The2023 Motul Course de Monterey (formally known as theMotul Course de Monterey Powered by Hyundai N) was asports car race held atWeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca nearMonterey, California on May 14, 2023. It was the fourth round of the2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship and the second round of the 2023 WeatherTech Sprint Cup.
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International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2022.[1] It was the tenth consecutive year it was part of the IMSA SCC.[2] The 2023 Motul Course de Monterey was the fourth of eleven scheduled sports car races of 2023 by IMSA, and the second of seven races of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup.[3] The race was held at the eleven-turn 2.238 mi (3.602 km)WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on May 14, 2023.[4]
After theGrand Prix of Long Beach four weeks earlier,Nick Tandy andMathieu Jaminet led the GTP Drivers' Championship with 955 points, ahead ofPipo Derani andAlexander Sims with 954 points followed byFilipe Albuquerque andRicky Taylor with 934 points.[5] With 375 points, the LMP2 Drivers' Championship was led byJohn Farano,Scott McLaughlin, andKyffin Simpson with a twenty-five point advantage overScott Huffaker,Mikkel Jensen, andSteven Thomas.[5]Ben Barnicoat andJack Hawksworth led the GTD Pro Drivers' Championship with 1067 points ahead ofJules Gounon andDaniel Juncadella with 994 points.[5] In GTD, the Drivers' Championship was led byBryan Sellers andMadison Snow with 1008 points, ahead ofRoman De Angelis andMarco Sørensen with 909 points.[5]Cadillac,Lexus, andBMW were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, whilePorsche Penske Motorsport, Tower Motorsports,Vasser Sullivan Racing, andPaul Miller Racing each led their own Teams' Championships.[5]
On May 4, 2023, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outliningBalance of Performance for the GTP, GTD Pro, and GTD classes. In GTP, bothCadillac andBMW received weight reductions, whilstPorsche andAcura received weight increases compared to Long Beach. The Cadillac ran at 1030 kg, the BMW ran at 1031 kg, the Porsche ran at 1038 kg, and the Acura ran at 1049 kg. As a result, the Cadillac ran on 511 kilowatts of power, the BMW on 512 kW, the Porsche on 514 kW, and the Acura on 520 kW. Maximum stint energy figures were also adjusted.[6] In GTD Pro and GTD, the only changes in BoP are a 10 kg weight increase forBMW and a 5-liter decrease of fuel tank capacity forMcLaren.[6]
A total of 38 cars took part in the event, split across four classes. 9 car were entered in GTP, 8 in LMP2, 5 in GTD Pro, and 16 in GTD.[7] In GTP, the entry list was headlined by the addition of theJDC-Miller MotorSports entry, featuring the firstPorsche 963 customer entry on the IMSA SportsCar Championship grid. The car was driven byTijmen van der Helm andMike Rockenfeller.[8] In LMP2, the No. 04CrowdStrike Racing by APROreca 07 also entered withBen Hanley andGeorge Kurtz, even though the car was initially not confirmed as a full-season entry.[7] In GTD,Andretti Autosport debuted their No. 94Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3, driven byJarett Andretti andGabby Chaves.[9]
There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Sunday, one on Friday and one on Saturday. The first session lasted 90 minutes on Friday while the second session on Saturday lasted 105 minutes.[10]
