When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
you're welcome SNTP, it was fun posting from my phone while I was casting the race.
Yeah, the last 2 minutes were nuts!
Cameron had a good run on the 55 and Tinknell had to slow down into Turn 1 to avoid a damaged GTD car and that's when we had contact! Lower left portion of the bumper came flying off when the Acura hit him and Tinknell went into extreme defensive driving mode at that point to try and keep Dane Cameron behind him.
Tinknell made a few defensive maneuvers that looked a lot like blocking but manged to keep the Acura behind him.
That' why there was uncertainty after Mazda took the checkered because Race Control was going to look at the move by Tinknell to see whether it was indeed blocking and if there would be a penalty.
They ultimately decided it was not a penalty and the results stood.
What a gutsy win by Mazda!
3 in a row in Prototype and this one in Doonan's home circuit with all his friends and fmaily there must have been super special.
We found out afterwards that the race engineers had Tinknell driving that triple stint with NO AC as they needed all the power and fuel savings they could get out of that poor car so when he got out in Victory Lane he looked exhausted.
Bomarito ran over to embrace him and Tinknell could barely stand, had to sit down on the car for a bit.
Even when Doonan was celebrating with him, it almost looked like he was having to help Tinknell stand. Hope they got some fluids (other than champagne) into him afterwards.
correction: just read that the AC was broken in the 55.
either way, pretty shitty to have to triple stint it without AC
“I have nothing left,” Tincknell admitted. “I just pushed as hard as I could the whole way. It wasn’t easy to get by Juan Pablo. Then, at the end, I was just hanging on for dear life. The traffic went against me a little bit, so I was hoping at the end it would be with me – and it did.”
“He was pushing hard,” Tincknell said. “I just had a really bad run of traffic the last four and five laps, just getting caught in the Carousel losing two seconds.
“I knew, even if he got right there, I had the tools to hold him off.
“It got a bit dicey in Turn 5 but I managed to close him off before he got alongside me.
“I’m so happy for the team; three in a row. We got hit hard with the BoP. We didn’t have the ultimate pace in qualifying and maybe in the race. We got it done on strategy.”
***Jonathan Bomarito: said Mazda Team Joest’s victory in Sunday’s Road Race Showcase at Road America feels “more special” than the first because they had to fight to win it. “Watkins we had the pace, and it was kind of ours to lose,” he said. “We just had to fight so hard [here]. It’s almost a little more of a rewarding feeling in the end.”
***Whelen Engineering Racing’s Pipo Derani, who along with co-driver Felipe Nasr, were again the highest-placed Cadillac DPi-V.R, finishing a distant fourth, despite a series of Balance of Performance adjustments heading into the weekend. “We don’t know of anything else we can do but try to diet and lose weight, and maybe send some cheeseburgers and milk shakes over to our competitors!” Derani said.
Mazda Thought It Would Be Racing for Third
Bomarito admitted they thought they’d be racing for third on Sunday after getting hit with a sizable Balance of Performance adjustment prior to the weekend.
Acura Team Penske swept the front row in qualifying and had topped the time charts in every session leading into Sunday afternoon’s race.
“Honestly we didn’t think we would have the pace to win this race today,” Bomarito told Sportscar365.
“It was an absolute hard fight the whole race, max push the whole time. Both Harry and I were good in traffic and I think that’s what saved the race for us today.
With the win, Bomarito has moved into a tie for third in the DPi championship, 17 points behind Acura Team Penske’s Dane Cameron and Juan Pablo Montoya.
“We’re closing that gap,” Bomarito said. “To actually win the championship is a bit of a long shot but I would say if we could be in the top-three in the championship by the end of this year, it would be an amazing accomplishment.
“And that would give us a lot of momentum and encouragement to fight for the championship next year.”
Just watched the last hr as I had it recorded . That dice at the end really did look like blocking to me ..... very lucky to get away with it I thought !
for sure, that looked borderline blocking. I think the only reason Mazda got away with it is because Acura had blocked them earlier in the race
that final move going left to right for the 55 was technically also to get him back on his driving line for that left turn so it could have been looked at as a racing maneuver
Lastly, it was on the last lap so what penalty could they give? Drive thru through pits? Stop and go penalty? give the position back?
Had there been another lap, we might have seen it.
Think that about wraps up most of the event coverage I found today. I'll post anything else that pops up between races.
Speaking of which, next race is the weekend of August 23rd but it's only for GTLM / GTD so I'll try to post updates but I don't follow those classes as closely.
The big question is will we see further BoP before Laguna Seca on September 13th.
