Laguna Seca Friday Notebook

Photo: Jonathan Grace

***Friday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship running at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca saw several incidents, most notably a crash for the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 of Colin Braun, which moved the Turn 9 barrier but didn’t result in any apparent suspension damage to the ORECA-chassied GTP car. Co-driver Tom Blomqvist took the car back on track following the red flag with fresh front bodywork.

***The No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R, which set the fourth quickest time in the hands of Ricky Taylor, meanwhile, spent the majority of the session in the garage with suspected brake issues. Co-driver Filipe Albuquerque did turn several laps at the end of the session.

***Action Express Racing has switched chassis for this weekend, from chassis 19, which had been used since the start of the season, to chassis 11.

***Director of operations Chris Mitchum explains: “We have three primary chassis that we utilize in the program. Chassis 19 is our spare car for this event, which means that it’s upstairs in the hauler and could be fitted out in about three hours if we needed it. We decided to go with chassis 11 this weekend because we hadn’t had a chance to run that car until we tested at Laguna Seca last month. That just basically increases our depth of the fleet.”

***Both WTR Cadillacs are the same chassis that ran the most recent Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach event.

***Porsche, BMW, Cadillac and Aston Martin have split their resources this weekend amid the clashing FIA World Endurance Championship round in Spa-Francorchamps. Porsche Penske Motorsport managing director Jonathan Diuguid, who calls strategy on the team’s No. 6 WeatherTech Championship entry, is at Laguna Seca, while Porsche LMDh factory director Urs Kuratle is in Spa, as is BMW M Motorsport director Andreas Roos.

***Cadillac Racing program manager Keely Bosn and propulsion manager Sean O’Shea are at Laguna Seca, with GM Motorsports competition executive director Eric Warren and Cadillac Racing sports car operations lead Kalvin Parker both in Belgium. Heart of Racing team principal Ian James, who is racing in the WEC LMGT3 ranks, is in Spa.

***Porsche has enjoyed incredible success at Laguna Seca in recent years, with a Porsche winning in at least one class over the last five consecutive years.

***The factory Porsche 911 RSR won in GTLM in 2020 and then among GT3-spec Porsches entered by customer teams, Pfaff Motorsports won GTD in 2021 and GTD Pro in 2022; Wright Motorsports added a GTD win in 2022; Kellymoss with Riley won GTD in 2023 and AO Racing scored the GTD Pro win in 2024. Porsche Penske Motorsport added a 2024 overall win with the Porsche 963.

***The lone full-season WeatherTech Championship Porsche 963 customer, JDC-Miller Motorsports, has has its car based at Porsche Motorsport North America since last month’s Long Beach race, in what’s been IMSA’s traditional west coast swing.

***A total of 56 Mustang race cars are in action across all disciplines this weekend, with 31 of them in sports car competition, including cars in WeatherTech Championship, Michelin Pilot Challenge and Mustang Challenge at Laguna Seca, as well as the WEC and NLS competition.

***Ford Performance Junior Driver Erik Evans, who is fresh off victory in last month’s GT4 European Series powered by RAFA Racing Club season-opener at Paul Ricard, is on-site this weekend. The American teamed with fellow Ford Junior Marco Signoretti in Academy Motorsport’s Ford Mustang GT4 to take top class honors in Race 1 last month.

***AWA shook down its brand-new Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R chassis for the 24 Hours of Le Mans two weeks ago at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park according to the team’s competition director Jeff Braun, who confirmed it is Corvette chassis No. 22, which was built on driver Orey Fidani’s birthday of Nov. 22.

***The car was then air-freighted to the UK to be fitted with WEC-specific components ahead of next month’s French endurance classic.

***Fidani, Matt Bell and Lars Kern are scheduled to test with AWA’s engineering group in a TF Sport-owned Corvette at Motorland Aragon next week, which will mark the drivers’ first running on Goodyear’s LMGT3-spec tires.

***TF Sport is providing logistical support for the Canadian squad’s first trek to Le Mans, courtesy of Fidani’s automatic invite for winning last year’s IMSA Bob Akin Bronze Cup championship. Nick Boulle, who won the Jim Trueman Award in LMP2, has placed his entry with Inter Europol Competition.

***Sportscar365 understands that AWA, one of the first Canadian teams to contest Le Mans in recent memory, will be sporting a special livery for Le Mans.

***Fellow WeatherTech Championship teams Porsche Penske, WTR and Action Express are also using separate chassis for its Le Mans endeavors, given the tight turnaround between Detroit and Le Mans, and Watkins Glen on the backside, that would make even air-freighting cars to meet the required deadlines next to impossible.

***Nearly a dozen drivers are braced for a non-stop month of June, competing in five sports car racing events over a five-week period, kicking off with the Detroit Grand Prix in late May, followed by the Le Mans test day and 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen and CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.

***Currently Dries Vanthoor, Sheldon van der Linde, Marco Wittmann, Matt Campbell, Mathieu Jaminet, Colin Braun, Max Hesse, Dan Harper, Laurin Heinrich, Klaus Bachler are all set to undertake the hectic schedule, along with at least one additional driver that has yet to announce his Spa plans.

***A different group of drivers, meanwhile, are slated to contest all three 24-hour races in June, when factoring in the Nürburgring 24, which falls on the IMSA Watkins Glen weekend this year.

***Robert Wickens acquired his “A” permit in the NLS round two weeks ago that has officially confirmed his participation in next month’s Nürburgring 24 at the wheel of a Hyundai Elantra N TCR car. The Canadian will take part in the N24 Qualifiers at the end of the month, where his co-drivers for the twice-around-the-clock endurance classic will be confirmed.

***Bryan Herta Autosport drivers Mason Filippi, Bryson Morris, Mark Wilkins and Harry Gottsacker are the defending class winners although will be unavailable this year due to the Michelin Pilot Challenge round at Watkins Glen clashing with the event.

***Sportscar365 understands that Magnus Racing, which paused its GTD class program following January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona due to increased business commitments for team owner/driver John Potter, is set to return for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen and other selected races later this season.

***The tenders for the chassis and powertrain providers for the next generation LMP2 regulations, which is set to debut in 2028, both closed this week. Sportscar365 understands that Lola, now under the ownership of Till Bechtolsheimer, has placed a bid to become one of the two chassis providers, along with Dallara, ORECA and Ligier. Italian open-wheel constructor Tatuus is believed to have at least considered lodging a proposal as well.

***The announcement of the selected companies will be made next month at Le Mans. LMP2 is expected to remain part of the WeatherTech Championship, alongside the already confirmed European and Asian Le Mans Series, and at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

***Coverage of the Monterey SportsCar Championship will be broadcast live on NBC, beginning Sunday at 3 p.m. EST. IMSA Radio, which will be on the international YouTube stream, includes the team of John Hindhaugh, Ryan Myrehn and debuting pit lane reporter Arjuna Kankipati this weekend.