The first practice session took place at 4:05 pmPT on Friday and ended withMatt Campbell topping the charts forPorsche Penske Motorsport, with a lap time of 1:16.703.[11]Louis Delétraz set the fastest time in LMP2 driving the #8 Tower Motorsports entry.[12]Ben Barnicoat was fastest in GTD Pro whileFrankie Montecalvo set the fastest time amongst all GTD cars.[13]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GTP | 7 | Porsche Penske Motorsport | Matt Campbell | 1:16.703 | _ |
| 2 | GTP | 60 | Meyer Shank Racing withCurb-Agajanian | Colin Braun | 1:17.019 | +0.316 |
| 3 | GTP | 6 | Porsche Penske Motorsport | Mathieu Jaminet | 1:17.115 | +0.412 |
| Sources:[14][15] | ||||||
The second and final practice session took place at 8:55 amPT on Saturday and ended withMatt Campbell topping the charts forPorsche Penske Motorsport, with a lap time of 1:15.493.[16]Ed Jones set the fastest time in LMP2.[17] The GTD Pro class was topped by the #23 Heart of Racing TeamAston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 ofAlex Riberas whileLoris Spinelli was fastest in GTD.[17]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GTP | 7 | Porsche Penske Motorsport | Matt Campbell | 1:15.493 | _ |
| 2 | GTP | 31 | Whelen Engineering Racing | Pipo Derani | 1:15.642 | +0.149 |
| 3 | GTP | 60 | Meyer Shank Racing withCurb-Agajanian | Colin Braun | 1:15.716 | +0.223 |
| Sources:[18][19] | ||||||
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Saturday's afternoon qualifying was broken into three sessions, with one session for the GTP, LMP2, and GTD Pro and GTD classes, which lasted for 20 minutes for the GTP session, and 15 minutes for the LMP2, and GTD Pro/GTD sessions.[10] The rules dictated that all teams nominated a driver to qualify their cars, with the Pro-Am LMP2 class requiring a Bronze rated driver to qualify the car. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order. IMSA then arranged the grid to put GTPs ahead of the LMP2, GTD Pro, and GTD cars.[20]
Qualifying was broken into three sessions. The first was cars in the GTD Pro and GTD classes.Klaus Bachler qualified on pole in GTD Pro driving the #9 Pfaff Motorsports entry.Alec Udell qualified on pole in GTD driving the #92Kelly-Moss with Riley entry, bestingRoman De Angelis in the #27 Heart of Racing Team entry.[21]
The second session of qualifying was for cars in the LMP2 class.George Kurtz qualified on pole for the class driving the #04 car forCrowdStrike Racing by APR.[22]
The final session of qualifying was for the GTP class.Matt Campbell qualified on pole driving the No. 7 car forPorsche Penske Motorsport, beatingMathieu Jaminet in the sister #6 car forPorsche Penske Motorsport by less than one tenth of a second.[23]
Pole positions in each class are indicated inbold and by ‡.
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GTP | 7 | Porsche Penske Motorsport |  Matt Campbell | 1:14.774 | _ | 1‡ |
| 2 | GTP | 6 | Porsche Penske Motorsport |  Mathieu Jaminet | 1:14.864 | +0.090 | 2 |
| 3 | GTP | 60 | Meyer Shank Racing withCurb-Agajanian |  Colin Braun | 1:14.979 | +0.205 | 3 |
| 4 | GTP | 31 | Whelen Engineering Racing |  Pipo Derani | 1:15.007 | +0.233 | 4 |
| 5 | GTP | 10 | Wayne Taylor Racing withAndretti Autosport | Ricky Taylor | 1:15.303 | +0.529 | 5 |
| 6 | GTP | 01 | Cadillac Racing | Sébastien Bourdais | 1:15.335 | +0.561 | 6 |
| 7 | GTP | 25 | BMW M Team RLL | Connor De Phillippi | 1:15.648 | +0.874 | 7 |
| 8 | GTP | 24 | BMW M Team RLL |  Philipp Eng | 1:15.747 | +0.973 | 8 |
| 9 | GTP | 5 | JDC-Miller MotorSports |  Tijmen van der Helm | 1:16.995 | +2.221 | 9 |
