The IMSA Michelin Pilot SportsCar Challenge and VP Racing SportsCar Challenge series wrapped up their 2024 seasons at Road Atlanta this past weekend, with BMWs on the podium in all three races.
BMW has had a challenging year in Michelin Challenge, pun intended. Turner Motorsport was the defending champion from 2023, but none of the three BMW entries in the season-long championship from Turner and CarBahn Motorsport made it to the podium until the Indianapolis race in mid-September, when the CarBahn #39 M4 GT4 of Jeff Westphal and Sean McAlister (shown above) got their first win in the series and the #95 Turner car finished third.
At Road Atlanta, Robby Foley was the fastest GS class BMW qualifier in fourth in the #96 Turner BMW, while McAlister was in fifth in the #39 CarBahn BMW and Dillon Machavern followed in thirteenth in the #95 Turner car. Interestingly, one of the TCR class cars, a Hyundai Elantra N, qualified fifth overall and ahead of several of the GS class cars.
Robby Foley and Francis Selldorff finished 13th at Road Atlanta after qualifying well.
Once the race got underway, Robby Foley (in #96) and Sean McAlister (39) both dropped back after the first caution period, with McAlister falling to eighth as he followed a team strategy of conserving fuel. As the race progressed, the #96 of Foley and Francis Selldorff moved up to fourth after pit stops, but then fell back. Jeff Westphal took over the #39 from McAlister and moved up into third with thirty minutes left, which he held until the end. The #95 of Machavern and Robert Megennis moved up into tenth by the end of the race, while the #96 of Foley and Selldorff finished in thirteenth.
Dillon Machavern and Robert Megennis finished fifth in the Michelin Challenge championship.
The Road Atlanta finale was won by a Porsche, but Team TGM Aston Martin driver Matt Plumb won the championship. Dillon Machavern and Robert Megennis were the top BMW drivers in the championship in fifth, while BMW was third in the manufacturer’s championship behind Aston Martin and Porsche. Through the full season, the BMW entries only had three podium finishes, with the win by CarBahn at Indy, their third-place finish at Road Atlanta and a third-place finish for the #95 Turner car at Indy.
In the pair of VP Challenge races (which are shorter sprint races with no driver changes), Patrick Wilmot qualified in second for race one and held that position until the end, after a great battle for position with the Toyota Supra GT4 of Tyler Hoffman. Mark Brummond finished fourth overall and second in the Bronze category (for Bronze-rated drivers) in race one in his Auto Technic Racing M4 GT4.
Patrick Wilmot finished on the podium in both VP Challenge races in his Split Decision Motorsports M4 GT4.
In race two, Wilmot and Hoffman once again had a good battle going, but it was Hoffman that came out on top this time, taking the win as Wilmot finished in third behind the #59 Ford Mustang. Brummond finished seventh in race two. The GSX class championship was won by Luca Mars, who drove a Ford Mustang GT4.
Mark Brummond finished fourth overall in the first VP Challenge race.
The BMW teams will have an updated car next year, as the M4 GT4 Evo will be competing in both the Michelin Challenge and VP Challenge championships. The VP Challenge series will also expand to include GT3-spec cars next year. —David Haueter
[Photos courtesy LAT Images]
