2021 Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio
The 2021 SportsCar Challenge at Mid-Ohio, known for sponsorship reasons as the 2021 Acura SportsCar Challenge, was a sports car race held at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course near Lexington, Ohio on May 16, 2021. The race is the third round of the 2021 IMSA SportsCar Championship, and the first round of the 2021 WeatherTech GT Daytona Sprint Cup.
Background
This race was initially meant to be the fifth round of the 2021 IMSA Championship, until the two "West Coast Swing" rounds, located at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and Long Beach street circuit, both in California, were postponed to September due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in California.[1]
On May 5, 2021, the entry list for the event was released, featuring a total of 26 cars across three classes. Six cars were in Daytona Prototype International (DPi), another six entries were in the Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) class, and 14 entries were received for the GT Daytona (GTD) class. The GT Le Mans (GTLM) and Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) classes were not present. In the GTD class, several teams who were scheduled to be present only at the 3-hour rounds on the 2021 calendar made their season debut, including CarBahn Motorsports and Compass Racing, the former of which was making the step up from the IMSA SportsCar Championship support category, the Michelin Pilot Challenge.[2][3][4]
This race also marked the start of the season for full-time Wright Motorsports driver, Ryan Hardwick, after suffering crashes that put him out of both the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring due to concussion. In those two races without Hardwick, Wright Motorsports built up a points lead in the GTD class.[5]
In the LMP3 class, despite the absence of Forty7 motorsports, IndyCar team Andretti Autosport made their season debut with a Ligier JS P320 piloted by Jarett Andretti and Oliver Askew.
On May 5, 2021, IMSA released a technical bulletin regarding the Balance of Performance constraints for the Mid-Ohio race.[6] The Mazda RT24-P was given a slight power boost, with the equivalent of a 7.5 horsepower increase in engine output through turbo boost levels. After winning at Daytona and Sebring, the Acura ARX-05 and Cadillac DPi-V.R respectively were each given a 1.0 liter reduction in fuel capacity.
In the GTD class, after finishing in the top two places at the 12 Hours of Sebring, the Porsche 911 GT3 R was made 20 kilograms heavier, bringing the standard weight to 1,320 kilograms. A similar change was made to the Acura NSX GT3 Evo, with a 10 kilogram weight reduction after best finishes of 11th and 4th at Daytona and Sebring respectively.
Forty7 Motorsports and Grasser Racing Team withdrew from the event prior to the first practice session.[7]
Qualifying
Harry Tincknell took overall pole for the event. Gar Robinson secured the pole in LMP3, while Aaron Telitz started first in GTD.[8]
Qualifying results
Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by 
.
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DPi | 55 | Mazda Motorsports | Harry Tincknell | 1:10.027 | _ | 1 |
| 2 | DPi | 10 | Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 | Filipe Albuquerque | 1:10.122 | +0.095 | 2 |
| 3 | DPi | 60 | Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian | Dane Cameron | 1:10.355 | +0.328 | 61 |
| 4 | DPi | 31 | Whelen Engineering Racing | Pipo Derani | 1:10.432 | +0.405 | 3 |
| 5 | DPi | 5 | JDC-Mustang Sampling Racing | Tristan Vautier | 1:10.567 | +0.540 | 52 |
| 6 | DPi | 01 | Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing | Kevin Magnussen | 1:10.934 | +0.907 | 43 |
| 7 | LMP3 | 74 | Riley Motorsports | Gar Robinson | 1:17.246 | +7.219 | 7 |
| 8 | LMP3 | 54 | CORE Autosport | Jon Bennett | 1:17.632 | +7.605 | 8 |
| 9 | LMP3 | 36 | Andretti Autosport | Jarett Andretti | 1:17.713 | +7.686 | 9 |
| 10 | LMP3 | 38 | Performance Tech Motorsports | Dan Goldburg | 1:19.347 | +9.320 | 104 |
| 11 | LMP3 | 91 | Riley Motorsports | Jim Cox | 1:19.444 | +9.417 | 115 |
| 12 | LMP3 | 33 | Sean Creech Motorsport | Lance Willsey | 1:19.629 | +9.602 | 12 |
| 13 | GTD | 14 | Vasser Sullivan Racing | Aaron Telitz | 1:20.529 | +10.502 | 13 |
| 14 | GTD | 96 | Turner Motorsport | Robby Foley | 1:20.535 | +10.508 | 14 |
| 15 | GTD | 28 | Alegra Motorsports | Daniel Morad | 1:20.687 | +10.660 | 15 |
