Among the entries at Petit Le Mans is the historic DeltaWing, making its final WeatherTech Championship appearance. There are also big-name IndyCar drivers taking part, from current series champion Simon Pagenaud to Scott Dixon.IndyCar drivers, including 2016 champion Simon Pagenaud, add star power to season finale
Road Atlanta, host of the annual Petit Le Mans IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season finale, is a tight, twisting 2.54-mile track that rewards bravery — right up to the point where you end up skidding through the red Georgia clay into the wall. Especially at night — it gets dark out there.
Traffic is always a factor, and with 38 entries in four classes — with each class running at a different speed — you can count on incidents between the front-runners and cars they are trying to pass. Weather isn’t expected to be an issue, as the forecast is moderately favorable, calling for “mostly sunny” conditions on Saturday.
Take a long look at the Prototype field: Among the entries is the historic DeltaWing, making its final WeatherTech Championship appearance, as well. This race also signifies the return of the No. 2 Tequila Patron ESM Honda-Ligier P2 car that won the opening two races of the year and is second in the standings for the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup, a championship-within-a-championship that rewards the top performers in the four longest races in the IMSA season.
Another Prototype looking for some luck is the No. 90 Visit Florida Corvette DP of Ryan Dalziel, Marc Goossens and guest driver Ryan Hunter-Reay. Last year that car came to Petit with the Prototype points lead, only to lose it during the race. The team has been struggling to find pace all year and is looking for its first win this season. Expect them to pull out all the stops.
HIGH-PROFILE NAMES: A race as long as 10 hours will typically require three drivers instead of the usual two, and in addition to Hunter-Reay, the IndyCar star driving with the No. 90 team, look for fellow IndyCar stars Scott Dixon and Sebastien Bourdais to lend a hand to the two GT Le Mans Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Nos. 66 and 67.
Newly crowned IndyCar champ Simon Pagenaud will take his turn with the points-leading No. 31 Whelen Corvette DP. Spencer Pigot, another IndyCar driver, will help out with the two Mazdas, Nos. 55 and 70. There are plenty of other top sports-car drivers from around the world at Petit this year — it’s a truly international event.
Perhaps it’s a public-relations issue. After all, in some European sports-car series, when your car goes too fast and wins too often, the sanctioning body “rewards” you. As in, …
TIGHT POINTS BATTLE: While the GT Daytona and Prototype Challenge titles could be clinched early in the event, for two classes, the championship will come down to the performance at Road Atlanta.
In GT Le Mans, the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette drivers Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin lead with 314 points. In second are the drivers of the No. 67 Ford GT, Ryan Briscoe and Richard Westbrook, with 303 points, well within striking distance.
Even closer is the Prototype class: The No. 31 Action Express Whelen Corvette DP is on top with 285 points, but just one point behind is its sister car, the No. 5 Action Express Mustang Sampling Corvette. The drivers of the No. 5 car, Christian Fittipaldi and Joao Barbosa, are the defending champions, but Eric Curran and Dane Cameron, drivers of the No. 31, are having a dream season.
Also in the mix is the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Konica Minolta Corvette DP of brothers Ricky and Jordan Taylor, who won in the last outing, at Circuit of The Americas. The win moved them to just seven points out of the lead in a battle that will come down to the checkered flag.