Action Express leads the way this year. [Photo by Jack Webster]
By Jack Webster & Eddie LePine
The 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season only has two rounds remaining, and the championship battles in all classes are still very close.
With only the race at the Circuit of the Americas and Petit Le Mans remaining, all of the teams and drivers will be working hard to score maximum points to secure their place in the championship.
In the Prototype class, it is Action Express and their drivers at the top, with Dane Cameron and Eric Curran now within one point of teammates Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi after taking their #31 car to the overall victory at Road America. The #5 car of Barbosa and Fittipaldi finished second to maintain their points lead, with the Taylor brothers in their Konica Minolta Corvette DP finished third at Elkhart and maintain third place in the driver’s championship.
In the manufacturers championship in the Prototype class, Chevrolet holds a decent lead over Honda and with only two races remaining you would have to say advantage Chevrolet.
It GTLM, Corvette Racing followed up their 101st win at Road America with their 102nd victory at VIR, once again besting the Ford GT. The driver point standings reflect the VIR race results with Gavin and Milner holding a 7-point lead over Ford drivers Westbrook and Briscoe.
In the GTLM manufacturers battle, Chevrolet leads Ford and Porsche, but this war will not be settled until the end of Petit Le Mans. It is anyone’s championship to win, or lose.
In GTD, Christina Nielsen and Alessandro Balzan hold the driver’s points lead over Jeron Bleekmolen and Ben Keating, but the margin is slim and this driver’s championship is still up for grabs with two races left. Unfortunately, the Magnus Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 of John Potter and Andy Lally was excluded from the results at VIR during post race inspection due to a ride height issue in a controversial decision by IMSA and are now effectively out of the championship running.
In GTD manufacturers, Audi still leads over Porsche, Ferrari and Dodge. Dodge won class at Road America, with Ben Keating and Jeroen Bleekemolen taking a fine win and helping their championship hopes. At VIR, the Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 took the victory with Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow sharing driving duties.
In LMPC Alex Popow and Renger van der Zande hold a slight lead over Road America winners Robert Alon and Tom Kimber-Smith. This class battle will not be settled until Petit Le Mans.
It all now comes down to the wire – a sprint race in Austin followed by the 1000-mile endurance contest at Road Atlanta. All the championships will be settled soon and then we will look forward to the start of another great IMSA season that will be upon us before we know it.
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