If we do see it, I'm thinking it might be to help the Cadillac cars a bit but I don't think they'll do much to Mazda or Acura. Cadillac has been off pace for a few races now so I could see them getting aero help and maybe even dropping a few pounds (that IMSA just made them add)
Doonan: Mazda Playing BoP System to “Letter of the Law”
Mazda’s John Doonan on IMSA’s Balance of Performance process, recent success…
Mazda Motorsports director John Doonan says the manufacturer is playing IMSA’s Balance of Performance system to the “letter of the law” in the wake of a recent breakout in performance from the team’s Mazda RT24-Ps.
Mazda Team Joest has claimed victories in the last three IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship DPi races, in what’s marked a significant turnaround in fortunes for the team.
Dominant wins at Watkins Glen and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park led to a sizable BoP adjustment prior to the Road America round, which resulted in a 20 kg increase in minimum weight and a nearly 20-horsepower reduction for the Multiimatic-built prototypes.
The No. 55 Mazda of Harry Tincknell and Jonathan Bomarito, however, was able to overcome those hurdles to take the team’s third straight win last time out at Road America.
Doonan indicated that IMSA’s new-for-2019 BoP process, which was developed in conjunction with the manufacturers, has seen the potential for some cars to hide their true potential and impact the adjustments.
“IMSA has worked tirelessly on a process,” he told Sportscar365 at Road America. “We have committed ourselves to that process, all of us.
“Mazda has committed to always running to our potential. I don’t care if that’s practice, qualifying, warmup, the race.
“The system is expecting that everyone will do the same.
“Unfortunately, over time, it doesn’t matter which class it is, not just Prototype, people always haven’t done that.
“Because of that, you can gain an advantage for yourself if you don’t show your true potential. You can hang others out to dry that have shown their true potential.”
While not specifically naming manufacturers, Doonan has suggested for the “silly games” to end.
“People have been on the receiving end of getting hung out to dry and people have been on the receiving end in [getting] help in BoP when they technically didn’t necessarily deserve it,” he said.
“None of us in sports car racing have enough time; the season is relatively short to play silly games. That’s why everywhere we’ve run, we’ve shown everything.
“We, collectively, the community, have to continue to do everything we can to put a terrific set of races on the track, on TV, that people can enjoy and cheer for their favorite knowing that everybody out there has absolutely the most equal chance.”
Doonan, however, has stressed that he believes in the system, which has seen three of the four DPi manufacturers visit victory lane so far this season.
“It’s a great process and the part of it that is great is that we have a manufacturer council and everybody’s able to give their input,” he said. “We all agreed on this system.
“I believe in the system and we’ve played the system to the letter of the law. There’s always a chance to make it better or more efficient. We may get there as a group.
“I think it’s complicated, so maybe if there was something to change, there may be an opportunity to make it less complicated [for fans to understand].”
No “Golden Nugget” in Key to Mazda’s Breakthrough Success
Doonan said there’s been no single element that’s played to the manufacturer’s recent turnaround in fortunes and success in the DPi class this summer.
“This past two weeks I’ve had a bunch of people ask what was the difference? What changed? What was the golden nugget?” he said.
“The biggest change to this program, hands down, has been Multimatic.
“Those guys have transformed this race car and have put more resources in than they’ve ever been compensated for. Kudos to them.
“But if anyone is looking for a golden egg or one single thing, there’s been a lot of tweaks, polishing and doing the best things you can.
“But then it was our day, then it was our day again. You couldn’t script it.
“I hope we can get another one or two by the end of the year. It’s not going to be easy.”
interesting quotes from Doonan.
Hmm, wonder who he could be talking about **cough cough* Acura *cough cough* . Those guys always seem to magically find more speed when they need it and thus have avoided any major BoP hits.
as for the red part: yup. I've been hearing rumors that Multimatic has pretty much taken over this year in regards to the cars. Yes, Team Joest is a pivotal part of it during race weekends but Multimatic is now extremely hands on and that's been why they've seen a turn around as of late.
I just hope they can keep the streak alive and keep challenging for wins.
In response to Multimatic & Team Joest: Looks like they both found perfect harmony as a proper joint venture in this field. Multimatic provides the engineering support in the technicalities with regards to the vehicles and equipment, while Team Joest provides the strategy and operations management, Both are equally important for success, and they sure demonstrated it after a couple races into this season.
Cadillac DPi Gets Double BoP Break for Laguna Seca
The Cadillac DPi-V.R has been given a double break in performance ahead of next weekend’s Monterey SportsCar Championship powered by McLaren, with a power increase and weight decrease to the DPi contender.
Issued in a technical bulletin by IMSA on Friday, the Cadillacs will head to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca with a 20 kg weight break and 0.3 mm larger air restrictor.
The restrictor change is estimated to provide a 1.6-horsepower increase.
