Motorsport Week reviewed the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship season where Porsche machinery reigned high in the GTP and GTD Pro categories.
IMSA produced a season of action and drama throughout 72 hours of racing.
11 rounds encompassed a mixture of highs and lows throughout IMSA competition.
GTP, LMP2, and GTD Pro cars fought closely during their respective championship fights whilst Winward Racing dominated the GTD class.
Ultimately, Porsche Penske reigned high with its 963 LMDh as AO Racing’s #77 911 GT3.R came out on top in the GTD Pro competition.
Porsche machinery took the Drivers’, Teams’ and Manufacturers’ glory in both categories, plus the Endurance Cup GTP Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ titles thus amounting to eight championships from IMSA alone.
Let’s look back at the pivotal races of this season which proved noteworthy for action and the different championship fight narratives.
Porsche wins at Daytona but not at Sebring
IMSA opens the season with its two longest races, the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring.
Porsche Penske’s #7 963 earned its way to victory at the first hurdle, Daytona, but not quite so at an even more intense 72nd running of the Sebring event.
On the former, Porsche was adamant about reaping success with its LMDh car in the second year of the GTP era.
Pipo Derani claimed the first of two consecutive pole positions for the race and maintained his lead ahead of #7 driver Felipe Nasr.
Derani was designated to fourth after Sebastien Bourdais got the better of him on a post-caution restart before Nasr made his move on the red Cadillac.
The humidity proved challenging for drivers up and down the grid as some made costly mistakes, which triggered caution periods.
Both Cadillacs controlled the race at the front before the sun went down and lap times got quicker in cooler conditions.
Towards the final, most crucial hours of any endurance race, the #31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R found itself at the front favouring the returning warmer track temperatures.
In the final pit stop, it came down to the #7 needing less fuel than the #31 – which put it in the race lead – although both took on fresh tyres. Nasr controlled the pressure from Tom Blomqvist’s #31.
Porsche Penske took its first 24 Hours of Daytona victory in the GTP era, and Porsche’s 19th as a manufacturer.
On the other hand, Sebring was a different, more intense story where Porsche was not as capable in comparison to the Acuras and Cadillacs.
It came down to a fantastic late move by Louis Deletraz on Bourdais to win.
Bumper cars and a blockage in Detroit
Round five of the schedule brought IMSA back to the streets of Detroit in a double-event with IndyCar.
As much as the season produced thrilling spectacles, this was one event which was arguably the low point due to the circuit’s tight 90-degree corners, little room for wheel-to-wheel racing and regular contact during the 100-minute sprint with GTP and GTD Pro cars.
There were five caution periods, equating to the same as the 10-hour season finale over five months later.
The race start was untidy in GTD Pro with drivers changing lanes before the start line, and pole-sitter Antonio Garcia (#3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R) suffered an alternator failure at the end of the opening lap.
Nick Tandy (#6 Porsche Penske 963) established an early lead whilst teammate Dane Cameron (#7 Porsche) fell back.
The #6 driver was the first point of contact, literally, as he served a drive-through penalty after rear-ending Daniel Serra’s #35 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3.
WTRAndretti Acura, Chip Ganassi Cadillac, and Porsche Penske occupied the top-three positions.
Connor De Philippi (#25 BMW M Hybrid V8) put his RLL-run GTP car towards the sharp end of action before hitting the wall twice, after attempting to fend off Nasr.
Detroit’s narrow circuit tested drivers’ skills to race within the limits but the GTPs were clearly too large to race on such a tight configuration with GT traffic.
Richard Westbrook was pipped into a spin by Jack Aitken (#31) which caused his #85 JDC Miller MotorSports Porsche to block the circuit and the entire GTD Pro field.
On the upside, WTRAndretti’s #10 Acura ARX-06 duo of Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor ended their 668-day winless streak as AO Racing took their second win.
When LMP2 regained the spotlight at CTMP
GTP being removed from the bill for IMSA’s sole trip to Canada – specifically the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park – was understandably met with criticism.
The LMP2 class regained the spotlight as the top class in the seventh round and was under great pressure to deliver brilliant racing action as the sole prototype class.
What resulted was the third-closest gap between the top-two placed finishers and undoubtedly the best LMP2 race of the year.
