2019 Sports Car Challenge of Mid-Ohio

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The layout of Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

The 2019 Acura Sports Car Challenge of Mid-Ohio was a sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The race was held at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, and was the fourth round of the 2019 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Background[]

This event marks the inaugural event of a new support championship for the GT Daytona (GTD) class called the WeatherTech Sprint Cup. It is a championship of all the non-endurance events in the GTD calendar, using the same scoring system as the overall full-time championship, unlike its sister support championship, the Michelin Endurance Cup.

Two and a half weeks prior to the event, Ford announced they would end their factory program with Chip Ganassi Racing in the GTLM class in both the World Endurance Championship and the WeatherTech championship at the end of 2019.[1]

On April 24th, 2019, IMSA released a technical bulletin regarding the Balance of Performance for the race. There were no changes made to either the DPi or GT Le Mans classes. In GTD, the Lamborghini Huracán GT3, which had been victorious in the previous two rounds at Daytona and Sebring, received a 30 kilogram weight increase and a 1-liter reduction in fuel capacity. In contrast, the Audi R8 LMS and Mercedes-AMG GT3 cars were given weight reductions of 25 and 20 kilograms, respectively. The McLaren 720S GT3 received its baseline weight of 1320 kilograms and RPM of 8,000 for its first IMSA event. [2]

Entries[]

Further information: 2019 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship § Entries

On April 24th, 2019, the entry list for the event was released, featuring a total of 36 cars. There are scheduled to be 11 cars in the leading Daytona Prototype international (DPi) class, two in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class, eight entries in GT Le Mans (GTLM), and 15 entries in the GTD class.[3]

There were some considerable additions and changes among the field. Lone Star Racing returned to IMSA competition in the GTD class, having previously participated at Laguna Seca in 2017. Starworks Motorsport driver Parker Chase, who had previously only been on contract for the endurance events, would sign an agreement to run the full season with Starworks in 2019, alongside the existing full-season driver Ryan Dalziel.[4] The biggest addition to the entry list, however, was Compass Racing, who would field a new McLaren 720S GT3 with factory backing in the full Sprint Cup-only campaign for the season. Their drivers were McLaren factory driver Paul Holton and Matt Plumb. On April 19th, 2019, McLaren Automotive signed a multi-year agreement with IMSA in which they officially became an automotive partner of the International Motor Sports Association.[5][6]

After initially confirming full-season programs, GTD teams Precision Performance Motorsports and P1 Motorsports would not return for Mid-Ohio, with the latter pulling the plug on using their Mercedes-AMG GT3 cars in championships.

Due to scheduling conflicts for full-season drivers Gabriel Aubry, Patrick Lindsey and Harry Tincknell, who were at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps for the FIA World Endurance Championship, drivers Eric Lux, Marco Seefried and Ryan Hunter-Reay respectively would replace these drivers for the Mid-Ohio event.[7]

Practice and qualifying[]

Qualifying Results[]

Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by double-dagger.

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap Grid
1 DPi 77 Mazda Team Joest Oliver Jarvis 1:10.705 _ 1double-dagger
2 DPi 7 Acura Team Penske Hélio Castroneves 1:10.727 +0.022 2
3 DPi 6 Acura Team Penske Dane Cameron 1:10.806 +0.101 3
4 DPi 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Pipo Derani 1:11.720 +1.016 4
5 DPi 5 Mustang Sampling Racing João Barbosa 1:12.320 +1.615 5
6 DPi 55 Mazda Team Joest Ryan Hunter-Reay 1:12.326 +1.621 6
7 DPi 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac Renger van der Zande 1:12.525 +1.820 7
8 DPi 84 JDC-Miller Motorsports Simon Trummer 1:12.595 +1.890 8
9 DPi 50 Juncos Racing Will Owen 1:13.394 +2.689 9
10 DPi 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Misha Goikhberg 1:13.570 +2.865 10
11 LMP2 38 Performance Tech Motorsports Kyle Masson 1:14.877 +4.172 11double-dagger
12 DPi 54 CORE Autosport Jonathan Bennett 1:17.321 +6.616 12
13 GTLM 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA Sebastien Bourdais 1:19.124 +8.419 13double-dagger
14 GTLM 912 Porsche GT Team Laurens Vanthoor 1:19.399 +8.694 14
15 GTLM 24 BMW Team RLL Jesse Krohn 1:19.623 +8.918 15
16 GTLM 4 Corvette Racing Tommy Milner 1:19.721 +9.016 16
17 GTLM 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA Ryan Briscoe 1:19.724 +9.019 17
18 GTLM 25 BMW Team RLL Connor De Phillippi 1:19.893 +9.188 18
19 GTLM 3 Corvette Racing Jan Magnussen 1:19.919 +9.214 19
20 GTLM 911 Porsche GT Team Patrick Pilet 1:20.026 +9.321 20
21 LMP2 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Eric Lux 1:21.752 +11.047 21
22 GTD 14 AIM Vasser Sullivan Richard Heistand 1:24.281 +13.576 22double-dagger
23 GTD 33 Riley Motorsports – Team AMG Ben Keating 1:26.109 +15.404 23
24 GTD 12 AIM Vasser Sullivan Frankie Montecalvo 1:26.451 +15.746 24
25 GTD 19 Moorespeed Will Hardeman 1:26.951 +16.246 25
26 GTD 9 Pfaff Motorsports Zach Robichon 1:27.113 +16.408 26
27 GTD 96 Turner Motorsport Robby Foley 1:27.152 +16.447 27
28 GTD 48 Paul Miller Racing Ryan Hardwick 1:27.300 +16.595 28
29 GTD 76 Compass Racing Matt Plumb 1:27.657 +16.952 29
30 GTD 86 Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian Trent Hindman 1:27.725 +17.020 30
31 GTD 8 Starworks Motorsport Parker Chase 1:27.753 +17.048 31
32 GTD 63 Scuderia Corsa Cooper MacNeil 1:27.777 +17.072 32
33 GTD 74 Lone Star Racing Gar Robinson 1:30.778 +20.073 33
34 GTD 44 Magnus Racing John Potter 1:31.124 +20.419 34
35 GTD 57 Heinricher Racing with Meyer-Shank Christina Nielsen 1:31.851 +21.146 35
36 GTD 73 Park Place Motorsports None None N/A 36
Source:[8]

