The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IWSC) traveled to Detroit this past weekend for their second (and final) street race of the year. Like the Long Beach race in April, the Detroit race was a 100-minute sprint race. While the Long Beach race featured the GTP and GTD classes, the Detroit race featured GTP and GTD Pro classes on the 1.654-mile circuit.
The BMW M Hybrid V8s were given BoP adjustments after the last race at Laguna Seca, which had more to do with Dries Vanthoor getting four poles in a role than race results. For Detroit, the BMWs were given a hefty 36hp reduction in power in the first stage (based on RPM levels) and a 6.2% increase in power in the second stage (which is higher RPMs). The Porsche 963, which has won every race this year up until Detroit, got a 6.7hp reduction in stage one and a 3.3% reduction in second stage power. The Acura and Cadillac entries all received favorable adjustments.
The BMWs were still quick in the sessions before the race. Sheldon van der Linde was quickest in the second practice followed by Dries Vanthoor, and van der Linde was then third in qualifying with Vanthoor in fourth. The pole went to the Acura driven by former BMW driver Nick Yelloly. In GTD Pro, the Paul Miller Racing M4 GT3 EVOs were off the pace in practice but qualified a solid fourth (Neil Verhagen) and sixth (Dan Harper) in class, with the pole going to the Ford Mustang GT3 of Sebastian Priaulx, who is the son of longtime BMW driver Andy Priaulx.
It’s very difficult to pass on the tight and bumpy Detroit street circuit, and the BMW GTP entries both had a disappointing race. The #24 entry of Dries Vanthoor and Philipp Eng finished fifth, with the win going to the #93 Acura that started from pole. The Acura win broke a four-race win streak for Porsche. The #25 BMW of Marco Wittmann and van der Linde had a strong start to the race running in the top four but finished seventh after being assessed a time penalty for passing under a caution.
It was a race to forget for the Paul Miller Racing M4 GT3 EVOs in GTD Pro. Neil Verhagen and Dan Harper initially showed good pace and had a good scrap battling for position among themselves, but the #1 car had technical issues (which appeared to be braking related) that dropped them back, as well as a pit lane speeding violation. Verhagen and Madison Snow ended up six laps down from the winners in last place in the #1 car. The #48 car of Harper and Max Hesse was running in the top five before Hesse ran into the #65 Ford Mustang in a braking zone and was penalized, which dropped them to seventh in the class. The win went to the #64 Ford Mustang GT3 that started from pole.
BMW teams are looking to rebound from the lackluster weekend. “Unfortunately, the race in Detroit did not go as we had hoped,” said Head of BMW Motorsport Andreas Roos. “After qualifying, things looked promising with third and fourth places in both classes, but unfortunately, we were unable to maintain those positions in a tough race with many contacts. In the GTP class, our streaks of four pole positions and two consecutive podiums have come to an end, but we are determined to start new streaks at the next race at Watkins Glen. Paul Miller Racing needs to quickly put this disappointing race behind them. We will carefully analyse what caused the issue with the #1 car.”
The IWSC now has four races in a row on some of the best natural road course circuits in the country at Watkins Glen, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Road America and VIR (which is GTD/GTD Pro only). The next IMSA race will be the Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen on June 19th-22nd, which also being round three of the Michelin Endurance Cup.
—David Haueter
[Photos courtesy BMW, LAT Images]
