IMSA preview: Setting the stage for Championship Weekend at Road Atlanta
North Georgia will be abuzz this weekend as teams and drivers get set for one final test on the 2023 IMSA calendar at Road Atlanta.
This weekend, the series will crown five season class champions across the main series: the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
But for teams who are out of the running, there may be more at stake to capture, namely the Michelin Endurance Cup, which will also be decided this weekend.
Let's take a look at the championship outlook amongst the five main classes in IMSA’s flagship series:
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GTD and LMP3
I decided to mix the outlook for the LMP3 and GTD classes in part because the championship is all but wrapped up for the respective groups.
In GTD, Paul Miller Racing's #1 BMW, with Madison Snow and Bryan Sellers behind the wheel, will be ending the season fittingly with their jump to GTD Pro impending for next season, holding over a 400-point lead in the class after finishing the season with five class wins in 2023.
The #1 dominated the class this year, only finishing outside of the podium three times, and should be a real threat in what will be an expanded GTD class.
As for the LMP3 class, Riley Motorsports' #74, featuring full-timer Gar Robinson, should be able to etch their name into the IMSA history book as being the last team to win in the class for the foreseeable future, well over 200 points ahead of AWA Racing.
As long as nothing catastrophic happens for the Riley team during qualifying or the race, there should be no problem for the team to take the championship with ease, seemingly only needing to start the race in order to secure the championship on Saturday.
That would be a fitting way to close a chapter on what was also a dominating season for the team, grabbing four wins in the season’s five races up to this point.
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GTD Pro
GTD Pro is technically still up for grabs, but work will have to be done for what will be a much different-looking field heading into 2024.
Currently, the #14 Lexus Vasser Sullivan, featuring Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth, sits over 100 points ahead of the #3 Corvette Racing tandem of Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor -- who makes his final ride for Vasser Sullivan before moving up to GTP with his father’s team.
Vasser Sullivan’s GTD Pro entry has been one of the most consistent cars on the entire grid, finishing out of the podium only once, which shapes nicely for the team heading into the weekend.
Not only that, with an emotional weekend on tap for Corvette and the departure of Taylor on the horizon, Vasser Sullivan may be more focused heading into a weekend that is theirs to lose.
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GTP and LMP2
The final two classes are the most intriguing and will be the most competitive on Saturday night, with championships both well up for grabs.
In LMP2, the TDS Racing #11 entry with Mikkel Jensen and Steven Thomas sits only 20 points ahead of PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports, due in part to a Watkins Glen catastrophe that caused problems for the team, resulting in a bottom-of-the class finish.
CrowdStrike Racing is also in the mix, with Tower Motorsports being an outside contender, putting it at four true potential championship contenders heading into Saturday’s race.
Although it has a slim lead, TDS Racing has been the much more consistent car amongst the LMP2s in recent weeks, finishing atop the podium in the previous two races.
The funk that they had at Watkins Glen was resolved quickly, and TDS Racing should have things in sync for Road Atlanta.
Now jumping over to the final and arguably most exciting class to watch this weekend, the GTPs will take center stage this weekend, filled with a loaded grid from top to bottom.
To put into perspective how close the season battle has been, there will be two entries heading into Friday's qualifying within five points of the class-leading Whelen Engineering Action Express Racing's #31 Cadillac with Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims.
According to Ewan Wane, “there are seven different possible champions,” based on the numbers, which is truly an astonishing and positive takeaway for IMSA.
The team that is not to be reckoned with is the #6 Porsche Penske with Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy.
A truly perfect combination, both Jaminet and Tandy have been the true dominant team this season in terms of a finishing perspective. However, with the way this class has been, being consistent may be the name of the game for this race to win the championship, although chances will have to be taken.
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Final Thoughts
Road Atlanta, one of the iconic tracks on the schedule, should provide a great cap to what has been a dream season for IMSA, putting the sport back on the map.
With the likes of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves, 2023 Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden, former Formula One champion Jenson Button and so many other top stars across the racing scene entered in this race, this will be one of the most highly anticipated events of the season.
Friday’s qualifying will be the most entertaining of the season, in part because of how important the added points will be and how they can make or break these championship races leading up to Saturday, especially in GTP and LMP2.
The key to the weekend is to drown out the emotions. Stakes will be high and there are many storylines in play throughout the weekend that will be on drivers' minds that will need to be drowned out.
Keeping things mistake-free will be super-critical, and not pushing it too aggressively early could lead to a team putting itself in the perfect spot to take home the hardware late Saturday night.