2021 Petit Le Mans
The 2021 Petit Le Mans (known as the 2021 MOTUL Petit Le Mans for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th running of the Petit Le Mans, and was held on November 13, 2021. It was the 12th and final race in the 2021 IMSA SportsCar Championship, and the 4th race of the 2021 Michelin Endurance Cup. The race was be held at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia. This race was the last ever race for the GTLM Class.
Background
The 2021 running marks the event's return to the final calendar spot on the schedule following the wholesale schedule changes that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.[1] The 2021 edition underwent a date change of its own, being postponed from its traditional early-October spot to the weekend of November 13th.[2] The event featured support from four of IMSA's supporting series; the Michelin Pilot Challenge, IMSA Prototype Challenge, Porsche Carrera Cup North America, and Mazda MX-5 Cup.[3]
On November 3, 2021, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outlining Balance of Performance for the event.[4] In GTLM, the Chevrolet Corvette C8.R received a one-liter reduction in fuel capacity, while in GTD the 2021 debut of the McLaren required its addition to the BoP table.
This would be the final race for entry Mazda Motorsports as Mazda was stepping back from all racing activities following the 2021 season with the exception of the Mazda MX-5 Cup.[5] Also making its farewell was the GTLM class which in 2022 would be replaced by the new GTD Pro class.[6]
Entries
A total of 43 cars took part in the event, split across five classes. 7 were entered in DPi, 5 in LMP2, 10 in LMP3, 6 in GTLM, and 15 in GTD.
In DPi, the expected addition of the Endurance Cup effort from Ally Cadillac Racing was present, while Hélio Castroneves replaced Olivier Pla as Meyer Shank Racing's third driver.[7] In LMP2, United Autosports returned to complete their scheduled Endurance Cup campaign. In GTLM the pair of BMW Team RLL M8s returned for the Endurance Cup, WeatherTech Racing also added a second entry, which alongside its own full time entry and the two Corvettes boosted the class to six entries for its last ever race. LMP3 saw its largest grid of the season with ten cars, which included a series debut for FastMD Racing.[8] Returns for United Autosports, Forty7 Motorsports, Jr III Racing (whose lineup included former IndyCar driver Spencer Pigot),[9] and WIN Autosport[10] helped to boost the class to its record-breaking entry number. GTD also featured a number of changes, including the first appearance of the season for the McLaren 720S GT3, fielded by Inception Racing.[11] NTE Sport and Gilbert/Korthoff Motorsports also returned as part of their selective 2021 calendars, as did Alegra Motorsports, who added Mercedes-AMG factor driver Daniel Juncadella to their lineup.[12] Winward Racing also returned for the first time since their class victory at the 24 Hours of Daytona,[13] while the Heart of Racing Team dropped their second entry.[14]
Just hours before the race, Earl Bamber stepped in for Kevin Magnussen in Chip Ganassi Racing's DPi-class entry after Magnussen fell ill.[15]
Qualifying
Qualifying results
Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by 
.
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DPi | 31 | Whelen Engineering Racing | Felipe Nasr | 1:08.678 | _ | 1 |
| 2 | DPi | 55 | Mazda Motorsports | Harry Tincknell | 1:08.693 | +0.015 | 2 |
| 3 | DPi | 5 | JDC-Mustang Sampling Racing | Sébastien Bourdais | 1:08.848 | +0.170 | 3 |
| 4 | DPi | 01 | Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing | Kevin Magnussen | 1:08.879 | +0.201 | 4 |
| 5 | DPi | 60 | Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian | Dane Cameron | 1:08.920 | +0.242 | 5 |
| 6 | DPi | 48 | Ally Cadillac Racing | Kamui Kobayashi | 1:09.165 | +0.487 | 6 |
| 7 | DPi | 10 | Konica Minolta Acura | Filipe Albuquerque | 1:09.328 | +0.650 | 7 |
| 8 | LMP2 | 52 | PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports | Ben Keating | 1:12.229 | +3.551 | 8 |
| 9 | LMP2 | 11 | WIN Autosport | Steven Thomas | 1:12.583 | +3.905 | 9 |
| 10 | LMP2 | 18 | Era Motorsport | Dwight Merriman | 1:13.070 | +4.392 | 10 |
| 11 | LMP2 | 8 | Tower Motorsport by Starworks | John Farano | 1:14.289 | +5.611 | 11 |
| 12 | LMP2 | 22 | United Autosports | Jim McGuire | 1:14.814 | +6.136 | 12 |
| 13 | GTLM | 24 | BMW Team RLL | Jesse Krohn | 1:15.226 | +6.548 | 23 |
| 14 | LMP3 | 2 | United Autosports | Niklas Krütten | 1:15.664 | +6.986 | 13 |
| 15 | GTLM | 79 | WeatherTech Racing | Matt Campbell | 1:15.738 | +7.060 | 24 |
| 16 | LMP3 | 38 | Performance Tech Motorsports | Rasmus Lindh | 1:15.750 | +7.072 | 14 |
| 17 | GTLM | 3 | Corvette Racing | Antonio García | 1:15.930 | +7.252 | 25 |
| 18 | GTLM | 97 | WeatherTech Racing | Frédéric Makowiecki | 1:16.004 | +7.326 | 26 |
| 19 | GTLM | 4 | Corvette Racing | Nick Tandy | 1:16.051 | +7.373 | 27 |
| 20 | LMP3 | 36 | Andretti Autosport | Jarett Andretti | 1:17.122 | +8.444 | 15 |