A 2-liter increase in fuel capacity has also been given to the Dallara-built DPis, which have struggled in recent IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races to the Acura ARX-05 and Mazda RT24-Ps.
While the championship-leading Acura remains unchanged since Road America, the Mazda DPi has been given a 5 kg increase in minimum weight.
They will NOT let Mazda keep winning races. Mazda is supposed to take a back seat to the big boys. How dare this upstart be beating Cadillac and Acura. Can't let that continue, even for one more race. Big money, big boys won't tolerate that, EVER. Don't ever believe IMSA is for fair competition, they know whom their biggest sponsors are and take good care of them.
Mazda Team Joest led the way in the opening practice session of the weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in preparation for Sunday’s Monterey Sports Car Championship powered by McLaren.
The No. 77 Team Joest Mazda RT24-P of Oliver Jarvis was quickest of the session, thanks to a 1:16.442 lap in the Multimatic-built DPi contender.
Jarvis was 0.153 seconds quicker than the No. 6 Team Penske Acura ARX-05 of Juan Pablo Montoya, followed by the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R of Filipe Albuquerque, who was quickest of the Cadillac DPis in third.
Renger van der Zande and Pipo Derani completed the top-five for Wayne Taylor Racing and Whelen Engineering Racing, respectively.
Both of the Mazda DPis had a difficult session, with overheating brakes as well as bodywork issues for the No. 55 car of Harry Tincknell and Jonathan Bomarito.
GT Le Mans saw the No. 67 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT of Richard Westbrook go quickest with a 1:22.548 lap time, nearly three-tenths clear of Tommy Milner’s No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, who ended up second.
The No. 24 Team RLL BMW M8 GTE of Jesse Krohn, which is carrying a black livery this weekend, was third quickest in class.
Paul Miller Racing’s Bryan Sellers posted the quickest time in GT Daytona, with Matt McMurry leading the way in LMP2 aboard his No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca 07 Gibson.
The second and final WeatherTech Championship practice session of the day gets underway at 3:15 p.m. PDT.
Awesome to see Mazda still showing speed after the weight increase but I get the feeling the times will continue to get faster as we get further into the practice sessions.
Also, that bit about overheating brakes is a bit concerning.
I haven't seen brake issues from them this season so it might be a new issue? Really late braking playing a part? might be the strategy to make up for loss of power?
Spirit of Daytona in the Mix for Customer Mazda DPi
Spirit of Daytona Racing could make its return to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, with a customer Mazda DPi program reportedly currently under discussion for 2020.
Multiple sources have confirmed to Sportscar365 that the Troy Flis-owned team, which has been absent from top-level IMSA competition for more than a year, is working to field a Mazda RT24-P.
It would mark the first customer Mazda DPi, following the recent success by the Multimatic-built prototype, which enters this weekend’s round at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on a three-race win streak.
It would be awesome to see customer Mazda DPi cars out there next season especially given that Mazda finally seems to have these cars dialed in and showing they CAN run with the big boys in this series.
Now it makes sense why Mazda was endurace testing a spare RT-24P out in Europe recently...
A late flyer by Juan Pablo Montoya has put Acura Team Penske on top in the opening day of practice for Sunday’s Monterey Sports Car Championship powered by McLaren at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
The Colombian reeled off a 1:16.003 lap in the No. 6 Acura ARX-05 late in the afternoon practice session, edging out the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R of Felipe Nasr by 0.078 seconds.
Oliver Jarvis made it three different DPi manufacturers in the top-three in the No. 77 Team Joest Mazda RT24-P, which improved slightly over the Englishman’s pace-setting time from the morning session.
The No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac DPi was fourth, with the No. 84 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac completing the top-five.
Issues continued for the No. 55 Mazda DPi, which spent time in the garage undergoing a rear-end rebuild following issues from the morning session.
They will NOT let Mazda keep winning races. Mazda is supposed to take a back seat to the big boys. How dare this upstart be beating Cadillac and Acura. Can't let that continue, even for one more race. Big money, big boys won't tolerate that, EVER. Don't ever believe IMSA is for fair competition, they know whom their biggest sponsors are and take good care of them.
I don't mind if the Caddies are given some breaks. Then if the Mazdas win again, no one can say they were BOPed into winning the previous 3 races.
yeah, Caddy had been gimped a little too much. They were SOOOOO dominant at the Rolex, I get why IMSA was a bit heavy handed with them but adding weight to the mazdas two BOP's in a row I don't think was the right move either.
who knows.
Based on practice yesterday, looks like we should have a very competitive race tomorrow with all 3 manufacturers in the hunt.
Acura goes 1-2 in the final practice at Laguna Seca.
