2023 By the Numbers - GTD Pro

 

GTD Pro:

Podiums – 20 drivers. Most – Hawksworth/Barnicoat 9

                                                       Pilet/Bachler 7

          Juncadella/Gounon/Garcia/Taylor 6

Wins – 4 WeatherTech Mercedes, 2 VasserSullivan Lexus, 2 Corvette, 2 Heart of Racing Aston Martin, 1                Pfaff Porsche

Champions – Jack Hawksworth & Ben Barnicoat

MEC Champions – Daniel Juncadella & Jules Gounon

Manufacturer Champion - Lexus

6982.63 miles, 329 miles more than 2022, but one more race.

11 cars entered, 5 full season. All 5 won at least 1 race and had at least 1 pole.

 

BoP – Gets it’s own article.

 

Qualifying – Poles – 4 Hawksworth

Car	Driver	Qs	Avg. Class	Avg. OA	Car Class	Car OA
3	Garcia	6	2.83	4.83	Avg 4	Avg. 6
3	Taylor	5	4.40	6.40
9	Bachler	5	3.60	8.00	Avg 4	Avg. 9
9	Pilet	5	4.40	7.60
14	Hawksworth	10	2.20	3.00	Avg. 2	Avg. 3
23	Gunn	5	3.80	9.60	Avg. 3	Avg. 7
23	Riberas	6	3.17	5.00
79	Juncadella	5	4.00	10.00	Avg. 3.3	Avg. 7.1
79	Gounon	5	3.00	5.00

 

Best qualifying performance was obviously Hawksworth, with the 4 poles, but he swept the floor with everyone else based on Overall Qualifying result. The GT3 spec machines were mixed this year (as they were last) but Jack’s qualifying efforts kept the 14 Lexus out of the GTD fray by and large! The second best individual effort was Antonio Garcia, who was only outqualified by GTD cars for a total of 4 positions all year, whereas Jack had 8 GTD cars ahead of him over the course of the season. Hats off to both drivers.

Most Positions Gained Q to F class: Pfaff Porsche +13

Most Positions Gained Q to F Over All: Pfaff Porsche +25

Most Positions Lost Q to F class: Heart of Racing Aston Martin -9

Most Positions Lost Q to F Over All: Heart of Racing Aston Martin -44

Most Points gained in qualifying: 14 VasserSullivan Lexus +350

Fewest Points earned in qualifying: 9 Pfaff Porsche +308

               If Pfaff had earned 42 more points, they would’ve finished 3^rd in the championship. Same situation for Manufacturer’s championships.

 

Driver	ToP		Driver	#
Gunn	0.497		Gunn	4.18
Taylor	0.559		Gounon	6.18
Riberas	0.635		Riberas	6.27
Gounon	0.639		Taylor	6.55
Garcia	0.684		Garcia	6.91
Hawksworth	0.690		Juncadella	7.00
Barnicoat	0.700		Hawksworth	7.64
Juncadella	0.828		Barnicoat	8.09
Bachler	0.998		Pilet	10.18
Pilet	1.066		Bachler	10.82

 

 

Driver of the Year – Ross Gunn

The 2023 GTD Pro Driver of the Year being awarded to a driver who got just one pole, 2 Fastest Laps, 2 race wins, and only 3 podium finishes on the year is a bit of a surprise. But Ross Gunn, week in and week out, was fast. Very fast. He averaged a tenth closer to the pace than his co-driver. He averaged 2 positions higher than a guy who won 4 races. I’m also a bit surprised that two Gold rated drivers performed better across the board than all but one Platinum rated driver in both categories. The 23 Aston with Ross and Alex averaged a Fastest Lap performance of 3.82, twice of that seen by the Pfaff Porsche for example.

Honorable mention: Jules Gounon (3^rd best average qualifying, 2^nd in average position amongst peers, new to about half the tracks), Jordan Taylor(top 4 in both categories, 2 wins), Antonio Garcia (see qualifying above, 2 wins, pole Sebring, FL CTMP), Alex Riberas (2 wins, 1 pole, 1 FL Lime Rock but inside top 3 for FL 4 times).

Accolades:

14 Lexus – Consistency Wins Championships. Same qualifying driver, same finishing driver. We saw this work for BamThor in 2019. They won the championship with only 2 wins for the season and only one endurance race win. But they still won the championship.

79 Mercedes – Be There When It Counts. The Daytona win was a statement. The Laguna win was luck due to other’s not following the rules. The Indy win was again staying clean and being fortunate. The Petit win was attrition affected and a very fast car. I take nothing away from Juncadella holding off Estre at the end. They were in it to win it 4 times this year, and they took advantage of each opportunity. They never finished 2^nd.

9 Porsche – Pfaff Plans. Strategy pays off. Strategy won them the 12 Hours of Sebring this year, as well as 3 very competent drivers. Strategy kept them in position to capitalize and gain a 5^th place finish at Daytona in a car that had qualified 8^th. Strategy helped them be in a position to nearly please the home town crowd at CTMP and strategy allowed Kevin Estre to have a go at the 79 Mercedes at the end of Petit. Even though they never claimed to have the strongest car all year, Pfaff’s hard working crew on the box and over the wall kept them as a perennial threat to take home a trophy.