Results[]

Class winners are denoted in bold and double-dagger.

Pos Class No. Team Drivers Chassis Laps Time/Retired
Engine
1 DPi 6 United States Acura Team Penske United States Dane Cameron
Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya 		Acura ARX-05 123 2:41:05.736double-dagger
Acura AR35TT 3.5 L Turbo V6
2 DPi 77 Germany Mazda Team Joest United Kingdom Oliver Jarvis
United States Tristan Nunez 		Mazda RT24-P 123 +2.022
Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0 L Turbo I4
3 DPi 55 Germany Mazda Team Joest United States Jonathan Bomarito
United States Ryan Hunter-Reay 		Mazda RT24-P 123 +30.050
Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0 L Turbo I4
4 DPi 31 United States Whelen Engineering Racing Brazil Pipo Derani
Brazil Felipe Nasr 		Cadillac DPi-V.R 123 +39.114
Cadillac 5.5 L V8
5 DPi 7 United States Acura Team Penske Brazil Hélio Castroneves
United States Ricky Taylor 		Acura ARX-05 122 +1 Lap
Acura AR35TT 3.5 L Turbo V6
6 DPi 10 United States Konica Minolta Cadillac United States Jordan Taylor
Netherlands Renger van der Zande 		Cadillac DPi-V.R 122 +1 Lap
Cadillac 5.5 L V8
7 DPi 84 United States JDC-Miller Motorsports South Africa Stephen Simpson
Switzerland Simon Trummer 		Cadillac DPi-V.R 122 +1 Lap
Cadillac 5.5 L V8
8 DPi 5 United States Mustang Sampling Racing Portugal Filipe Albuquerque
Portugal João Barbosa 		Cadillac DPi-V.R 122 +1 Lap
Cadillac 5.5 L V8
9 DPi 50 United States Juncos Racing United States Kyle Kaiser
United States Will Owen 		Cadillac DPi-V.R 122 +1 Lap
Cadillac 5.5 L V8
10 DPi 85 United States JDC-Miller Motorsports Canada Misha Goikhberg
France Tristan Vautier 		Cadillac DPi-V.R 122 +1 Lap
Cadillac 5.5 L V8
11 LMP2 52 United States PR1/ Mathiasen Motorsports United States Eric Lux
United States Matt McMurry 		Oreca 07 116 +7 Lapsdouble-dagger
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
12 GTLM 912 United States Porsche GT Team New Zealand Earl Bamber
Belgium Laurens Vanthoor 		Porsche 911 RSR 116 +7 Lapsdouble-dagger
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
13 GTLM 3 United States Corvette Racing Spain Antonio García
Denmark Jan Magnussen 		Chevrolet Corvette C7.R 116 +7 Laps
Chevrolet LT5.5 5.5 L V8
14 GTLM 911 United States Porsche GT Team France Patrick Pilet
United Kingdom Nick Tandy 		Porsche 911 RSR 116 +7 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
15 GTLM 25 United States BMW Team RLL United Kingdom Tom Blomqvist
United States Connor De Phillippi 		BMW M8 GTE 116 +7 Laps
BMW S63 4.0 L Twin-turbo V8
16 GTLM 67 United States Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Australia Ryan Briscoe
United Kingdom Richard Westbrook 		Ford GT 116 +7 Laps
Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Turbo V6
17 GTLM 24 United States BMW Team RLL United States John Edwards
Finland Jesse Krohn 		BMW M8 GTE 116 +7 Laps
BMW S63 4.0 L Twin-turbo V8
18 GTLM 66 United States Ford Chip Ganassi Racing France Sébastien Bourdais
Germany Dirk Müller 		Ford GT 115 +8 Lapsdouble-dagger
Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Turbo V6
19 GTD 14 United States AIM Vasser Sullivan United Kingdom Jack Hawksworth
United States Richard Heistand 		Lexus RC F GT3 114 +9 Lapsdouble-dagger
Lexus 5.0 L V8
20 GTD 86 United States Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Germany Mario Farnbacher
United States Trent Hindman 		Acura NSX GT3 114 +9 Laps
Acura 3.5 L Turbo V6
21 GTD 48 United States Paul Miller Racing United States Ryan Hardwick
United States Bryan Sellers 		Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 113 +10 Laps
Lamborghini 5.2 L V10
22 GTD 73 United States Park Place Motorsports United States Patrick Long
Germany Marco Seefried 		Porsche 911 GT3 R 113 +10 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
