WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, California
3 p.m. EDT Sunday, September 15, 2019
NBC
Additional live coverage on NBCSports.com, Radio Le Mans and IMSA.TV.com
ACURA, HPD AT LAGUNA SECA
Acura Motorsports and HPD have a long, successful history at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, recording 14 victories – more than at any other racing circuit – in Camel Lights, LMP1, LMP2, Prototype and GTD competition from 1993-2018.
Acura’s first win at Laguna Seca came in 1992, when Wayne Taylor – father of current Acura Team Penske driver Ricky – and co-driver Ruggero Melgrati took their Comptech Acura Spice SE90P to the Camel Lights victory. Comptech repeated as Camel Lights class winner in 1993, when Parker Johnstone and Dan Marvin claimed the win in their Acura Spice SE92P.
Acura and HPD combined for nine victories at Laguna Seca in American Le Mans Series competition, beginning with Tony Kanaan and Franck Montagny winning LMP2 in 2008 driving their Andretti Green Racing Acura ARX-01b. In 2009, Acura swept both the LMP1 and LMP2 events at Laguna Seca. Team owner/driver Gil de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud won overall in their LMP1 Acura ARX-02a; while another owner/driver, Adrian Fernandez, and co-driver Luis Diaz finished second overall and won LMP2 laurels in their Acura ARX-01b.
In 2010, it was David Brabham, Marino Franchitti and Pagenaud winning LMP and overall in the Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-01c. One year later, the Level 5 Racing Acura ARX-01g took the LMP2 checkers with drivers Christophe Bouchut and Scott Tucker.
HPD recorded two more double triumphs at Laguna Seca in 2012 and ‘13. The Muscle Milk Racing ARX-03a of Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr won LMP1 and overall both years. In 2012, the Level 5 duo of Bouchut and Tucker took LMP2 honors in their ARX-03b; while Tucker teamed with Franchitti to repeat as LMP2 winners the following year.
Following the merger of Grand Am with ALMS, Johannes van Overbeek and Ed Brown combined to win the 2014 Laguna Seca round in their Extreme Speed Motorsports HPD ARX-03b. The Michael Shank Racing pairing of Ozz Negri and John Pew piloted their Ligier Honda JSP2 to the overall and prototype victory in 2016.
Acura’s most recent win at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca came last year. Katherine Legge qualified her Meyer Shank Racing NSX GT3 on the GTD class pole with a lap-record time of 1:24.256 around the 2.238-mile circuit; then went on to score her second victory of the 2018 season, and first with co-driver Alvaro Parente.
ACURA TEAM PENSKE
Propelled by back-to-back wins at the Acura Sports Car Challenge of Mid-Ohio and the Grand Prix of Detroit, plus podium finishes at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, Watkins Glen, Canadian Tire Motorsports Park and most recently at Road America; Acura Team Penske’s Dane Cameron and Juan Pablo Montoya lead the DPi Drivers’ Championship standings by seven points [239-232] over Pipo Derani and Felipe Nasr.
The Acura ARX-05 also leads the DPi Manufacturers’ Championship fight, with 262 points to 257 for Cadillac. Mazda is third with 251 points and Nissan is fourth with 230 points.
Montoya and Cameron combined to bring the Team Penske Acura ARX-05 prototype home for the pair’s first win of 2019 at Mid-Ohio. In Detroit, Montoya and Cameron combined to lead all but seven laps of the 58-lap distance to score their second consecutive win of the year.
Deiving the second Acura Team Penske entry this season, Helio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor are also in the thick of the championship battle, currently ranked third with 222 points. The pair finished third at the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona, second at the Twelve Hours of Sebring, and third at the Grand Prix of Detroit.
The Acura ARX-05 is the latest in a line of endurance prototypes to be fielded by the company, dating to 1991, just five years after the launch of the Acura brand. Based on the successful ORECA 07 chassis, the ARX-05 DPi features Acura-specific bodywork and utilizes the race-proven, production-based Acura AR35TT twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 engine.
MEYER SHANK RACING
Heading into the final two races of 2019, Acura, the Meyer Shank Racing team and drivers Trent Hindman and Mario Farnbacher all lead their respective GTD championships and can possibly clinch titles this weekend.
Acura leads the GTD Manufacturers’ Championship over eight competing brands with 242 points. Lamborghini is second with 234 points, followed by Porsche (231) and Lexus (230). BMW rounds out the top five with 218 points.
In the GTD Drivers’ Championship, Farnbacher and Hindman hold a substantial, 37-point lead (241-204) over Zach Robichon. The Meyer Shank Racing Team leads Pfaff Motorsports by the same margin in the Teams’ Championship. Both titles can be clinched this weekend if Hindman, Farnbacher and MSR depart Laguna Seca with points leads of 36 or more.
For 2019, MSR has entered into a partnership with businesswoman/racer Jackie Heinricher and sponsor Caterpillar to field the #57 Acura NSX GT3 Evo for an all-female driver lineup anchored by four-time Acura race winner Katherine Legge. Legge stands tenth in the GTD Drivers’ Championship with 172 points. Christina Nielsen returns as Legge’s co-driver at Laguna Seca.
A video from Acura explores the relationship between the Acura NSX supercar and its race-winning counterpart, the NSX GT3 Evo. Hindman demonstrates the distinctive approaches to performance of the two cars in 0-60 runs, braking tests, ease-of-use evaluations and, of course, ultimate lap times at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The video can be found at https://youtu.be/tJkR2tIODko.
WHERE TO WATCH
Live network television coverage from WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca begins at 3 p.m. Sunday, September 15, on NBC. Complete, live race coverage will also be available on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports App with NBCSN authentication.
Fans can listen in to audio commentary via IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and Sirius XM Radio; and follow the race live via in-car cameras, IMSA Radio and timing & scoring available worldwide on IMSA.com and the IMSA mobile device App.