| 16 | GTD | 12 | Vasser Sullivan Racing | Frankie Montecalvo | 1:20.812 | +10.785 | 16 |
| 17 | GTD | 1 | Paul Miller Racing | Madison Snow | 1:20.941 | +10.914 | 17 |
| 18 | GTD | 9 | Pfaff Motorsports | Zacharie Robichon | 1:20.952 | +10.925 | 256 |
| 19 | GTD | 23 | Heart of Racing Team | Roman De Angelis | 1:21.139 | +11.112 | 18 |
| 20 | GTD | 76 | Compass Racing | Jeff Kingsley | 1:21.332 | +11.305 | 19 |
| 21 | GTD | 39 | CarBahn Motorsports with Peregrine Racing | Richard Heistand | 1:21.478 | +11.451 | 20 |
| 22 | GTD | 66 | Gradient Racing | Till Bechtolsheimer | 1:21.856 | +11.829 | 21 |
| 23 | GTD | 16 | Wright Motorsports | Ryan Hardwick | 1:21.975 | +11.948 | 22 |
| 24 | GTD | 88 | Team Hardpoint EBM | Rob Ferriol | 1:22.036 | +12.009 | 23 |
| 25 | GTD | 44 | Magnus Racing with Archangel Motorsports | John Potter | 1:22.131 | +12.104 | 247 |
| Sources:[9][10][11][12] | |||||||
- 1 The No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian entry initially qualified third for the DPi class. However, the team changed engines. By IMSA rules, the entry was moved to the rear of the DPi field on the starting grid. Additionally, the team elected to change tires after qualifying.
- 2 The No. 5 JDC-Mustang Sampling Racing entry was moved to the back of the DPi field after the team elected to change tires after qualifying.
- 3 The No. 01 Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing entry was moved to the back of the DPi field after the team elected to change tires after qualifying.
- 4 The No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports entry initially qualified fourth for the LMP3 class. However, the car suffered an engine failure during qualifying, forcing the team to use its IMSA Prototype Challenge chassis due to a lack of spare engines. By IMSA rules, the entry was moved to the rear of the LMP3 field on the starting grid.[13]
- 5 The No. 91 Riley Motorsports entry was moved to the back of the LMP3 field after the team elected to change tires after qualifying.
- 6 The No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports entry was moved to the rear of the GTD classification for violating competition rules regarding the car's ride height.[14]
- 7 The No. 44 Magnus Racing entry was moved to the back of the GTD field after the team elected to change tires after qualifying.
Results
Class winners are denoted in bold and .
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References
- "IMSA West Coast Swing Moves to September for 2021". IMSA. December 17, 2020. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
- Dagys, John (5 May 2021). "Expanded GTD Field for Sprint Cup Season Opener at Mid-Ohio". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
- Pruett, Marshall (13 May 2021). "CarBahn with Peregrine Racing steps up to IMSA GTD ranks". racer.com. Racer Media & Marketing Inc. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
- Dagys, John (14 May 2021). "Farnbacher Relishing "Different Approach" for Sprint Cup Attack". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
- Dagys, John (10 May 2021). "Hardwick Ready for Comeback After "Unplanned Break"". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
- Competition, IMSA (5 May 2021). "Mid Ohio Balance of Performance Tables" (PDF). imsa.com. International Motor Sports Association. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
- Dagys, John (May 14, 2021). "Mid-Ohio Friday Notebook". sportscar365.com. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
- Dagys, John (May 15, 2021). "Tincknell Takes First IMSA Pole at Mid-Ohio". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
- "03_Results_Qualifying - DPi Position - Points.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
- "03_Results_Qualifying - LMP3 Position - Points.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
- "03_Results_Qualifying - GTD Position.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
- "01_Grid_Race_Official.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
- Dagys, John (May 16, 2021). "Performance Tech to Run IPC Car After Engine Failure for No. 38". sportscar365.com. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
- Dagys, John (May 15, 2021). "Mid-Ohio Saturday Notebook". sportscar365.com. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
- "03_Results_Race_Official.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Retrieved April 27, 2023.