2016 Chevrolet Sports Car Classic

The 2016 Chevrolet Sports Car Classic was a sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The race was held at the Raceway on Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan on June 4, 2016. The race was the fifth round of the 2016 IMSA SportsCar Championship.

The layout of The Raceway on Belle Isle

Background

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Preview

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The Raceway on Belle Isle, where the race was held.

Similar to the Grand Prix of Long Beach, this event was held in conjunction with the Detroit Grand Prix in the IndyCar series, with one event held on the same day as the IMSA event, and another held a day after as a double-header.[citation needed]

International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2016 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2015.[1] It was the third consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the seventh annual running of the race, counting the period between 2007 and 2013 when it was a round of the Rolex Sports Car Series and the American Le Mans Series respectively.[2] The 2016 Chevrolet Sports Car Classic was the fifth of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2016 by IMSA, the shortest in terms of time, and was the third round not held on the held as part of the North American Endurance Cup.[1] The race was held at the fourteen-turn 2.350 mi (3.782 km) Belle Isle Park on June 4, 2016.[1]

IMSA altered the balance of performance to try to create parity within the Prototype category. The Lola B12/80 had its weight increased by 15 kg (33 lb).[3]

Before the race, Eric Curran and Dane Cameron led the Prototype Drivers' Championship with 121 points, ahead of João Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi with 118 points, and Marc Goossens in third with 117 points.[4] With 128 points, PC was led by Misha Goikhberg and Stephen Simpson on countback over Robert Alon and Tom Kimber-Smith.[4] In GTD, the Drivers' Championship was led by Alessandro Balzan and Christina Nielsen with 95 points; the duo held a six-point advantage over Mario Farnbacher and Alex Riberas.[4] Honda and Porsche were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Action Express Racing, JDC-Miller MotorSports, and Scuderia Corsa each led their own Teams' Championships.[4]

Entry list

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Twenty-seven cars were officially entered for the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic, with most of the entries being in the Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) category. Action Express Racing (AER) fielded two Chevrolet Corvette DP cars while VisitFlorida Racing (VFR) and WTR fielded one. Mazda Motorsports had two Lola B12/80 cars and Michael Shank Racing (MSR) entered one Ligier JS P2.[5] Panoz skipped the event. The Prototype Challenge (PC) class was composed of seven Oreca FLM09 cars: two from Starworks Motorsports. BAR1 Motorsports, CORE Autosport, JDC-Miller MotorSports, Performance Tech and PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports entered one car each.[5] In the list of GTD entrants, twelve GT3-specification vehicles were represented by six different manufacturers.[5] Lone Star Racing and TRG skipped the event. With the absence of the Grand Touring Le Mans (GTLM) class from the field, only three racing classes were represented in Belle Isle.[2]

Practice

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There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, two on Friday. The first ninety-minute session was on Friday morning. The second on Friday afternoon lasted 90 minutes.[6]

In the first session, Barbosa set the fastest time in the No. 5 AER Corvette DP with a time of 1 minute, 24.239 seconds, 0.732 seconds faster than Cameron's No. 5 car. Jordan Taylor was third fastest in the No. 10 WTR vehicle, Oswaldo Negri Jr.'s No. 60 MSR Ligier placed fourth, and Ryan Dalziel's No. 90 Corvette DP rounded out the top five.[7] The fastest PC class car was Renger van der Zande in the No. 8 Starworks entry with 1 minute, 27.030 seconds, followed by Colin Braun in the No. 54 CORE Autosport car.[7] Porsche paced GTD with PPM's 911 of Bergmeister lapping at 1:31.253, followed by Jeroen Bleekemolen's No. 33 Viper.[8]

Cameron led the final session in AER's No. 31 car with a lap of 1 minute, 23.860 seconds. Fittipaldi's No.5 Corvette DP was second fastest. Goossens in the No. 90 VFR vehicle was third fastest.[9] CORE Autosport topped PC after a lap by Braun.[9] Mowlem caused a stoppage early when his BAR1 car suffered a suspension failure and stopped on the track.[9] Bergmeister was fastest again GTD.[10]

Qualifying

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Friday afternoon's 60-minute three-group qualifying session gave 15-minute sessions to all categories. Cars in GTD were sent out first before those grouped in PC, and Prototype had two separate identically timed sessions. Regulations stipulated teams to nominate one qualifying driver, with the fastest laps determining each classes starting order. IMSA would arranged the grid to put all Prototypes ahead of the PC, and GTD cars.[11][6]

Qualifying results

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Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by ‡.

