In entrance of what’s believed to be a document crowd at Michelin Raceway Highway Atlanta for an IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race, the 2024 Motul Petit Le Mans started with Jack Aitken getting an enormous begin within the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing V-Sequence.R, pulling out a 0.5s lead nearly instantly. Connor De Phillippi, proper behind Aitken in line, took benefit of clear observe in entrance of him to place the No. 25 BMW M Crew RLL M Hybrid V8 into second forward of Matt Campbell within the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 and Sebastien Bourdais within the No. 01 Cadillac.
The second Campbell crossed the beginning line, Porsche Penske Motorsport and Porsche had been assured the staff and producer championships. The No. 7 staff can’t be overtaken by the No. 01 Cadillac within the factors, though which PPM 963 can be champion continues to be in query.
The No. 01 squad was dealt one other blow early, as they obtained a mechanical black flag for “Scritineering System Necessities,” which doubtless interprets to placing out an excessive amount of energy. Sitting nonetheless within the pits with a pc plugged into the automobile put the No. 01 Cadillac, Bourdais nonetheless on the wheel, a lap down.
All polesitters stored their positions in the beginning, however 20m in, Scott Andrews beached the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes AMG he certified on GTD pole within the gravel at Flip 5, handing the result in Robby Foley within the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3. The sector was shuffled shortly thereafter as all groups took benefit of the yellow to pit for gas. Sadly for Bourdais, the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 with Jordan Taylor on the wheel didn’t pit.
The apparently document crowd makes it 11 of 12 races this season that the WeatherTech Championship has seen new excessive marks for attendance.
