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Entry List Notebook – IMSA Fastlane SportsCar Weekend

All Five WeatherTech Championship Classes Return to Action at Road America

By Mark Robinson

Entry List (Click Here)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The stretch run for the 2022 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship begins at “America’s National Park of Speed,” Road America, for the IMSA Fastlane SportsCar Weekend from Aug. 5-7.

All five series classes will race on the 4.048-mile road course in Wisconsin, the longest track on the circuit. It offers plenty of room for intense competition, with long high-speed straights coupled with challenging sets of corners, kinks and uphill climbs.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of the race weekend:

Fast Facts

Road America – Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin

Aug. 5-7, 2022

Race Day/Time: Sunday, Aug. 7 – 11:40 a.m. ET

Peacock Streaming Coverage: LIVE – Flag-to-flag beginning at 11:40 a.m. (available outside the U.S. on IMSA.com/TVLive)

USA Network Coverage: LIVE – 12 p.m. ET

IMSA.com/TVLive Live Qualifying Stream: Saturday, Aug. 6 – 11:55 a.m.

IMSA Radio:  Select sessions live on IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com; SiriusXM live race coverage begins Sunday, Aug. 7 at 11:30 a.m. (XM 207, Web/App 992)

Circuit Type: 4.048-mile, 14-turn road course

Classes Competing: Daytona Prototype international (DPi), Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3), Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO), Grand Touring Daytona (GTD)

Race Length:  2 hours, 40 minutes

Track Social Media:

Event Hashtags:  #IMSA, #RoadAmerica

 

WeatherTech Championship Track Records

Qualifying:

DPi: Dane Cameron, Acura DPi, 1:48.715 / 134.045 mph, August 2019

LMP2: James French, ORECA LMP2 07, 1:52.037 / 130.070 mph, August 2019

LMP3: Dan Goldburg, Ligier JS P320, 2:19.106 / 104.760 mph, August 2021

GTD PRO: new class in 2022

GTD: Ben Keating, Mercedes-AMG GT3, 2:05.250 / 116.349 mph, August 2019

 

2021 IMSA Fastlane SportsCar Weekend Winners

DPi: Felipe Nasr/Pipo Derani, No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R

LMP2: Dwight Merriman/Ryan Dalziel, No. 18 Era Motorsport ORECA LMP2 07

LMP3: Jon Bennett/Colin Braun, No. 54 CORE autosport Ligier JS P320

GTD PRO: new class in 2022

GTD: Zacharie Robichon/Laurens Vanthoor, No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R

 

Storylines

  • Together Again: All five WeatherTech Championship car classes will be competing at Road America, the only time it happens this season outside of the four IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup events. A total of 37 cars are on the pre-event entry list.
  • DPi Championship Battle Raging: With just two races remaining in the class, the DPi class championship is still up for grabs. No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-05 drivers Tom Blomqvist and Oliver Jarvis hold a 56-point edge on No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura drivers Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor. Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande have won two of the past three races in the No. 01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R to close within 148 points. The manufacturer tussle is a dead heat headed to Road America, with Acura and Cadillac tied. Each marque has won four races and taken four pole positions this season.
  • Tight at the Top in Other Classes, too: The standings in three of the other four WeatherTech Championship classes are close as well. In LMP2, John Farano (No. 8 Tower Motorsport ORECA LMP2 07) is 37 points up on Henrik Hedman and Juan Pablo Montoya (No. 81 DragonSpeed USA ORECA). With two wins and a second place in their past three races, Jon Bennett and Colin Braun (No. 54 CORE autosport Ligier JS P320) have opened a 98-point lead on Ari Balogh and Garett Grist (No. 30 Jr III Racing Ligier). In GTD, Steven McAleer and the No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 are 40 points better than Ryan Hardwick, Jan Heylen and the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.

 

Who’s Hot?

  • No. 60 and No. 01 in DPi: Is second place good enough? It has been for Blomqvist, Jarvis and the No. 60 Meyer Shank Acura, who have taken runner-up honors in five straight races yet still hold the DPi class lead. Keep an eye on the No. 01 Cadillac, however, which has two wins and a third-place finish in its past three outings.
  • No. 54 CORE in LMP3: As mentioned above, the No. 54 CORE autosport LMP2 is rolling with two wins and a second-place finish in its past three races. Co-drivers Bennett and Braun are no strangers to success at Road America, either, taking the overall and Prototype win in 2018 and the LMP3 victory last year.
  • No. 27 Aston Martin: This team is on a tear in GTD, with two wins and a pair of runner-up finishes in the last four races to move into third in the class standings. Heart of Racing Team co-drivers Roman De Angelis and Maxime Martin look to continue that trend at Road America.

