The 2023 Motul Course de Monterey (formally known as the Motul Course de Monterey Powered by Hyundai N) was a sports car race held at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca near Monterey, California on May 14, 2023. It was the fourth round of the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship and the second round of the 2023 WeatherTech Sprint Cup.

Background

WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, where the race was held.

International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2022.[1] It was the tenth consecutive year it was part of the IMSA SCC.[2] The 2023 Motul Course de Monterey was the fourth of eleven scheduled sports car races of 2023 by IMSA, and the second of seven races of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup.[3] The race was held at the eleven-turn 2.238 mi (3.602 km) WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on May 14, 2023.[4]

After the Grand Prix of Long Beach four weeks earlier, Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet led the GTP Drivers' Championship with 955 points, ahead of Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims with 954 points followed by Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor with 934 points.[5] With 375 points, the LMP2 Drivers' Championship was led by John Farano, Scott McLaughlin, and Kyffin Simpson with a twenty-five point advantage over Scott Huffaker, Mikkel Jensen, and Steven Thomas.[5] Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth led the GTD Pro Drivers' Championship with 1067 points ahead of Jules Gounon and Daniel Juncadella with 994 points.[5] In GTD, the Drivers' Championship was led by Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow with 1008 points, ahead of Roman De Angelis and Marco Sørensen with 909 points.[5] Cadillac, Lexus, and BMW were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Porsche Penske Motorsport, Tower Motorsports, Vasser Sullivan Racing, and Paul Miller Racing each led their own Teams' Championships.[5]

On May 4, 2023, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outlining Balance of Performance for the GTP, GTD Pro, and GTD classes. In GTP, both Cadillac and BMW received weight reductions, whilst Porsche and Acura received weight increases compared to Long Beach. The Cadillac ran at 1030 kg, the BMW ran at 1031 kg, the Porsche ran at 1038 kg, and the Acura ran at 1049 kg. As a result, the Cadillac ran on 511 kilowatts of power, the BMW on 512 kW, the Porsche on 514 kW, and the Acura on 520 kW. Maximum stint energy figures were also adjusted.[6] In GTD Pro and GTD, the only changes in BoP are a 10 kg weight increase for BMW and a 5-liter decrease of fuel tank capacity for McLaren.[6]

Entries

A total of 38 cars took part in the event, split across four classes. 9 car were entered in GTP, 8 in LMP2, 5 in GTD Pro, and 16 in GTD.[7] In GTP, the entry list was headlined by the addition of the JDC-Miller MotorSports entry, featuring the first Porsche 963 customer entry on the IMSA SportsCar Championship grid. The car was driven by Tijmen van der Helm and Mike Rockenfeller.[8] In LMP2, the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR Oreca 07 also entered with Ben Hanley and George Kurtz, even though the car was initially not confirmed as a full-season entry.[7] In GTD, Andretti Autosport debuted their No. 94 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3, driven by Jarett Andretti and Gabby Chaves.[9]

Practice

There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Sunday, one on Friday and one on Saturday. The first session lasted 90 minutes on Friday while the second session on Saturday lasted 105 minutes.[10]

Practice 1

The first practice session took place at 4:05 pm PT on Friday and ended with Matt Campbell topping the charts for Porsche Penske Motorsport, with a lap time of 1:16.703.[11] Louis Delétraz set the fastest time in LMP2 driving the #8 Tower Motorsports entry.[12] Ben Barnicoat was fastest in GTD Pro while Frankie Montecalvo set the fastest time amongst all GTD cars.[13]

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap
1 GTP 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Matt Campbell 1:16.703 _
2 GTP 60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Colin Braun 1:17.019 +0.316
3 GTP 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Mathieu Jaminet 1:17.115 +0.412
Sources:[14][15]

Final Practice

The second and final practice session took place at 8:55 am PT on Saturday and ended with Matt Campbell topping the charts for Porsche Penske Motorsport, with a lap time of 1:15.493.[16] Ed Jones set the fastest time in LMP2.[17] The GTD Pro class was topped by the #23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 of Alex Riberas while Loris Spinelli was fastest in GTD.[17]

