve come super close to winning the championship the last few years and continue to click in all the right ways.

BMW M Team RLL

24 – Philipp Eng 2 – 2 Augusto Farfus

               A new combination for two drivers new to prototypes in 2023 and it’s no surprise they’re switching fast laps due to their sharing of qualifying duties. For BMW, the fastest driver has typically been the finishing one, and we see this carried over in both cars. The average difference between who’s faster is about half a second.

25 – Connor De Phillippi 3 – 1 Nick Yelloly

               This might surprise a lot of people, but Connor has been the fastest BMW driver twice, and set the fast lap of the race at Long Beach! He’s been driving really, really well this year. Nick Yelloly, his teammate who’s got extensive single seater experience, hasn’t been slacking either. Nick was fastest of the BMW guys at Laguna, but that was nearly a second down to the fast lap. There’s still pace to find for the BMW crews, but it won’t be long till they do.

31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac – Pipo Derani 4 – 0 Alexander Sims

               This one is the hardest to read of the GTP cars because Alexander wasn’t given any real opportunity to drive at Long Beach. He circulated behind the safety car, then pitted almost immediately upon asking. His fastest lap, therefore, was 43.154 seconds off pace. Pipo set the fast lap in the race at Laguna, and was 3^rd quick at both Long Beach and Sebring. He’s having another Pipo Derani year, doing the Pipo thing of being consistently fast!

60 MSR Acura – Tom Blomqvist 3 – 1 Colin Braun

               Tom Blomqvist set the pace (literally) for the season at Daytona, and at Long Beach was the second quickest driver. But at Laguna Seca, Colin Braun started and set a lap .668 ahead of the best Tom could do! At Sebring though, Helio and Colin both set laps of the exact same time, .154 slower than Tom. These two are very well matched, on paper and on pace! They are gelling well. Both know how to win championships having each won a class last year. Although they have a long way to go to claw back into this one, they can. They’re consistently fast and quiet.

 

LMP2:

 

Car	Driver	Avg Pos	Time off Co Driver	Time off FL
0.4	Hanley	4.67	0.000	0.505
0.4	Kurtz	20.33	2.663	3.117
8	Farano	23.33	2.077	3.648
11	Jensen	5.00	0.215	0.278
11	Thomas	21.67	3.184	3.247
18	Dalziel	9.00	0.288	0.744
18	Merriman	26.00	4.316	4.772
20	Jones	14.00	0.000	1.105
20	Andersen	24.67	2.903	4.008
35	GvdG	12.33	0.698	1.101
35	Heriau	21.67	2.890	3.293
51	Lux	23.33	2.310	3.564
52	Chatin	6.00	0.127	0.574
52	Keating	18.33	2.167	2.614

 

The chart shows all the truths. Keating has been the strongest bronze this year in where his Fast Lap stacks up against the class and minimizing time off the Fast Lap. John Farano is the closest bronze to his co-drivers’ pace, impressive for the defending champ. As far as the pros in this class go, Ben Hanley has been the most consistently quick, and only he and Ed Jones have never been bested in their own cars. Mikkel Jensen is miles ahead of everyone else on time off the Fast Lap, averaging just over a quarter of a second.

 

LMP3:

I don’t think its fair to analyze this class yet since we’ve only seen them twice. Yes, they’ve raced for 36 hours in 2023, but in those contests the winning car was the only one on the lead lap. I want more data before delving in and giving a judgement on performances.

 

GTD Pro:

 

3 Corvette – Antonio Garcia 2 – 2 Jordan Taylor

               This championship winning duo has set the 3^rd best average Fast Lap pace, with Garcia faster at Daytona and Long Beach while Taylor took best laps for the car at Sebring and Laguna. The results have been suboptimum as per Corvette Racing’s standards; It’s been more than a year since their last victory, and they’ve only visited the podium twice in 2023. Corvette sits 4^th in points out of 5 manufacturers. I don’t expect that to last!

