International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2018 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2017.[1] It was the fifth consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The 2018 Monterey Grand Prix was the eleventh of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2018 by IMSA, and was the eighth round not held on the held as part of the North American Endurance Cup.[2] The race was held at the eleven-turn 2.238 mi (3.602 km) WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on September 9, 2018.[2]
IMSA released two separate technical bulletins regarding the Balance of Performance for the event. The first one was released on August 30, 2018, for the Prototype (P) class.[4] The Oreca 07, Ligier JS P217, Dallara P217, and Riley-Multimatic MkXXX were given a 10 kilogram weight increase and a fuel capacity reduction of 3 liters. The Mazda RT24-P was given a 10 kilogram weight reduction and a fuel capacity increase of 2 liters. The Acura ARX-05, Cadillac DPi-V.R, and Nissan Onroak DPi were also given a fuel capacity increase of 2 liters. The second technical bulletin was released on September 5, 2018, which regarded the Balance of Performance in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) and GT Daytona (GTD) classes for the event.[5] In GTD, The Ferrari 488 GT3 received an increase in turbo boost as well as a fuel capacity increase of 2 liters. No changes were made in GTLM.
There were three practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Sunday, two on Friday and one on Saturday. The first two one-hour sessions were on Friday morning and afternoon. The third on Saturday morning lasted an hour.[9]
The second practice session took place at 3:15 pm PT on Friday and ended with Dane Cameron topping the charts for AcuraTeam Penske, with a lap time of 1:16.865.[12]
The third and final practice session took place at 8:30 am PT on Saturday and ended with Renger van der Zande topping the charts for Wayne Taylor Racing, with a lap time of 1:16.605.[14]
Saturday afternoon's 65-minute qualifying session was divided into three groups.[9] All three categories had 15-minute individual sessions, and regulations stipulated teams to nominate a single driver to qualify their cars. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order with the grid arranged to put the Prototype and GTLM cars ahead of all GTD entries.[16]
Qualifying results
Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by ‡.
1 The No. 22 Tequila Patrón ESM entry was moved to the back of the P field for starting the race with a different driver than who qualified.
2 The No. 54 CORE Autosport entry was moved to the back of the P field for starting the race with a different driver than who qualified.
3 The No. 44 Magnus Racing entry was moved to the back of the GTD field after the team elected to change tires after qualifying.
Race
Post-race
The result kept Curran and Nasr atop the Prototype Drivers' Championship with 299 points. Bennett and Braun advanced from third to second while Cameron and Montoya jumped from sixth to fourth.[19] The result kept García and Magnussen atop the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 299 points, 9 points ahead of Briscoe and Westbrook.[19] The result kept Sellers and Snow atop the GTD Drivers' Championship with 303 points, 6 points ahead of Legge.[19] Cadillac, Ford, and Lamborghini continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships while Whelen Engineering Racing, Corvette Racing, and Paul Miller Racing kept their respective advantages in the Teams' Championships with one round left in the season.[19]
^The #5 Mustang Sampling Racing entry was involved in an accident on the opening lap of the race with the #66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing and #911 Porsche GT Team entries. The car did not cross the start finish line and scored no points.
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