The former Formula 1 driver remained on top of things throughout the race, taking a dominant victory from pole position in his Emil Frey Ferrari, which added to his victory within the season opener at Oschersleben.
Three-time DTM champion Rene Rast finished second for his first podium of the season, while Arjun Maini finished in the highest three ahead of Sunday's race.
When the lights went out for the fifth round of the campaign, Aitken took off with ease, with second-placed Clemens Schmid thwarting Maini's attack within the opening corners.
Aitken regularly gained 2.1 seconds on Schmid in the primary 11 minutes, and Rast, after jumping from seventh to fourth during this era, showed strong pace later within the race.
Overtaking, nevertheless, proved difficult as a consequence of the tightness of the Dutch track, as drivers held positions until the pitstop window 21 minutes into the race.
Schmid was the primary of the favorites to pit, but this proved costly as Aitken gained a nine-second advantage after changing tires on the next lap.
The Dorr McLaren driver then dropped one other position when Rast pitted behind Aitken, while Maini accomplished one other lap before pitting.
Arjun Maini, Mercedes-AMG HRT Mercedes-AMG GT3 Team
Photo: Alexander Trienitz
The long sweep gave the impression to be a masterstroke because the Mercedes driver exited the pit lane just ahead of Aitken, but was capable of regain the lead with Maini on the earliest opportunity just before turn three.
Maini lost second place to Rast 10 minutes later when the Schubert BMW went down the within Turn 1 before specializing in Aitken, who was two seconds ahead with 23 minutes remaining.
However, Rast did not make any significant gains as Aitken crossed the finish line 2.3 seconds ahead and moved as much as third within the championship.
Maini was one other 3.2 seconds behind and Schmid missed out on a fourth podium spot within the DTM.
Lucas Auer accomplished the highest five ahead of 2022 champion Sheldon van der Linde in sixth, while Marco Wittmann finished seventh after passing Riccardo Feller into the primary corner with 13 minutes left.
Mirko Bortolotti and Luca Stolz finished in the highest ten, while championship leader Kelvin van der Linde finished 14th.
The Schubert BMW driver began from 14th position, but a masterful pitstop strategy allowed him to take the lead and win the second race of the DTM weekend in Zandvoort.
He was joined on the rostrum by Mirko Bortolotti and Kelvin van der Linde, with the latter extending his lead within the championship.
As the lights went out for the sixth round of the campaign, polesitter Maximilian Paul entered Turn 1 but did not fend off Bortolotti, who took the lead on the surface.
However, moments later Clemens Schmid hit the barrier approaching Turn 5, and in one other incident Lucas Auer stopped as smoke billowed from the rear of his Mercedes, causing a red flag for 10 minutes.
Racing resumed with 55 minutes remaining, Bortolotti retained the lead before a security automobile break was called 12 minutes later when Ayhancan Guven spun on the exit of Turn 3.
The safety automobile ran for six minutes and the drivers held their positions after the restart until the pitstop window with 36 minutes left within the race.
Van der Linde was the primary of the favorites to pit fourth, Thierry Vermeulen was the third to vary tires on the following lap, and Bortolotti made one other tour before pitting.
Van der Linde's undercut worked though, as he passed Vermeulen with a daring move on the surface of Turn 7 on Bortolotti's out lap, while Paul finally pitted with 27 minutes remaining.
Mirko Bortolotti, SSR Performance Lamborghini Huracán EVO GT3
Photo: Alexander Trienitz
The undercut initially worked as he left the pits in front of him, but on the out lap Paul was overtaken by Bortolotti at Turn 7 before overtaking Van der Linde and Vermeulen in the next corners.
However, Wittmann managed to tug off an undercut by pitting during these battles, leaving the pit lane two seconds ahead of Bortolotti.
However, the Lamborghini driver quickly made progress and attacked Wittmann, with the 2 colliding at Turn 12.
This caused damage to Wittmann's rear left bodywork, but he was capable of proceed and gain time over Bortolotti, who gave him victory by 7.2 seconds.
Van der Linde thwarted Vermeulen's late attack to say his third podium of the season, with Luca Stolz ending in the highest five.
This means Van der Linde is eight points ahead of second-placed Bortolotti, with third-placed Ricardo Feller an extra eight points behind.
