24h Le Mans
The 2019 season of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship came to an end this weekend at the 22nd running of Petit Le Mans in Georgia. A total of 34 cars in four classes took the start in the race.
Ten hours of IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship racing at the Road Atlanta circuit are on the programme for the 22nd running of Petit Le Mans this weekend. The round will serve as the finale of the 2019 season with 34 competitors set to hit the track: 11 cars in the DPi class, two in LMP2, nine in GTLM (the American counterpart of LMGTE Pro at the 24 Hours of Le Mans) and 12 in GTD.
At least six previous 24 Hours of Le Mans winners are expected on the starting grid, including Romain Dumas in Core Autosport's #54 Nissan DPi and Timo Bernhard in Mazda Team Joest's #77 Mazda DPi. In the GTLM class, Mike Rockenfeller and Marcel Fässler will represent Corvette Racing as Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber take the wheel of the #911 and #912 Porsche 911 RSRs for Porsche GT Team. Also in GTLM, James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Daniel Serra (LMGTE Pro winners at this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans) will team up on behalf of Risi Competizione at the wheel of the #62 Ferrari 488 GTE.
There are three contenders for the championship title in the DPi class: Acura Team Penske (#6 and #7) and Whelen Engineering Racing (#31). In LMP2, the title will play out between PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports and Performance Tech Motorsports. The #911 and #912 Porsches of Porsche GT Team, the #3 Corvette of Corvette Racing and the #66 and #67 Ford GTs of Ford Chip Ganassi will battle for the trophy in the GTLM class. The GTD title is up for grabs with four teams in the running to win it, Meyer Shank Racing (#86), Pfaff Motorsports (#9), Turner Motorsport (#96) and Magnus Racing (#44).
Remember that the winners of the Jim Trueman and Bob Akin trophies, awarded to the Bronze or Silver drivers in the LMP2 and GTD classes, will be given an invitation to the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans 2020. The winner of the Jim Trueman trophy is eligible to participate in LMP2 and the Bob Akin trophy winner to do so in LMGTE Am. They may enter with the team of their choice even if that team is not a competitor in the American championship.
The start at Petit Le Mans will be given Saturday 12 October at 12:05 local time.
For more info on Petit Le Mans, go to the official IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship website.