23 GTD 12 United States AIM Vasser Sullivan United States Townsend Bell
United States Frankie Montecalvo 		Lexus RC F GT3 113 +10 Laps
Lexus 5.0 L V8
24 GTD 19 United States Moorespeed United States Will Hardeman
Spain Alex Riberas 		Audi R8 LMS GT3 123 +10 Laps
Audi 5.2 L V10
25 GTD 63 United States Scuderia Corsa United States Cooper MacNeil
Finland Toni Vilander 		Ferrari 488 GT3 122 +11 Laps
Ferrari F154 3.9 L Turbo V8
26 GTD 44 United States Magnus Racing United States Andy Lally
United States John Potter 		Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 112 +11 Laps
Lamborghini 5.2 L V10
27 GTD 8 United States Starworks Motorsport United States Parker Chase
United Kingdom Ryan Dalziel 		Audi R8 LMS GT3 112 +11 Laps
Audi 5.2 L V10
28 GTD 57 United States Heinricher Racing w/Meyer Shank Racing United Kingdom Katherine Legge
Denmark Christina Nielsen 		Acura NSX GT3 112 +11 Laps
Acura 3.5 L Turbo V6
29 GTD 74 United States Lone Star Racing United States Lawson Aschenbach
United States Gar Robinson 		Mercedes-AMG GT3 112 +11 Laps
Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8
30 GTD 9 Canada Pfaff Motorsports Canada Scott Hargrove
Canada Zacharie Robichon 		Porsche 911 GT3 R 107 Did Not Finish
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
31 GTLM 4 United States Corvette Racing United Kingdom Oliver Gavin
United States Tommy Milner 		Chevrolet Corvette C7.R 105 +18 Laps
Chevrolet LT5.5 5.5 L V8
32 DPi 54 United States CORE Autosport United States Jon Bennett
United States Colin Braun 		Nissan DPi 97 Did Not Finish
Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Turbo V6
33 GTD 76 Canada Compass Racing United States Paul Holton
United States Matt Plumb 		McLaren 720S GT3 82 +41 Laps
McLaren M480T 4.0 L Twin-turbo V8
34 LMP2 38 United States Performance Tech Motorsports Canada Cameron Cassels
United States Kyle Masson 		Oreca 07 82 +41 Laps
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
35 GTD 33 United States Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsports Netherlands Jeroen Bleekemolen
United States Ben Keating 		Mercedes-AMG GT3 34 Did Not Finish
Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8
36 GTD 96 United States Turner Motorsport United States Bill Auberlen
United States Robby Foley 		BMW M6 GT3 1 Did Not Finish
BMW 4.4 L Turbo V8
Box Score

References[]

  1. ^ Dagys, John (18 April 2019). "Ford Confirms End of Factory GT Program". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  2. ^ IMSA Competition (24 April 2019). "IMSA TECHNICAL BULLETIN IWSC #19-23" (PDF). Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  3. ^ Dagys, John (24 April 2019). "Lone Star Returns; 36 Entries for Mid-Ohio in Sprint Cup Debut". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  4. ^ Malsher, David (22 April 2019). "Chase confirmed at Starworks for remainder of 2019". motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  5. ^ Malsher, David (19 April 2019). "McLaren confirms multi-year deal with IMSA". motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  6. ^ Dagys, John (19 April 2019). "McLaren Confirms Multi-Year Deal With IMSA". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  7. ^ Dagys, John (26 April 2019). "Hunter-Reay to Sub for Tincknell at Mid-Ohio". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  8. ^ "05/06 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge--03 Results Qualifying" (PDF). 5 May 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2019.

External links[]

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
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2019 BUBBA Burger Sports Car Grand Prix 		2019 season Next race:
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