Mostert, who led Walkinshaw Andretti United to a front-row break in qualifying, followed teammate Ryan Wood for the primary 14 laps of the 55-lap race before taking the lead and accelerating to a 4.9s victory over Triple Eight's Will Brown.
Ford's first victory within the ninth race of the season was decided by pit strategy and speed. Brown took 4 tires within the mandatory pit stop and 4 laps later, Mostert only two. This gave Mostert a five-second advantage, which he managed to take care of until the top of the race.
“[We are] I'm just aggressive, you know? Last year we didn't really feel where we were with the car window,” Mostert said after his first victory in almost two years.
“We tried numerous things. This yr I felt like each time he touched the automobile, either it did something. So [the recent] The test day was about trying out some big changes in philosophy and with that we got here here. We needed to put all of it together and make it work. For [our] after first seeing it, I feel it's pretty good.
Brown, who prolonged his lead within the series to over 100 points with a second-place finish, looked joyful together with his result after starting fourth.
“When we passed Ryan [Wood]I probably had a little bit of a tire problem and Chaz was still fast,” he said.
“He [Wood] he achieved the same times on two tires, so we had some work to do overnight, but we still managed to take second place. It's good for the championship.”
Third place was decided by a fierce battle between Fords of Wood and Cam Waters from Tickford. Wood (20 years old) rode brilliantly, and Waters managed to realize a position only on the last lap of the race.
Despite missing out on the rostrum, Wood's performance suggests that WAU appears, no less than for now, to have convincingly overcome its recent struggles on considered one of its bogey courses.
Triple Eight's Broc Feeney finished fifth, ahead of veteran James Courtney (Blanchard Racing Team Ford) and Matt Stone Racing's Nick Percat (Chevrolet).
The day was a disaster for Erebus Motorsport as Jack Le Brocq suffered a battery failure on the beginning and defending champion Brodie Kostecki spun out of the primary corner and went into the last. At the top of the race on his home track, where he played last yr, he returned to tenth position.
Similarly, Grove Racing's Richie Stanaway dropped out early when Aaron's Love Ford, directly in front of him, experienced a stuck fuel pump. Stanaway hit him from behind, hit the wall and pitted before restarting, ending twenty fourth and last, 11 laps behind.
The results significantly increased Brown's points tally to 103 (952-849) over teammate Feeney, with Mostert third on 763. Percat and Grove Racing's Matt Payne are fourth on 606.
When the Walkinshaw Andretti United crew released Mostert from the pitlane after changing tires, he drove into the trail of Tickford's Thomas Randle, forcing him to hit the brakes.
The resulting five-second penalty saw Mostert attempting to construct a lead over fellow Ford Mustang driver Waters, but a lead of just 2.58 seconds gave Waters his first victory of the season.
Waters took pole position by just 0.03 seconds, but a slip at the top of the primary lap left Waters running wide and Mostert into the lead, which he would hold until the penalty was decided.
“It's great to get some trophies this weekend and get a race win,” Waters said. “I put my head down and closed the gap to Chazzie. Just two or three years ago I lost a race with a five-second penalty, so it was good to get it back!”
Mostert raised his hand to take the blame for losing the race.
“It sucks. I didn't expect that we could be so near anyone else,” he said. “I used to be a bit of hesitant, it was my mistake, I'll take this one.
“I didn't really race the race I wanted to. I probably burned some tires trying to achieve this [back] this punishment. He [Waters] He calmed down and ran a smart race.”
Triple 8's Will Brown secured third place on the course, replacing Randle on lap 49 of the 55-lap race. In doing so, he helped Randle off the road and earned a five-second time penalty himself, which he exceeded by just over one second, maintaining his second podium position of the weekend.
“I was working hard to get to him, I thought he moved under the brakes. “Unfortunate for him,” he said. “For us, third and second place after a hard weekend is a good weekend.”
Randle dropped back to fifth, splitting the Dick Johnson Racing Ford duo of Will Davison and Anton de Pasquale, who finished sixth.
It was a tricky Sunday for Triple 8's Broc Feeney, who qualified outside the highest ten and will only advance to seventh. WAU's Ryan Wood was eighth, ahead of fellow Ford driver Matt Payne (Grove Racing) and David Reynolds (Team18 Chevrolet).
