Third of a Four-Part Series Recalling the Year’s Highlights
By IMSA.com Contributors
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – On the racetrack, it’s all about performance. As a driver, crew member, engineer or strategist, you must do your best at all times in order for the team to succeed.
With that in mind, our regular contributing writers have submitted their thoughts on the “Best Performances” of 2021 for the third of a four-part series highlighting the year in IMSA.
Jeff Olson: Sebastien Bourdais at Sebring. While battling for the lead late in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts, Bourdais lost a portion of the rear wing on the No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Cadillac DPi-V.R. Instead of wrecking, a distinct possibility at times, Bourdais held on – literally – to win. “That was one of the most improbable situations that I’ve ever been a part of that turned out in a good way,” he said.
Holly Cain: The GT Le Mans (GTLM) class concluding its run as one of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s most compelling “shows within a show” as the class is rebooted and renamed GTD PRO next year – a big move expected to grow the field significantly. While Porsche won the season-finale Motul Petit Le Mans, it was the Chevrolet Corvette team of Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor that captured the final GTLM championship. The Porsche race win gave the make 30 victories since 2009 – breaking a tie with Corvette. The Chevrolet drivers, meanwhile, earned their fifth (Garcia) and fourth (Taylor) titles. It was the 15th Corvette championship since the car began competing in IMSA’s GT class in 1999.
David Phillips: He didn’t make a competitive pass, lead a lap or score a championship point, but Robert Wickens’ on-track evaluation in a Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Veloster N TCR at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in May rates as the best performance in an IMSA – or any other – series in 2021. After all, it was Wickens’ first time in a race car since suffering devastating injuries in an IndyCar crash in 2018. At the invitation of Herta, Wickens put in a full, productive and inspiring day at the helm of the hand-controlled BHA Hyundai normally piloted by the team’s regular driver Michael Johnson … a performance the racing world can only hope will lead to the Canadian’s fulltime return to making competitive passes, leading laps and scoring championship points in the future.
Godwin Kelly: I’m going to cast my vote for Taylor Hagler, who became the first female to win an IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge championship driving a Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Touring Car (TCR) class. Kudos to Herta for signing a driver with limited experience but possessing raw talent. And a tip of the cap to Hagler’s co-driver, Michael Lewis, who mentored Hagler through the season.
John Oreovicz: My vote goes to Action Express Racing. Pipo Derani and Felipe Nasr found themselves last in the WeatherTech Championship Daytona Prototype international (DPi) standings after starting the season with sixth-place finishes in the Rolex 24 At Daytona and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts. Victories at the Watkins Glen International sprint race and Road America brought them back into title contention, a win at Long Beach put them squarely on the rear wing of the leading No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing team, and they withstood a desperate last-lap passing attempt by Ricky Taylor at Motul Petit Le Mans to steal the crown.
Next: Part 4, Best Races of 2021