They shaved another 6 tenths off their fastest time. Freaking sandbaggers at it again.
oh well.
Mazda is 4th and 6th with the #77 about a half second behind the leading Acura.
I'm not too concerned at this point but shoudl be interesting to see how qualifying goes later today.
Oh, and the 55 appears to be back in shape as it ran 31 laps (Acura ran 29) in the practice session so hopefully that brake problem has been resolved.
INSIGHT: How Mazda made 2018 Monterey heartbreak into a turning point
^^^ the Mazda was always good looking but this year's SRC paint is sooooo much nicer.
Cool Story from Racer.com about how the heartbreaking loss at Laguna Seca last year really fueled the winning culture and success Mazda is currently having.
The breakthrough win was in their hands. A clear lead at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for the Mazda Team Joest DPi program with time in the 2h40m contest winding down had all kinds of meaning for the heartbreak team. Close to victory on a few previous occasions, Mazda’s RT24-Ps were fast and reliable — an elusive combination since the model was launched in 2017 — and a win on home turf would have been monumental.
The end to the story is well known. Tripping over a backmarker who was warned to give race leader Harry Tincknell a wide berth, the No. 55 Mazda made contact, spun, and watched as an ESM Nissan DPi took the win. Actual tears were shed within the Mazda camp after the loss.
Returning to the circuit one year later, now named after IMSA’s title sponsor, Mazda Motorsports boss John Doonan doesn’t wince or flinch as hard as he once did at the mention of Laguna Seca 2018.
If anything, Mazda’s string of wins spanning Watkins Glen, Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, and Road America have served as a reminder of not only how close the team came to winning in Monterey, but also how the loss pushed the program to strengthen its ties with one key partner that has made the RT24-P a serious threat in 2019.
“If there’s any golden nugget in any of our success, it’s Multimatic and the engineering support, the investment they’ve made — the simulation, the vehicle dynamics, the testing. They’ve just crushed it out of the park in terms of helping this program be successful. In looking at Monterey, throughout the year last year, we had those oh-so-close moments, and the more we’ve involved ourselves with Multimatic, the more success we continue to have.
“Obviously, last year at Monterey, with 30 minutes to go, we’ve got roughly a 30-second lead, and we have the issue. I would just say that as we approach returning to Monterey in 2019, it’s unfinished business there in the midst of trying to keep the streak alive.”
Doonan credits the lingering hunger left behind after Laguna Seca as powerful motivator. Rather than allowing itself to believe the program had reached the necessary level of competitiveness, Mazda asked Multimatic to ignore what was shown at Monterey, and once more a few weeks later in Georgia, and treat the RT24-Ps like machines in need of a fresh approach to finding performance.
“I would say Monterey gave us a taste of how things could be. Petit Le Mans gave us a full-on appetizer when we finished with both the cars on the podium, and obviously the intensive testing that happened after that executed fully by Multimatic is what really changed, I think, the whole program,” he added.
“They set a new standard on prep for the cars. They executed endurance tests so we could focus on the areas that we were concerned about relative to reliability and then it was a matter of time.
“We were so close early on a few times this year. Obviously, Daytona bit us. I’d like to have that one back because I think now the reliability that we have puts us in an extremely good position going into 2020 for those long races. But yeah, without a doubt, Laguna Seca was definitely the sample taste of how close we were to closing the deal and achieving the ultimate goal and finally winning some races. And winning has transformed the entire operation.”
Cadillac's were fastest this morning running 1-2 and Mazda 3 &4.
I'm sure the Acura guys weren't going all out due to the visibility issues but I think we're in for one hell of a race as all three teams seem to be running well.
oh and breaking news / rumors last night that surprised a LOT of people
Jordan Taylor Set to Replace Magnussen at Corvette
First Ricky Taylor goes to Penske
now Jordan Taylor off to Corvette racing. I know he's raced with Corvette before and was at LeMans with them years ago (might have even won their class) but this is a big move for a few different reasons.
1. Wayne Taylor no longer has his kids racing for him which is a bitter / sweet. He was super proud of Ricky for being able to make the Penske squad and said it was a dream of his to see his kids make it to that level.
now having Jordan follow suit and replacing the legendary Magnussen on a great team must be cool.
2. what's WTR's driver line up look like next season. They're committed to the series so they'll be back and something tells me with Ford ending the Ford GT's run in IMSA competition there could be a bunch of really talented drivers for WTR to choose from.
I don't expect they will ever win again after the IMSA BOP heavy handiness. That is the way IMSA wants it, the big boys Acura and Cadillac going for the victories and Mazda the also-rans. Get used to it.
08-05-2019, 11:34 AM
Photo: Rick Dole/IMSA
