It’s a crowd, and driver, favourite. With followers packing the hillsides, the 4.048-mile Highway America is the longest and maybe essentially the most anticipated circuit the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races on. It’s additionally the one occasion the place all 4 courses – GTP, LMP2, GTD PRO and GTD compete collectively in a 2h40m race.
The observe is standard amongst followers for its number of viewing choices and park-like ambiance that has earned it the moniker “America’s Nationwide Park of Pace.” Add that it has what many take into account one of the best trackside meals of any race venue within the nation, and it’s a vacation spot occasion. Drivers love the large floor, the number of corners — together with the pucker-inducing 175mph “Kink” popping out of the lengthy Carousel flip and main down the again straight — the observe presents.
“One of many crown jewels of highway racing in America. A spot that everyone likes to go to,” says Sebastien Bourdais, driver of the No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Sequence.R with Renger van der Zande, of Highway America.
Bourdais and van der Zande are second within the GTP factors heading into Highway America, and is trying ahead to every thing the distinctive observe throws at drivers. “Tremendous difficult, fast and somewhat little bit of every thing — slow-speed, high-speed corners and lengthy straights the place the automobiles can actually stretch their legs,” he says. “The resurfacing final 12 months made it somewhat tough off-line. One 12 months later it appears to have evened out some and all the racing that we’ve seen to this point has grow to be much less scary to go off-line, so it ought to undoubtedly open some alternatives.”
As Bourdais notes, final 12 months’s repaved floor supplied extra grip total, however within the areas of the pavement that hadn’t seen a lot site visitors, that grip dropped off precipitously. That made passing a problem, and a minor miscue that despatched a automotive off-line had extra sever penalties than traditional.
“I feel it’s going to be a bit higher,” reckons Filipe Albuquerque, who will probably be in search of the second win of the 12 months for the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 with Ricky Taylor. “Final 12 months was tough because the second that you simply had a locking wheel, you could possibly by no means catch the automotive and also you’d go to the grass. It looks as if it’s extra large, the road. I do know that the LMP2s have been testing there with some GTs, so I feel the extra automobiles that drive round on that asphalt, it’s simply higher. So I count on a extra forgiving observe with the very same grip on the best lap. I feel that’s optimistic and simply let the observe come to us. So it’s going to be good.”
Jake Galstad/Motorsport Photos
The Cadillacs and Acuras are more likely to be chasing final 12 months’s winners, the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 of Felipe Nasr and Dane Cameron. The victory at Highway America has despatched the squad on a run not even their teammates may contact, and if the championship went from August to August, the workforce may take residence the crown now, having outscored everybody else in that timeframe. The one automotive with two victories this season, within the Rolex 24 At Daytona and the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, the No. 7 Porsche has led the 2024 GTP championship from the start.
“Highway America final 12 months was actually a weekend that we may unlock the efficiency of the automotive, the pure pace of the automotive,” says Nasr. “[Campbell] and I have been sharing the automotive again in 2023, and that was the primary victory of the 7 automotive within the IMSA sequence. So a really particular one in each approach, simply because the 7 automotive final 12 months had fairly a troublesome starting of season in order that win was actually the breakthrough of of the 7 crew. Actually ticking the containers and ensuring the automotive was as much as the expectations in that observe which is tremendous demanding. It has a whole lot of high-speed corners, medium-speed corners and quick flowing corners, which might be certainly one of my favorites within the calendar, I’ve to say. And from from then on it actually clicked.”
Gar Robinson, Felipe Fraga and Riley Motorsports come into Highway America as unlikely leaders within the LMP2 standings. Rookies transferring up from LMP3, they’ve been constant when others have had feast then famine — however largely famine. Three podiums have put the No. 74 on high. Headed right into a race the place the workforce has claimed the LMP3 victory the final two years represents a great probability to solidify the title lead.
“It’s an incredible race for us,” says Robinson. “It’s a extremely useful race to one of many essential members on my workforce, John Donovan; he’s from Wisconsin, so I feel that will that will be be actually, actually thrilling for him. I’m excited for the chance to win anyplace. Successful races is is likely one of the objectives, however having one other having one other good factors weekend might be a much bigger purpose than that.”
It’s tight for the LMP2 lead, although — Riley lead Euro Interpol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports by solely 12 factors, as Nick Boulle and Tom DIllmann closed issues up by profitable at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park final trip.
Richard Dole/Motorsport Photos
AO Racing comes into Highway America main the GTD PRO championship, however with a shakeup within the lineup for the automotive that may symbolize “Roxy” in pink this weekend. Seb Priaulx has been known as away from the workforce to satisfy his duties for Multimatic, so Julien Andlauer is stepping in to associate Laurin Heinrich. Whereas Andlauer is vastly skilled with the Porsche 911 GT3 R, Highway America is new to him, in addition to Heinrich, who has benefitted from Priaulx’s information of the North American tracks.
So, it might be a chance for the chasing Coronary heart of Racing workforce to make some inroads into AO’s lead. Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas received at Highway America final 12 months within the No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3, and Gunn is trailing Heinrich within the championship by 98 factors.
“I feel the power is absolutely optimistic proper now,” says Gunn. “On the 23 facet, we’re in an excellent place within the championship. We’re not fairly the place we wish to be, however we’ve steadily been progressing all year long with fourth in the beginning of the 12 months, then third, and now second. There’s somewhat hole to the Porsche in entrance, however we’re gonna give it every thing we are able to.”
Jake Galstad/Motorsport Photos
Winward Racing wish to overlook final 12 months’s race at Highway America the place the No. 57 Mercedes AMG solely ran 15 laps. The season that the workforce have had to this point ought to go a good distance towards erasing that reminiscence, as Russell Ward and Philip Ellis lead the championship by an enormous 240 factors on the power of 4 victories. Ward and Ellis received right here in 2022, in order that they have a historical past of getting the job carried out at Highway America.
The 2h40m race is scheduled for a inexperienced flag at 3:10pm Jap on Sunday, with dwell protection on Peacock starting at 3pm ET. Saturday’s qualifying at 5:15pm ET will even be streamed on Peacock, in addition to on IMSA.television, whereas a replay on CNBC begins at 6:00pm ET. Commentary from choose periods will probably be carried dwell on IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com.
