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While strategy often defines IMSA’s 100-minute street races, Detroit provided a new chapter in the ongoing story of Michelin tire performance. For years, the conventional approach at races like Detroit and Long Beach has been to complete the race on a single set of tires. Instead, the No. 31 Whelen Engineering-sponsored Cadillac team with drivers Earl Bamber and Jack Aitken elected to change its right-side Michelin tires during the lone pit stop, taking advantage of an opportunity to maximize performance during the race’s multiple caution periods and restarts. “Yeah, we kind of flipped the script a little bit on that one because the conventional strategy for a long time at these 100-minute races has been to make a set last the whole way,” said Aitken. “And while they definitely can last the whole way, we thought we’ve got a little bit of margin. The warm-up was actually really good for just the one-sided tires. “So why not give ourselves the insurance...

Photo: SRO Tresor Attempto Racing took a shock victory at Monza in a dramatic the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup race that started and ended with chaos at the first corner. Ariel Levi, Sebastian Ogaard and Rocco Mazzola delivered the first Audi win in the championship since Hockenheim 2022 aboard their No. 66 Audi R8 LMS Evo II, which also took honors in the Silver class, after a dramatic late accident meant the three-hour contest ended under caution. Kelvin van der Linde’s No. 32 WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO, which had been leading with an hour to go, rear-ended the No. 9 Pure Rxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo of Alexey Nesov, which was launched into a roll after ramming Ezequiel Perez Companc’s No. 25 Sainteloc Audi and then clattered into the luckless Marvin Dienst, whose No. 87 Winward Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo had been on course for Bronze class spoils and second overall. This drama handed a runner-up finish to the No. 48 Winward Mercedes-AMG of Maro Engel, Luca Stolz and...

Source: Sports Car 365

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA Action Express Racing broke through for its first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship victory of the season, with Earl Bamber and Jack Aitken taking a controlling win in Saturday’s Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic. Aitken drove the No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R to a 6.023-second win over the No. 25 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 of Philipp Eng in the 100-minute race that saw two late-race yellow and restarts. The Whelen Engineering-sponsored Cadillac led from the start, thanks to an ideal getaway from pole-sitter Bamber, who stretched out into an early lead over the No. 93 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 of Nick Yelloly, as the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac of Louis Deletraz dropped back to fourth. A mid-race stop, where the No. 31 Cadillac took on fresh right-side Michelin tires, kept Aitken out front for the remainder of the contest. With the win, Aitken took over the GTP points lead, following a race to forget for the No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorspo...

Photo: Bob Chapman/Ford Ford Racing has yet to sign the final two drivers for its FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar program according to the manufacturer’s global director Mark Rushbrook. The ‘Blue Oval’ which has already announced Mike Rockenfeller, Seb Priaulx and Logan Sargeant to the effort that’s set to debut in 2027, is expected to confirm Matt Campbell next week in Le Mans. However, speaking with assembled reporters at this weekend’s Detroit Grand Prix, Rushbrook revealed that two seats are still yet to be filled. When asked by Sportscar365 if recent developments in the driver market, amid Acura’s pausing of its IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship program, has played an influence on Ford’s evaluations, Rushbrook said: “For sure because there are drivers available today that we did not believe would be available three months ago. “We’re definitely talking to different people, different drivers, in recent...

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA Dries Vanthoor was quickest in the final 20-minute practice sessions prior to the start of this afternoon’s Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic. The Belgian, in the No. 24 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8, recorded a best lap of 1:06.950 in the 20-minute warmup session, outpacing the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R of Jordan Taylor by 0.246 seconds. Vanthoor’s time was more than 1.5 seconds slower than Earl Bamber’s record-breaking pole lap. Felipe Nasr was third in the No. 7 Penske Porsche 963, while teammate Laurens Vanthoor, in the repaired No. 6 Penske Porsche, was fourth quickest. The team worked until 12:30 a.m. rebuilding the car following the Kevin Estre’s accident in qualifying. A replacement tub was not needed per a Porsche spokesperson. Ricky Taylor completed the top-five in the No. 10 WTR Cadillac. Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports driver Nicky Catsburg edged out a late-session improvement from Lambo...

Source: Sports Car 365