| 10 | LMP2 | 04 | CrowdStrike Racing byAPR | George Kurtz | 1:19.262 | +4.488 | 10‡ |
| 11 | LMP2 | 52 | PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports | Ben Keating | 1:19.323 | +4.549 | 11 |
| 12 | LMP2 | 11 | TDS Racing | Steven Thomas | 1:19.718 | +4.944 | 12 |
| 13 | LMP2 | 35 | TDS Racing | François Heriau | 1:20.475 | +5.701 | 16 |
| 14 | LMP2 | 51 | Rick Ware Racing | Eric Lux | 1:20.625 | +5.851 | 17 |
| 15 | LMP2 | 20 | High Class Racing |  Dennis Andersen | 1:20.655 | +5.881 | 13 |
| 16 | LMP2 | 8 | Tower Motorsports |  John Farano | 1:21.055 | +6.281 | 14 |
| 17 | LMP2 | 18 | Era Motorsport | Dwight Merriman | 1:21.912 | +7.138 | 15 |
| 18 | GTD Pro | 9 | Pfaff Motorsports | Klaus Bachler | 1:24.529 | +9.755 | 18‡ |
| 19 | GTD | 92 | Kelly-Moss with Riley | Alec Udell | 1:24.539 | +9.765 | 19‡ |
| 20 | GTD | 27 | Heart of Racing Team | Roman De Angelis | 1:24.647 | +9.873 | 20 |
| 21 | GTD Pro | 23 | Heart of Racing Team |  Alex Riberas | 1:24.654 | +9.880 | 21 |
| 22 | GTD Pro | 79 | WeatherTech Racing | Daniel Juncadella | 1:24.706 | +9.932 | 22 |
| 23 | GTD Pro | 14 | Vasser Sullivan Racing |  Jack Hawksworth | 1:24.727 | +9.953 | 23 |
| 24 | GTD Pro | 3 | Corvette Racing | Jordan Taylor | 1:24.907 | +10.133 | 24 |
| 25 | GTD | 80 | AO Racing Team | Sebastian Priaulx | 1:25.005 | +10.231 | 25 |
| 26 | GTD | 12 | Vasser Sullivan Racing | Frankie Montecalvo | 1:25.085 | +10.311 | 26 |
| 27 | GTD | 1 | Paul Miller Racing | Madison Snow | 1:25.260 | +10.486 | 27 |
| 28 | GTD | 32 | Team Korthoff Motorsports | Mike Skeen | 1:25.433 | +10.659 | 28 |
| 29 | GTD | 96 | Turner Motorsport | Patrick Gallagher | 1:25.440 | +10.666 | 29 |
| 30 | GTD | 57 | Winward Racing | Russell Ward | 1:25.442 | +10.668 | 30 |
| 31 | GTD | 91 | Kelly-Moss with Riley | Alan Metni | 1:25.601 | +10.827 | 31 |
| 32 | GTD | 70 | Inception Racing | Brendan Iribe | 1:25.842 | +11.068 | 32 |
| 33 | GTD | 78 | Forte Racing powered byUS RaceTronics | Misha Goikhberg | 1:25.927 | +11.153 | 33 |
| 34 | GTD | 97 | Turner Motorsport | Chandler Hull | 1:26.227 | +11.453 | 34 |
| 35 | GTD | 94 | Andretti Autosport | Jarett Andretti | 1:26.289 | +11.515 | 35 |
| 36 | GTD | 66 | Gradient Racing | Sheena Monk | 1:26.363 | +11.589 | 36 |
| 37 | GTD | 77 | Wright Motorsports | Alan Brynjolfsson | 1:26.365 | +11.591 | 37 |
| 38 | GTD | 44 | Magnus Racing | John Potter | 1:26.415 | +11.641 | 38 |
| Sources:[24][25] | |||||||
The result kept Tandy and Jaminet atop the GTP Drivers' Championship, 25 points ahead of Derani and Sims. Bourdais and van der Zande advanced from sixth to fourth.[26] In the LMP2 Drivers' Championship, Loup Chatin and Keating advanced from fourth to second while Farano dropped from first to third.[26] The result kept Barnicoat and Hawksworth atop the GTD Pro Drivers' Championship.[26] The result kept Sellers and Snow atop the GTD Drivers' Championship while Iribe and Schandorff advanced from fourth to second. Cadillac, Lexus, and BMW continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Porsche Penske Motorsport, Vasser Sullivan Racing, and Paul Miller Racing kept their respective advantages in their respective of Teams' Championships. TDS Racing took the lead in the LMP2 Teams' Championships with seven races remaining in the season.[26]
Class winners are inbold and ‡.
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| Previous race: 2023 Grand Prix of Long Beach | 2023 season | Next race: 2023 Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen |