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap
1 GTP 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Matt Campbell 1:15.493 _
2 GTP 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Pipo Derani 1:15.642 +0.149
3 GTP 60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Colin Braun 1:15.716 +0.223
Sources:[18][19]

Qualifying

Saturday’s afternoon qualifying was broken into three sessions, with one session for the GTP, LMP2, and GTD Pro and GTD classes, which lasted for 20 minutes for the GTP session, and 15 minutes for the LMP2, and GTD Pro/GTD sessions.[10] The rules dictated that all teams nominated a driver to qualify their cars, with the Pro-Am LMP2 class requiring a Bronze rated driver to qualify the car. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order. IMSA then arranged the grid to put GTPs ahead of the LMP2, GTD Pro, and GTD cars.[20]

Qualifying was broken into three sessions. The first was cars in the GTD Pro and GTD classes. Klaus Bachler qualified on pole in GTD Pro driving the #9 Pfaff Motorsports entry. Alec Udell qualified on pole in GTD driving the #92 Kelly-Moss with Riley entry, besting Roman De Angelis in the #27 Heart of Racing Team entry.[21]

The second session of qualifying was for cars in the LMP2 class. George Kurtz qualified on pole for the class driving the #04 car for CrowdStrike Racing by APR.[22]

The final session of qualifying was for the GTP class. Matt Campbell qualified on pole driving the No. 7 car for Porsche Penske Motorsport, beating Mathieu Jaminet in the sister #6 car for Porsche Penske Motorsport by less than one tenth of a second.[23]

Qualifying results

Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by .

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap Grid
1 GTP 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Australia Matt Campbell 1:14.774 _ 1
2 GTP 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport France Mathieu Jaminet 1:14.864 +0.090 2
3 GTP 60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian United States Colin Braun 1:14.979 +0.205 3
4 GTP 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Brazil Pipo Derani 1:15.007 +0.233 4
5 GTP 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport United States Ricky Taylor 1:15.303 +0.529 5
6 GTP 01 Cadillac Racing France Sébastien Bourdais 1:15.335 +0.561 6
7 GTP 25 BMW M Team RLL United States Connor De Phillippi 1:15.648 +0.874 7
8 GTP 24 BMW M Team RLL Austria Philipp Eng 1:15.747 +0.973 8
9 GTP 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Netherlands Tijmen van der Helm 1:16.995 +2.221 9
10 LMP2 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR United States George Kurtz 1:19.262 +4.488 10
11 LMP2 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports United States Ben Keating 1:19.323 +4.549 11
12 LMP2 11 TDS Racing United States Steven Thomas 1:19.718 +4.944 12
13 LMP2 35 TDS Racing France François Heriau 1:20.475 +5.701 16
14 LMP2 51 Rick Ware Racing United States Eric Lux 1:20.625 +5.851 17
15 LMP2 20 High Class Racing Denmark Dennis Andersen 1:20.655 +5.881 13
16 LMP2 8 Tower Motorsports Canada John Farano 1:21.055 +6.281 14
17 LMP2 18 Era Motorsport United States Dwight Merriman 1:21.912 +7.138 15
18 GTD Pro 9 Pfaff Motorsports Austria Klaus Bachler 1:24.529 +9.755 18
19 GTD 92 Kelly-Moss with Riley United States Alec Udell 1:24.539 +9.765 19
20 GTD 27 Heart of Racing Team Canada Roman De Angelis 1:24.647 +9.873 20
21 GTD Pro 23 Heart of Racing Team Spain Alex Riberas 1:24.654 +9.880 21
22 GTD Pro 79 WeatherTech Racing Spain Daniel Juncadella 1:24.706 +9.932 22
23 GTD Pro 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing United Kingdom Jack Hawksworth 1:24.727 +9.953 23
24 GTD Pro 3 Corvette Racing United States Jordan Taylor 1:24.907 +10.133 24
25 GTD 80 AO Racing Team United Kingdom Sebastian Priaulx 1:25.005 +10.231 25
26 GTD 12 Vasser Sullivan Racing United States Frankie Montecalvo 1:25.085 +10.311 26
27 GTD 1 Paul Miller Racing United States Madison Snow 1:25.260 +10.486 27
28 GTD 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports United States Mike Skeen 1:25.433 +10.659 28
29 GTD 96 Turner Motorsport United States Patrick Gallagher 1:25.440 +10.666 29
30 GTD 57 Winward Racing United States Russell Ward 1:25.442 +10.668 30
31 GTD 91 Kelly-Moss with Riley United States Alan Metni 1:25.601 +10.827 31
32 GTD 70 Inception Racing United States Brendan Iribe 1:25.842 +11.068 32
33 GTD 78 Forte Racing powered by US RaceTronics Canada Misha Goikhberg 1:25.927 +11.153 33
34 GTD 97 Turner Motorsport United States Chandler Hull 1:26.227 +11.453 34
35 GTD 94 Andretti Autosport United States Jarett Andretti 1:26.289 +11.515 35
36 GTD 66 Gradient Racing United States Sheena Monk 1:26.363 +11.589 36
37 GTD 77 Wright Motorsports United States Alan Brynjolfsson 1:26.365 +11.591 37
38 GTD 44 Magnus Racing United States John Potter 1:26.415 +11.641 38
Sources:[24][25]

