Albert Costa secured GTD victory for Conquest Racing at the IMSA SportsCar Championship’s 27th running of Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.
After starting eighth in the category, the #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 took their own maiden victory after a gruelling 10-hour race.
Unlike last year’s caution-filled event, this year’s race lacked regular disruption which meant that long periods of green flag racing kept the tension high.
Winward Racing secured their maiden GTD championship title in the end, having only needed to finish P14 or higher.
Most importantly, they were motivated to claim their first Petit Le Mans win and conclude the season on a high.
The likes of Forte Racing and their #45 Lamborghini Huracan, and the #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari, charged from the GTD midfield.
Furthermore, their pace set them at the sharp end of GTD competition as it came down to an intense fight to the end.
Firstly, though, as lights went out at the race start, GTD pole-sitter Scott Andrews (#80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3) retain his lead.
He started sixth in the combined GT order with GTD Pro competitors set between him and his nearest GTD rival behind.
The #80 Mercedes-AMG asserted promising race pace which helped Andrews overtake the #19 Iron Lynx Lamborghini (GTD Pro) of Franck Perrera in P5.
Andrews carried out a blissful start five cars ahead of the next GTD, Robby Foley (#96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4).
Unfortunately, his success was all too well and Andrews found himself beached into the gravel trap at Turn 5.
This triggered the first caution period 20-minutes into the race, as Andrews was pulled out by track officials but fell to last place.
Korthoff/Preston Motorsports climb into the lead
Once the race resumed, only #47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari driver Giorgio Sernagiotto did not pit so led the race.
He was fourth in the overall GT order, which meant that the GTD Pro cars and their works drivers behind muscled their way past him.
Once doing so, just 0.6 seconds separated the #47 Ferrari and Mike Skeen’s #32 Team Korthoff/Preston Mercedes-AMG behind.
Soon enough, the #32 took the lead as their team targeted a second victory this season.
They were not the only Mercedes-AMG showcasing good pace as Russell Ward’s #57 Mercedes-AMG overtook Jake Walker’s #96 Turner Motorsport BMW.
Meanwhile, Skeen not only kept himself in front of the #47 Ferrari, but up to a lead gap of five seconds.
Into the second racing hour, the Iron Dames #83 Lamborghini looked positively wired down on pace in the hands of Rahel Frey.
She ran in fourth position as the pink Lamborghini took third after a pit stop taken under caution, prompting Sarah Bovy to take over.
Eight hours and 24-minutes in, a third short yellow was deployed after Sheena Monk was briefly stranded at Turn 4.
The #66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX made contact with the #9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S of Oliver Jarvis (GTD Pro).
Just before the caution was called, Monk continued as the Gradient team marked their final race with the Acura package before they will use a Ford Mustang next year.
Cetilar Racing errors cost track position
Cetilar were not in the lead, in fact far from it, but a series of errors cost them potential to secure a strong points finish.
Driver Roberto Lacorte firstly spun at T5, which brought along gravel on the circuit.
Despite this, he quickly recovered his Ferrari but gained a drive-through penalty after 6kph pit speed violation.
The #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3.R came into its own up towards the halfway point.
Elliot Skeer carried out great form into the class lead and built a healthy gap on DragonSpeed’s Vincent Abril (#82 Ferrari).
The settled gaps throughout the GTD field reset as a result of a fourth caution period.
This, however, did not halt Skeer who conducted a rapid restart on Manny Franco’s #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari.
Franco was under pressure from Misha Goikhberg and his #78 Forte Racing Lamborghini in the fight for second place.
The #78 Lamborghini driver turned solid pace to not only overtake the #34, but also the #120 on the inside-line, at the bottom of the hill and into the lead.
After the halfway point, the light began to fade away to the all-important evening and night-time portion of Petit Le Mans.
Lacorte went off at T3 and was tapped into the wall, partially and unintentionally assisted off by Nick Tandy’s #6 Porsche 963 (GTP).
After recovering, the #47’s right-rear tyre rubbed against the bodywork.
The night-time commences
Darkness fell upon Road Atlanta, but that did not stop the action at the sharp end of GTD.
The #78 Lamborghini continued to turn convincing form, this time in the hands of Delvin Francesco.
Alessio Rovera attempted to fend third position in his #023 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari, but was unable to hold off Francesco.
Towards the eighth racing hour, Loris Spinelli was at the wheel of the #78 Lamborghini and held the lead with faultless running ahead of the #32 Mercedes-AMG, Mikael Grenier.
Elsewhere, AWA Racing’s #13 Corvette Z06 GT3.R had unofficially secured the Bob Akin Award which enables them and their Bronze-graded driver Orey Fidani an invitation to the 2025 Le Mans 24 Hours.
Into the final hour, the heat turned up in the GTD class – for both positive and negative reasons.
With 57-minutes remaining, a dramatic incident unfolded which saw Corey Lewis (#55 Proton Competition Ford Mustang) endure an impact at T5.
This left him stranded in the middle of the circuit and unfortunate timing saw Ricky Taylor’s #10 WTRAndretti Acura ARX-06 (GTP) make significant left-side contact, shearing the left-front wheel off the #55.
Lewis was attentive after the incident as track officials cleared up the debris. The #120 was prompted to retire along with the #10 after being involved.
After the fifth caution, thirty-five minutes of green flag racing separated drivers to the checkered flag.
Unsurprisingly, the #78 Lamborghini was at the front and commenced their quick form owing to Spinelli’s driving.
An enthusiastic Albert Costa fought his way in the #34 Ferrari, going door-to-door with Spinelli onto the start-finish before making the move stick.
The run-down at the end
At the end of 411 laps, the #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari took victory at just 0.7 seconds on the #78 Lamborghini.
Albert Costa along with his co-drivers Manny Franco and Cedric Sbirrazzuoli tasted their maiden Petit Le Mans win together.
The #78 crew of Loris Spinelli, Misha Goikhberg and Delvin Francesco took second, as the #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F claimed third.
After the retirement of the #14 GTD Pro Lexus, the #12 drivers of Aaron Telitz, Parker Thompson and Frankie Montecalvo earned the final podium spot.
Fourth was taken by the #32 Team Korthoff/Preston Motorsports Mercedes-AMG ahead of Triarsi Competizione’s #023 Ferrari.
After taking ninth place, Winward Racing earned the GTD championship title after their dominant 2024 campaign.
This was credited to their drivers Russell Ward and Phillip Ellis, along with Endurance Cup pilot Indy Dontje.
