The2019 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 1, 2019. This race was the fifth round of the2019 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the second round of the 2019 WeatherTech Sprint Cup.
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International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the2019 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2018.[1] It was the sixth consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the tenth 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. The 2019 Chevrolet Sports Car Classic was the fifth of twelve sports car races of 2019 by IMSA, the shortest in terms of time, and it was the second of seven rounds held as part of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup.[2] The race was held at the fourteen-turn 2.350 mi (3.782 km)Belle Isle Park inDetroit, Michigan on June 1, 2019.[3]
Similar to theGrand Prix of Long Beach, this event ran 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.
Before the race,Pipo Derani andFelipe Nasr led the DPi Drivers' Championship with 120 points, ahead ofHélio Castroneves andRicky Taylor in second followed byJordan Taylor andRenger van der Zande with 113 points in third.[4] In GTD,Mario Farnbacher andTrent Hindman led the Drivers' Championship with 84 points, 4 points ahead ofFrankie Montecalvo andTownsend Bell.[4]Cadillac andLamborghini were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, whileWhelen Engineering Racing andMeyer Shank Racing each led their own Teams' Championships.[4] The event did not count towards the overall in GTD as it only contented towards the WeatherTech Sprint Cup, in an attempt to cut costs for the class.[5]
On May 22, 2019, the entry list for the event was released, featuring 23 cars in total. There were 11 cars in theDaytona Prototype International class and 12 entries in the GTD class. TheLe Mans Prototype (LMP2) andGT Le Mans (GTLM) classes would not be participating in the event. Due to only counting towards the WeatherTech Sprint Cup, full-season GTD entriesRiley Motorsports, Pfaff Motorsports, and Moorespeed decided to forego the Detroit event in favor of pursuing the full-season championship.Meyer-Shank Racing were initially among the teams that decided to miss the Detroit event, until confirming at the eleventh hour a full-time program in both the full-time and sprint championships with both of their cars.[6][7]
Pfaff Motorsports driver Zach Robichon, who was initially due to miss the event, filled a vacant spot at Park Place Motorsports, replacingPatrick Lindsey, who was preparing for the official test sessions for the2019 24 Hours of Le Mans.[8]
There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Sunday, one on Friday morning and one on Friday afternoon. The session on Friday morning lasted 90 minutes while the second session on Friday afternoon lasted 110 minutes.[9]
The first practice session took place at 8:30 amET on Friday and ended withPipo Derani topping the charts forWhelen Engineering Racing, with a lap time of 1:20.583.Hélio Castroneves was second fastest in the No. 7 Acura followed byFilipe Albuquerque in the No. 5Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac.[10] The GTD class was topped by the No. 57Heinricher Racing w/Meyer Shank RacingAcura NSX GT3 Evo ofKatherine Legge with a time of 1:30.304, ahead ofBryan Sellers in the No. 48Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini.Zacharie Robichon was third fastest in the No. 73 Porsche followed by Richard Heistand in the No. 14 Lexus in fourth position.[11][12] TheMazda Team Joest entries did not set a time due to mechanical issues.[11] The session wasred flagged two times.Simon Trummer crashed the No. 84JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac and brought out the first red flag.[12] The final stoppage came whenMisha Goikhberg crashed the No. 85JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac at turn 2 and collided withMatt Plumb's McLaren. The No. 85 Cadillac suffered extensive damage while the No. 76 McLaren lost a door.[10][11]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DPi | 31 | Whelen Engineering Racing | Pipo Derani | 1:20.583 | _ |
| 2 | DPi | 7 | Acura Team Penske | Hélio Castroneves | 1:20.835 | +0.252 |
| 3 | DPi | 5 | Mustang Sampling Racing | Filipe Albuquerque | 1:21.446 | +0.863 |
| Sources:[13][14] | ||||||
The second and final practice session took place at 12:50 PMET on Friday and ended withPipo Derani topping the charts forWhelen Engineering Racing, with a lap time of 1:20.387.Jordan Taylor was second fastest in the No. 10Konica Minolta Cadillac entry followed byHélio Castroneves in the No. 7 Acura.[15] The GTD class was topped by the No. 73 Park Place MotorsportsPorsche 911 GT3 R ofZacharie Robichon with a time of 1:30.011, ahead ofChristina Nielsen in the No. 57 Acura.Bill Auberlen was third fastest in the No. 96 BMW followed byMario Farnbacher in the No. 86 Acura in fourth andJack Hawksworth's No. 14 Lexus rounded out the top five.[16] TheCompass Racing did not set a time.[15]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DPi | 31 | Whelen Engineering Racing | Pipo Derani | 1:20.387 | _ |
| 2 | DPi | 10 | Konica Minolta Cadillac | Jordan Taylor | 1:20.506 | +0.119 |
| 3 | DPi | 7 | Acura Team Penske | Hélio Castroneves | 1:20.610 | +0.223 |
| Sources:[17][18] | ||||||
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Friday's late afternoon qualification session was broken into two sessions that lasted 15 minutes each. Cars in GTD were sent out first and, after a ten-minute interval, DPi vehicles drove onto the track. All cars were required to be driven by one participant and the starting order was determined by the competitor's fastest lap.[19] IMSA then arranged the grid so that the DPi field started in front of all GTD cars.
The first was for cars in the GTD class.Robby Foley set the fastest time driving the No. 96 car forTurner Motorsport.[20] However, the team were sent to the back of the GTD grid after the car failed post-qualifying technical inspection where it was discovered that the BMW was found to not have complied with mandated camber range settings.[21] As a result,Zacharie Robichon's No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche was promoted to pole position.[22]Christina Nielsen in the No. 57 Acura started in second position followed byTrent Hindman's No. 86 Acura. The No. 8Starworks Motorsport Audi ofParker Chase did not set a time due to suspension problems.[23]
The final session of qualifying was for cars in the DPi class. Juan Pablo Montoya qualified on pole driving the No. 6 car forAcura Team Penske, beating teammateHélio Castroneves in the No. 7 Acura by 0.207 seconds.[24]Jonathan Bomarito qualified the No. 55Mazda Team Joest entry in third position followed byPipo Derani's No. 31Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac.[23]João Barbosa in the No. 5Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac started from fifth place.[25] Following in sixth was the No. 10Konica Minolta Cadillac Cadillac DPi-V.R ofRenger van der Zande followed byTristan Nunez's No. 77 Mazda in seventh place.[25] The duo ofJDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillacs were eighth and tenth:Simon Trummer in the No. 84 car was faster than the sister No. 85 entry ofMisha Goikhberg. They were separated by the ninth-placedVictor Franzoni in the No. 50Juncos Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R.[24][20]
Pole positions in each class are indicated inbold and by ‡.
With a total of 152 points, Derani and Nasr's second place finish kept them atop DPi Drivers' Championship while Cameron and Montoya's victory allowed them to advance from fourth to second. Jordan Taylor and Renger van der Zande dropped from third to fifth.[28] GTD drivers, teams, and manufactures did not score full season points due to the event only counting towards the WeatherTech Sprint Cup. Cadillac continued to top the DPi Manufactures' Championship while Whelen Engineering Racing continued to top the DPi Teams' Championship with seven rounds left in the season.[28]
Class winners are denoted inbold and ‡.
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| IMSA SportsCar Championship | ||
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| Previous race: 2019 Sports Car Challenge of Mid-Ohio | 2019 season | Next race: 2019 6 Hours of The Glen |