Race

Post-race

The result kept Tandy and Jaminet atop the GTP Drivers' Championship, 25 points ahead of Derani and Sims. Bourdais and van der Zande advanced from sixth to fourth.[26] In the LMP2 Drivers' Championship, Loup Chatin and Keating advanced from fourth to second while Farano dropped from first to third.[26] The result kept Barnicoat and Hawksworth atop the GTD Pro Drivers' Championship.[26] The result kept Sellers and Snow atop the GTD Drivers' Championship while Iribe and Schandorff advanced from fourth to second. Cadillac, Lexus, and BMW continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Porsche Penske Motorsport, Vasser Sullivan Racing, and Paul Miller Racing kept their respective advantages in their respective of Teams' Championships. TDS Racing took the lead in the LMP2 Teams' Championships with seven races remaining in the season.[26]

Class winners are in bold and .

Pos Class No Team Drivers Chassis Laps Time/Retired
Engine
1 GTP 01 United States Cadillac Racing France Sébastien Bourdais
Netherlands Renger van der Zande
Cadillac V-Series.R 102 2:41:02.933
Cadillac LMC55R 5.5 L V8
2 GTP 6 Germany Porsche Penske Motorsport France Mathieu Jaminet
United Kingdom Nick Tandy
Porsche 963 102 +3.882
Porsche 9RD 4.6 L Turbo V8
3 GTP 31 United States Whelen Engineering Racing Brazil Pipo Derani
United Kingdom Alexander Sims
Cadillac V-Series.R 102 +10.636
Cadillac LMC55R 5.5 L V8
4 GTP 10 United States Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Portugal Filipe Albuquerque
United States Ricky Taylor
Acura ARX-06 102 +21.041
Acura AR24e 2.4 L Turbo V6
5 GTP 24 United States BMW M Team RLL Austria Philipp Eng
Brazil Augusto Farfus
BMW M Hybrid V8 102 +22.818
BMW P66/3 4.0 L Turbo V8
6 GTP 60 United States Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian United Kingdom Tom Blomqvist
United States Colin Braun
Acura ARX-06 102 +23.109
Acura AR24e 2.4 L Turbo V6
7 GTP 5 United States JDC-Miller MotorSports Germany Mike Rockenfeller
Netherlands Tijmen van der Helm
Porsche 963 102 +23.818
Porsche 9RD 4.6 L Turbo V8
8 LMP2 11 France TDS Racing Denmark Mikkel Jensen
United States Steven Thomas
Oreca 07 102 +43.809
Gibson GK428 V8 engine
9 GTP 25 United States BMW M Team RLL United States Connor De Phillippi
United Kingdom Nick Yelloly
BMW M Hybrid V8 102 +45.677
BMW P66/3 4.0 L Turbo V8
10 LMP2 52 United States PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports France Paul-Loup Chatin
United States Ben Keating
Oreca 07 102 +48.904
Gibson GK428 V8 engine
11 LMP2 04 United States CrowdStrike Racing by APR United Kingdom Ben Hanley
United States George Kurtz
Oreca 07 102 +49.158
Gibson GK428 V8 engine
12 LMP2 35 France TDS Racing Netherlands Giedo van der Garde
France François Heriau
Oreca 07 102 +50.003
Gibson GK428 V8 engine
13 LMP2 51 United States Rick Ware Racing United States Eric Lux
Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya
Oreca 07 102 +1:03.324
Gibson GK428 V8 engine
14 LMP2 20 Denmark High Class Racing Denmark Dennis Andersen
United Arab Emirates Ed Jones
Oreca 07 102 +1:04.674
Gibson GK428 V8 engine
15 LMP2 18 United States Era Motorsport United Kingdom Ryan Dalziel
United States Dwight Merriman
Oreca 07 100 +2 Laps
Gibson GK428 V8 engine
16 GTD 91 United States Kelly-Moss with Riley Netherlands Kay van Berlo
United States Alan Metni
Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 97 +5 Laps
Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6
17 GTD 97 United States Turner Motorsport United States Bill Auberlen
United States Chandler Hull
BMW M4 GT3 97 +5 Laps
BMW S58B30T0 3.0 L Turbo I6
18 GTD 92 United States Kelly-Moss with Riley France Julien Andlauer
United States Alec Udell
Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 97 +5 Laps
Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6
19 GTD 44 United States Magnus Racing United States Andy Lally
United States John Potter
Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 97 +5 Laps
Aston Martin 4.0 L Turbo V8
20 GTD 70 United Kingdom Inception Racing United States Brendan Iribe
Denmark Frederik Schandorff
McLaren 720S GT3 Evo 97 +5 Laps
McLaren M840T 4.0 L Turbo V8
21 GTD 77 United States Wright Motorsports United States Alan Brynjolfsson
United States Trent Hindman
Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 97 +5 Laps
Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6
22 GTD 96 United States Turner Motorsport United States Robby Foley
United States Patrick Gallagher
BMW M4 GT3 97 +5 Laps
BMW S58B30T0 3.0 L Turbo I6
23 GTD Pro 79 United States WeatherTech Racing Spain Daniel Juncadella
Andorra Jules Gounon
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 97 +5 Laps
Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8
24 GTD 27 United States Heart of Racing Team Canada Roman De Angelis
Denmark Marco Sørensen
Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 97 +5 Laps
Aston Martin 4.0 L Turbo V8
25 GTD 78 United States Forte Racing powered by US RaceTronics Canada Misha Goikhberg
Italy Loris Spinelli
Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 97 +5 Laps
Lamborghini 5.2 L V10
26 GTD 1 United States Paul Miller Racing United States Bryan Sellers
United States Madison Snow
BMW M4 GT3 97 +5 Laps
BMW S58B30T0 3.0 L Turbo I6
27 GTD Pro 14 United States Vasser Sullivan Racing United Kingdom Jack Hawksworth
United Kingdom Ben Barnicoat
Lexus RC F GT3 97 +5 Laps
Toyota 2UR 5.0 L V8
28 GTD Pro 9 Canada Pfaff Motorsports Austria Klaus Bachler
France Patrick Pilet
Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 97 +5 Laps
Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6
29 GTD 80 United States AO Racing Team United States Gunnar Jeannette
United Kingdom Sebastian Priaulx
Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 97 +5 Laps
Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6
30 GTD Pro 3 United States Corvette Racing Spain Antonio García
United States Jordan Taylor
Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD 95 +7 Laps
Chevrolet 5.5 L V8
31 GTD Pro 23 United States Heart of Racing Team United Kingdom Ross Gunn
Spain Alex Riberas
Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 95 +7 Laps
Aston Martin 4.0 L Turbo V8
32 GTP 7 Germany Porsche Penske Motorsport Australia Matt Campbell
Brazil Felipe Nasr
Porsche 963 94 +8 Laps
Porsche 9RD 4.6 L Turbo V8
33
DNF
GTD 57 United States Winward Racing United Kingdom Philip Ellis
United States Russell Ward
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 86 Did not finish
Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8
34 GTD 66 United States Gradient Racing United Kingdom Katherine Legge
United States Sheena Monk
Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 75 +27 Laps
Acura 3.5 L Turbo V6
35
DNF
GTD 12 United States Vasser Sullivan Racing United States Frankie Montecalvo
United States Aaron Telitz
Lexus RC F GT3 58 Did not finish
Toyota 2UR 5.0 L V8
36
DNF
GTD 32 United States Team Korthoff Motorsports Canada Mikaël Grenier
United States Mike Skeen
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 37 Did not finish
Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8
37
DNF
LMP2 8 United States Tower Motorsports Switzerland Louis Delétraz
Canada John Farano
Oreca 07 34 Did not finish
Gibson GK428 V8 engine
38
DNF
GTD 94 United States Andretti Autosport United States Jarett Andretti
Colombia Gabby Chaves
Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 9 Did not finish
Aston Martin 4.0 L Turbo V8
Source:[27]

