| Champions Already Have Impressive List of Accomplishments October 10, 2019 Staff Report IMSA Wire Service BRASELTON, Ga. – The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will bestow championships in its four classes following Saturday’s Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. For some of the drivers in contention for titles, it will add to résumés already filled with impressive achievements. For others, it could be the first of many major accolades. As the 2019 champions are about to be crowned, let’s take a look at what accomplishments the contenders have accumulated to date – broken down by category. Daytona Prototype international (DPi)The No. 6 Acura Team Penske DPi takes a 12-point edge over the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac DPi into the finale. Dane Cameron: The Acura Team Penske driver already has one championship in the WeatherTech Championship’s premier class, earning the 2016 title with Eric Curran in the Action Express Racing Corvette DP. Cameron also captured the 2014 GTD title with Turner Motorsport. Juan Pablo Montoya: One of the greats of his generation with race wins in Formula 1, Indy cars, NASCAR and IMSA, the Acura Team Penske driver is chasing his first WeatherTech Championship title. Not that the Colombian hasn’t won pivotal events. Montoya is a three-time overall winner in the Rolex 24 At Daytona (2007, ’08, ’13), two-time Indianapolis 500 winner (2000, ’15), two-time victor in F1’s Monaco Grand Prix (2001, ’05) and was the 1999 CART champion in Indy cars. Felipe Nasr: The Brazilian is aiming to repeat as DPi champion in the No. 31. He also won last year’s Michelin Endurance Cup in DPi. Pipo Derani: He’ll try to celebrate his 26th birthday on race day by winning his first major championship of any kind as Nasr’s teammate in the No. 31. Derani already has a handful of major endurance race wins, however, including the Rolex 24 At Daytona in 2016 and three victories in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts in the past four years (2016, ’18, ’19). Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2)Matt McMurry (No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2) leads Cameron Cassels (No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports ORECA LMP2) by eight points. Each driver is in search of his first major racing championship. GT Le Mans (GTLM)The No. 912 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR has a 12-point lead over its sister No. 911 car. Earl Bamber: The No. 912 Porsche driver is a two-time overall winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (2015, ‘17) as well as the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship titlist. Laurens Vanthoor: Bamber’s co-driver in the No. 912 is the 2013 FIA GT champion, 2014 FIA GT and Blancpain Endurance Series champion, 2016 FIA GT Macau World Cup and Intercontinental GT Challenge champion, as well as the GTE Pro class winner at the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans. Nick Tandy: Seeking his first major championship, the co-driver of the No. 911 does have a number of impressive GTLM wins, including three at Michelin Raceway (2013 in GT, 2015 and ’18 in GTLM), 2014 in the Rolex 24 At Daytona and this year’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. He is also an overall winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2015. Patrick Pilet: Tandy’s teammate was the WeatherTech Championship GTLM champion in 2015 and Michelin Endurance Cup champ in 2017. He was the overall Motul Petit Le Mans winner in 2015 and has GTLM wins at Daytona (2014), Sebring (2018 and ’19) and Michelin Raceway (2018). GT Daytona (GTD)Mario Farnbacher and Trent Hindman, full-season drivers of the No. 86 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Acura NSX GT3, need only leave the starting grid Saturday to secure the class championship. Mario Farnbacher: He collected the Michelin Endurance Cup in 2017, has a GTC win at Michelin Raceway in 2012 and a pair of Sebring victories in GTD (2015, ’17). Trent Hindman: The GTD title would add to a growing list that includes the 2014 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge GS championship; 2016 Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America Pro-Am crown and 2017 Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America and world Pro championships. Television coverage of the Motul Petit Le Mans begins on NBC at noon ET Saturday. The broadcast shifts exclusively to the NBC Sports App and NBCSports.com from 3-5:30 p.m. ET. NBCSN takes over the broadcast from 5:30 p.m. ET until its dramatic conclusion Saturday night. The NBC Sports App and NBCSports.com also will have live flag-to-flag coverage. As always, IMSA Radio will have live coverage throughout the race week on IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com, with a live race broadcast airing on SiriusXM Radio. Tickets for the race are available at RoadAtlanta.com. IMSA TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOKFollow on Twitter @imsa, use the hashtag #IMSA, follow on Instagram @imsa_racing and ‘like’ IMSA on Facebook –www.facebook.com/imsa. For further information, visit www.imsa.com. |