9 Pfaff Porsche – Patrick Pilet 3 – 1 Klaus Bachler

               First off, credit where credit is due. Laurens Vanthoor, the third driver, present only for the endurance races, has set the fastest lap for the car every race in which he’s taken part. Pilet set the fastest lap of the class at Long Beach, and Klaus was only a tenth off! That’s especially impressive for Klaus, considering he’d never been to Long Beach before the start of the weekend whereas Patrick has won there before. At Laguna Seca, Klaus got his first pole, but Patrick outpaced him in the race. The duo, with Vanthoor, got their first win at Sebring, so you’d have to say it’s only been getting better and better since the rough start for all Porsches at Daytona. Because of that race, they sit the furthest off in average pace for the class at 11.25. But more on that later. What’s important is that they’re trending in the right direction. Pfaff wins championships, as they’ve proven over the last 2 years. They win the big races. So sitting third in points with the 3^rd best average finish, looking at CTMP, Lime Rock, Road America, and VIR as 4 of the next 5 races (all tracks where they’ve been victorious since 2019) means Pfaff are still very much alive and well in this championship fight.

14 VasserSullivan Lexus – Jack Hawksworth 2 – 2 Ben Barnicoat

               These two really are a dream team. They are a perfect match, and they’re super fast! At Daytona, Jack’s fastest lap was a whole 0.002 faster than Ben’s! Long Beach saw Ben pull out a whopping 0.021 over Jack. They are very, very well matched. But it’s their consistency that has me most impressed. A streak of podium finishes that started in April 2022 means this duo is firing on all cylinders. They are points leaders and hold the best average finish but interestingly enough they have the second to worst fast lap average amongst the class! A weak pace showing at both Daytona and Sebring dragged them off quite a bit, which would probably make them a bit nervous going to the Glen, where the class should be expanded by 3 cars. Jab for jab though, this duo is the one to beat for 2023.

23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin – Ross Gunn 3 – 1 Alex Riberas

               Let’s start with the good: they’re crazy fast. We’ve established that. They average the best Fast Lap pace of any in the GTD Pro field. Ross and Alex, in their second year as equals, truly are just that. The furthest they’ve been apart in a Fast Lap situation: 0.105, when Ross set the fast lap and Alex set the second fastest lap of the race. Yeah. Long Beach Ross was 0.018 faster than Alex, 2^nd and 3^rd in class. Sebring Ross was 0.009 faster than Alex, 9^th and 10^th in class. Daytona? You guessed it. Alex was 0.096 faster than Ross, 3^rd and 4^th in class. They’re always tethered together on timing, each extracting the most and all the car has to offer. That, beyond almost anything else, is stunning. They are both phenomenal drivers, getting every last drop of performance out of their machine. So where are the results to back up the speed? On paper from the speed, this duo should be killing the points battle and running away with the championship. If they can get it sorted, they will. But what needs to happen for that to be a reality? Well, they’re nearly 300 points behind the leading Lexus. If they can repeat their win at the Glen (becoming the first manufacturer in GTD Pro history to win at a track twice), and there’s an inverse in points for finishing order, it would look like this:

1: Aston Martin 1496 pts, 2: BMW 849 pts, 3: Ferrari 831 pts, 4: Lamborghini 892 pts, 5: Chevy 1557 pts, 6: Porsche 1574 pts, 7: Mercedes-AMG 1614 pts, 8: Lexus 1645 pts.

Notice anything? Aston Martin is still last in the full season runners, and last by a lot. It would cut the deficit, but they would need SEVERAL races of winning and I don’t think you could hold any of the other teams down for long enough to catch and surpass. It’s a challenge that Aston Martin is up to for sure, but it’s a steep climb!

