
The2016 Chevrolet Sports Car Classic was asports car race sanctioned by theInternational Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The race was held atThe Raceway on Belle Isle inDetroit, Michigan on June 4, 2016. The race was the fifth round of the2016 IMSA SportsCar Championship.

Similar to theGrand Prix of Long Beach, this event was held in conjunction with theDetroit Grand Prix in the IndyCar series, with one event held on the same day as the IMSA event, and another held a day after as a double-header.[citation needed]
International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the2016 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2015.[1] It was the third consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the seventh annual running of the race, counting the period between 2007 and 2013 when it was a round of theRolex Sports Car Series and theAmerican Le Mans Series respectively.[2] The 2016 Chevrolet Sports Car Classic was the fifth of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2016 by IMSA, the shortest in terms of time, and was the third round not held on the held as part of the North American Endurance Cup.[1] The race was held at the fourteen-turn 2.350 mi (3.782 km)Belle Isle Park on June 4, 2016.[1]
IMSA altered the balance of performance to try to create parity within the Prototype category. The Lola B12/80 had its weight increased by 15 kg (33 lb).[3]
Before the race,Eric Curran andDane Cameron led the Prototype Drivers' Championship with 121 points, ahead ofJoão Barbosa andChristian Fittipaldi with 118 points, andMarc Goossens in third with 117 points.[4] With 128 points, PC was led byMisha Goikhberg andStephen Simpson on countback overRobert Alon andTom Kimber-Smith.[4] In GTD, the Drivers' Championship was led byAlessandro Balzan andChristina Nielsen with 95 points; the duo held a six-point advantage overMario Farnbacher andAlex Riberas.[4]Honda andPorsche were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, whileAction Express Racing,JDC-Miller MotorSports, andScuderia Corsa each led their own Teams' Championships.[4]
Twenty-seven cars were officially entered for the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic, with most of the entries being in the Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) category.Action Express Racing (AER) fielded twoChevrolet Corvette DP cars whileVisitFlorida Racing (VFR) and WTR fielded one. Mazda Motorsports had two Lola B12/80 cars andMichael Shank Racing (MSR) entered oneLigier JS P2.[5]Panoz skipped the event. ThePrototype Challenge (PC) class was composed of seven Oreca FLM09 cars: two fromStarworks Motorsports. BAR1 Motorsports,CORE Autosport,JDC-Miller MotorSports, Performance Tech andPR1/Mathiasen Motorsports entered one car each.[5] In the list of GTD entrants, twelveGT3-specification vehicles were represented by six different manufacturers.[5] Lone Star Racing and TRG skipped the event. With the absence of the Grand Touring Le Mans (GTLM) class from the field, only three racing classes were represented in Belle Isle.[2]
There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, two on Friday. The first ninety-minute session was on Friday morning. The second on Friday afternoon lasted 90 minutes.[6]
In the first session, Barbosa set the fastest time in the No. 5 AER Corvette DP with a time of 1 minute, 24.239 seconds, 0.732 seconds faster than Cameron's No. 5 car. Jordan Taylor was third fastest in the No. 10 WTR vehicle,Oswaldo Negri Jr.'s No. 60 MSR Ligier placed fourth, and Ryan Dalziel's No. 90 Corvette DP rounded out the top five.[7] The fastest PC class car wasRenger van der Zande in the No. 8 Starworks entry with 1 minute, 27.030 seconds, followed byColin Braun in the No. 54 CORE Autosport car.[7] Porsche paced GTD with PPM's 911 of Bergmeister lapping at 1:31.253, followed byJeroen Bleekemolen's No. 33 Viper.[8]
Cameron led the final session in AER's No. 31 car with a lap of 1 minute, 23.860 seconds. Fittipaldi's No.5 Corvette DP was second fastest. Goossens in the No. 90 VFR vehicle was third fastest.[9] CORE Autosport topped PC after a lap by Braun.[9] Mowlem caused a stoppage early when his BAR1 car suffered a suspension failure and stopped on the track.[9] Bergmeister was fastest again GTD.[10]
Friday afternoon's 60-minute three-group qualifying session gave 15-minute sessions to all categories. Cars in GTD were sent out first before those grouped in PC, and Prototype had two separate identically timed sessions. Regulations stipulated teams to nominate one qualifying driver, with the fastest laps determining each classes starting order. IMSA would arranged the grid to put all Prototypes ahead of the PC, and GTD cars.[11][6]
Pole positions in each class are indicated inbold and by ‡.
