The2019 Monterey Grand Prix was asports car race sanctioned by theInternational Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The race was held atWeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca inMonterey County, California, on September 15, 2019. This race was the eleventh round of the2019 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the seventh round of the 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. The 2019 Monterey Grand Prix was the eleventh of twelve sports car races of 2019 by IMSA, and it was the last of seven rounds held as part of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup.[2] The race was held at the eleven-turn 2.238 mi (3.602 km)WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca inMonterey County, California on September 15, 2019.[3]
On September 6, 2019, IMSA released a technical bulletin regarding theBalance of Performance for the race. In the Daytona Prototype International (DPi) class, theMazda RT24-P was given a 5-kilogram weight increase. TheCadillac DPI-V.R was made 20 kilograms lighter, as well as a 0.3-millimeter larger air restrictor, and a fuel capacity increase of 2 liters. No changes were made GTLM. In GTD, thePorsche 911 GT3 R andLexus RC F GT3 were made 20 and 5 kilograms heavier, respectively. TheLamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo andMcLaren 720S GT3 were made 10 kilograms lighter.[4]
Before the race,Dane Cameron andJuan Pablo Montoya led the DPi Drivers' Championship with 239 points, 7 points ahead ofPipo Derani andFelipe Nasr.[5] In LMP2,Matt McMurry led the Drivers' Championship with 200 points, ahead of Cameron Cassels.[5]Earl Bamber andLaurens Vanthoor led the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 280 points; the duo held an eleven-point advantage overPatrick Pilet andNick Tandy in second.[5] With 241 points,Mario Farnbacher andTrent Hindman led the GTD Drivers' Championship, 37 points clear ofZacharie Robichon.[5]Acura andPorsche were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, whileAcura Team Penske,PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports,Porsche GT Team, andMeyer Shank Racing each led their own Teams' Championships.[5]
A total of 32 cars took part in the event split across four classes. There were 10 cars inDaytona Prototype International, 2 entries in LMP2, 8 entries in GTLM, and 12 entries in GTD. In LMP2,Dalton Kellett returned toPR1 Mathiasen Motorsports afterJames French competed at Road America. In GTD, Lone Star Racing would not return for Laguna Seca.Christina Nielsen returned to the No. 57Meyer Shank Racing entry after being substituted byBia Figueiredo andAlice Powell in the 2 previous rounds.[6]
There were three practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, two on Friday and one on Saturday. The first session on Friday morning lasted 75 minutes while the second session on Friday afternoon lasted one hour. The third session on Saturday morning lasted one hour.[7] In the first practice session,Oliver Jarvis set the fastest lap in the No. 77 Mazda at 1 minute, 16.442 seconds, 0.153 seconds faster thanJuan Pablo Montoya's No. 6 Acura.[8]Filipe Albuquerque inMustang Sampling Racing's No. 5 Cadillac was third, andRenger van der Zande was fourth in the No. 10 Cadillac.[8]Pipo Derani was fifth fastest forWhelen Engineering Racing whileTristan Vautier in the No. 85JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac was sixth.[9]Matt McMurry led LMP2 in the No. 52PR1/ Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca 07.[8] The GTLM class was topped byRichard Westbrook's No. 67 Ford GT with a lap of 1 minute, 22.548 seconds, 0.294 seconds faster thanTommy Milner's No. 4 Corvette.[10]Jesse Krohn was third in the No. 24 BMW andJan Magnussen was fourth fastest in the No. 3 Corvette.[9] In GTD,Bryan Sellers inPaul Miller Racing's No. 48 Lamborghini lapped fastest with a time of 1 minute, 25.248 seconds, withToni Vilander second in the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari.[9]
In the second practice session, Montoya in the No. 6 Acura was fastest with a time of 1 minute, 16.003 seconds, 0.078 seconds faster thanFelipe Nasr in the No. 31 Cadillac.[11] Jarvis was the best of the Mazdas in third andJoão Barbosa's No. 5 Cadillac was fourth.[12]Kyle Masson led LMP2 in the Performance Tech Motorsports car.[12] The GTLM class was topped byAntonio García's No. 3 Corvette with a lap of 1 minute, 22.833 seconds, 0.130 seconds faster than his teammateOliver Gavin.[11] Patrick Pilet was third in the No. 911 Porsche andDirk Müller's No. 66 Ford GT was fourth.[12] In GTD, Seller's No. 48 lapped fastest with a time of 1 minute, 25.246 seconds, withMatt Plumb second in the No. 76 McLaren.[13]
In the final practice session,Ricky Taylor set the fastest time of the weekend so far at 1 minute, 15.497 seconds in the No. 7 Acura, 0.360 seconds faster than the second quickest car of teammate Montoya.[14] van der Zande was third in the No. 10 Cadillac and Jarvis in the No. 77 Mazda was fourth.[15]Hélio Castroneves necessitated the showing of a red flag when he spun and beached the No. 7 Acura in the gravel trap at the Corkscrew halfway through the session.[14] Masson was the fastest LMP2 driver in the No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports car.[16] Westbrook's No. 67 Ford GT was fastest in GTLM while,Robby Foley, driving the No. 96Turner Motorsport BMW M6, was the fastest driver in GTD.[16]
Saturday's afternoon qualifying session was broken into three sessions that were scheduled for 15 minutes each.[7] Cars in GTD were sent out first before those grouped in GTLM and DPi/LMP2 had two separate identically timed sessions. All cars were required to be driven by one participant and the starting order was determined by the competitor's fastest lap.[7] IMSA then arranged the grid so that the DPi, LMP2, and GTLM cars started in front of the GTD field.