79 WeatherTech Mercedes-AMG – Jules Gounon 4 – 0 Daniel Juncadella

               For anyone who watches sportscar racing globally, Jules Gounon is a known quantity. He’s fast, he’s consistent, and when he’s behind the wheel of a Mercedes, he can be almost unstoppable. At Daytona, he set the fastest lap of the race enroute to taking the Rolex home along with Dani Juncadella and Maro Engel. At Sebring, he didn’t drive a lot, putting in the least amount of drive time for a full season competitor in the GTD Pro class. But he was still quick enough to set the third quickest lap of the race (credit to Maro Engel here who did set the fastest lap). Juncadella, who did the lion’s share of the work at Sebring, was only .011 off Gounon. The pace wasn’t there for the Mercedes duo at Long Beach, and it wasn’t really there for them at Laguna Seca either, but that didn’t stop them from getting their second win in 4 races! Speed was the story of the first half of the season, and they average the best Fast Lap and 2^nd best finishing in the GTD Pro class. They’re hot on the heels of the Lexus team, but they still need a two-spot finishing advantage to reclaim the championship lead. Mercedes has never won at the Glen, Lime Rock, or Petit Le Mans. The gauntlet has been thrown.

 

GTD:

 

1 Paul Miller Racing BMW – Bryan Sellers 3 – 1 Madison Snow       Avg. Pace difference – 0.146

               Championship Leaders. 2^nd in Sprint by 1 point. Winners at the 12 Hours of Sebring and three times in a row at the Long Beach Grand Prix. From Long Beach 2022 to Long Beach 2023, GTD raced 13 times. This team and driver combo won 4 of those races and occupied a step on the podium 7 times. In that window, their only finishes outside of the top 5 were the disqualification at Watkins 2022 (where the red flag caught many teams out, including two class winners on the track) and Daytona 2023 where they finished 8^th. This team knows how to win championships. They’re the first and only team to claim the full season, endurance, and sprint trophies (2018 2020 2022 respectively). Bryan and Madison are potentially the best matched duo in the class. Their pace is always close, which is a huge asset for the team. They can lean on their silver in ways that few others can, as evidenced by Snow having the most drive time of anyone in the GTD class at Sebring.  3 times in 4 races they’ve been the best finishing BMW even though only once have they’ve been the fastest. So what’s ahead for them? They’ve won Lime Rock twice, VIR in 2016, and each has 2 wins of Petit. They’ve stood on the podium of ever race except Indy, but the team finished 2^nd there in the IMSA race in 2014. The best friends have never won more than 2 races in a season, but they’ve also never won 2 races so early in the season either. You kind of get the feeling with this team that they’ll be there or there abouts every weekend. Strategy, luck, and fuel saving won them Sebring. Great driving and an excellent pit stop won them Long Beach. The question isn’t if they’ll win another race this year but how and where will come their next.

12 VasserSullivan Lexus – Aaron Telitz 3 – 1 Frankie Montecalvo         Avg. Pace Difference – 0.333

4^th in the championship and 7^th in Sprint. One podium. Both of these guys are Lexus staples. You’d think they’d be pretty happy sitting 4^th in the championship after 4 races, but there’s a lot more to come from Frankie and Aaron! The pace this year hasn’t really been there. The car, while super competitive in GTD Pro, has only warranted one Fast Lap performance in the top 10! The best the car’s been within it’s class was 0.173 off at Long Beach. Thus, they have a solid mid-pack average Fast Lap. Now, we didn’t get an indication of pace at Laguna Seca, with the car retiring shortly after Aaron Telitz climbed aboard, but that’s typically not a strong track for the Lexus anyway. Where do we expect to see this duo back on the podium? While the 6 Hours of the Glen has been a struggle, they did win the short race in 2020. Lexus has won twice at Road America, one of which was Montecalvo’s only WeatherTech win. Petit will also be good for the brand, having won in GTD Pro last year. Frankie is always a front row threat in qualifying, and there’s no reason the 12 won’t get more trophies this year!

