It’s time for the penultimate round of the 2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the series’ NBC network television debut as all four classes reunite for a two-hour, 40-minute battle on the 2.238-mile WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for the Monterey SportsCar Championship on Sunday, Sept. 15.
The entry list includes 32 cars across four classes with 10 in the Daytona Prototype international (DPi) class, two in LMP2, eight in GT Le Mans (GTLM) and 12 GT Daytona (GTD) entries. In addition to earning points toward the season-ending WeatherTech Championship, the GTD class also will crown its inaugural WeatherTech Sprint Cup champion following this race, the last of seven sprint races two-hours and 40-minutes in length or shorter for the class.
The race will be televised live on the NBC network beginning at 3 p.m. ET and has the distinction of being IMSA’s first telecast on the “big” NBC network as part of IMSA’s long-term partnership with NBC Sports. IMSA Radio also will have live coverage throughout the weekend on IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com, with the race call also airing on SiriusXM Radio.
Tickets are available now at WeatherTechRaceway.com.
Let’s take a closer look at the field and who has enjoyed previous IMSA success at the picturesque road course in Monterey:
· Twenty-five of the 64 drivers on the entry list have at least one premier IMSA series victory at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca since 1999. Sixteen have won at least one pole position.
· Patrick Long, who will co-drive the No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R with Patrick Lindsey in the GTD class, has the most victories of active drivers in the field with five. Long took one overall and GRAND-AM Daytona Prototype (DP) victory in 2007 and four class victories: ALMS GT2 in 2005 and 2009 and ALMS GT in 2010 and 2011. Lindsey also has a previous WeatherTech Raceway victory, which came in the GTD class in 2015.
· Jan Magnussen, who shares the No. 3 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C7.R with Antonio Garcia in the GTLM class, has the most WeatherTech Raceway pole positions among active drivers with four. His first was an ALMS GTS pole in 2003, followed by ALMS GT1 poles in 2007 and 2008 and the ALMS GT2 pole in 2009. Magnussen is also a four-time race-winner at WeatherTech Raceway, while Garcia has three previous wins and has earned one pole at the venue.
· Corvette Racing is the winningest active team at WeatherTech Raceway with seven victories. The team’s first win came in the 2004 ALMS GTS class and its most recent came in the WeatherTech Championship GTLM class in 2014. The team’s next IMSA victory will be its 100th.
· Porsche is the winningest active manufacturer at WeatherTech Raceway with 18 victories since 1999. The manufacturer effectively clinched the WeatherTech Championship GTLM manufacturer’s championship following the most recent race at VIRginia International Raceway. They only need to score points in the final two events to seal the title.
· No. 86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 co-drivers Trent Hindman and Mario Farnbacher can clinch the 2019 WeatherTech Championship GTD title if they depart WeatherTech Raceway with a lead of 35 or more points. The duo currently sits 37 points ahead of second-place driver Zacharie Robichon in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R by a count of 241-204.
· Robichon holds a one-point lead, 175-174, in the WeatherTech Sprint Cup driver standings over Farnbacher and Hindman heading into the final race of the inaugural seven-race competition.
· In the WeatherTech Championship DPi title race, No. 6 Acura Team Penske ARX-05 co-drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Dane Cameron lead No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R co-drivers Felipe Nasr and Pipo Derani by seven points, 239-232.
· No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 driver Matt McMurry sits five points ahead of No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports ORECA driver Cameron Cassels, 200-195, in the race for WeatherTech Championship LMP2 honors.
· It’s a battle among teammates for the WeatherTech Championship GTLM crown. No. 912 Porsche GT Team 911 RSR co-drivers Earl Bamber and Laurens Vanthoor hold the lead by 11 points, 280-269, over No. 911 Porsche co-drivers Nick Tandy and Patrick Pilet. Tandy and Pilet won the most recent race at VIRginia International Raceway last month in a 1-2 sweep ahead of the No. 912 duo.
