Biggest Field Since Rolex 24 Descends Upon Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, where Championships in All Five Classes Will Be Determined
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The largest IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship field since the season opener in January is expected to battle it out at the Motul Petit Le Mans on Nov. 13, when championships in all five classes will be determined. It is also the largest entry list for Motul Petit Le Mans since 2014, when 52 cars were entered and 51 participated in the race.
A total of 43 cars fills the pre-event entry list for the season-ending race at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. It’s the most since 49 took the green flag in the Rolex 24 At Daytona to start the 2021 campaign. The entire race airs live, starting on NBC national network at noon ET Saturday, Nov. 13 before switching to NBCSN at 3 p.m.
Here’s what else you need to know for the Motul Petit Le Mans:
Fast Facts
Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta – Braselton, Georgia
November 13, 2021
Race Day/Time: Saturday, November 13 – 12:10 p.m. ET
U.S. Television Live Coverage:
- Noon-3 p.m.: NBC
- 3-10:30 p.m.: NBCSN
TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold Coverage: LIVE – Flag-to-flag beginning at 12:05 p.m. (also available on NBCSports.com and NBC Sports App)
IMSA.com/TVLive Live Qualifying Stream: Friday, November 12 – 3:40 p.m. ET
IMSA Radio: All sessions live on IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com; SiriusXM live race coverage begins at noon Saturday, November 13 (XM Channel 202, Sirius/XM Internet 992)
Circuit Type: 2.54-mile, 12-turn road course
Race Length: 10 hours
Track Social Media: Twitter/Instagram/Facebook: @roadatlanta
Event Hashtags: #IMSA, #MotulPetitLeMans
Entry List (Click Here)
WeatherTech Championship Track Records
Qualifying:
DPi: Dane Cameron, Acura ARX-05, 1:08.412 / 133.660 mph, October 2020
LMP2: Kyle Masson, ORECA LMP2, 1:10.722 / 129.294 mph, October 2019
LMP3: new class for 2021
GTLM: Antonio Garcia, Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, 1:15.163 / 121.655 mph, October 2020
GTD: Shinya Michimi, Acura NSX GT3, 1:19.291 / 115.321 mph, October 2020
2020 Motul Petit Le Mans Winners:
DPi: Renger van der Zande/Ryan Briscoe/Scott Dixon, No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R
LMP2: John Farano/Mikkel Jensen/Job van Uitert, No. 8 Tower Motorsport by Starworks ORECA LMP2 07
LMP3: new class for 2021
GTLM: Nick Tandy/Frederic Makowiecki/Matt Campbell, No. 911 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR-19
GTD: Cooper MacNeil/Alessandro Balzan/Jeff Westphal, No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3
Storylines
- All on the Line: The championships in all five WeatherTech Championship classes – Daytona Prototype international (DPi), Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3), GT Le Mans (GTLM) and GT Daytona (GTD) will be decided. Three are still up for grabs. The points leaders in LMP2 (Ben Keating and Mikkel Jensen in the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07) and GTLM (Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor in the No. 3 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R) need just start the race to clinch their respective class crowns.
- DPi Rivalry to the Wire: Wayne Taylor Racing and Action Express Racing are used to battling each other for titles, and this year is no different in DPi. WTR’s No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 holds a narrow 19-point edge on AXR’s No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac, meaning whoever finishes better likely wins the championship.
- LMP3 Pits Newcomer Versus Veterans: Prototype rookie Gar Robinson and the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier JS P320 have a 50-point lead in LMP3, but with 10 entries in the class, nothing is certain. The No. 54 CORE autosport Ligier and co-drivers Jon Bennett and Colin Braun are lurking close behind and keeping the pressure on.
- Three-Horse Race in GTD: A trio of teams will duke it out for the GTD championship. The No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R is 50 points ahead of the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3. The No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin GT3, at 177 points back, still could pull out the title but needs everything to go its way in the 15-car class field.
- GTLM Curtain Call: The Motul Petit Le Mans serves as the final race for the GTLM class, with the 2022 introduction of the GTD PRO class to better align with international GT3 specification racing. No. 3 Corvette drivers Garcia and Taylor are on the cusp of their second consecutive GTLM championship to send the class out with a bang.
- New Points Format for 2021: The WeatherTech Championship points structure has changed this season, with each race finishing position earning 10 times the points it received a year ago. Where a class winner took home 35 points in 2020, the reward is now 350 points. Second place in a race now earns 320 points, third place nets 300 and downward from there. In addition, points are now distributed in qualifying, with 35 going to the pole winners in DPi, LMP2, LMP3 and GTLM, and to the fastest car in the second GTD qualifying session (see below). Points descend from second downward through the qualifying results.
- Revised GTD Qualifying Format: This season, the GTD class conducts two qualifying sessions. The first is for the Motul Pole Award and starting grid position, with a Silver- or Bronze-rated driver in each car. Following a mandatory driver change, another 15-minute session will take place to decide qualifying points for the class. All other classes in action on a race weekend will have a single, 15-minute qualifying session that determines both grid position and points.
- IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Championships: Along with the season titles earned, the Motul Petit Le Mans is also the last of the four longer races that are part of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup. Using a different scoring system with points awarded at designated junctures throughout the race, the championships in all five classes of this prized competition are still undecided heading into the race. The No. 10 Acura team and co-drivers Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque and Alexander Rossi currently lead the DPi standings; the No. 52 PR1-Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA and drivers Ben Keating, Mikkel Jensen and Scott Huffaker lead LMP2; the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier team and drivers Gar Robinson and Scott Andrews lead the LMP3 standings; the No. 3 Corvette Racing C8.R and drivers Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia lead GTLM; and the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche team and drivers Patrick Long, Trent Hindman and Jan Heylen lead in GTD. Points toward the Michelin Endurance Cup will be awarded at the four- and eight-hour marks in addition to the finish at Motul Petit Le Mans.
