The 2022 Weathertech IMSA SportsCar Championship came to a close today at the 25th running of the Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Road Atlanta. The main story of the day was the final DPi class championship on the line between the #60 Meyer Shank Acura and #10 Konica Minolta Acura. The #10 crew came into the weekend ahead, but it was a winner take all scenario for the top class championship.
At the end of the day 10 hours of racing came down to a thrilling 30 minutes after the #01 and #02 Cadillacs made contact and brought out a yellow to compress the field for the final half hour. On equal tires and fuel the Acura cars did what they do best and raced their hearts out.
Tom Blomqvist had the last stint in the #60 with Filipe Albuquerque behind the wheel of the #10 to finish out the season. Both cars pitted, and the fight was on. Blomqvist got a leg up out of the pits and took the lead. Blomqvist held the lead for the rest of the race, but the pressure was on from season long foe Albuquerque
As the DPi cars weaved through traffic for the last time, Albuquerque made his move, but backed off. As both cars danced through the essses the #57 Winward Mercades imparted its way into history with light contact on the #10s back left quarter panel, the damage was dealt and the fate of the #10 car was sealed. A monster drive by Albuquerque, Brendon Hartley and Ricky Taylor was made obsolete in the last 15 minutes of a 10-hour race.
Albuquerque slowed and retired to the pits with suspension issues and their day was done. The #60 team, Tom Blomqvist, Oliver Jarvis and Helio Castroneves, won their first top class championship and the last DPi class championship before the class is retired.
LMP2 was taken by Louis Deletraz, John Farano and Rui Andrade with Tower Motorsports. Farano won the drivers’ championship in LMP2 as well. Helped by a mid-race retirement from the #52 PR1 Mathiasen machine driven by Ben Keating, Tower Motorsports found themselves in late race combat with the #81 DragonSpeed USA car.
LMP3 was won by the #36 Andretti Autosport machine of Jerret Andretti, Gabby Chaves and Josh Burdon with their first win of the season. The championship was taken home by the #54 CORE Autosport team with Jon Bennet and Colin Braun.
GTD PRO was won as the green flag flew by the #9 Pfaff Motorsport BMW team. With help from Filipe Nasr, full season talent Matt Campbell and Mathieu Jaminet took the GTD Pro championship in dominate fashion. Jaminet and Campbell will move up to the BMW GTP program in 2023.
A drive time violation caused the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari to lose the GTD Pro class win on track and sent it over to the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus. Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat alongside endurance driver Kyle Kirkwood took the top step of the podium for the #14 car.
The GTD championship was won by Roman De Angelis in the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin. A wild GTD race was won by the #66 Gradient Racing Acura with Mario Farrenbacher, Till Bectolsheimer and Kyffin Simpson.
The 2022 IMSA season came to a thrilling close around Road Atlanta and with a level of drama only the DPi class knows how to dish out. IMSA returns at the 24 Hours of Daytona with the “Roar Before the 24” on January 22.
| Cla | Class | Driver | Chassis | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DPi | Oliver Jarvis Tom Blomqvist Helio Castroneves | Acura DPi | |
| 2 | DPi | Olivier Pla Pipo Derani Mike Conway | Cadillac DPi | 4.369 |
| 3 | DPi | Mike Rockenfeller Kamui Kobayashi Jimmie Johnson | Cadillac DPi | 1 lap |