| 21 | LMP3 | 91 | Riley Motorsports | Jim Cox | 1:17.403 | +8.725 | 16 |
| 22 | LMP3 | 74 | Riley Motorsports | Gar Robinson | 1:17.535 | +8.857 | 17 |
| 23 | LMP3 | 7 | Forty7 Motorsports | Stefan Rzadzinski | 1:17.793 | +9.115 | 18 |
| 24 | LMP3 | 40 | FastMD Racing | Max Hanratty | 1:18.112 | +9.434 | 19 |
| 25 | LMP3 | 30 | Jr III Racing | Ari Balogh | 1:19.071 | +10.393 | 20 |
| 26 | GTD | 1 | Paul Miller Racing | Madison Snow | 1:19.272 | +10.594 | 29 |
| 27 | GTD | 42 | NTE Sport | Benjamin Hites | 1:19.273 | +10.595 | 30 |
| 28 | GTD | 96 | Turner Motorsport | Robby Foley | 1:19.295 | +10.617 | 31 |
| 29 | GTD | 14 | Vasser-Sullivan Racing | Aaron Telitz | 1:19.308 | +10.630 | 43[lower-alpha 1] |
| 30 | GTD | 12 | Vasser-Sullivan Racing | Frankie Montecalvo | 1:19.456 | +10.778 | 32 |
| 31 | GTD | 57 | HTP Winward Motorsport | Russell Ward | 1:19.661 | +10.983 | 33 |
| 32 | GTD | 16 | Wright Motorsports | Trent Hindman | 1:19.722 | +11.044 | 34 |
| 33 | GTD | 9 | Pfaff Motorsports | Zacharie Robichon | 1:19.791 | +11.113 | 35 |
| 34 | GTD | 70 | Inception Racing with Optimum Motorsport | Frederik Schandorff | 1:19.800 | +11.122 | 36 |
| 35 | GTD | 28 | Alegra Motorsports | Daniel Morad | 1:19.846 | +11.168 | 37 |
| 36 | GTD | 19 | GRT Grasser Racing Team | Misha Goikhberg | 1:20.068 | +11.390 | 38 |
| 37 | GTD | 88 | Team Hardpoint | Andrew Davis | 1:20.079 | +11.401 | 39 |
| 38 | GTD | 32 | Gilbert/Korthoff Motorsports | Guy Cosmo | 1:20.353 | +11.675 | 40 |
| 39 | GTD | 23 | Heart of Racing Team | Ian James | 1:20.554 | +11.876 | 42[lower-alpha 2] |
| 40 | GTLM | 25 | BMW Team RLL | Connor De Phillippi | 1:21.299 | +12.621 | 28 |
| 41 | GTD | 44 | Magnus Racing with Archangel Motorsports | John Potter | 1:21.317 | +12.639 | 41 |
| — | LMP3 | 54 | CORE Autosport | Did Not Participate | 21 | ||
| — | LMP3 | 83 | WIN Autosport | No Time Established | 22 | ||
| Sources:[16][17][18][19] | |||||||
- The no. 14 Vasser-Sullivan Racing entry was moved to the rear of the GTD classification for violating competition rules regarding the car's ride height.
- The no. 23 Heart of Racing Team entry was moved to the rear of the GTD classification after the team elected to change tires after qualifying.
Race
Results
Class winners denoted in bold and with
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References
- Tamayo, George (October 19, 2021). "Motul Petit Le Mans: A night to shine". racer.com. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
- Sinclair, Adam (March 8, 2021). "IMSA Shifts Dates for 2021 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR and Motul Petit Le Mans". speedwaydigest.com. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
- "2021 Motul Petit Le Mans - IMSA". imsa.com. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
- "TB-IWSC-21-36-MRRA-BoP-Tables-11032021.pdf" (PDF). imsa.com. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
- Pruett, Marshall (February 12, 2021). "Mazda to shut down DPi program". racer.com. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
- "New GTD Pro Class". imsa.com. January 28, 2021. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
- Euwema, Davey. "Castroneves replaces Pla in Meyer Shank Racing's Petit Le Mans line-up". motorsportweek.com. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
- Dagys, John (October 13, 2021). "Fast MD Confirms Duqueine LMP3 Effort, Petit Le Mans Debut". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
- "Pigot Joins Jr III Ligier LMP3 for Petit Le Mans". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. October 22, 2021. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
- Kish, Ryan (October 22, 2021). "WIN Autosport adds LMP3 to LMP2 for Petit Le Mans". racer.com. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
- Dagys, John (October 14, 2021). "Inception McLaren Commits to Petit Le Mans". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
- Euwema, Davey (November 2, 2021). "Juncadella joins Alegra Motorsports at Petit Le Mans". motorsportweek.com. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
- Dagys, John (October 19, 2021). "Winward Set for Petit Le Mans Ahead of 2022 Full-Season Plans". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
- Goodwin, Graham (November 4, 2021). "43 Cars For Petit Le Mans". dailysportscar.com. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
- Goodwin, Graham (November 13, 2021). "Bamber Steps In At Ganassi For Petit Le Mans". dailysportscar.com. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
- "03_Results_Qualifying- LMP2-DPi Position and Points.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
- "03_Results_Qualifying- LMP3 Position and Points.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
- "03_Results_Qualifying- GTD - Points-GTLM Position and Points.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
- "03_Results_Qualifying- GTD - Position - Silver-Bronze only.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Retrieved November 12, 2021.