Previous WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Winning Drivers Since 1999 in 2019 Field (25)
Patrick Long (5) – ALMS GT2 – 2005, 2009; GRAND-AM DP/Overall – 2007; ALMS GT – 2010, 2011
Oliver Gavin (4) – ALMS GT1 – 2005, 2007, 2008; ALMS GT – 2012
Jan Magnussen (4) – ALMS GTS – 2003, GRAND-AM DP/Overall – 2006, ALMS GT – 2013, GTLM – 2014
Antonio Garcia (3) – GRAND-AM DP/Overall – 2012, ALMS GT – 2013, GTLM – 2014
Richard Westbrook (3) – GRAND-AM DP/Overall – 2012, P/Overall – 2015, GTLM – 2016
Tommy Milner (2) – GRAND-AM GT – 2005, ALMS GT – 2012
Andy Lally (2) – GRAND-AM GT – 2007, 2013
Jeroen Bleekemolen (2) – ALMS GTC – 2010, 2012
Dane Cameron (2) – GRAND-AM GT – 2012, GTD – 2014
Renger van der Zande (2) – PC – 2014, P/Overall – 2017
John Edwards (2) – GTLM – 2015, 2017
Bill Auberlen (1) – GRAND-AM GT – 2005
Dirk Mueller (1) – ALMS GT2 – 2008
Jon Bennett (1) – ALMS PC – 2012
Colin Braun (1) – ALMS PC – 2012
Jordan Taylor (1) – GRAND-AM DP/Overall – 2013
John Potter (1) – GRAND-AM GT – 2013
Nick Tandy (1) – ALMS GTC – 2013
Patrick Lindsey (1) – GTD – 2015
Ryan Briscoe (1) – GTLM – 2016
Mario Farnbacher (1) – GTD – 2016
Christina Nielsen (1) – GTD – 2017
Pipo Derani (1) – P/Overall – 2018
Connor De Philippi (1) – GTLM – 2018
Katherine Legge (1) – GTD – 2008
Previous WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Pole-Winning Drivers Since 1999 in 2019 Field (16)
Jan Magnussen (4) – ALMS GTS – 2003; ALMS GT1 – 2007, 2008; ALMS GT2 – 2009
Jeroen Bleekemolen (3) – ALMS GTC – 2010, 2011, 2013
Ricky Taylor (2) – GRAND-AM DP/Overall – 2011, P/Overall – 2017
Richard Westbrook (2) – GRAND-AM DP/Overall – 2012, 2013
Tristan Nunez (2) – GRAND-AM GX – 2013, P/Overall – 2016
Jordan Taylor (2) – P/Overall – 2015, 2018
Dirk Mueller (1) – ALMS GT – 1999
Patrick Long (1) – GRAND-AM DP/Overall – 2006
Joey Hand (1) – ALMS GT – 2011
Colin Braun (1) – ALMS PC – 2013
John Edwards (1) – GRAND-AM GT – 2013
Antonio Garcia (1) – GTLM – 2014
Patrick Lindsey (1) – GTD – 2015
Toni Vilander (1) – GTLM – 2017
Oliver Gavin (1) – GTLM – 2018
Katherine Legge (1) – GTD – 2018
Previous WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Winning Teams Since 1999 in 2019 Field (12)
Corvette Racing (7) – ALMS GTS – 2004; ALMS GT1 – 2005, 2007, 2008; ALMS GT – 2012, 2013; GTLM – 2014
Penske Racing (3) – ALMS LMP2 – 2005, 2006, 2007
BMW Team RLL (3) – GTLM – 2015, 2017, 2018
Chip Ganassi Racing (2) – GRAND-AM DP/Overall – 2005; GTLM – 2016
Wayne Taylor Racing (2) – GRAND-AM DP/Overall – 2006, 2013
PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports (2) – ALMS PC – 2013, PC – 2016
Meyer Shank Racing (2) – P/Overall – 2016, GTD – 2018
Joest Racing (1) – ALMS LMP900 – 2003
CORE autosport (1) – ALMS PC – 2012
Magnus Racing (1) – GRAND-AM GT – 2013
Park Place Motorsports (2) – GTD – 2015
Scuderia Corsa (1) – GTD – 2017
Previous WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Winning Manufacturers Since 1999 in 2019 Field (9)
Porsche – 18
Chevrolet – 11
BMW – 9
Ferrari – 6
Acura – 4
Mazda – 3
Ford – 2
Lexus – 1
Nissan – 1