Ricky Taylor in the No. 7 Acura set a new track record to clinch his firstpole position of the season with a time of 1 minute and 15.035 seconds.[17][18] He was joined on thegrid's front row by his teammate Montoya who was 0.308 seconds slower.[19]Jordan Taylor qualified the No. 10 Cadillac in third position.[17] The duo ofMazda Team Joest Mazda RT24-Ps were fourth and sixth:Tristan Nunez in the No. 77 car was faster than the sister No. 55 entry ofJonathan Bomarito.[17] They were separated by fifth-placedFelipe Nasr in the No. 31 Cadillac.[18]Albuquerque's No. 5 Cadillac took seventh andMisha Goikhberg's No. 85 Cadillac qualified eighth.[17] The No. 84JDC-Miller MotorSports Cadillac DPi-V.R ofSimon Trummer andJon Bennett in theCORE Autosport Nissan rounded out the DPi qualifiers.[17][20] In LMP2,Kyle Masson set the fastest time in the Performance Tech Motorsports entry, but the car would be dropped to the rear of the LMP2 field because the team changed their starting driver. As a result,Matt McMurry was promoted to first and would start the race from pole position.[21]
In GTLM,Jesse Krohn in the No. 24 BMW clinched his second pole position of the season, with his fastest lap being 0.127 seconds faster thanDirk Müller in the No. 66 Ford GT.[22]Tom Blomqvist qualified the No. 25 BMW in third position.[19] Vanthoor's No. 912 Porsche took fourth andRyan Briscoe's No. 67 Ford GT qualified fifth.[18] The two Corvette Racing cars and the No. 911Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR rounded out the GTLM field.[22]
In GTD,Corey Lewis in the No. 48 Lamborghini was fastest on the car's final timed lap with a time of 1 minute and 24.962 seconds to clinch pole position. He was joined byTrent Hindman's No. 86 Acura on the grid's front row with his best lap being 0.101 seconds slower, andCooper MacNeil drove the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari to third place.[19]Zacharie Robichon qualified the No. 9 Porsche fourth, ahead ofRobby Foley's fifth place BMW.[22] The session was extended whenPatrick Lindsey, driving the No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche, crashed heavily at turn ten.[23] Lindsey walked away from the incident unhurt.[18] Lindsey had his best two laps from the session deleted for causing a red flag, effectively leaving him with no time set. Due to the extensive damage on their car, Park Place Motorsports withdrew from the event.[24]
Pole positions in each class are indicated inbold and by ‡.
With a total of 274 points, Cameron and Montoya's victory allowed them to increase their advantage over Derani and Nasr to 12 points in the DPi Drivers' Championship.[27] McMurry's victory allowed him to increase his advantage to eighth points over Cassels in the LMP2 Drivers' Championship. Kellett jumped to fifth after being eighth coming into WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.[27] The final results of GTLM kept Bamber and Vanthoor atop the Drivers' Championship with 304 points while Müller advanced from fifth to fourth.[27] The final results of GTD kept Farnbacher and Hindman atop the Divers' Championship with 264 points while Lally and Potter jumped to fourth. MacNeil and Vilander's strong result allowed the duo to move into fifth.[27] Acura and Porsche continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Lamborghini took the lead of GTD Manufactures' Championship.[27] Acura Team Penske, PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, Porsche GT Team, and Meyer Shank Racing kept their respective advantages in their Teams' Championships with one round left in the season.[27]
Class winners are denoted inbold and ‡.
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| Previous race: Oak Tree Grand Prix | 2019 season | Next race: Petit Le Mans |