27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin – Marco Sorensen 3 – 1 Roman De Angelis                  Avg. Pace difference – 0.180

3^rd in championship. Sprint Leaders by 1 point. Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona winners. Defending GTD Champions for Roman. And yet in 2 of the 4 races they’ve been beaten by Magnus Racing, who actually holds the best average finish for the make in the class (5 vs 6.5). For Marco, every race track left is a new one, not that it really matters to a 3x WEC champion. He’s been adapting very quickly to IMSA! The overall GT win at Daytona came when he was behind the wheel. He was the quickest Aston driver at Sebring, and was going for the win when taken out by GTD Pro competitors. He earned his first pole at Long Beach. Marco is slotting in perfectly for Maxime Martin, and Roman De Angelis is as quick as ever. So where do we expect the biggest things for this crew? Last year, Roman and Heart of Racing won at the Glen and CTMP, and finished 2^nd at Lime Rock and VIR. They won Petit Le Mans in 2021. Road America is always a hard one for them, so that, I’m sure, will be circled with a red pen as unfinished business. This team wins one major endurance race a year (Petit ’21, WG6 ’22, D24 ’23), so they’ll be looking to try to get back to the championship lead and break their one-a-year curse/blessing at either Watkins or Petit!

32 Team Korthoff Mercedes-AMG – Mik Grenier 3 – 0 Mike Skeen           Avg. Pace difference – 0.445

             Although this car has competed in all 4 rounds, it retired before Grenier could drive at the last race so we are basing pace on the first three performances, during each of which it was the best finishing Mercedes in class! That’s especially impressive, given how many of them have run in GTD. Grenier claimed fastest lap of all at Sebring, but the 3 of the drivers in that race were within the top 8 for Fast Lap! At Daytona, all four were all 6^th-16^th, showing lots of speed. The results, however, tell a very different tale. 15^th at Daytona, 10^th at Sebring, and 15^th but retired at Laguna Seca. Their only top 5 all year came at Long Beach. This team, which fought valiantly for the championship last season and finished 3^rd for Stevan McAleer in the driver’s standings, is currently mired in 11^th for full season and 12^th for Sprint. Last year, they earned the first pole for the team at Watkins Glen. It could be the place where they turn their luck around!

44 Magnus Aston Martin – Andy Lally 4 – 0 John Potter                    Avg. Pace difference – 1.221

            Magnus is the fan favorite, most affable team in the paddock. Their lack of full season efforts for a couple years now has been felt, and the rumors abound that they’re coming back for quite a few more races this year than last. The Aston is quick, and they’ve proven to have a solid handle of the platform, outdueling the defending champions in half the races so far! It’s very impressive for a team to come in with a partial season effort and cause such a stir. They finished runners up at Daytona, had a quiet Sebring, then roared loudly at Laguna Seca with a bold fuel strategy that had Andy Lally defending for his life to hang on to fourth. The Glen is a race where John and Andy have finished 2^nd together a couple of times, but it’s also the site of Andy’s last IMSA race win. With Acura, he got the pole and win in 2017. We know that Aston Martin can win at Watkins, having done it in both applicable classes last year, and in the hands of Magnus and Lally, it could very well be the car to beat! They’re not in the points hunt for either GTD championship, and that means they’re out only to win!

57 Winward Mercedes-AMG – Phillip Ellis 4 – 0 Russell Ward         Avg. Pace difference – 0.769

             After the second half to their 2022 season, it’s a huge shock to see the combo of Ellis and Ward sitting 13^th in the full season championship and 10^th in Sprint. Their season did get off to a rough start. After taking pole for the Rolex, they were forced to use a new chassis after a crash in practice. Add on top of that 3 DNFs in the first 4 races and it looks like another challenging year for Winward. They did have a killer second half to last year though. They crossed the finish line first at the Glen before being disqualified for drive time, so you know they’ll be hungry to set that right this year. They were leading at the penultimate turn of the last lap at Lime Rock before a mechanical issue pushed them back to 5^th. They were on course for a good finish at Petit too before drama struck in the dying moments of the race. The other 3 rounds? Well, they took victories back-to-back at Road America and VIR, and finished 2^nd in Canada. If any team feels good about the remaining races this year, it’s Winward. Twice this year Ellis has been the fastest man in GTD for Mercedes, and I’ve got a feeling he’s going to continue to extend that lead. Things can only go up from the start of the season they’ve had, and this is a team that’ll never stop clawing their way back into contention.