Who’s Hot?
- 31 Cadillac: With three wins in its last four outings, the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac has trimmed its deficit to a manageable 19 points behind the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura. With a tightly intertwined history, it sets up a dramatic conclusion for the 2021 DPi championship.
- 4 Corvette: Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy have reeled off three consecutive GTLM victories in the No. 4 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R to remind everyone of the threat they pose each race. Add in wins at the non-points Chevrolet Sports Car Classic in Detroit and the Motul Pole Award 100 qualifying race at Daytona, and the No. 4 duo has crossed the finish line first on five occasions this year.
- 9 Porsche: Pfaff Motorsports drivers Zacharie Robichon and Laurens Vanthoor have won three of the last four GTD races – and finished second in the other – to streak to the class lead.
- 1 Lamborghini: Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow have stayed close on the No. 9 Porsche’s tail, with a win and a pair of runner-up finishes in the last four GTD races. This looks to be another exciting duel to watch in the race.
Who’s Good Here?
- Tandy’s a Dandy: Not only is Nick Tandy riding a hot streak in the No. 4 Corvette, he’s also the defending GTLM champion in the Motul Petit Le Mans, when he was part of the Porsche GT Team. Last year’s win was his fourth in the 10-hour race, the most of any entered driver.
- Wayne Taylor Racing: Wayne Taylor Racing has won two of the last three Motul Petit Le Mans races overall, but those came when the No. 10 team was powered by Cadillac. Will that strength continue now that the team is running an Acura?
- Van der Zande and MacNeil: Renger van der Zande (No. 01 V Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R) and Cooper MacNeil (No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19) both have Motul Petit Le Mans wins in 2018 and 2020, but the scene has shifted some for each driver. Van der Zande’s wins came with Wayne Taylor Racing and he is now with Chip Ganassi Racing. MacNeil’s victories came in GTD and he is now racing in GTLM.
Previous Motul Petit Le Mans Winners in 2021 Field (29)
Nick Tandy (4): ALMS GT – 2013; GTLM/Overall – 2015; GTLM – 2018, 2020
Bill Auberlen (3): ALMS GT – 2001; GTLM – 2017; GTD – 2019
Patrick Long (3): ALMS GT2 – 2005, 2006; ALMS P2 – 2007
Renger van der Zande (3): PC – 2014, P/Overall – 2018; DPi/Overall – 2020
Jeroen Bleekemolen (2): GTC – 2011; GTD – 2016
Ryan Dalziel (2): ALMS PC – 2012; P/Overall – 2017
Cooper MacNeil (2) GTD – 2018, 2020
Spencer Pumpelly (2): ALMS GTC – 2013; GTD – 2015
Bryan Sellers (2): ALMS GT – 2013; GTLM – 2014
Madison Snow (2): ALMS GTC – 2013, GTD – 2015
Jordan Taylor (2): P/Overall – 2014, 2018
Gabriel Aubry (1): LMP2 – 2019
Matthew Bell (1): GTD – 2014
Sebastien Bourdais (1): P – 2015
Matt Campbell (1): GTLM – 2020
Helio Castroneves (1): ALMS P2 – 2008
Connor De Phillippi (1): GTD – 2017
Pipo Derani (1): DPi/Overall – 2019
Scott Dixon (1): DPi/Overall – 2020
John Farano (1): LMP2 – 2020
Robby Foley (1): GTD – 2019
Garett Grist (1): PC – 2017
Mikkel Jensen (1): LMP2 – 2020
Ben Keating (1): GTD – 2016
Andy Lally (1): ALMS GTC – 2010
Felipe Nasr (1): DPi/Overall – 2019
Simon Pagenaud (1): ALMS P2 – 2010
Alexander Sims (1): GTLM – 2017
Ricky Taylor (1): P/Overall – 2014
Previous Motul Petit Le Mans Pole Winners in 2021 Field (12)
Jeroen Bleekemolen (3): ALMS GTC – 2010, 2011; GTD – 2016
Dane Cameron (3): ALMS PC – 2011, 2013; DPi/Overall – 2020
Bill Auberlen (1): GT3 – 1998
Helio Castroneves (1): P/Overall – 2017
Pipo Derani (1): P/Overall – 2018
John Edwards (1): GTLM – 2018
Antonio Garcia (1): — GTLM – 2020
Jack Hawksworth (1): PC – 2014
Corey Lewis (1): GTD – 2019
Felipe Nasr (1): DPi/Overall – 2019
Spencer Pumpelly (1): ALMS GTC – 2013
Nick Tandy (1): GTLM – 2014
Previous Motul Petit Le Mans Winning Teams in 2021 Field (10)
Corvette Racing (8): ALMS GTS – 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004; ALMS GT1 – 2005, 2007, 2008; ALMS GT2 – 2010
PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports (4): ALMS PC – 2011; PC – 2015, 2016; LMP2 – 2019
Wayne Taylor Racing (3): P/Overall – 2014, 2018; DPi/Overall – 2020
Action Express Racing (2): P – 2015; DPi/Overall – 2019
CORE autosport (2): ALMS PC – 2012; GTLM/Overall – 2015
BMW Team RLL (1): GTLM – 2017
Meyer Shank Racing (1): P/Overall – 2016
Paul Miller Racing (1): GTD – 2014
Riley Motorsports: GTD – 2016
Turner Motorsport (1): GTD 2019
Previous Motul Petit Le Mans Winning Manufacturers in 2021 Field (7)
Porsche – 21
Audi – 11
Chevrolet – 10
BMW – 3
Cadillac – 3
Aston Martin – 1
Mazda – 1