Okay. We’ll start with the mouthful. The Advance Auto Parts SportsCar Showdown for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship was at The Circuit Of The Americas, this weekend. When you break it down, it means that cars you recognize from manufacturers you love are on an amazing track. IMSA is the top tier of sportscar racing in North America, and the mixed classes means it’s more than just eye candy. There is plenty of passing, drama and excitement from start to finish. I was trackside all weekend to bring you the sights.
Chip Ganassi Racing runs a pair of Ford GTs in the American IMSA series, as well as a pair in the World Endurance Championship. This number 67 car was third fastest in the GTLM classduring Thursday’s practice, behind it’s number 66 garage mate and one of the BMW entries. , © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved This Rahal Letterman Lanigan BMW M6 GTLM sandwiched itself between the Ford GTs during the first practice. By the end of the second practice session, the two BMWs would be be at the top of the GTLM lap times. , © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved Michael Shank Racing brought their complementary Acura NSX GT3 entries to compete in the GTD class.The 93 car led for a few laps early on, but both would fade and the pair finished 11th and 15th in class at the end of the day., © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved The number 66 Team RLL Ford GT during practice. The car would take some damage at the race start, but after repairs Dirk Mueller and Joey Hand would eventually turn in a 5th place class finish., © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved Jeroen Bleekemolen and Ben Keating piloted this Mercedes AMG GT3 to a class victory on Saturday. It was Keating’s fourth win at COTA in five years. , © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved At the end of Thursday’s practice sessions, the Corvette Racing factory team’s number 3 C7.R had a small fire on board. The car underwent a pretty extensive teardown late Friday afternoon, but was able to come back to win the GTLM class in Saturday’s feature race., © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved A look at the diffuser that drove Porsche Racing to develop the 911 RSR, it’s first mid-engined version of the 911., © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved The Sun Energy 1 Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 was the fastest GTD car during both practice sessions and qualified third on Friday. Tristan Vaultier and Kenny Habul would make th podium with a third in class finish on Saturday., © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved A quick peek under the hood let’s you know that this BMW M6 GTLM isn’t your average M6. , © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved The Mustang Sampling Cadillac prototype car during Qualifying on Friday. Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi spent some quality time in second place on race day, but finished third overall. , © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved Turn 1 at the start of any race at COTA is always a nail biter, and Saturday did not disappoint. The Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE would be out of the race, one of the Corvette Racing C7.R entries would require 30 laps worth of repairs. The 67 Ford GT spent enough time in repairs to knock it out of ce=ntention and the number 912 Porsche 911 RSR would call it quits after 10 laps. , © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved The Change Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 get a wheel up in Turn 9 during Saturday’s race. , © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved Mike Skeen in the Lone Star Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 rounding Turn 11 during the feature race,, © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved A big crowd in Turn 15 at the halfway point of Saturday’s race. There were only 3 yellow flags during the race (one on lap 1, one mid-race and one 10 minutes from the finish), but that was enough to ensure that the racing action stayed tight., © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved The number 3 Corvette Racing C7.R driven by Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen took the top spot in the GTLM class. It was their second win of the young season., © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved Jorda and Ricky Taylor took the overall win in the Konica Minolta Cadillac DPI-V.R. It was their 4th consecutive win in the series and second in a row at COTA., © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved The Visit Florida prototype entry suffered an electrical failure late in the race. After more than 10 minutes working out a repair, they returned to the track and faced a drive-through penalty for too many people working on the car. The failure would persist and they ended their day 10 laps behind the leader. , © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved If there’s one thing COTA isn’t known for, it’s a good photo finish of the checkered flag. A view from the pits shows the Konica Minolta Cadillac taking the victory Saturday. , © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved Jordan Taylor celebrates the win at COTA after he and his brother turn in a dominating performance., © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved