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap Grid
1 P 5   Action Express Racing   Christian Fittipaldi 1:23.815 1‡
2 P 90   VisitFlorida Racing   Marc Goossens 1:23.863 +0.048 2
3 P 10   Wayne Taylor Racing   Ricky Taylor 1:24.253 +0.438 3
4 P 31   Action Express Racing   Eric Curran 1:24.337 +1.380 4
5 P 60   Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian   Katherine Legge 1:25.195 +1.550 5
6 P 55   Mazda Motorsports   Tristan Nunez 1:25.365 +1.934 6
7 P 70   Mazda Motorsports   Tom Long 1:25.749 +3.756 7
8 PC 52   PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports   Robert Alon 1:27.571 +3.756 8‡
9 PC 38   Performance Tech Motorsports   James French 1:27.851 +4.036 9
10 PC 8   Starworks Motorsport   Alex Popow 1:27.878 +4.063 10
11 PC 85   JDC-Miller MotorSports   Misha Goikhberg 1:28.005 +4.190 271
12 PC 54   CORE Autosport   Jon Bennett 1:28.903 +5.088 11
13 GTD 48   Paul Miller Racing   Bryan Sellers 1:31.340 +7.525 14‡
14 GTD 73   Park Place Motorsports   Patrick Lindsey 1:31.637 +7.536 15
15 GTD 6   Stevenson Motorsports   Robin Liddell 1:31.637 +7.822 16
16 GTD 16   Change Racing   Spencer Pumpelly 1:31.917 +8.102 17
17 GTD 9   Stevenson Motorsports   Matt Bell 1:32.017 +8.202 18
18 GTD 33   Riley Motorsports   Ben Keating 1:32.073 +8.258 19
19 GTD 27   Dream Racing   Cédric Sbirrazzuoli 1:32.106 +8.291 252
20 GTD 63   Scuderia Corsa   Christina Nielsen 1:32.275 +8.460 20
21 GTD 22   Alex Job Racing   Cooper MacNeil 1:32.673 +8.858 21
22 GTD 97   Turner Motorsport   Michael Marsa 1:33.073 +9.258 22
23 GTD 23   Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing   Mario Farnbacher 1:33.200 +9.385 23
24 GTD 96   Turner Motorsport   Bret Curtis 1:33.266 +9.451 24
25 GTD 44   Magnus Racing   John Potter 1:34.020 +10.205 263
26 PC 20   BAR1 Motorsports   Tomy Drissi 1:34.081 +10.266 12
27 PC 88   Starworks Motorsport   Mark Kvamme 1:35.857 +12.042 133
Sources:[12][13]
  • 1 The No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports was sent to the rear of the PC grid for not starting on the grid.
  • 2 The No. 27 Dream Racing Lamborghini was sent to the rear of the GTD grid as per 43.1 of the Sporting regulations (Starting driver change).[11]
  • 3 The No. 44 Magnus Racing, and No. 88 Starworks Motorsport entries were sent to the rear of their respective class fields as per 40.1.5 of the Sporting regulations (Tire change).[11]

Race

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Post-race

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With a total of 151 points, Ricky Taylor and Jordan Taylor's victory allowed them to take the lead of the Prototype Drivers' Championship. Bomarito and Nunez advanced from sixth to fifth.[14] Popow and van der Zande's victory allowed them to take the lead of the Prototype Challenge Drivers' Championship with 162 points.[14] The final results of GTD meant Balzan and Nielsen extended their advantage in the GTD Drivers' Championship to eight points over Farnbacher and Riberas. Bleekemolen and Keating jumped from seventh to fourth.[14] Porsche continued to top the GTD Manufactures' Championship while Chevrolet took the lead of the Prototype Manufactures' Championship. Scuderia Corsa continued to the GTD Teams' Championship while Wayne Taylor Racing and Starworks Motorsport became the leaders of their respective Teams' Championships with seven rounds left in the season.[14]

Race Results

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Class winners are denoted in bold and ‡. P stands for Prototype, PC (Prototype Challenge), and GTD (Grand Touring Daytona).

Final race classification
Pos Class No. Team Drivers Chassis Tire Laps Time/Retired
Engine
1 P 10   Wayne Taylor Racing   Jordan Taylor
  Ricky Taylor
Corvette Daytona Prototype C 57 01:40:11.998‡
Chevrolet 5.5 L V8
2 P 5   Action Express Racing   João Barbosa

  Christian Fittipaldi

Corvette Daytona Prototype C 57 +1.740
Chevrolet 5.5 L V8
3 PC 8   Starworks Motorsport   Alex Popow
  Renger van der Zande
Oreca FLM09 C 57 +33.643‡
Chevrolet 6.2 L V8
4 PC 54   CORE Autosport   Jon Bennett
  Colin Braun
Oreca FLM09 C 57 +37.117
Chevrolet 6.2 L V8
5 PC 52   PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports   Robert Alon
  Tom Kimber-Smith
Oreca FLM09 C 57 +48.082
Chevrolet 6.2 L V8
6 PC 38   Performance Tech Motorsports   James French
  Kyle Marcelli
Oreca FLM09 C 57 +51.278
Chevrolet 6.2 L V8
7 P 55   Mazda Motorsports   Jonathan Bomarito
  Tristan Nunez
Mazda Prototype C 57 +1:00.977
Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0 L I4 Turbo
8 PC 20   BAR1 Motorsports   Tomy Drissi
  Johnny Mowlem
Oreca FLM09 C 57 +1:01.468
Chevrolet 6.2 L V8
9 P 70   Mazda Motorsports   Tom Long
  Joel Miller
Mazda Prototype C 56 +1 Lap
Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0 L I4 Turbo
10 GTD 33   Riley Motorsports   Jeroen Bleekemolen
  Ben Keating
Dodge Viper GT3-R C 56 +1 Lap‡
Dodge 8.3L V10
11 GTD 73   Park Place Motorsports   Jörg Bergmeister
  Patrick Lindsey
Porsche 911 GT3 R C 56 +1 Lap
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
12 GTD 63   Scuderia Corsa   Christina Nielsen
  Alessandro Balzan
Ferrari 488 GT3 C 56 +1 Lap
Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8
13 GTD 23   Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing   Mario Farnbacher
  Alex Riberas
Porsche 911 GT3 R C 56 +1 Lap
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
14 GTD 6   Stevenson Motorsports   Andrew Davis
  Robin Liddell
Audi R8 LMS C 56 +1 Lap
Audi 5.2L V10
15 GTD 16   Change Racing   Corey Lewis
  Spencer Pumpelly
Lamborghini Huracán GT3 C 56 +1 Lap
Lamborghini 5.2 L V10
16 GTD 22   Alex Job Racing   Cooper MacNeil
  Leh Keen
Porsche 911 GT3 R C 56 +1 Lap
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
17 GTD 48   Paul Miller Racing   Bryan Sellers
  Madison Snow
Lamborghini Huracán GT3 C 56 +1 Lap
Lamborghini 5.2 L V10
18 GTD 96   Turner Motorsport   Bret Curtis
  Jens Klingmann
BMW M6 GT3 C 56 +1 Lap
BMW 4.4L Turbo V8
19 GTD 44   Magnus Racing   John Potter
  Andy Lally
Audi R8 LMS C 56 +1 Lap
Audi 5.2L V10
20 GTD 97   Turner Motorsport   Michael Marsal
  Markus Palttala
BMW M6 GT3 C 56 +1 Lap
BMW 4.4L Turbo V8
21 GTD 27   Dream Racing   Cédric Sbirrazzuoli
  Lawrence DeGeorge
Lamborghini Huracán GT3 C 56 +1 Lap
Lamborghini 5.2 L V10
22 P 60   Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian   Oswaldo Negri Jr.
  Katherine Legge
Ligier JS P2 C 54 +3 Laps
Honda HR35TT 3.5 Turbo V6
23 P 31   Action Express Racing   Eric Curran
  Dane Cameron
Corvette Daytona Prototype C 40 +17 Laps
Chevrolet 5.5 L V8
24

DNF

PC 88   Starworks Motorsport   Mark Kvamme
  Ashley Freiberg
Oreca FLM09 C 29 Crash
Chevrolet 6.2 L V8
25 GTD 9   Stevenson Motorsports   Lawson Aschenbach
  Matt Bell
Audi R8 LMS C 25 +32 Laps
Audi 5.2L V10
26

DNF

PC 85   JDC-Miller MotorSports   Misha Goikhberg
  Stephen Simpson
Oreca FLM09 C 18 Withdrew
Chevrolet 6.2 L V8
27

DNF

P 90   VisitFlorida Racing   Marc Goossens
  Ryan Dalziel
Corvette Daytona Prototype C 9 Crash
Chevrolet 5.5 L V8
Sources:[15][16]
Tyre manufacturer
Key
Symbol Tyre manufacturer
C Continental

Championship standings after the race

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  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

References

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  1. ^ a b c Pruett, Marshall (August 8, 2015). "IMSA: 2016 schedule revealed". Racer. Archived from the original on January 1, 2020. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  2. ^ a b "IMSA announces new title sponsor, 2016 schedule". motorsport.com. August 9, 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  3. ^ Dagys, John (18 May 2016). "Mazda Gets Weight Increase for Detroit". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d "2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – Championship Point Standings" (PDF). International Motor Sports Association. October 12, 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 26, 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  5. ^ a b c "29 Entries for Detroit". sportscar365.com. 25 May 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Continental Tire Keys to the Race: Detroit". sportscar365.com. 2 June 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  7. ^ a b Dagys, John (3 June 2016). "Barbosa Quickest in Practice 1 at Detroit". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  8. ^ Pruett, Marshall (3 June 2016). "IMSA: Action Express Corvette DPs lead Detroit FP1". Racer. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  9. ^ a b c Dagys, John (3 June 2016). "Cameron Leads AXR 1-2 in Practice 2 in Detroit". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  10. ^ Pruett, Marshall (3 June 2016). "IMSA: Action Express maintains 1-2 in Detroit FP2". Racer. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  11. ^ a b c "2016 IMSA Sporting Regulations & Series Supplementary Regulations of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship" (PDF). International Motor Sports Association. May 25, 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 5, 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  12. ^ "03_Results.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. 3 June 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  13. ^ "01_Starting Grid.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. 4 June 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – Championship Point Standings" (PDF). International Motor Sports Association. October 12, 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 26, 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
  15. ^ "03_Results.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. 4 June 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  16. ^ "2016 CHEVROLET SPORTS CAR CLASSIC". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 24 May 2024.


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IMSA SportsCar Championship
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