The results mean Brown has prolonged his points lead over teammate Feeney to 136 points.
The 2024 Supercars season will resume in 4 weeks when teams gather for round five of the championship at Hidden Valley in Darwin on June 15-16.
2022 24 Hours of Le Mans class winner Sorensen will provide the newest specification Aston Martin Vantage GT3 to D'station managing director/driver Tomonobu Fujii within the GT300 class of the Japanese series, ranging from the season opener at OKakama in April.
The Danish driver will mix his newly announced commitments with the LMGT3 campaign within the World Endurance Championship, where he has been designated as a D'station skilled driver for 2024.
It was announced that he could be included in D'station's WEC squad early last month, when he signed a brand new contract with Aston Martin with a view to competing within the Hypercar class in 2025 within the half-baked Valkyrie LMH.
It is probably going that Sorensen will give method to the WEC when the series clashes with SUPER GT in two different situations, nonetheless no official word has been received from him, D'station of Aston.
“For me, competing in SUPER GT is a dream come true,” he said. “I really like Japan. I even have competed in races everywhere in the world, but I’m looking forward to a brand new challenge in Japan. The recent GT3 has taken a decisive step forward by way of performance.
“I'm looking forward to racing with Fujii San, who has SUPER GT experience, and the D'station Racing crew to get the results they deserve. I'm sure we can do great things together. Race fans in Japan always give me a warm welcome too, so I'm looking forward to my first race in Okamama.”
Photo: Marc Fleury
#33 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage AmR LMGTE Am by Marco Sorensen
Sorensen's entry into SUPER GT coincides with D'station's return to SUPER GT after a three-year hiatus. The Japanese team last competed within the championship in 2020 with Pacific Racing before focusing its efforts on the WEC with a GTE version of the Vantage.
D'station signaled an official return to the category in October, with Fujii revealing that she had been approached by an existing team, paving the best way for a return to SUPER GT.
At the time, it was unclear whether he would give you the chance to secure a spot in the brand new LMGT3 division of the WEC, because the LMGT3 producers had to pick out a partner team, leaving the entry process to D'station.
D'station has not announced the 2 drivers who will partner Sorensen within the WEC, but Fujii – who has spent the last three years with the team in GTE Am – will team up with the 33-year-old in SUPER GT.
Fujii has been absent from his country's premier racing championship since his team's withdrawal at the tip of the 2020 season. Without D'station, Aston Martin can also be left and not using a presence in SUPER GT.
However, the British manufacturer will now return to the championship with the Evo Vantage GT3 version and can provide the team with factory support.
Dunlop will likely be the official tire supplier for D'station, a departure from the team's previous stint in GT300 between 2017 and 2020. The team spent the primary three seasons racing on Yokohama tires before moving to Michelin for what turned out to be its final season in 2020.
Adam Carter, Head of Motorsport at Aston Martin, said: “We are delighted to see our partner team D'station Racing bring Aston Martin's wings back to the Japanese Super GT Championship.
“D'station Racing has achieved more domestic success in Japan with Aston Martin than some other team, so we’re proud that they’re selecting the brand new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 to return to the GT300 class of Japan's most prestigious GT series.
“The new Vantage GT car is a clear step forward in terms of performance, and with the strong driver line-up the team will have in Tomonobu-san and Marco, we can't wait to see what can be achieved in such a significant race in the series.”
Nissan announced a significant overhaul of its lineup on Thursday, ending a 10-year partnership between Ronnie Quintarelli and Tsugio Matsuda.
While Quintarelli will proceed to pilot the flagship No. 23 NISMO, as he has done since 2013, Matsuda will move to Kondo Racing alongside GT500 newcomer Teppei Natori. Quintarelli can have a brand new teammate in Katsumasa Chiyo, who spent the last 4 seasons with NDDP.
Chiyo's move to the No. 23 NISMO paved the way in which for Atsushi Miyake to step as much as the highest SUPER GT class after racing within the GT300 with Max Racing last yr. Miyake might be competing in each of Japan's major championships this yr, having recently been announced as the only real ThreeBond Racing driver for the 2024 Super Formula season.
Team Impul is the one Nissan team to retain its driver lineup, with 2022 champions Kazuki Hiramine and Bertrand Baguette remaining for one more yr.
