2020 IMSA SportsCar Weekend

The 2020 IMSA SportsCar Weekend was a sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The race was held at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, on August 2, 2020. This race was the fourth round of the 2020 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the third round of the 2020 WeatherTech Sprint Cup.

After a 21-minute weather-induced red flag sandwiched between 22 minutes of full-course caution, the race was won by the #7 team of Hélio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor, while the LMP2 class victory was taken by the DragonSpeed entry of Henrik Hedman and Ben Hanley. The GTLM class was won by Antonio García and Jordan Taylor of Corvette Racing, the team's third consecutive victory. AIM Vasser Sullivan also claimed their third consecutive victory, as Frankie Montecalvo and Townsend Bell scored their first class victory of the season.

Background

Then International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2020 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2019. It was the seventh consecutive year it was part of the IMSA SCC. The race was held at the fourteen-turn Road America on August 2, 2020. The race was the third for the series after returning from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the first besides the Rolex 24 which was included on the series' initial pre-pandemic schedule. It was the third of seven races on the WeatherTech Sprint Cup calendar.

Fans were allowed to be present at the event, but the garage area was restricted to essential team personnel, when it's typically open to fans. The Mazda duo of Jonathan Bomarito and Harry Tincknell entered the race as defending champions.

On July 24, 2020, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin, highlighting the BoP for the race. In DPi, the Acura ARX-05 and Mazda RT24-P received weight reductions, while the Cadillac DPi-V.R and Mazda also received reductions in fuel capacity. The Acura also received a boost increase. In GTLM, the BMW M8 GTE received a slight weight decrease and a horsepower increase, while all cars received a fuel capacity increase. The BMW also received a slight boost increase. In GTD, all cars received a fuel capacity increase, and the Ferrari saw a boost decrease. The Audi and Lamborghini saw minor horsepower increases, while the Ferrari and Lexus received almost equivalent decreases. The restrictor diameter on the Lexus was also reduced, while it was increased on the Audi and Lamborghini.

Before the race, Ryan Briscoe and Renger van der Zande led the DPi Drivers' Championship with 92 points, ahead of Oliver Jarvis and Tristan Nunez with 92 points, and Sébastien Bourdais and João Barbosa with 90 points. With 35 points, Patrick Kelly and Spencer Pigot led the LMP2 Drivers' Championship with 35 points, ahead of Cameron Cassels and Kyle Masson with 32 points. Antonio García and Jordan Taylor led the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 95 points, ahead of Earl Bamber and Laurens Vanthoor with 94 points. In GTD, Jack Hawksworth led the GTD Drivers' Championship with 57 points, ahead of Aaron Telitz with 54 points. Cadillac, Chevrolet, and Lamborghini were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R, PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, Corvette Racing, and AIM Vasser Sullivan each led their own Teams' Championships.

Entries

A total of 31 cars took part in the event, split across four classes. 8 were entered in DPi, 4 in LMP2, 6 in GTLM, and 13 in GTD. In DPi, the only change from the previous event was the return of Chris Miller to the JDC-Miller Motorsports #85 after being replaced by Stephen Simpson at Sebring. Simon Trummer returned in the LMP2 class after being forced to miss the previous round due to travel restrictions. The #8 Tower Motorsport by Starworks car withdrew late in the buildup to the event. GTD saw the largest difference from the previous round, as Meyer Shank Racing returned with their two entries after skipping the Sebring round. Heart of Racing Team also returned for the first time since the season-opening race. GEAR Racing, who had previously announced their intentions to enter the event, were not on the final entry list.

Practice

There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Sunday, one on Friday and one on Saturday. The first session lasted one hour on Friday while the second session on Saturday lasted 75 minutes.

Practice 1

The first practice session took place at 4:35 pm CT on Friday and ended with Ricky Taylor topping the charts for Acura Team Penske, with a lap time of 1:50.654. Simon Trummer was fastest in LMP2 with a time of 1:53.381. The GTLM class was topped by the #911 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Nick Tandy with a time of 2:01.492. Laurens Vanthoor in the sister #912 Porsche GT Team entry was second and Jesse Krohn rounded out the top 3. The GTD class was topped by the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 of Bill Auberlen with a time of 2:06.822.

Practice 2

The second and final practice session took place at 8:55 am CT on Saturday and ended with Dane Cameron topping the charts for Acura Team Penske, with a lap time of 1:49.280. Simon Trummer was fastest in LMP2 with a time of 1:52.618. The GTLM class was topped by the #4 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R of Oliver Gavin with a time of 2:00.987. Frédéric Makowiecki in the ##911 Porsche GT Team was second and Jordan Taylor rounded out the top 3. The GTD class was topped by the #14 AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 of Aaron Telitz with a time of 2:05.691. The session was red flagged when Robby Foley suffered brake failure and crashed at turn 5.

Qualifying

Saturday's afternoon qualifying was broken into three sessions, with one session for the DPi and LMP2, GTLM, and GTD classes, which lasted for 15 minutes each, and a ten minute interval between the sessions. The rules dictated that all teams nominated a driver to qualify their cars, with the Pro-Am (LMP2/GTD) classes requiring a Bronze/Silver Rated Driver to qualify the car. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order. IMSA then arranged the grid to put DPis ahead of the LMP2, GTLM, and GTD cars.

The first was for cars in GTD class. Aaron Telitz qualified on pole for the class driving the #14 car for AIM Vasser Sullivan, besting Frankie Montecalvo in the sister #12 AIM Vasser Sullivan entry.

The second session of qualifying was for cars in the GTLM class. Laurens Vanthoor qualified on pole driving the #912 car for Porsche GT Team, beating Jordan Taylor in the #3 Corvette Racing entry by more than two tenths of a second.

The final session was for cars in the LMP2 and DPi classes. Ricky Taylor qualified on pole driving the #7 car for Acura Team Penske, beating Dane Cameron in the sister #6 Acura Team Penske entry by over three tenths of a second. Patrick Kelly set the fastest time in LMP2 driving the #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports car.

Qualifying results

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

* The No. 23 Heart of Racing Team entry was moved to the back of the GTD field as per Article 40.1.4 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).

Race

Post-race

The result kept Briscoe and van der Zande atop the DPi Drivers' Championship. Bourdais and Barbosa advanced from third to second while Jarvis and Nunez dropped from second to third. Derani moved to fourth after being fifth coming into Road America. In LMP2, Cassels took the lead of the Drivers' Championship while Hedman advanced from fifth to third. Pigot dropped from first to fifth. With a total of 130 points, Antonio García and Jordan Taylor's victory allowed them to extend their advantage over Bamber and Vanthoor in the GTLM Drivers' Championship to ten points. The result kept Hawksworth atop the GTD Drivers' Championship with 87 points. Bell and Montecalvo advanced from sixth to second while Farnbacher and McMurry jumped from eighth to fourth. Cadillac and Chevrolet continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships while Lexus took the lead of the GTD Manufactures' Championship. Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R, Corvette Racing, and AIM Vasser Sullivan kept their respective advantages in their respective of Teams' Championships while Performance Tech Motorsports took the lead of the LMP2 Teams' Championship with seven rounds remaining.

Results

Class winners are denoted in bold and .

Standings after the race

* 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

External links

{{Road Race Showcase at Road America

IMSA SportsCar Weekend
IMSA SportsCar Weekend
IMSA SportsCar Weekend
Road America 500