66 Gradient Acura – Katherine Legge 3 – 1 Sheena Monk                 Avg. Pace difference – 0.969

            Welcome to a full season in WeatherTech, Gradient! They’ve done Sprint, they’ve done endurance, and now they’re doing it all. They’ve been the best finishing Acura in every race, although in the other two races where there was another from the same stable they’ve been outpaced. Kat set the fastest lap of the class at Long Beach, which honestly came as a shock that round because the time came when the car was well out of contention for a win. Although the car wasn’t blisteringly fast the round before at Sebring, Sheena and Kat were separated by almost nothing, and that shows a lot of promise for this duo moving forward. Sheena is new to the GT3 platform racing, although she knows all the tracks coming up. Kat knows it all, and is a great role model. I think Lime Rock, Road America, and VIR will be the best tracks for the combo, since Sheena has been on the podium of all 3 in the Michelin Pilot Challenge. They sit 9^th in full season standings and 13^th in Sprint, so their goal is getting trophies, not getting points.

70 Inception McLaren – Frederik Schandorff 4 – 0 Brendon Iribe   Avg. Pace difference – 0.695

          Brendon Iribe has never hidden the fact that he is a McLaren man through and through, and that’s reflected entirely through the lap times he’s able to turn, which are shockingly close to his professional co-drivers. He is by far the closest Bronze driver to a teammate’s pace. This team represents the only McLaren in the field as well, giving them a huge advantage. Full season, the GTD champions have come from teams representing a brand solely, the lone exception being Pfaff in 2021. McLaren can choose their own path with this team, and their speed is undeniable. The season so far sees them 2^nd in full season championship standings and 5^th in Sprint, having finished 3^rd 4^th 6^th and 5^th. They drove back through the field after serving a lot of drive thru penalties, including one for ripping off their refueling nozzle and dragging it a third of the way down the pit lane. Schandorff is one of the quickest men in the world in a McLaren. Last year, they bailed on the championship after Watkins Glen, where they finished 2^nd, and only returned for Petit Le Mans, where again they finished 2^nd. The team will be learning a lot of new and different challenging tracks for the second half of the year. They are more than capable of taking victories, but they do need to iron out the kinks and not get penalties. They could’ve won the last race by a half lap if they hadn’t made so many unnecessary visits to the pits to pay for infractions.

77 Volt/Wright Porsche – Trent Hindman 4 – 0 Alan Brynjolfsson  Avg. Pace Difference – 1.290

            This combo works. Let’s start with the truth. The duo won the Michelin Pilot Challenge GS championship last year with consistently good results, and have a lot of the same people on the box and over the wall. Trent knows how to do well in GTD, as does the Wright organization. But it doesn’t come easy. They’ve only once been the best finishing Porsche (as a matter of fact, no Porsche has been the best finishing in two races). They’ve never been the fastest Porsche. But they’ve been quiet, learning, going about their business and not attracting the wrong kinds of attention. They’re 8^th in the championship and 11^th in Sprint. This won’t be a top-3 season for them, but it is a very important one. This, if you will, is the appetizer for what’s to come.

78 Forte Lamborghini – Loris Spinelli 4 – 0 Misha Goikhberg           Avg. Pace difference – 0.758

The only full season Lamborghini in the field comes at the hands of Forte Racing Powered by USRT, but that’s not to say they’ve been the only Lamborghini. At Daytona and Sebring, there were quite a few bulls running around, but it was Loris Spinelli who was the quickest of them all. He’s the only driver in GTD or Pro who’s claimed the fastest lap for a manufacturer in every race! As we’ve seen with Mercedes-AMG, however, speed does not equate to results. 7^th at Daytona and Long Beach, then 9^th at Laguna with a DNF at Sebring has left this duo 10^th in full season standings and 9^th in sprint. Already it looks like a long road to any championship contention. Misha has driven at every track on the schedule, and Loris has experience at a lot of them from his Super Trofeo days. This is a team that has done very well in other tiers of motorsport, so it won’t be long until they are successful in GTD as well.

