International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was part of the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2023.[1] It will be the eleventh consecutive year the IMSA SCC hosts a race at Road Atlanta. The 2024 Petit Le Mans will be the final of eleven scheduled sports car races of 2024 by IMSA.[2] The race will be held at the twelve-turn 2.540 mi (4.088 km) Road Atlanta on October 12, 2024.[2]
Balance of performance
Ahead of the event, IMSA published a bulletin regarding the latest balance of performance (BoP) changes in the GTP, GTD Pro, and GTD classes.[3] In the GTP class, the Porsche will receive a 1-kilogram increase in weight, with a 3 kilowatts power decrease. The Battle on the Bricks-winning BMW will see a weight increase of 5 kilograms, with a 3 kilowatts increase in power. The car weights for the Acura, Cadillac, and Lamborghini will remain the same. However, the Acura will see a 2-kilowatts power reduction, the Cadillac will see a 1-kilowatt power reduction, with the Lamborghini gaining one additional kilowatt of power.[3] In the GT classes, the McLaren will see a weight break of 10 kilograms, whilst the Acura will see a power increase of 11.3 horsepower.[3] All other GT cars will run with the same BoP as during the previous event at Indianapolis.
There were three practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, one on Thursday morning, one on Thursday afternoon, and one on Thursday evening. The first session on Thursday morning lasted 90 minutes while the second session on Thursday afternoon lasted 75 minutes, and the final session on Thursday evening lasted 90 minutes.[9]
In the first session, Sébastien Bourdais set the fastest lap in the No. 01 CGR Cadillac at 1 minute, 11.013 seconds, 0.476 seconds quicker than Aitken's No. 31 WCR car. Mathieu Jaminet put the No. 6 Penske Porsche in third overall. BMW were fourth after a lap by Eng, and Nasr's No. 7 Penske Porsche was fifth.[10] Felipe Fraga led LMP2 in Riley's No. 74 car with a 1:12.823 lap, 0.249 seconds ahead of Hanley's No. 2 United Autosports Oreca.[10][11]Jordan Pepper led GTD Pro in Iron Lynx's No. 19 car, followed by Gunn's No. 23 Heart Aston Martin.[11] Molina's No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari paced GTD, followed by Spinelli's No. 78 Forte car.[10]
In the second session, Jordan Taylor's No. 40 WTR Acura lapped quickest at 1:11.081, ahead of the No. 31 Cadillac of Aitken and Tandy's No. 6 Penske car. Albuquerque was fourth in the No. 10 WTR Acura and Eng in the No. 24 BMW was fifth.[12] Jensen led LMP2 with a 1:13:373 lap in TDS Racing's No. 11 Oreca, 0.001 seconds ahead of Zilisch's Era Motorsport car.[12][13] Serra's 1:18.722 lap led the GTD Pro class in Risi's No. 62 Ferrari, 0.015 seconds faster than Hawksworth's No. 14 VasserSullivan Lexus; Gunn's No. 23 Heart Aston Martin was third. Parker Thompson's No. 12 VasserSullivan Lexus recorded the fastest time amongst all GTD cars, followed by Philip Ellis' No. 57 Winward car.[12]
Van der Zande led the final session in the No. 01 CGR car with a lap of 1 minute, 11.626 seconds. Caldarelli's No. 63 Lamborghini was second-fastest. Nasr was third in the No. 7 Penske Porsche and Farfus in the No. 24 BMW was fourth.[14] Hanley in LMP2 led for United Autosports with a 1-minute, 13.178 lap, from Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports' Tom Dillmann and Mikkel Jensen's No. 11 TDS Racing car.[14][15] Heinrich led GTD Pro in AO Racing's No. 77 car with a 1:19.273 lap, 0.044 seconds faster than Snow's No. 1 Paul Miller BMW.[16] Foley's No. 96 Turner car paced GTD, followed by Bachler's No. 86 MDK Porsche.[15]
Qualifying
Friday's afternoon qualifying session was broken into three sessions, with one session for the GTP, LMP2, GTD Pro and GTD classes, which lasted 15 minutes each.[9] 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.[17]
Qualifying results
Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and with ‡.
1 The No. 62 Risi Ferrari had its two fastest laps deleted as penalty for causing a red flag during its qualifying session.
2 The No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus had its two fastest laps deleted as penalty for causing a red flag during its qualifying session.
Race
Post-race
Cameron and Nasr took the GTP Drivers' Championship with 2982 points. They were 113 points clear of Jaminet and Tandy.[20] With 2227 points, Boulle and Dillmann won the LMP2 Drivers' Championship, 61 points ahead of Fraga and Robinson.[20] Heinrich took the GTD Pro Drivers' Championship with 3122 points. He was 4 points clear of Gunn in second position. García and Sims were third with 2934 points.[20] Ellis and Ward won the GTD Drivers' Championship with 3266 points, 230 points ahead of Foley and Gallagher. Grenier was third with 2661 points. Porsche and Mercedes-AMG won their respective Manufactures' Championships, while Porsche Penske Motorsport, Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, AO Racing, and Winward Racing won their respective Teams' Championships.[20]
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