Meyer Shank Racing wins Petit Le Mans and the title

Le Meyer Shank Racing therefore won the fight between the two Acuras. The suspense lasted until fifteen minutes from the end of the 25th edition of Petit Le Mans, final round of the 2022 season ofIMSA. The two cars from the North American branch of Honda were then in the first two positions, with Tom Blomqvist in the role of the prey and Filipe Albuquerque in that of the hunter.

2022 IMSA CHAMPS!!!! What. A.Year. Let's go celebrate. @tom_blomqvist // @ollyjarvis // @ h3lio pic.twitter.com/VqA5llIvbf

— Meyer Shank Racing (@MeyerShankRac) October 2, 2022

A situation already seen several times this year and in which the Portuguese has often made the difference against Meyer Shank Racing. However, the native of Coimbra was once again caught up by the vagaries of the race, as every time he sees victory at Road Atlanta, a circuit where he fails to win. After an attempt to overtake the leader a quarter of an hour from the end of the season and an encounter with a GTD damaging a suspension, the number 10 of Wayne Taylor Racing returned to the pits at very slow speed, leaving the pink prototype of the Meyer Shank Racing racing towards victory and the Drivers and Teams titles.

Tom Blomqvist, Oliver Jarvis and Helio Castroneves thus ended the season as they had started it during the last weekend of January when they won the 24 Hours of Daytona: with a victory. Fourth man in the double Florida clock tower, the Frenchman simon pagenaud did not fail to congratulate his friends.

Huge congratulations to my @meyershankracing family! Started with a # Rolex24 win and end with a #LittleLeMans win. These guys fought hard all year. A well-deserved championship. Proud to be a part of this team! pic.twitter.com/P7BBCoC5KB

— Simon Pagenaud (@simonpagenaud) October 2, 2022

Cadillac's woes

A success that seemed destined for Meyer Shank Racing. Starting from pole position thanks to the performance of Tom Blomqvist the day before, the prototype n°60 passed through the drops during the ten hours of a race which did not spare its rivals. Particularly on the Cadillac side where the main chances of victory disappeared in various accidents. First of all, the DPi n°5 of JDC-Miller MotorSports, in which the French Tristan Vautier and Loïc duval were accompanied by Richard Westbrook. After passing the fourth hour in the lead, Duval clashed with Aaron Telitz, at the wheel of the No. 3 Lexus RC F GT12 of VasserSullivan (GTD). End of race for the two contenders for victory in their category.

The misfortunes of the Detroit (Michigan) firm, so dominant during Free Practice, did not end there. Entering the last hour in the first two positions, the two Cadillacs operated by Chip Ganassi Racing then driven by Earl Bamber and Renger van der Zande collided and left their hopes of victory in the wall. 

Two General Motors prototypes nevertheless finished on the podium: the No. 31 from Whelen Engineering (Pipo Derani, Olivier Pla, Mike conway) and the No. 48 of Ally Cadillac (Kamui Kobayashi, Jimmie Johnson, Mike Rockenfeller).

Acura also shines in GTD

In LM P2, it was the No. 8 Tower Motorsport Oreca (John Farano, Louis Delétraz, Rui Andrade) which won ahead of the No. 81 DragonSpeed ​​USA (Henrik Hedman, Juan Pablo and Sebastian Montoya) and the PR1 Mathiasen Motorsport n°11 (Steven Thomas, Josh Pierson, Tristan Nunez). Delétraz gave his team victory by overtaking Juan Pablo Montoya 30 minutes from the checkerboard. Farano wins the title. 

Andretti Autosport (Jarett Andretti, Gabby Chaves, Joshs Burdon) won the LM P3 category, holding off the #30 Jr III Racing (Garett Grist, Nolan Siegel and Ari Balogh).

Risi Competizione (Daniel Serra, Davide Rigon, James Calado) made the difference in a spectacular four-way battle in the final half hour to win the GTD Pro category. At least, on the track. The team based in Houston (Texas) actually lost its victory a few minutes after the finish due to a driving time violation. Daniel Serra would have exceeded his maximum authorized time by 11 minutes. It was therefore the No. 3 Lexus RC F GT14 of VasserSullivan which won with Ben Barnicoat, Jack Hawksworth and Kyle Kirkwood. Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Cambpell (Pfaff Motorsports) validated their title.

Acura definitely shone on the Georgian circuit by also winning the GTD class with its NSX GT3 n°66 from Gradient Racing (Kyffin Simpson, Till Bechtolsheimer, Mario Farnbacher), even finishing ahead of the first GTD Pros. The title goes to Roman de Angelis (Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 n°27 from Heart of Racing).