2020 Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship

(Redirected from 2020 Monterey Grand Prix)

The 2020 Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship was a sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The race was held at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey County, California, on November 1, 2020. This race was the tenth round of the 2020 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the seventh round of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup.

Track map of WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca

The overall race was won by Hélio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor, their fourth victory of the season. In LMP2, PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports secured the class victory by default, as no other teams were entered. The GTLM class was won for the second consecutive race by Porsche, albeit this time with the #912 team of Earl Bamber and Laurens Vanthoor. In GTD, Mario Farnbacher and Matt McMurry scored their second victory of the season.[1]

Background

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WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, where the race was held.

Then International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2020 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2019.[2] It was the seventh consecutive year it was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The 2020 Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship was the tenth of eleven sports car races of 2020 by IMSA, and the event was the last of seven races on the WeatherTech Sprint Cup.[3] The race was held at the eleven-turn 2.238 mi (3.602 km) WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.[4]

Initially scheduled to be run on September 13, the event was rescheduled for the weekend of November 1st, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] The event was run behind closed doors in order to maintain compliance with California state gathering regulations, as it was the only DPi round, and second GT round (Virginia International Raceway the other round in the season) to be held as such, as the second Daytona, Road America, Mid-Ohio, Charlotte, and both Sebring and Road Atlanta rounds were run with spectators. [6] In May, Hyundai was announced as the new title sponsor of the event.[7]

No changes were made to IMSA's balance of performance from the previous round at Road Atlanta.

Before the race, Ryan Briscoe and Renger van der Zande led the DPi Drivers' Championship with 215 points, ahead of Hélio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor in second with 207 points, and Pipo Derani in third.[8] In LMP2, Patrick Kelly led the Drivers' Championship with 126 points.[8] Antonio García and Jordan Taylor led the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 293 points, 28 points ahead of Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner.[8] With 228 points, Aaron Telitz led the GTD Drivers' Championship, ahead of Jack Hawksworth.[8] Cadillac, Chevrolet, and Lexus were leading their respective Manufactures' Championships while Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R, PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, Corvette Racing, and AIM Vasser Sullivan each led their own Teams' Championships.[8]

Entries

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A total of 28 cars took part in the event, split across four classes. 8 were entered in DPi, 1 in LMP2, 6 in GTLM, and 13 in GTD. DPi's only changes were between the two JDC entries. With João Barbosa's exit from the team, Tristan Vautier was drafted in to replace him. As a result, Stephen Simpson returned to the #85 to partner Matheus Leist.[9] LMP2 was reduced to just one entry due to a back injury sustained by Era Motorsport driver Dwight Merriman, leaving championship leaders PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports as the only entrant.[10] In GTD, Alessandro Balzan replaced Toni Vilander as Scuderia Corsa's pro driver.[10] Sprint competitors Team Hardpoint and Compass Racing also returned after skipping Petit Le Mans.[9]

Practice

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There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Sunday, both on Saturday. The first session lasted one hour on Saturday morning while the second session lasted 75 minutes on Saturday afternoon.[11]

Practice 1

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The first practice session took place at 8:00 am PT on Saturday and ended with Pipo Derani topping the charts for Whelen Engineering Racing, with a lap time of 1:15.851, ahead of the #10 Cadillac of Renger van der Zande.[12] Simon Trummer set the fastest time in LMP2.[13] The GTLM class topped by the #3 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R of Antonio García with a time of 1:21.898.[13] Nick Tandy was second in the #911 Porsche GT Team entry and Earl Bamber rounded out the top 3. Bill Auberlen was fastest in GTD.[14] 44 minutes into the session, Tristan Nunez, driving the #77 Mazda RT24-P, hit a trackside sign at turn 9 whilst trying to avoid hitting the #85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Cadillac of Stephen Simpson. Debris became scattered across the track and brought out the red flag.[13] The Team Hardpoint Audi only completed three laps due to broken drive shaft.[15]

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap
1 DPi 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Pipo Derani 1:15.851 _
2 DPi 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac Renger van der Zande 1:16.370 +0.519
3 DPi 6 Acura Team Penske Juan Pablo Montoya 1:16.410 +0.579
Sources:[16][17]

Practice 2

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The second final practice session took place at 12:00 pm PT on Saturday and ended with Oliver Jarvis topping the charts for Mazda Motorsports, with a lap time of 1:15.692, 0.185 seconds faster than Dane Cameron's #6 Acura.[18] The PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports did not set a time in LMP2.[19] The GTLM class was topped by the #3 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R of Jordan Taylor with a time of 1:22.279. Connor De Phillippi in the #25 BMW Team RLL entry was second and Nick Tandy rounded out the top 3.[20] Robby Foley set the fastest time in GTD.[18] The #85 Cadillac of Matheus Leist crashed in turn 2 after suffering a mechanical issue.[19] Felipe Nasr and Hélio Castroneves collided at turn 3 after they exited the pits and Nasr tried letting Castorneves pass. The #7 Acura Team Penske Acura cut across the #31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac and both cars received damage. Castroneves received a stop-and-hold plus 60 second penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct while Nasr was given a drive-through penalty.[15][21]

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap
1 DPi 77 Mazda Motorsports Oliver Jarvis 1:15.692 _
2 DPi 6 Acura Team Penske Dane Cameron 1:15.877 +0.185
3 DPi 55 Mazda Motorsports Juan Pablo Montoya 1:16.037 +0.345
Sources:[22][23]

Qualifying

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Juan Pablo Montoya (pictured in 2021) helped take the No. 6 Acura's third pole position of 2020.