Nissan also announced that the NDDP and NISMO Z cars will switch to Bridgestone tires following Michelin's withdrawal from the series.
Honda
Honda has also reshuffled its driver line-up for the 2024 season, when the brand new Civic Type R will join the series.
First, Nobuharu Matsushita will leave Real Racing and join ARTA #8, where he’ll team up with Tomoki Nojiri.
His place at Real might be taken by Kakunoshin Ota after the young Japanese driver impressed the brand during his previous stint with Nakajima Racing.
Joining the GT500 debut might be two latest Honda drivers, Riki Okusa and Ren Sato. Okusa moves from the Nissan GT300 squad to partner Takuya Izawa at Nakajima, while Sato will join Hiroki Otsu within the ARTA No. 16. Sato last competed in SUPER GT with the ARTA GT300 team in 2021, and has spent the last two seasons racing in Super Formula .
As expected, Honda has hired Naoki Yamamoto and Tadasuke Makino at Kunimitsu, and Yamamoto is now in a position to return to racing after a terrifying crash at Sugo last yr.
Toyotas
Two drivers will leave Honda and join the Toyota GT500 line-up in SUPER GT, Nirei Fukuzumi and Toshiki Oyu.
Fukuzumi will drive for Rookie Racing with Kazuya Oshima, taking Kenta Yamashita's place after Yamashita's promotion to the #36 TOM'S Supra alongside Sho Tsuboi.
Meanwhile, Oyu will join Hiroki Ishiura at Cerumo to switch the retired Yuji Tachikawa. In addition to Tachikawa, one other top driver leaving SUPER GT is last yr's champion Ritomo Miyata, who will undertake a dual program in Formula 2 and the European Le Mans Series in 2024.
All three remaining Toyota cars will proceed production with unchanged drivers.
As a part of the overhaul, each automotive's lap times from the Q1 and Q2 sessions might be combined to find out who will have the option to start out the race from pole position.
Teams might be allowed to make use of one set of tires throughout Q1 and Q2, which is able to then be used for the primary run of the race.
The best crews and teams will even receive additional prizes for qualifying – three points will now be awarded to pole position winners, two points for second place in qualifying and an extra point for third-place drivers.
SUPER GT explained that it desired to “further characterize” the appeal of a championship wherein two drivers share a automotive and fight for victory. It also goals to equalize the tire health of all cars, stripping teams of any advantage they gained after they did not advance to Q2.
To help fans follow the qualifying system, total times might be displayed in real time on TV through the second quarter. SUPER GT has stated that it’s working on a brand new display system that may make this possible.
The #52 Saitama Toyopet GB GR Supra GT leads the #2 Muta Racing GR86 GT
Photo: Masahide Kamio
Previously, the Japanese series was held in a Formula One-style knockout format, with the highest eight cars in GT500 and the highest 16 cars in GT300 advancing to the second session. Before each round, teams needed to nominate their drivers for Q1 and Q2. The team that took pole position also earned one additional point.
Under the brand new system, no cars might be eliminated, which should present each a possibility and a challenge for teams.
The variety of sets of dry tires available to groups for your complete weekend might be reduced from six to 5 for the 300-kilometer rounds in GT500 and from five to 4 in GT300. This is an element of SUPER GT's drive to chop CO2 emissions in half by 2030.
More details concerning the recent format might be published in the end. Championship organizer GTA also suggested a “special rule” for GT300 runners that might be used under certain conditions and create a “new entertainment experience.”
The recent season will start on April 14 in Okayama and might be played entirely in Japan.
In his series debut on the tight and twisty 2.654-mile, nine-turn temporary street circuit in downtown Detroit, Taylor beat Porsche's Mathieu Jaminet with a superb overtaking move in the ultimate 25 minutes of the GTP.
AO Racing's Seb Priaulx and Laurin Heinrich won the GTD Pro class of their Porsche 911.
After a pair of factory-backed Porsche Penske Motorsport 963s were on the front row in qualifying, poleman Nick Tandy's automobile led Dane Cameron's No. 7 to the green flag.
The No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing of Albuquerque within the Andretti Acura ARX-06 braked late and passed a cautious Cameron into the primary turn to take second place, while Sebastien Bourdais (No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R) passed Sebastien Bourdais. right down to take third place.