| 4 | DPi | Renger van der Zande Sébastien Bourdais Scott Dixon | Cadillac DPi | 4 laps |
| 5 | LMP2 | John Farano Louis Deletraz Rui Andrade | ORECA LMP2 07 | 5 laps |
| 6 | LMP2 | Henrik Hedman Juan Pablo Montoya Sebastian Montoya | ORECA LMP2 07 | 5 laps |
| 7 | LMP2 | Steven Thomas Josh Pierson Tristan Nunez | ORECA LMP2 07 | 5 laps |
| 8 | DPi | Earl Bamber Alex Lynn Ryan Hunter-Reay | Cadillac DPi | 5 laps |
| 9 | DPi | Ricky Taylor Filipe Albuquerque Brendon Hartley | Acura DPi | 9 laps |
| 10 | LMP2 | Dennis Andersen Anders Fjordbach Fabio Scherer | ORECA LMP2 07 | 9 laps |
| 11 | LMP3 | Jarett Andretti Gabby Chaves Josh Burdon | Ligier JS P320 | 22 laps |
| 12 | LMP3 | Ari Balogh Garett Grist Nolan Siegel | Ligier JS P320 | 22 laps |
| 13 | LMP3 | Joao Barbosa Malthe Jakobsen Nicolas Pino | Ligier JS P320 | 22 laps |
| 14 | LMP3 | Gar Robinson Felipe Fraga Kay van Berlo | Ligier JS P320 | 23 laps |
| 15 | LMP3 | Jon Bennett Colin Braun George Kurtz | Ligier JS P320 | 24 laps |
| 16 | LMP3 | Anthony Mantella Kyle Marcelli Josh Sarchet | Duqueine D08 | 26 laps |
| 17 | LMP3 | Orey Fidani Matthew Bell Lars Kern | Duqueine D08 | 28 laps |
| 18 | GTD | Kyffin Simpson Till Bechtolsheimer Mario Farnbacher | Acura NSX GT3 | 36 laps |
| 19 | GTD | Brendan Iribe Jordan Lee Pepper Sebastian Priaulx | McLaren 720S GT3 | 36 laps |
| 20 | GTD | Robby Foley Bill Auberlen Michael Dinan | BMW M4 GT3 | 37 laps |
| 21 | GTD | Ryan Hardwick Zacharie Robichon Jan Heylen | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 37 laps |
| 22 | GTD | Bryan Sellers Madison Snow Erik Johansson | BMW M4 GT3 | 37 laps |
| 23 | GTD PRO | Daniel Serra Davide Rigon James Calado | Ferrari 488 GT3 | 37 laps |
| 24 | GTD PRO | Jack Hawksworth Ben Barnicoat Kyle Kirkwood | Lexus RC F GT3 | 37 laps |
| 25 | GTD PRO | Connor de Phillippi John Edwards Jesse Krohn | BMW M4 GT3 | 37 laps |
| 26 | GTD PRO | Matt Campbell Mathieu Jaminet Felipe Nasr | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 37 laps |
| 27 | GTD PRO | Ross Gunn Alex Riberas Tom Gamble | Aston Martin Vantage GT3 | 37 laps |
| 28 | GTD PRO | Antonio Garcia Jordan Taylor Nick Catsburg | Corvette C8.R GTD | 37 laps |
| 29 | GTD | Mike Skeen Stevan McAleer Dirk Muller | Mercedes AMG GT3 | 38 laps |
| 30 | GTD | Roman De Angelis Maxime Martin Ian James | Aston Martin Vantage GT3 | 38 laps |
| 31 | GTD | Simon Mann Luis Perez Companc Toni Vilander | Ferrari 488 GT3 | 38 laps |
| 32 | GTD PRO | Maximilian Buhk Mikael Grenier Maximillian Goetz | Mercedes AMG GT3 | 38 laps |
| 33 | GTD | Jaden Conwright Marco Holzer Don Yount | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 | 38 laps |
| 34 | GTD | Roberto Lacorte Giorgio Sernagiotto Ulysse De | Ferrari 488 GT3 | 39 laps |
| 35 | GTD | Russell Ward Philip Ellis Marvin Dienst | Mercedes AMG GT3 | 40 laps |
| 36 | LMP3 | Daniel Goldburg Cameron Shields Tyler Maxson | Ligier JS P320 | 68 laps |
| 37 | GTD | Rob Ferriol Katherine Legge Nicholas Boulle | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 159 laps |
| 38 | LMP2 | Dwight Merriman Ryan Dalziel Christian Rasmussen | ORECA LMP2 07 | 174 laps |
| 39 | DPi | Tristan Vautier Richard Westbrook Loic Duval | Cadillac DPi | 253 laps |
| 40 | GTD | Frankie Montecalvo Aaron Telitz Richard Heistand | Lexus RC F GT3 | 265 laps |
| 41 | LMP2 | Ben Keating Mikkel Jensen Scott Huffaker | ORECA LMP2 07 | 321 laps |
| 42 | GTD | John Potter Andy Lally Spencer Pumpelly | Aston Martin Vantage GT3 | 361 laps |
| 43 | GTD | Robert Megennis Corey Lewis Jeff Westphal | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 | 401 laps |