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | P | 5 | 1:23.815 | — | 1‡ | ||
| 2 | P | 90 | 1:23.863 | +0.048 | 2 | ||
| 3 | P | 10 | 1:24.253 | +0.438 | 3 | ||
| 4 | P | 31 | 1:24.337 | +1.380 | 4 | ||
| 5 | P | 60 | 1:25.195 | +1.550 | 5 | ||
| 6 | P | 55 | 1:25.365 | +1.934 | 6 | ||
| 7 | P | 70 | 1:25.749 | +3.756 | 7 | ||
| 8 | PC | 52 | 1:27.571 | +3.756 | 8‡ | ||
| 9 | PC | 38 | 1:27.851 | +4.036 | 9 | ||
| 10 | PC | 8 | 1:27.878 | +4.063 | 10 | ||
| 11 | PC | 85 | 1:28.005 | +4.190 | 271 | ||
| 12 | PC | 54 | 1:28.903 | +5.088 | 11 | ||
| 13 | GTD | 48 | 1:31.340 | +7.525 | 14‡ | ||
| 14 | GTD | 73 | 1:31.637 | +7.536 | 15 | ||
| 15 | GTD | 6 | 1:31.637 | +7.822 | 16 | ||
| 16 | GTD | 16 | 1:31.917 | +8.102 | 17 | ||
| 17 | GTD | 9 | 1:32.017 | +8.202 | 18 | ||
| 18 | GTD | 33 | 1:32.073 | +8.258 | 19 | ||
| 19 | GTD | 27 | 1:32.106 | +8.291 | 252 | ||
| 20 | GTD | 63 | 1:32.275 | +8.460 | 20 | ||
| 21 | GTD | 22 | 1:32.673 | +8.858 | 21 | ||
| 22 | GTD | 97 | 1:33.073 | +9.258 | 22 | ||
| 23 | GTD | 23 | 1:33.200 | +9.385 | 23 | ||
| 24 | GTD | 96 | 1:33.266 | +9.451 | 24 | ||
| 25 | GTD | 44 | 1:34.020 | +10.205 | 263 | ||
| 26 | PC | 20 | 1:34.081 | +10.266 | 12 | ||
| 27 | PC | 88 | 1:35.857 | +12.042 | 133 | ||
| Sources:[12][13] | |||||||
With a total of 151 points, Ricky Taylor and Jordan Taylor's victory allowed them to take the lead of the Prototype Drivers' Championship. Bomarito and Nunez advanced from sixth to fifth.[14] Popow and van der Zande's victory allowed them to take the lead of the Prototype Challenge Drivers' Championship with 162 points.[14] The final results of GTD meant Balzan and Nielsen extended their advantage in the GTD Drivers' Championship to eight points over Farnbacher and Riberas. Bleekemolen and Keating jumped from seventh to fourth.[14] Porsche continued to top the GTD Manufactures' Championship while Chevrolet took the lead of the Prototype Manufactures' Championship. Scuderia Corsa continued to the GTD Teams' Championship while Wayne Taylor Racing and Starworks Motorsport became the leaders of their respective Teams' Championships with seven rounds left in the season.[14]
Class winners are denoted inbold and ‡. P stands for Prototype, PC (Prototype Challenge), and GTD (Grand Touring Daytona).
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| IMSA SportsCar Championship | ||
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| Previous race: Monterey Grand Prix | 2016 season | Next race: 6 Hours of The Glen |