International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2019 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 Road Race Showcase at Road America was the ninth of twelve sports car races of 2019 by IMSA, and it was the fifth of seven rounds held as part of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup.[2] The race was held at the fourteen-turn 4.048 mi (6.515 km) Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on August 4, 2019.[3]
During this race weekend, IMSA holds their "State of the Series" annual press conference, in which they confirm and announce their future plans for the series they sanction.
On July 24, 2019, IMSA released a technical bulletin regarding the Balance of Performance for the race. The GT Le Mans (GTLM) balance of performance constraints would remain the same as they were in the previous event at Lime Rock Park. In the Daytona Prototype International (DPi) class, after winning the previous two events of the championship, the Mazda RT24-P was hit with a two-liter fuel capacity reduction and a power reduction of 17 horsepower and restriction in higher-RPM turbo boost, as well as being made 20 kilograms heavier. The Cadillac DPi-V.R was also made 20 kilograms heavier, but it received a 0.6 millimeter increase in its restrictor diameter, as well as an increase of 11 horsepower and a fuel capacity increase of one liter. The Acura ARX-05 was made 10 kilograms heavier. In the GT Daytona class (GTD), the constraints of the McLaren 720S GT3 were once again drastically improved, with a 30 kilogram weight reduction and a power increase of eight horsepower, and turbo boost increase. The Ferrari 488 GT3 was given improvements in the same fields, albeit smaller, along with a one liter fuel capacity increase. After winning the 6 Hours of the Glen and finishing 2nd in the previous two championship-scoring rounds, The Acura NSX GT3 was made 20 kilograms heavier.[4]
On the same day as the Balance of Performance bulletin, the entry list for the event was released, featuring 35 cars. There were 10 entries in DPi, two in Le Mans Prototype (LMP2), eight cars in GTLM, and 15 cars in GTD. After suffering a heavy crash at the Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix, Cadillac DPi customer team Juncos Racing decided not to take part in the Road America event, for not having built a new chassis in time. They were initially intending to take part in the race. In GTLM, Corvette Racing regular driver Tommy Milner would make his return after being substituted by endurance-only driver Marcel Fässler in the previous two races.[6] In GTD, Starworks Motorsport made their return for Road America, with their regular drivers Ryan Dalziel and Parker Chase after missing the previous two events. Porsche junior drivers Matt Campbell and Dennis Olsen made appearances for Pfaff Motorsports and Wright Motorsports, respectively, after driving for the opposite teams in Lime Rock Park.[7][8] In GTLM, Corvette Racing regular driver Tommy Milner would make his return after being substituted by endurance-only driver Marcel Fässler in the previous two races.[6]
Practice
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 on Saturday morning lasted one hour.[9]
The second practice session took place at 4:25 PM CT on Friday and ended with Juan Pablo Montoya topping the charts for Acura Team Penske, with a lap time of 1:50.256. Ricky Taylor was second fastest in the sister No. 7 Acura followed by Oliver Jarvis in the No. 77 Mazda Team Joest entry in third.[15]Harry Tincknell in the No. 55 Mazda was fourth fastest and Colin Braun's No. 54 CORE Autosport Nissan rounded out the top five.[16]Matt McMurry set the fastest in LMP2.[17] The GTLM class was topped by the No. 912 Porsche GT TeamPorsche 911 RSR of Laurens Vanthoor with a time of 2:02.489. Ryan Briscoe was second fastest in the No. 67 Ford GT followed by teammate Dirk Müller in the sister No. 66 Ford GT in third position.[17]Jan Magnussen in the No. 3 Corvette was fourth fastest and the No. 911 Porsche GT Team entry of Nick Tandy rounded out the top five.[16] The GTD class was topped by the No. 14 AIM Vasser SullivanLexus RC F GT3 of Jack Hawksworth with a time of 2:05.162. Corey Lewis in the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini was second fastest followed by Ben Keating's No. 33 Mercedes-AMG in third.[15]
The third and final practice session took place at 8:55 am CT Saturday and ended with Dane Cameron topping the charts for Acura Team Penske, with a lap time of 1:49.590. Hélio Castroneves was second fastest in the sister No. 7 Acura followed by Oliver Jarvis in the No. 77 Mazda Team Joest entry in third.[20] Colin Braun in the No. 54 CORE Autosport Nissan was fourth fastest and Jonathan Bomarito's No. 55 Mazda rounded out the top five.[21]Matt McMurry set the fastest in LMP2.[22] The GTLM class was topped by the No. 912 Porsche GT TeamPorsche 911 RSR of Laurens Vanthoor with a time of 2:01.644. Jesse Krohn was second fastest in the No. 24 BMW followed by Tom Blomqvist in the sister No. 25 BMW in third.[22] Ryan Briscoe in the No. 67 Ford GT was fourth fastest and Dirk Müller's No. 66 Ford GT rounded out the top five.[21] The GTD class was topped by the No. 33 Mercedes-AMG Team Riley MotorsportsMercedes-AMG GT3 of Ben Keating with a time of 2:05.485. Paul Holton was second fastest in the No. 76 McLaren followed by Robby Foley in the No. 96 BMW in third.[21]