A full-course yellow warning was issued at the top of the primary lap when Harry Tincknell's GTD Ford Mustang stopped before turning one.
After the restart, Tandy led Albuquerque, Bourdais, Cameron and two BMW M Hybrid V8s, cared for by Philipp Eng and Nick Yelloly. However, Eng soon received a drive-through penalty, losing his hard-earned fifth place for changing lanes before the beginning.
Tandy pulled away despite problems with a faulty radio, leaving Albuquerque, Bourdais and Cameron in second place. Pipo Derani, who crashed in qualifying, climbed out of the No. 31 Action Express Cadillac after 10 minutes and handed over to Jack Aitken in a daring play of strategy.
After 25 minutes and anticipating problems in pre-race GTD traffic, Tandy exceeded braking speed in turn three and sent Ferrari factory driver Daniel Serra's Conquest Racing 296 right into a skid. The collision resulted in a drive-through penalty for the race leader.
“I just missed the moment when they were checking. I apologize to them,” said Tandy, who explained that he was fidgeting with the radio wires because he couldn't hear his lows clearly.
This left Albuquerque within the lead with Bourdais and Cameron, although Bourdais got here into the pits after half-hour and gave the ball to Renger van der Zande. However, the decision was received late and Bourdais didn’t loosen the seat belts, resulting in a slow driver change.
Albuquerque pitted handy off to Ricky Taylor a lap later, and he returned with a bigger lead. Cameron took a lap longer before stopping handy over to Felipe Nasr, who joined ahead of Taylor.
Yelloly led longer and pitted after 37 minutes. He handed the automobile over to Connor De Phillippi, who immediately pushed the automobile into the tire pile from Turn 3 on his outside lap.
This brought the penalized Tandy back into the lead and he set a sequence of fastest laps. He pitted to provide Jaminet a caution just before the second period when De Phillippi crashed his BMW again, slamming its left rear corner into the Turn 2 wall.
Jaminet took the lead again, ahead of stablemate Nasr, Ricky Taylor, van der Zande and Jesse Krohn within the surviving No. 24 BMW. However, Nasr needed to pit under yellow to switch a puncture, dropping him from second to eighth.
The race restarted with 47 minutes remaining and Nasr immediately gained three positions by riding on the surface of Richard Westbrook's JDC-Miller Porsche 963, Gianmaria Bruni's Proton-run and Krohn's BMW at turn three before passing the No. 40 Acura of Louis Deletraz (along with Jordan Taylor) next on the lap.
However, the race was quickly neutralized again when Aitken pushed Westbrook right into a spin and blocked the track.
Just after the hour mark, it turned green again and Jaminet escaped from Taylor, van der Zande and Nasr. Taylor remained one second behind the leader as van der Zande and Nasr dropped out.
Taylor took the lead into turn three with 25 minutes remaining, making a daring dive down the inside the hairpin after Jaminet suffered a slight obstruction while lapping the Mustang GTD.
The yellow flew again with 20 minutes to go to cope with the debris that was accumulating on the fundamental straight. With 15 meters left it turned green again. Jaminet desired to avenge Taylor, and Nasr attacked van der Zande.
Bruni made a move on Krohn to take sixth place, and Aitken followed suit. However, as Bruni attacked Deletraz, he was hit by Aitken and hit the wall near Turn 4. This led to a fifth caution as Bruni's automobile became stuck.
Taylor survived the ultimate restart with seven minutes left to record the primary win for the No. 10 Acura since Road America in 2022.
#77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R: Laurin Heinrich, Sebastian Priaulx
Disaster for the Corvette. Porsche defeats destroyed Lexus in GTD Pro
At GTD Pro, within the shadow of the large towers of General Motors' Renaissance Center that dominate the skyline, the pressure to perform was on the Chevrolet Corvette team.
After going 1-2 in qualifying, Antonio Garcia's No. 3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R led Tommy Milner's No. 4 to the green ahead of Jack Hawksworth (No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F) and Seb Priaulx within the No. 4 Porsche 911 number 77 of AO Racing GT3 R.
However, every little thing went incorrect almost immediately for Garcia, who pitted at the top of the primary lap with an alternator problem.