Standings after the race

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.


References

  1. Malsher-Lopez, David (August 5, 2022). "IMSA reveals 2023 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship schedule". us.motorsport.com. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  2. Malsher-Lopez, David (August 5, 2022). "IMSA reveals 2023 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship schedule". us.motorsport.com. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  3. Allaway, Phil (August 5, 2022). "IMSA Announces 2023 Schedules in State of the Sport Address". frontstretch.com. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  4. Allaway, Phil (August 5, 2022). "IMSA Announces 2023 Schedules in State of the Sport Address". frontstretch.com. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "00_Championship Points - Official.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  6. 1 2 Dagys, John (4 May 2023). "IMSA Tweaks GTP BoP for Laguna Seca". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  7. 1 2 Dagys, John (3 May 2023). "38 Entries for Laguna Seca". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  8. Dagys, John (26 April 2023). "Rockenfeller, Van der Helm in JDC-Miller Porsche 963". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  9. Lloyd, Daniel (2 May 2023). "Andretti to Debut Aston Martin GTD Program at Laguna Seca". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  10. 1 2 "2023 IMSA Official Schedule and SR WRLS 050323 V1" (PDF). results.imsa.com/noticeBoard.php. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  11. James, Richard (May 12, 2023). "Penske Porsche tops first IMSA practice at Laguna Seca". racer.com. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
  12. Malsher-Lopez, David (May 12, 2023). "IMSA Laguna Seca: Campbell puts Porsche on top in FP1". us.motorsport.com. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  13. Dagys, John (May 12, 2023). "Campbell Tops Friday Practice at Laguna Seca". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  14. "03_Results_Practice 1.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. May 12, 2023. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
  15. "06_Fastest Lap By Driver_Practice 1.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. May 12, 2023. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  16. Bradely, Charles (May 13, 2023). "IMSA Laguna Seca: Porsche heads Cadillac and Acura in FP2". motorsport.com. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
  17. 1 2 Dagys, John (May 13, 2023). "Campbell Remains On Top in Laguna Practice". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  18. "03_Results_Practice 2.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. May 13, 2023. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
  19. "06_Fastest Lap By Driver_Practice 2.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. May 13, 2023. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  20. "2023 IMSA SPORTING REGULATIONS and SERIES SUPPLEMENTARY REGULATIONS" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-14. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  21. Dagys, John (May 13, 2023). "Campbell Leads Three-Class Porsche Qualifying Sweep". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  22. Bradley, Charles (May 13, 2023). "IMSA Laguna Seca: Campbell takes pole in Porsche 1-2". motorsport.com. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  23. S. James, Richard (May 13, 2023). "Porsche sweeps both front rows in tight IMSA Laguna qualifying". racer.com. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  24. "03_Results_Qualifying.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. May 13, 2023. Retrieved May 14, 2023.
  25. "01_Grid_Race_Provisional.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. May 13, 2023. Retrieved May 14, 2023.
  26. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 "00_Championship Points - Official.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  27. "03_Results_Race_Official.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. May 17, 2023. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
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