91 KellyMoss with Riley Porsche – Kay van Berlo 4 – Alan Metni    Avg. Pace difference – 1.586

              The key part to this team’s success comes in the second half of the name. Riley. Yes, KellyMoss has dominated Porsche one make series in North America for more than half a decade, but it’s Riley who’s got the name of the game for GTD. Bill Riley’s organization claimed it’s 15^th GTD win at Laguna. There have been 106 GTD races and Riley’s won 14% of them, without competing in all. That’s bonkers! But I digress. The 91 Porsche is the only one of the two with a stable driver line up this season, so it’s the one that gets examined. It’s been the fastest Porsche of GTD in 3 of the 4 races, with van Berlo taking honors twice. It also, however, has the biggest gap on average pace. Alan Metni is drinking from the firehose coming into GTD, a fact he hasn’t been shy about at all. He’s got a lot of experience in Cup cars, and a good amount of Super Trofeo running too, but the GT3 spec machine, especially this new Porsche, is a lot. He was actually closest to van Berlo’s pace at Daytona, although Andlauer was significantly faster than both of them. But this duo has now won a race and sits 6^th in the championship and 3^rd in Sprint. Their focus needs to now shift towards Sprint, and getting Metni closer to van Berlo’s pace. Without that, races like CTMP and Lime Rock will be especially hard on the team if yellows don’t come out. As evidenced at Laguna, you’re never out of a race when Bill Riley’s name is above the door, so don’t count them out for more wins this year!

96 Turner BMW – Robby Foley 3 – 1 Patrick Gallagher                      Avg. Pace difference – 0.500

            I can’t lie, I’m still sad that they dynamic duo of Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley are in separate cars this year. They’ve been so much fun to see winning together over the years, always a threat for the championship. That said, I love that Turner brought in Patrick Gallagher to team up with “Folbert”. I am really surprised that the results haven’t come yet for them. Yes they finished 2^nd at Sebring, but they haven’t had another top 5 finish and have shockingly never been the best finishing BMW in the GTD class! Foley was the quickest guy for the roundel at Sebring, but Bill’s taken the honors at each race he’s run in the class. All this can turn around at Watkins though. Turner has won 3 times in GTD for the 6 Hours. They’ve won twice at CTMP, twice at VIR, and did get that awesome win at Petit in 2019. They’re still 5^th in the championship but 8^th in Sprint. Their sister car with Bill and Chandler is in a good position to fight for Sprint, but Robby and Patrick need to stay focused on the bigger picture and earn some tacos!

 

GTD Manufacturer Bigger Picture

           Since the GTD Pro and GTD cars are all running to the same specs, we get a much larger window than each class individually to gauge performance. I’ve assessed everything by each individual driver’s best lap time in each race, divided them up into clusters with their manufacturer, then averaged out the Place in Class, Place Overall, and Time off Fastest Lap. Looking at the pictures for each race is really interesting. Now, we have to take it with a small grain of salt because, for example, Corvette, McLaren, Acura, and Lamborghini have 2 drivers each on the sprint weekends whereas BMW or Mercedes has 6 each. That does balance out a bit when you factor in the endurance races, but still keep that nugget stored somewhere.

