IMSA Completes Its West Coast Swing with a Visit to Iconic WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
By Mark Robinson
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The California cruise continues for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with the Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship Presented by Motul.
Following the April 9 battle on the streets of Long Beach, the series heads up the coast to the beautiful Monterey Bay area and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for the fourth round of the season, April 29-May 1. A total of 32 cars are entered in the four classes competing.
Here’s what you need to know about the race:
Fast Facts
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca – Monterey, California
May 1, 2022
Race Day/Time: Sunday, May 1 – 3:10 p.m. ET
NBC Network Coverage: LIVE – Flag-to-flag beginning at 3 p.m. (also streaming in the U.S. on Peacock, outside the U.S. on IMSA.com/TVLive)
IMSA.com/TVLive Qualifying Stream: Saturday, April 30 – 3:45 p.m. ET
IMSA Radio: All sessions live on IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com; SiriusXM live race coverage begins Sunday, May 1 at 2:30 p.m. (XM 207, Internet 992)
Competing Classes: Daytona Prototype international (DPi), Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO), Grand Touring Daytona (GTD)
Circuit Type: 2.238-mile, 11-turn road course
Race Length: Two hours, 40 minutes
Track Social Media:
- Instagram/Facebook: @WeatherTechRaceway
- Twitter: @WeatherTechRcwy
Event Hashtags: #IMSA, #IMSAMonterey, #HyundaiMSCC
Entry List (Click Here)
WeatherTech Championship Track Records
Qualifying:
DPi: Filipe Albuquerque, Acura DPi, 1:14.441 / 108.230 mph, September 2021
LMP2: Kyle Masson, ORECA LMP2, 1:16.817 / 104.882 mph, September 2019
GTD PRO: new class in 2022
GTD: Ross Gunn, Aston Martin Vantage GT3, 1:23.805 / 96.137 mph, September 2021
2021 Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship Winners:
DPi: Ricky Taylor/Filipe Albuquerque, No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 DPi
LMP2: Ben Keating/Mikkel Jensen, No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07
GTD PRO: new class in 2022
GTD: Zacharie Robichon/Laurens Vanthoor, No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R
Storylines
- Springtime and Sports Cars in Monterey: IMSA has raced at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca each year since 1999, sometimes in the spring and sometimes in the fall. In 2022, the WeatherTech Championship event returns to the spring for the first time since 2016. It will complete a West Coast swing that saw the series race on the streets of Long Beach, California, on April 9.
- Points Battles Building: Despite it being early into the 2022 season, tight battles are already shaping up in at least two of the competing classes. In DPi, the No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.R with drivers Earl Bamber and Alex Lynn leads by just three points over the No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Cadillac shared by Tristan Vautier and Richard Westbrook. In GTD PRO, No. 3 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD drivers Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor are 30 points up on No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R co-drivers Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell.
- LMP2 Returns to Action: Le Mans Prototype 2 cars return to the grid at WeatherTech Raceway, the first race for the class since the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts in March.
- GTD Racing for Two Titles: In addition to battling for points toward the season championship, GTD drivers, teams and manufacturers will be racing for points in the IMSA WeatherTech Sprint Cup – the championship within a championship that crowns a champion from the eight non-endurance races on the calendar. While the No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 is the early leader for the GTD season title, the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 is the Sprint Cup leader by virtue of its win at Long Beach.
Who’s Hot?
- Cadillacs: The No. 02 Cadillac fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing has finished first and second in the last two races to nudge into the DPi points lead, barely ahead of the No. 5 JDC-Miller Caddy that’s been on the podium in all three 2022 races to date. The other Ganassi Cadillac, the No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac with drivers Renger van der Zande and Sebastien Bourdais, claimed the class and overall win at Long Beach.
- Vasser Sullivan Racing: At Long Beach, the team became the first to put a car on the podium in both the GTD and new GTD PRO classes in the same race. The No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 with drivers Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth took second place in GTD PRO, with the No. 12 Lexus driven by Frankie Montecalvo and Aaron Telitz taking third place in GTD.
Who’s Good Here?
- Acura and Ricky Taylor: The manufacturer has been the overall and DPi winner three years running at WeatherTech Raceway. Taylor has been involved in the last two of those triumphs, with Team Penske in 2020 and Wayne Taylor Racing last year.
- PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports: This team is a juggernaut at WeatherTech Raceway with five class wins, including the last three in a row in LMP2. The No. 52 PR1 ORECA LMP2 07 that won at Sebring in March will feature a new driver lineup in Monterey, with Patrick Kelly and Josh Pierson stepping behind the wheel. Kelly was a member of the PR1 Mathiasen LMP2 winner in 2020.
Previous Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship Winners in 2022 Field (17)
Antonio Garcia (3): DP – 2012; GT – 2013; GTLM – 2014
Richard Westbrook (3): DP – 2012; P – 2015; GTLM – 2016
John Edwards (2): GTLM – 2015, 2017
Ricky Taylor (2): DPi – 2020, 2021
Renger van der Zande (2): PC – 2014; P – 2017
Filipe Albuquerque (1): DPi – 2021
Bill Auberlen (1): GT – 2005
Earl Bamber (1): GTLM – 2020
Ryan Dalziel (1): DP – 2008
Connor De Phillippi (1): GTLM – 2018
Pipo Derani (1): P – 2018
Patrick Kelly (1): LMP2 – 2020
Katherine Legge (1): GTD – 2018
Juan Pablo Montoya (1): DPi – 2019
Alex Riberas (1): GTD – 2016
Bryan Sellers (1): GTD – 2019
Jordan Taylor (1): DP – 2013
Previous Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship Pole Winners in 2022 Field (12)
Jordan Taylor (4): P – 2015, 2018; GTLM – 2020, 2021
Ricky Taylor (3): DP – 2011; P – 2017; DPi – 2019
Tristan Nunez (2): GX – 2013; P – 2016
Richard Westbrook (2): DP – 2012, 2013
Filipe Albuquerque (1): DPi – 2021
John Edwards (1): GT – 2013
Antonio Garcia (1): GTLM – 2014
Patrick Kelly (1): LMP2 – 2020
Katherine Legge (1): GTD – 2018
Juan Pablo Montoya (1): DPi – 2020
Alex Riberas (1): GTD – 2016
Madison Snow (1): GTD – 2017
Previous Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship Winning Teams in 2022 Field (9)
Corvette Racing (8): GTS – 2004; GT1 – 2005, 2007, 2008; GT – 2012, 2013; GTLM – 2014, 2021
PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports (5): PC – 2013, 2016; LMP2 – 2019, 2020, 2021
BMW Team RLL (3): GTLM – 2015, 2017, 2018
Chip Ganassi Racing (3): DP – 2005; GTLM – 2016, 2019
Meyer Shank Racing (3): P – 2016; GTD – 2018, 2020
Wayne Taylor Racing (3): DP – 2006, 2013; DPi – 2021
Paul Miller Racing (1): GTD – 2019
Pfaff Motorsports (1): GTD – 2021
Turner Motorsport (1): GTD – 2014
Previous Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship Winning Manufacturers in 2022 Field (7)
Porsche – 25
Chevrolet – 12
BMW – 9
Acura – 8
Aston Martin – 2
Lamborghini – 1
Lexus – 1