CTMP is a fast circuit with sweeping bends therefore perfect for LMP2 machines with GTD Pro competitors.
Both LMP2 championship protagonists were at the heart of the story, the #74 Riley Oreca 07 and the #52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca 07.
At first, pole-sitter PJ Hyett (#99 AO Racing Oreca) expanded his lead with confidence but was hampered by changing lanes at the start before the (start) line.
Nick Boulle (#52) kept his defence ahead of Gar Robinson (#74 Riley) and Steven Thomas’s #11 TDS Racing Orecas, before his co-driver Tom Dillmann took over the wheel.
Dillmann established a commanding lead up to six seconds, though Scott Huffaker (#11) closed the gap down to one second amidst GT traffic.
Felipe Fraga gained P2 after Huffaker had a brief off-track excursion. In the final eight-and-a-half-minute sprint to the end, Dillmann withstood tremendous pressure by Fraga, who was 0.658 away from the win at the checkered flag, to earn the team’s first victory in a thrilling show.
Despite the #74 Riley’s efforts, the #52 PR1 Mathiasen by Inter Europol entrant led the standings by a narrow 12 points and would go on to win the title.
Unforeseen victors deliver at the Brickyard
The return of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course to IMSA was met last year with a maladroit mixture of LMP2, LMP3 and GTDs making occasional contact owing to sub-par driving standards, whilst Porsche Penske nonetheless surged to glory in GTP – after the Turn 1 spin-around of Bourdais by Blomqvist.
So for the six-hour running this year, one was quite apprehensive for reckless carnage. Fortunately, the Battle on the Bricks delivered the contrary: A ton of rain and fantastic racing throughout.
Immediate heavy rain caused a hectic sequence where most of the field spun at least once due to the standing water, as the GT classes nursed their slick tyres as far as possible before switching to grooved wet tyres.
Once again, Nasr was at the front battling intensely with Bourdais after the rain had eased off, losing the lead to the Frenchman due to out-braking himself.
During the second hour, however, the quickest GTP car was Romain Grosjean in the #63 Lamborghini SC63 who fought against De Philippi’s #25 BMW.
The French-Swiss driver charged from fourth towards the lead in a poised yet steady manner, marking Lamborghini Iron Lynx’s first genuine showing of front-running GTP pace.
Unfortunately, it was not to be for the #63 Lamborghini after serving a drive-through from too many mechanics working on the car during the pit stop as Matteo Cairoli took over the wheel.
Their day went south during the fifth hour after contact with Ben Barker’s #55 Proton Ford Mustang GT3, inflicting suspension damage which put it behind the wall to retirement.
Amidst the fighting, BMW RLL ran mistake-free and claimed an unexpected, marvellous 1-2 finish as GTD Pro championship protagonists AO Racing carried out a breathtaking last-to-first charge.
More action, less caution at Petit Le Mans
The 2023 race hosted more cautions (12) than there were hours of racing at Road Atlanta (10). Fortunately, the 27th running of Petit Le Mans gave way for more racing and longer green flag running.
Apart from the Winward Racing team in GTD, other class championship titles were up for the taking at the season finale.
AO Racing began on pole and retained form throughout the start, closely ahead of the #23 Heart of Racing (HOR) Aston Martin Vantage GT3 EVO.
In dramatic circumstances, #77 Porsche driver Julien Andlauer found himself suffering recurring gear selection issues. It hampered the team’s form and enabled HOR to hold the upper hand.
‘Rexy’ fell back still on the lead lap and crucially in the virtual championship lead. Agonisingly for HOR, they were just one position away from taking the title. HOR consistently stayed out of trouble whilst AO Racing’s mechanics acted accordingly to solve their unprecedented woes.
GTP was a different story, as both Porsche Penskes and the #10 WTRAndretti Acura were key winning contenders.
The #7 Porsche was on course to secure the championship title, but a coveted win was at stake.
The fifth and final caution into the final hour saw a multi-car collision end the #10’s winning hopes. Though they ran in P2, they were keen to win until Ricky Taylor incurred unavoidable major left side-pod damage.
It was a tearful end for the #10 as Renger van der Zande took home Chip Ganassi’s hard-earned victory of the 2024 season ahead of their IMSA departure.
Nevertheless, Porsche ended the season with four GTP wins and two in GTD Pro.
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