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Entry List Notebook – Motul Course de Monterey Powered by Hyundai N

IMSA Heads to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for the 25th Straight Year

 

By Mark Robinson

 

Entry List (Click Here)

 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship completes its West Coast swing next week with a visit to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for the Motul Course de Monterey Powered by Hyundai N. The entry list for the fourth event of the 2023 season features 38 cars in four classes.

 

This marks the 25th consecutive year that IMSA is racing at the famed track on the Monterey Peninsula. It will also be the first appearance for the hybrid-powered Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class that has taken the sports car world by storm in 2023. Nine GTP cars are on the pre-event entry list, joined by competitors in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) and GT Daytona (GTD) classes.

 

On-track action begins with practice on Friday, May 12. Qualifying follows the next day, with the race set for just past noon local time on Sunday, May 14. Here’s what you need to know about the race:

 

Fast Facts

Motul Course de Monterey Powered by Hyundai N

WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca – Monterey, California

May 12-14, 2023

Race Day/Time:  Sunday, May 14 – 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, May 13 – 3:50 p.m. ET

IMSA Radio:  All sessions live on IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com; SiriusXM live race coverage begins Sunday, May 14 at 2:30 p.m. (XM 207, Web/App 992)

Circuit Type:  2.238-mile, 11-turn road course

Race Length:  Two hours, 40 minutes

Classes Competing: Grand Touring Prototype (GTP), Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO), GT Daytona (GTD)

Track Social Media:

Event Hashtags:  #IMSA, #MotulCoursedeMonterey

 

WeatherTech Championship Track Records

GTP: New class in 2023 (DPi track record: Ricky Taylor, Acura DPi, 1:13.924 / 108.987 mph, April 2022)

LMP2: Louis Deletraz, ORECA LMP2 07, 1:16.216 / 105.709 mph, May 2022 (race lap)

GTD PRO: Mathieu Jaminet, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 1:23.142 / 96.903 mph, April 2022

GTD: Russell Ward, Mercedes-AMG GT3, 1:23.567 / 96.411 mph, April 2022

 

2022 Motul Course de Monterey Powered by Hyundai N Winners

GTP: New class in 2023 (2022 DPi winners: Ricky Taylor/Filipe Albuquerque, No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05)

LMP2: John Farano/Louis Deletraz, No. 8 Tower Motorsport ORECA LMP2 07

GTD PRO: Matt Campbell/Mathieu Jaminet, No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R

GTD: Ryan Hardwick/Jan Heylen, No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R

 

Storylines

  • California Dreamin’: The Motul Course de Monterey Powered by Hyundai N marks the second straight IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race in the state of California this year, following the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 15. IMSA has raced at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca each year since 1999.
  • GTP Class Swells to Nine Entries: The heralded Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class, featuring hybrid electrified powertrains paired with internal combustion engines in each car, grows to nine entries for WeatherTech Raceway with the addition of the first customer car, the No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963. The GTP competition could not be any tighter after the first three races, with the top four teams in the standings – each representing a different manufacturer – separated by just 21 points.
  • Garcia Reaches WeatherTech Championship Century Mark: Corvette Racing driver Antonio Garcia will make his 100th race start since the 2014 merger of North American sports car racing that became what’s now the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. In that span, Garcia has collected 20 race wins and four season championships – all with the vaunted Corvette team. Garcia is a three-time winner at WeatherTech Raceway, the last coming in 2014.
  • Andretti Motorsports Joins GTD Field: Andretti Motorsports is entering a car for the first time in the GT Daytona (GTD) class, the No. 94 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for co-drivers Jarett Andretti and Gabby Chaves. The duo raced in the team’s Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) entry in the first two races of 2023, but that class is not on the schedule for WeatherTech Raceway.

 

Who’s Hot?

  • No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus: Drivers Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat have been on a tear dating to the end of the 2022 season. The co-drivers of the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 have strung together seven consecutive GTD PRO podium finishes. Among them are three wins, including last month’s race at Long Beach. It’s allowed the No. 14 to open a 73-point lead atop the class standings.
  • No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW: Anchored by full-season drivers Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow, the No. 1 BMW M4 GT3 is riding a two-race win streak in GTD (Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach). Sellers, Snow and the No. 1 captured the IMSA WeatherTech Sprint Cup title last year with two wins and could have taken the overall GTD season crown had they not missed the 2022 opener awaiting arrival of their new BMW.

 

Who’s Good Here?

  • Acura, Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque: The manufacturer was the overall winner the past four years at WeatherTech Raceway in the Daytona Prototype international (DPi) class. Taylor was part of the last three triumphs, with Team Penske in 2020 and co-driving with Albuquerque for Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport in 2021 and ‘22. Moving into the GTP era, Acura and the drivers will see if they can continue the dominance.
  • No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche: The plaid-clad crew from Canada has been victorious each of the past two years at WeatherTech Raceway – in the GTD class in 2021 and in GTD PRO last year. Pfaff races for a track three-peat with its third driver lineup in as many seasons on May 14.