Action Express won again at Elkhart. [Photo by Jack Webster]
By Jack Webster & Eddie LePine
The season long battle for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is coming down to the wire. With only three races left for the GTLM and GTD classes (They race at VIR without the prototype classes at the end of the month), and only two races left for the Prototype classes (COTA and Petit Le Mans), the point standings for drivers and manufacturers couldn’t be tighter.
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 last week. The #5 car of Barbosa and Fittipaldi finished second to maintain their points lead, with the Taylor brothers in their Konica Minolta Corvette DP finishing third in the race 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.
In GTLM, it was a battle royal at Elkhart Lake, with the #4 Corvette C7.R of Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner taking the win over the Ford GT of Richard Westbrook and Ryan Briscoe. The driver point standings reflect the Road America race results with Gavin and Milner holding a 13-point lead over 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 Andy Lally and John Porter, but the margin is slim and this driver’s championship is still up for grabs with three races left.
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.
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.
Finally, the final round of the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Championship will be held at Petit Le Mans, with all the manufacturer and driver titles up for grabs. This is a series of four endurance races, which include the Rolex 24 at Daytona, The Mobil One 12 Hours of Sebring, the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen and Petit Le Mans. The point’s battles are tight for all classes, but there is one we would like to point out. Rolex 24 winner Kenton Koch, who we have been following since the beginning of his career, currently leads the LMPC driver points. As of now, he does not have a ride for the championship deciding round at Petit Le Mans.
Hopefully, someone steps forward and gives him a drive so he can have a chance to win his 5th racing championship in a row.
We are looking forward to the rest of the WeatherTech season, it has been a great one so far.
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