D24			S12			LB				LS
By PIC			By PIC			By PIC				By PIC
Corvette	8.67		Merc	4.44		Aston	3.5			Porsche		9.7
Merc	12.06		Corvette	4.67		Corvette	7.5			Corvette		7.5
Aston	13.87		Aston	17.89		Lexus	8			Lexus		13.3
Lexus	18.29		Lexus	19.67		McLaren	8.5			Lambo		13.5
McLaren	23.25		BMW	25.89		Acura	11.5			Aston		13.9
Acura	30.25		Porsche	26.39		BMW	12.7			Merc		15
BMW	43.17		McLaren	32.67		Porsche	14			BMW		15.2
Lambo	45.45		Ferrari	33.25		Merc	14.2			McLaren		15.5
Ferrari	49.29		Lambo	35.22		Lambo	16			Acura		17
Porsche	64.96		Acura	45.83
D24			S12			LB					LS
By OA			By OA			By OA					By OA
Merc	21.25		Corvette	6.67		Aston	7.25				Porsche		15.4
Corvette	21.67		Merc	9.78		Corvette	12.5				Corvette		16
Aston	30.27		Aston	30.44		Lexus	12.75				Aston		20.14
Lexus	33.29		Lexus	36.67		McLaren	14.5				Lambo		22
Mclaren	36.75		Porsche	44.17		BMW	16.5				BMW		22.17
Acura	46.75		BMW	51.56		Acura	20.67				Lexus		23.25
Lambo	72.2		Ferrari	52.08		Merc	21.38				Acura		24.5
BMW	78.58		McLaren	52.33		Porsche	24.5				McLaren		24.5
Ferrari	79.29		Lambo	57.67		Lambo	25.83				Merc		25
Porsche	107.1		Acura	68

 

 

D24			S12			LB			LS
Manu	ToP		Manu	ToP		Manu	ToP		Manu	ToP
Merc	1.014		Corvette	0.220		Aston	0.223		Corvette	0.834
Corvette	1.095		Merc	0.367		Corvette	0.327		Porsche	0.853
Lexus	1.373		Aston	0.946		Lexus	0.437		Aston	1.091
Aston	1.413		Lexus	1.081		McLaren	0.475		Lambo	1.092
McLaren	1.483		Porsche	1.417		BMW	0.691		Lexus	1.101
Acura	1.758		BMW	1.424		Acura	0.767		BMW	1.140
BMW	2.627		McLaren	1.450		Lambo	0.951		McLaren	1.224
Lambo	2.631		Ferrari	1.571		Merc	1.065		Merc	1.254
Ferrari	2.792		Lambo	1.626		Porsche	1.096		Acura	1.375
Porsche	3.846		Acura	2.162

 

The data doesn’t lie. Mercedes was super strong with all of their cars to kick off the year, but haven’t showed anywhere near that performance since the BoP hit before Long Beach. Corvette has always been fast, but remember what I said about a skewed data point since both of their drivers are top caliber whereas every other manufacturer has at least one weak link. Lexus struggled pace wise at Laguna Seca, but have been very competitive everywhere else. Aston Martin is always fast, no matter the track or who they have pulling down the average in non-pro cars. The McLaren is hindered yes by their bronze, but they only have the one car representing them in every race. Acura has had a very down season, ranking in the bottom half of manufacturers in every race and bringing up the tail of the field twice. BMW speed-wise has been solidly mid-pack if not back-pack. There used to be a joke in the ALMS days that BMW would complain constantly about a lack of speed. They’ve actually demonstrated that in lap time this year! Lamborghini and Porsche both have pulled themselves back from the brink and found a ton of pace at Laguna Seca. They were solidly at the back prior to the last round, but it seems as if both new cars might be headed in the right direction.

So what to make of all this data? I can’t predict who’s going to win each of the remaining races (that’s why they call it racing and not just awarding trophies), but I do feel as if we’ve got a clearer picture of who has to do what in order to give themselves a better shot! Teams, I’m talking to you now. Some of you, and you know who you are, need to put more emphasis on qualifying. Some of you need to spend more time testing with your less quick drivers. Some of you need to figure out pit stops. Some of you need to study the rule book closer. All of you need to keep improving, because the people you’re fighting against won’t stop getting better. Every championship under the IMSA umbrella is fought for and deserved. Who’s going to take home the big awards this year? I’ve got some guesses but we’ve got a lot of miles to go before we get to the final banquets in Atlanta in October! And I’ll be there, microphone in hand, in every pit lane to bring all the stories possible! The next article will be a breakdown of how everyone got their championships. So teams, drivers, everyone…go earn it!