Saturday's early afternoon qualification session was broken into three sessions that were scheduled for 15 minutes each.[9] The first was for cars in the GTD class. Ben Keating qualified on pole for the class driving the No. 33 car for Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsports, beating Corey Lewis in the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini by more than four-tenths of a second.[25] Following in third was Matt Plumb's No. 76 McLaren with the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche Zacharie Robichon in fourth.[26]Trent Hindman's No. 86 Acura completed the top five followed by Robby Foley in the No. 96 BMW in sixth.[27] The session ended prematurely due to lightning being near the area.[25]
The second session was for cars in the GTLM class. Tom Blomqvist set the fastest time driving the No. 25 car for BMW Team RLL.[26] However, both BMW Team RLL entries were sent to the back of the GTLM field after both cars failed the post-qualifying technical inspection where it was discovered that the BMWs were found to not have complied with mandated ride height.[28] As a result, Oliver Gavin's No. 4 Corvette was promoted to pole position followed by Richard Westbrook's No. 67 Ford GT in second, and Dirk Müller in the sister No. 66 Ford GT in third position.[29][30]
The final session of qualifying was for cars in the LMP2 and DPi classes. Dane Cameron qualified on pole overall driving the No. 6 car for Acura Team Penske, beating teammate Hélio Castroneves in sister No. 7 Acura by 0.016 seconds.[25] The two Mazdas were third and fourth (the No. 77 car driven by Jarvis in front of the No. 55 vehicle of Bomarito).[10]Simon Trummer took fifth place in the No. 84 Cadillac.[10] In LMP2, The Performance Tech Motorsports Oreca of James French set the fastest time in the session. McMurry stopped on track with 8 minutes remaining after spinning at turn three and getting stuck in the gravel trap. McMurry was able to restart, but lost his two fastest laps for causing a red flag.[10][27] Both entries changed their starting driver. As a result, the PR1/ Mathiasen Motorsports car would start the race from pole position.[31]
Qualifying results
Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by ‡.
1 The No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac entry was moved to the back of the DPi field after the team elected to change tires after qualifying.
2 The No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports entry was moved to the back of the LMP2 field for starting the race with a different driver than who qualified.
3 The No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports entry had its two fastest laps deleted as penalty for causing a red flag during its qualifying session. Additionally, the team started the race with a different driver than who qualified.
4 The No. 25 BMW Team RLL entry initially qualified on pole position for the GTLM class. However, the car was moved to the rear of the GTLM classification for violating competition rules regarding the car's ride height.[25] Additionally, the team elected to change tires after qualifying.
5 The No. 24 BMW Team RLL entry initially qualified third position for the GTLM class. However, the car was moved to the rear of the GTLM classification for violating competition rules regarding the car's ride height.[25] Additionally, the team elected to change tires after qualifying.
Race
Post-race
With a total of 239 points, Cameron and Montoya's second place finish allowed them to extend their advantage to 7 points over Derani and Nasr in the DPi Drivers' Championship. Bomarito advanced from seventh to third.[34] With 200 points, McMurry's victory increased his advantage to 5 points over Cassels.[34] The final results of GTLM meant Bamber and Vanthoor increased their points lead to 14 points over Tandy and Pilet. Briscoe and Westbrook jumped to third after being fourth coming into Road America.[34] The final results of GTD kept Farnbacher and Hindman atop the Drivers' Championship while Robichon advanced from seventh to third.[34] Acura and Porsche continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Acura Team Penske, PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, Porsche GT Team, and Meyer Shank Racing kept their respective advantages in their Teams' Championships with three rounds left in the season.[34]