New leader Milner handed the ball to Nicky Catsburg after 40 minutes, changing just one tire throughout the stoppage. Ben Barnicoat took over from Hawksworth at Lexus, and Laurin Heinrich replaced Priaulx on the Porsche 'Rexy'.
Immediately after the mid-race restart, leaders Barnicoat and Catsburg clashed at turn three, with the Lexus sending the Corvette right into a spin after hitting the within wall.
This put Heinrich (who hit the spun Corvette and suffered splitter damage) into the lead, but he needed to stop to avoid the spun Westbrook and was almost caught by Barnicoat, who, despite pieces falling off, continued in second place.
Barnicoat successfully overcame bent steering and a loose bonnet to chase Heinrich to the finish, while Marvin Kirchhofer's Pfaff McLaren 720S was about to take third place when it was thrown out by Alex Riberas (Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage) in turn three of the race closing stages.
Watch: BrrrakeF1 – the technology behind essentially the most exciting races on this planet
Kla
No
Driver
Participant/Car
Laps
Time
Delay/retirement
1
10
Ricky Taylor F. Albuquerque
Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura
75
1:40'02.133
2
6
Nick Tandy Mathieu Jaminet
Porsche Penske Motorsports Porsche
75
1:40'03.265
1.132
3
01
R. van der Zande S. Bourdais
Cadillac Racing Cadillac
75
1:40'06.331
4.198
4
7
Cameron data Felipe Nasr
Porsche Penske Motorsports Porsche
75
1:40'07.275
5.142
5
40
Jordan Taylor Louis Delétraz
Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura
75
1:40'12.253
10.120
6
31
Pipo Derani Jack Aitken
Whelen Cadillac Racing Cadillac
75
1:40'12.492
10,359
7
24
Jesse Krohn Filip Eng
BMW M RLL Team BMW
75
1:40'12,926
10,793
8
85
T. van der Helm R. Westbrook
JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche
74
1:40'16,425
1 lap /14.292
9
77
Laurin Heinrich Seb Priaulx
AO Racing Porsche
74
1:40'28.354
1 lap /26.221
10
14
Jack Hawksworth Ben Barnicoat
Waters Sullivan Lexus
74
1:40'31.239
1 lap /29.106
11
23
Ross Gunn Alex Riberas
The heart of the racing team Aston Martin
74
1:40'33.223
1 lap /31.090
12
15
Parker Thompson F. Montecalvo
Waters Sullivan Lexus
74
1:40'33.819
1 lap /31.686
13
1
Bryan Sellers Madison Snow
Paul Miller Racing BMW
74
1:40'44.260
1 lap /42.127
14
65
Joey's hand Dirk Müller
Ford Multimatic Motorsport Ferry
73
1:40'47,978
2 laps /45.845
15
35
Daniel Serra Albert Costa
Conquest races Ferrari
72
1:38'11.000
I don't run
16
9
M.Kirchhöfer Oliver Jarvis
Motorsports Pfaff McLaren
71
1:36'57.349
I don't run
17
4
Tommy Milner Nicky Catsburg
Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet
69
1:40'48,643
6 laps /46.510
18
5
Gianmaria Bruni Bent Viscaal
Proton competition Porsche
65
1:27'07.954
I don't run
19
3
Antonio Garcia Alexander Sims
Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet
Thanks to the vision of Roger Penske and the Downtown Detroit Partnership, the event – which was a Formula One round from 1982 to 1988 – returned last yr because the flagship round of the IndyCar Series within the shadow of the imposing General Motors towers on the Renaissance Center, which forms its global headquarters – a minimum of for now.
The streets of Detroit aren’t any stranger to sports cars either, with Trans-Am (which supported F1 within the mid-Nineteen Eighties and IndyCar from 1989 to 1991) and the American Le Mans Series (within the late 2000s) having graced previous events.
After racing at Detroit's other temporary track at nearby Belle Isle Park from 2007 to 2022, IMSA's premier series made its debut this weekend on the tight downtown track after the second-tier Pilot Challenge series was the guinea pig for its revival last yr.
This race is best remembered for a wild accident during which Robert Megennis' BMW hit Rory van der Steur's Aston Martin on the third corner and jumped excessive. You could understand why IMSA teams didn't wish to risk their prized LMDh cars within the inaugural GTP season with an electrical hybrid system, in addition to their GTD cars – especially with a few of them weeks ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
So it was no surprise that this yr's 100-minute event was interrupted five times by track-wide warnings for accidents or debris.
