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Source: Sports Car 365

Photo: Brandon Badraoui/IMSA Earl Bamber led a front row sweep for Cadillac after both Penske Porsche 963s hit trouble in a red flag-shortened qualifying for Saturday’s Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic. Bamber’s 1:05.313 lap time in the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R edged out the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing entry of Louis Deletraz by 0.322 seconds. It came after Felipe Nasr drove partially into the Turn 1 run-off in the closing minutes of the 15-minute session, which was immediately followed by Kevin Estre slamming into the Turn 2 wall after passing his stricken teammate. The red flag, which came out with four minutes to go, resulted in Estre losing his two fastest laps as a result, dropping the No. 6 Porsche to a 10th place result. Nick Yelloly qualified the No. 93 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 in third, ahead of the pair of Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8s, which completed the top-five in the hands of Marco Wittmann and Sheldon van der Linde, respect...

Photo: Geoff Miller/IMSA Earl Bamber topped the time charts for a second consecutive practice session ahead of qualifying for Saturday’s Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic. The Action Express Racing driver improved on his benchmark 1:07.182 by going some seven-tenths quicker in Practice 2 on Friday afternoon on the streets of downtown Detroit. The Kiwi’s 1:06.412 lap time in the No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R was 0.031 seconds quicker than the No. 24 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 of Sheldon van der Linde, who made a late-session improvement. Teammate Marco Wittmann was third quickest in the No. 24 BMW, while Louis Deletraz and Tom Blomqvist completed the top-five for Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing and Acura Meyer Shank Racing, respectively. Alexander Sims led a Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports 1-2 in GTD Pro, with the defending class champion reeling off a 1:10.109 lap in the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R. The No. 59 Team RLL McLaren 720S GT3 Evo of Max Esterso...

Listen to Sportscar365’s latest ‘Double Stint Segment’ on this week’s episode of Midweek Motorsport, where John Hindhaugh and John Dagys preview this weekend’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race on the streets of Detroit, as well as debate on the evolution of the GT3 platform, amid Stephane Ratel’s recent comments. The Double Stint Segment begins at 1 hour and four minutes into the show. Source: Sports Car 365

Photo: Brandon Badraoui/IMSA Filipe Albuquerque says he’s hoping that he and co-driver Ricky Taylor will be able to “catch a break” in this weekend’s Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic, after what’s been a two-year winless streak for the Wayne Taylor Racing duo. Albuquerque and Taylor, whose last IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship victory came in 2024, in the series’ first visit to the downtown Detroit street circuit, have scored just four podium finishes in the 17 GTP races since. One of those podiums came in last year’s 100-minute sprint race, which marked the team’s first top-three result since returning to Cadillac machinery, which Albuquerque feels could help turn their fortunes around. “The new Detroit has been kind to the 10 car,” he said. “Two years ago, we won not with true pace, but on strategy, [with] me and Ricky. “Last year, we did as well, a good comeback from starting [eighth]. We were do...

Photo: European Le Mans Series United Autosports has announced an extension of its collaboration with ORECA to field the French marque’s LMP2 cars through 2032, confirming it will use the upcoming Oreca 09 chassis that is set to be introduced when new regulations debut in 2028. The two firms have collaborated since 2019, when United elected to switch from Ligier chassis to the all-conquering Oreca 07 Gibson for its campaigns in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the European Le Mans Series. Since then, United has become one of the benchmark teams in the class, and continues to use the 07 for multi-car efforts across the ELMS, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and Asian Le Mans Series. With ORECA set to introduce the all-new 09 to replace the 07 when new rules come into force in 2028, United has now confirmed it will be among the teams to run the new car, which will face renewed competition from Ligier in the next rules cycle . The Yorkshire-based outfit will cont...

Photo: Dan Bathie/McLaren McLaren Motorsport has announced a three-year extension of its partnership with Pirelli, which will continue as the exclusive tire supplier to McLaren Trophy on a global basis, including in Trophy America. The Italian tire specialist has a long-standing relationship with McLaren Automotive, with every road car equipped with Pirelli tires. That partnership extended into McLaren Trophy from the start of 2023 when the European series was launched and further strengthened last year with the addition of Trophy America. For both series, Pirelli will supply its benchmark GT tyre range: the P Zero DHG for dry conditions and the Cinturato WHB for wet weather. “We are delighted to continue our close relationship with Pirelli as our official tire supplier partner,” said McLaren Automotive Head of Motorsport Giorgio Sanna. “McLaren Trophy is a growing platform and tyre performance is central to the competitiveness and safety of our championship. ...