 

Who’s Good Here?

  • Westy for the Win: Richard Westbrook is a three-time winner at Road America, including the last two times he raced at the track. However, those victories came in the GT Le Mans (GLTM) class. He’s racing with Tristan Vautier in the No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Cadillac DPi this year.
  • Fast French: Wisconsin native James French rejoins Performance Tech Motorsports at Road America, where he will team with Dan Goldburg in the No. 38 Ligier in LMP3. French is a four-time pole winner at the track and holds the qualifying lap record in LMP2 set in 2019. He also won there in the Prototype Challenge class in 2017, among seven victories on his way to the class championship.

 

Previous IMSA Fastlane SportsCar Weekend Winners in 2022 Field (18)

  • Bill Auberlen (3): GT2 – 2009; GT – 2012, 2013
  • Jon Bennett (3): LMPC – 2012; P – 2018; LMP3 – 2021
  • Richard Westbrook (3): GT2 – 2008; GTLM – 2018, 2019
  • Colin Braun (2): P – 2018; LMP3 – 2021
  • Matt Campbell (2): GTD – 2019; GTLM – 2021
  • Pipo Derani (2): P – 2017; DPi – 2021
  • Cooper MacNeil (2): GTC – 2012; GTLM – 2021
  • Joao Barbosa (1): P – 2014
  • Ryan Dalziel (1): LMP2 – 2021
  • James French (1): PC – 2017
  • Antonio Garcia (1): GTLM – 2020
  • Henrik Hedman (1): LMP2 – 2020
  • Patrick Kelly (1): LMP2 – 2019
  • Dwight Merriman (1): LMP2 – 2021
  • Frankie Montecalvo (1): GTD – 2020
  • Jordan Taylor (1): GTLM – 2020
  • Ricky Taylor (1): DPi – 2020
  • Renger van der Zande (1): PC – 2014

 

Previous IMSA Fastlane SportsCar Weekend Pole Winners in 2022 Field (13)

  • James French (4): PC – 2015, 2016, 2017; LMP2 – 2019
  • Ricky Taylor (3): DP – 2011; P – 2017; DPi – 2020
  • Aaron Telitz (2): GTD – 2020, 2021
  • Earl Bamber (1): GTLM – 2015
  • Colin Braun (1): LMPC – 2013
  • Ryan Dalziel (1): P – 2014
  • John Edwards (1): GTLM – 2014
  • Dan Goldburg (1): LMP3 – 2021
  • Marco Holzer (1): GT – 2012
  • Patrick Kelly (1): LMP2 – 2020
  • Kyle Marcelli (1): LMPC – 2012
  • Alex Riberas (1): GTD – 2016
  • Jordan Taylor (1): GTLM – 2021

 

Previous IMSA Fastlane SportsCar Weekend Winning Teams in 2022 Field (13)

  • Corvette Racing (8): GTS – 2002, 2004; GT1 – 2005, 2006, 2007 2008; GTLM – 2016, 2020
  • Chip Ganassi Racing (5): DP – 2011, 2012; GTLM – 2017, 2018, 2019
  • Action Express Racing (4): P – 2014, 2015, 2016; DPi – 2021
  • CORE autosport (4): LMPC – 2012; GTLM – 2015; P – 2018; LMP3 – 2021
  • BMW M Team RLL (3): GT2 – 2009; GT – 2010, 2012
  • PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports (3): LMPC – 2011; PC – 2016; LMP2 – 2019
  • Turner Motorsport (3): GT – 2013, GTD – 2014, 2017
  • Pfaff Motorsports (2): GTD – 2019, 2021
  • Riley Motorsports (2): GTD – 2015, 2016
  • DragonSpeed USA (1): LMP2 – 2020
  • Performance Tech Motorsports (1): PC – 2017
  • Vasser Sullivan (1): GTD – 2020
  • Wright Motorsports (1): GTD – 2018

 

Previous IMSA Fastlane SportsCar Weekend Winning Manufacturers in 2022 Field (7)

  • Porsche – 15
  • Chevrolet – 14
  • BMW – 9
  • Acura – 4
  • Aston Martin – 1
  • Cadillac – 1
  • Lexus – 1