After a sometimes chaotic race, response was mixed to say the least.
For example, Porsche's Felipe Nasr, who made a superb comeback to complete fourth after his 963 was hit by one other automotive on the yellow track and had to alter a tire, muttered: “This race offered all the pieces a motor racing fan could wish for . It was an enormous challenge for us drivers.”
However, Richard Westbrook, whose JDC-Miller 963 went right into a track-blocking spin, complained: “Honestly, the track just isn’t suitable for racing top-class GTP prototypes. It was like being in a automotive bumper. The damage to the vehicles worsened from lap to lap.
“It was unacceptable – simply unacceptable. I discovered this frustrating. I actually have very fond memories of the times once we competed on beautiful Belle Isle in Detroit.
#85 JDC/Miller MotorSports Porsche 963: Tijmen van der Helm, Richard Westbrook
Detroit joins Long Beach because the second street circuit on the 11-round IMSA schedule, and the long-standing nature of the California facility means its suitability is unquestionable. Complaints concerning the Detroit layout centered on the bumpy surface, tight layout and agile corners, although the GTP cars reached speeds of 185 mph on the long straight leading into Turn 3 – which a minimum of allowed them to simply lap the GTD Pro class cars at an overspeed of around 35 miles for an hour.
“I'm honestly driving better than I expected,” pole-sitter Nick Tandy of the Porsche works team told Motorsport.com after practice. “Since our cars are quite large physically, they’re quite large vehicles by way of dimensions for a racing automotive.
“We were slightly apprehensive about how they’d handle all of the tight sections here, however it's actually not that bad. Although the track is brief, the track feels fast, these cars speed up much faster in first and second gear than in fourth and fifth gear after exiting the corner.
“So you consistently feel this huge acceleration that you simply don't really find anywhere else. Even in Long Beach there's quite a bit more second and third gear stuff, but here almost in every single place, every corner, is first gear for us. So it seems fast enough and the tight sections are quite easy to barter in our big GTP cars.
“Of course, the road situation is completely different, but when you're driving off-road by yourself, it's quite a lot of fun.”
The GTD Pro class made up the opposite half of the sector and it too produced some crazy moments because the race was finally decided when Corvette's Nicky Catsburg and Ben Barnicoat's Lexus collided at turn three, allowing the AO Racing Porsche 911 of Seb Priaulx and Laurin Heinrich to take the win.
“I found it quite exciting,” Heinrich said. “I raced on the Norisring within the DTM, which only has 4 corners, and I raced in Monaco within the Porsche Supercup, which is definitely much closer to that track.
“I think racing for two years in Monaco prepared me really well for this track, it's quite bumpy, you're running against the wall everywhere.”
Priaulx added: “I'm not a track designer, but they're a bit tight. We won, so it doesn't really matter what the track is!”
Another dimension to IMSA pairs street racing is that Long Beach is Acura's home race – it’s the title sponsor because its U.S. headquarters is in nearby Torrance – while Detroit is essentially Cadillac territory.
#10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06: Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque
The irony of Caddy victories in Long Beach and Acura victories in Detroit was not lost on race winner Felipe Albuquerque as Motorsport.com noted after the race: “I considered that! Last yr we actually desired to win at Long Beach because Acura was missing that and things weren't going our way.
“It's type of ironic to return to Cadillac's house and win under their towers. We have these beautiful trophies, so it appears like we're taking home a Cadillac! In racing, nothing is what you expect, you exit on the sector and all the pieces happens – nothing is predictable.
The No. 10 Acura he shared with Ricky Taylor is the fifth different GTP winner in as many races this season. Not bad for less than 10 entries!
Taylor, who agreed with Tandy that the track was fun to ride regardless that it’s so narrow, noted that the promotion and volunteers who placed on the event were “spectacular” and “made a difference from anywhere else to which we went.”
#10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti, Acura ARX-06, GTP: Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque
Taylor's final comment cuts to the guts of this event – like Long Beach, Detroit is primarily a promotional vehicle for IMSA manufacturers. They race to sell road cars, not only for the sake of racing.
