Daniel Serra claimed victory in GTD Pro for the #35 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 as part of the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Weekend at Road America.
Hot and dry conditions at Road America was not the only heat brought to the 2024 Sportscar Weekend as a combined field of 25 GTD and GTD Pro cars fought it out en route to the prospect of victory at the end of the 2-hour and 40-minute sprint race.
The race start was dramatic for the second-placed #4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Alex Sims, who was tapped by Mike Rockenfeller’s #64 Ford Multimatic Mustang GT3 into Turn 3.
As Sims was helped out before he continued on his way, Rockenfeller pitted for an emergency service with a broken right-front suspension as a result of outbraking himself into Sims on the opening lap.
GTD pole-sitter Mikael Grenier continued from his pole-spot from the wheel of the #32 Korthoff/Preston Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 as he overtook the #77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3.R of Julien Andlauer, and the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR of Alex Riberas – both are GTD Pro entrants.
The #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 of Manny Franco faced a drive-through for a false start, whilst the #64 received a drive-through for incident responsibility although they were behind the wall as mechanics installed a new lower control arm.
Danny Formal found himself slowing down and stranded at Turn 10 after losing electrical power in his #45 WTRAndretti Lamborghini Huracan, including power steering, before an electrical issue was highlighted in the form of gentle smoke.
Penalties were galore in the GTD class, as the #35 Conquest (GTD Pro) Ferrari with Giacomo Altoe took the lead as he maintained strong pace in his first IMSA race outside of his Daytona 24 Hours participation at the beginning of the year.
Amidst the penalty recipients was Ben Barnicoat in the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3, when he momentarily drove away from his pit box with equipment still attached, which triggered the first of two drive-through penalties; the second was awarded due to a pit lane protocol violation.
Ferrari were running in 1-2 with their #35, now being driven by Daniel Serra, ahead of the #023 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari of Alessio Rovera.
Following a short, fourth caution period initiated to retrieve bodywork from the #65 Ford Multimatic Mustang of Joey Hand after he made contact with Romain De Angelis’ #27 GTD Heart of Racing Aston Martin, a plethora of tense fights commences in both categories.
Amongst the fighters was Bryan Sellers in his #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 who made up ground as his rivals battled for track position, eventually finding himself running second in the GTD Pro class.
One prolific battle was between (#27) Romain De Angelis and the #4 Corvette of Tommy Milner, as the latter driver used his momentum and speed to charge into Canada Corner (Turn 12) before the Aston Martin driver put on a defence, before the pair ran side-by-side during the following lap and thus Milner wrestled his way back.
As the GTD and GTD Pro cars fought regardless of their class difference, Loris Spinelli of the #78 Forte Racing Lamborghini was one of the misfortunate drivers from the situation as he was forced to stop at the side of Turn 6, with the #120 MDK by High Class Porsche of Mike Skeer forced to retire after taking on damage from contact made.
Rovera made a late yet unsurprising pit stop from the lead of the GTD category, having been off-strategy in comparison to his rivals whilst the #35 of Serra had only made one pit stop.
Parker Thompson was in the GTD class lead, in his #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus, before heartbreak struck as he pitted for fuel at only three minutes before the end, giving the lead to Turner Motorsport’s Robby Foley in the #96 BMW M4.
GTD Pro was won marvelously by the #35 Conquest Racing duo of Daniel Serra and Giacomo Altoe after 61 laps completed, followed by Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow’s #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4, and the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR of Ross Gunn and his co-driver Alex Riberas.
Fourth place was claimed by the #77 AO Racing ‘Roxy’ Porsche 911 GT3.R of Laurin Heinrich and Julien Andlauer, with the #3 Corvette duo of Antonio Garcia and Alex Sims securing fifth in the end.
In the GTD category, Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher claimed their first win of the season for the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4, followed by Inception Racing’s #70 McLaren 720S duo of Frederik Schandorff and Brendan Iribe.
Gradient Racing and their #66 Acura NSX secured third place owing to co-drivers Stevan McAleer and Sheena Monk, with the championship-leading #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG drivers Phillip Ellis and Russell Ward in fourth.
Matt Bell rounded out the top-five for the #13 AWA Racing Corvette Z06 GT3.R with his teammate Orey Fidani.
See here for the full provisional classification of the 2024 IMSA Sportscar Weekend.