23 Aston Martin – Fast Not Fab. As established, they had 2 of the strongest drivers of the year. This car was fast in every race all year. At Daytona, they had a break in the suspension in the left rear at night, and that threw away their hopes at a watch. Sebring too went awry. Laguna Seca saw them take a pass around when not applicable and throw away a potential win. Throughout the first 4 races, the Heart of Racing team lost 45 spots overall to GT3 cars from qualifying to finish. They only had 3 races all season where they gained position: Watkins Glen (when they didn’t set a time in qualifying due to a tire issue and started from the back), Indy and Petit. This team doesn’t quit though. Their only DNF was due to the crash at CTMP, which resulted in a new chassis being utilized.

3 Corvette – Close Only Counts in Horseshoes and Hand Grenades. To Corvette Racing, finishing 3^rd in the championship when there’s 5 full time cars isn’t success. Winning just two races, earning just one pole, getting only 1 FL is not a successful season. They finished first, second, third, fourth, and fifth twice each with one DNF. That’s not consistent. That’s not Corvette. They’ll study in the off season and figure out a way to come into 2024 with a new debuting GT3 machine that can win off the bat.

2023 By the Numbers - LMP3

 

LMP3:

Podiums – 26 drivers. Most – Robinson 6

Wins – Riley 4, AWA 2, JR III 1

Champion – Gar Robinson (2^nd )

MEC Champions – Gar Robinson (3^rd), Felipe Fraga (3^rd), Josh Burdon

13 cars entered, 4 full season, 7 cars got podiums.

 

Qualifying – Poles – 2 Pino/Garg

Car	Driver	Avg Q		Car	Car Avg
33 SCM	Pino (2)	1		36 Andretti	1.34
36 Andretti	van Berlo (2)	1		30 JR III	3.6
JR III	Garg	2		74 Riley	4.34
30 JR III	Balogh (3)	4.34		85 JDC	4.5
74 Riley	Robinson	4.34		13 AWA	4.67
13 AWA	Fidani	4.67		17 AWA	5
17 AWA	Mantella	5		33 SCM	5
33 SCM	Willsey (3)	7.67		38 Perf Tech	5
				4 Ave	6.5

 

Most Positions Gained Q to F: 17 AWA +16

Most Positions Lost Q to F: 36 Andretti Autosport -8 in 4 races!

Most Points gained in qualifying: 30 JR III +145

Fewest Points earned in qualifying: 17 AWA +130

               *The two AWA cars finished 12 points apart in the season long championship, and the 13 outscored the 17 by 12 points in qualifying. If they’d tied for third, the 17 would’ve taken the position on countback for race wins…

 

Driver	ToP		Driver	#
Varrone	0.184		Grist	1.83
Grist	0.217		Varrone	2.33
Fraga	0.429		Fraga	3.250
Bell	0.574		Boyd	5.14
Boyd	0.591		Burdon	5.20
Burdon	0.597		Bell	5.57
Barbosa	0.608		Barbosa	6.17
Chaves	0.644		Pino	7.00
Pino	0.660		Dickerson	7.40
Dickerson	0.750		Chaves	9.00
Garg	1.028		Garg	9.00
Andretti	1.544		Balogh	11.00
Robinson	2.128		Andretti	13.50
Balogh	2.362		Robinson	14.29
Fidani	2.443		Fidani	17.14
Mantella	3.108		Mantella	19.57
Willsey	3.982		Willsey	22.60

 

 

Driver of the Year: Garrett Grist

               Out of the 6 race weekends Garrett participated in this year, he brought home 4 trophies. The win at Petit was his second career and second Petit victory. He was in close quarters with the car that would be victorious in more races than not, including a few that resulted with him not getting the position he felt he earned. JR III Racing is not a powerhouse championship dominant team like Riley. The fact that Garrett was able to get within striking distance of the championship after sharing the car with a slew of co-drivers, none of whom was faster than he, is super impressive. Garrett finished the year with Fastest Laps at Petit, CTMP, and Sebring, and was never outside of the top 3! He should be disappointed with 2^nd in the LMP3 championship because this year, he was in a league of his own.

Honorable mention: Nico Varrone (Daytona win, lowest average Time off Pace for the class, FL at Watkins Glen, fastest driver in the 17 every race he drove).

Bronze Driver of the Year: Gar Robinson

               Gar racked up his 4^th and 5^th IMSA championships this year by sweeping the LMP3 class offerings for MEC championships (2021, 2022, 2023) and his second LMP3 class championship out of 3 years. He finished 2^nd last year. With the Sebring win this year, Gar has now won every major endurance race in North America. The LMP3 class has been wonderful for him. He’s gotten 16 podiums and 12 wins in the class, as well as 4 pole positions. Gar thrived driving these cars. Next year he steps into the LMP2 category and it won’t be long before he’s winning in those as well!