Sure, the bumps on the long straight that almost sent Pato O'Ward's Arrow McLaren IndyCar into orbit in the course of the warm-up should be grounded. Albuquerque is true that Turns 6 and seven may gain advantage from a resurfacing to make it easier to drive and reduce power without the chance of maneuvering.
“I actually think Monaco is smoother now than any track in America,” he joked. “So I believe we are able to discover a middle ground.
“I respect the bumps and the characteristics, but if some places could be improved, I think it could be a little better.”
As an event, that is an absolute must-have in your schedule. As a racetrack, it will be great if organizers could make just a few tweaks and ask town to spend just a few dollars on resurfacing work before next yr.
But between brutal winters and muggy, hot summers, traveling around Detroit won’t ever be smooth…
Additional reporting by Joey Barnes
Watch: BrrrakeF1 – the technology behind probably the most exciting races on the planet
The ban was introduced last yr through the World Endurance Championships but was lifted for the French classic after a chilly Spa-Francorchamps round, which was the scene of several cold tire crashes, including Toyota's Brendon Hartley at Raidillon in qualifying and Antonio Fuoco from Ferrari just seconds after leaving the underside of the race.
While one other U-turn in 2024 was being considered, the ban continues to be in place this week on the Circuit de la Sarthe, where temperatures aren’t particularly high to compensate – they’re consistent with weather data from 1991-2020 and fall near 10° C (50°F) at night.
Taking to the track with cold tires is subsequently not something drivers sit up for.
“Basically, it's like driving on black ice. Very similar,” describes Frederic Makowiecki from Porsche. “You get there, you switch, the automotive won't turn, the automotive goes straight; you brake, he doesn't brake.
“What's more, today's cars with multiple systems react even more unpredictably.”
Peugeot driver Loic Duval explains: “You know that feeling once you're on a plane, there's a variety of turbulence and in some unspecified time in the future an air pocket appears. Woah! It's similar with us.
“That's the feeling when you lose – and it happens several times in the first two laps! As long as you don't fall out, fine. And if you fall out, you'll look like an idiot.”
#6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 by Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor
To get your bearings, night exercise sessions are particularly vital, lasting two hours from 10 p.m. to midnight on each Wednesday and Thursday.
“We know that we have soft that works really well in such conditions, especially during the warm-up,” emphasizes Makowiecki.
Toyota's Sebastien Buemi explains: “The problem is that the soft tires do quite well within the warm-up, but once they warm up they’re too soft and the automotive moves so much, which is just not excellent.
“So at some point you can take a risk and use medium media, but it's really hard to turn it on. And if it's cold, you can have something like we had at Spa last year.”
Makowiecki points out that on a “warm” test day – with temperatures starting from 16°C to 23°C – “half a lap” was enough for the set of medium rubber to be within the working window.
Buemi, nonetheless, stays concerned, especially relating to road traffic: “It's clear that once you get out of the box and are on cold tires and someone arrives with warm tires, there is a large difference in the primary sector. It's huge. Sector 1 with cold tires, you lose seconds and seconds.”
“When a car comes out and it's five to ten seconds too slow in sector 1, you know, it's a chicane – you've got an extra turn on the track! Of course, this will potentially create some weird situations where you have to have a GT that goes into the first corner and is much faster than you in the first sector – even though it's a GT.”
The stated reason for banning tire warmers is environmental, although Duval questions the actual advantages of the “radical” measure, for instance if it results in accidents by forcing teams to supply more spare parts. However, the French veteran emphasizes that he’s aware that sport stays a technological “laboratory” and suggests that one other, higher solution could be found.
Meanwhile, a lone voice appears in Kamui Kobayashi, clearly reveling within the difficulties that cold tires pose.
“You don't have to ask about that,” replies the Toyota team principal and driver when Motorsport.com mentions the shortage of tire warmers.
“As skilled drivers, we pay for this – in every situation, even in really bad weather conditions like last yr at night.
“We need to survive, that is our job. I feel the challenge is more for amateur drivers.
“If anyone can do it, we don't say 'professional racing driver'. [The ban] is welcome, honestly.”
Zandvoort – Race 1
Sushi Miyake
Bertrand's baguette
Ronnie Quintarelli
Giuliano Alesi