Sunday's morning qualifying was broken into three sessions, with one session for the DPi and LMP2, GTLM, and GTD classes, which lasted for 15 minutes each, and a ten minute interval between the sessions.[11] The rules dictated that all teams nominated a driver to qualify their cars, with the Pro-Am (LMP2/GTD) classes requiring a Bronze/Silver Rated Driver to qualify the car. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order. IMSA then arranged the grid to put DPis ahead of the LMP2, GTLM, and GTD cars.[24]

The first session was for cars in GTD class. Matt McMurry qualified on pole for the class driving the #86 car for Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian, beating Robby Foley in the Turner Motorsport entry by less than two-tenths of a second.[25]

The second session was for cars in the GTLM class. Jordan Taylor qualified on pole driving the #3 car for Corvette Racing, besting Laurens Vanthoor in the #912 Porsche GT Team entry.[26]

The final session of qualifying was for cars in the LMP2 and DPi classes. Juan Pablo Montoya took overall pole for the event driving the #6 car for Acura Team Penske, beating teammate Hélio Castroneves in the sister #7 Acura Team Penske by less than two-tenths of a second.[27] Patrick Kelly secured the LMP2 pole by default.[28]

Qualifying results

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

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap Grid
1 DPi 6   Acura Team Penske   Juan Pablo Montoya 1:15.174 _ 1
2 DPi 7   Acura Team Penske   Hélio Castroneves 1:15.333 +0.159 2
3 DPi 77   Mazda Motorsports   Oliver Jarvis 1:15.411 +0.237 3
4 DPi 31   Whelen Engineering Racing   Pipo Derani 1:15.420 +0.246 4
5 DPi 5   JDC-Mustang Sampling Racing   Tristan Vautier 1:15.461 +0.287 5
6 DPi 55   Mazda Motorsports   Jonathan Bomarito 1:15.580 +0.406 6
7 DPi 10   Konica Minolta Cadillac   Ryan Briscoe 1:15.729 +0.555 81
8 DPi 85   JDC-Miller MotorSports   Matheus Leist 1:15.852 +0.678 7
9 LMP2 52   PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports   Patrick Kelly 1:19.598 +4.424 9
10 GTLM 3   Corvette Racing   Jordan Taylor 1:21.483 +6.309 10
11 GTLM 912   Porsche GT Team   Laurens Vanthoor 1:21.725 +6.551 11
12 GTLM 4   Corvette Racing   Oliver Gavin 1:21.853 +6.679 12
13 GTLM 25   BMW Team RLL   Bruno Spengler 1:22.054 +6.880 142
14 GTLM 24   BMW Team RLL   Jesse Krohn 1:22.120 +6.946 153
15 GTD 86   Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian   Matt McMurry 1:25.126 +9.952 16
16 GTD 96   Turner Motorsport   Robby Foley 1:25.140 +9.966 17
17 GTD 63   Scuderia Corsa   Cooper MacNeil 1:25.318 +10.144 18
18 GTD 57   Heinricher Racing with MSR Curb-Agajanian   Misha Goikhberg 1:25.426 +10.252 19
19 GTD 12   AIM Vasser Sullivan   Frankie Montecalvo 1:25.475 +10.301 20
20 GTD 23   Heart of Racing Team   Ian James 1:25.676 +10.502 21
21 GTD 76   Compass Racing   Jeff Kingsley 1:25.826 +10.652 22
22 GTD 22   Gradient Racing   Till Bechtolsheimer 1:26.012 +10.838 23
23 GTD 16   Wright Motorsports   Ryan Hardwick 1:26.171 +10.997 24
24 GTD 44   GRT Magnus   John Potter 1:26.359 +11.185 25
25 GTD 14   AIM Vasser Sullivan   Aaron Telitz 1:26.404 +11.230 26
26 GTD 30   Team Hardpoint   Rob Ferriol 1:26.791 +11.617 27
27 GTD 74   Riley Motorsports   Gar Robinson 1:29.460 +14.286 284
28 GTLM 911   Porsche GT Team   Frederic Makowiecki 1:32.856 +17.682 13
Sources:[29][30]
  • 1 The No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac entry was moved to the back of the DPi field as per Article 40.1.4 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).[24]
  • 2 The No. 25 BMW Team RLL entry was moved to the back of the GTLM field as per Article 40.1.4 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).[24]
  • 3 The No. 24 BMW Team RLL entry was moved to the back of the GTLM field as per Article 40.1.4 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).[24]
  • 4 The No. 74 Riley Motorsports entry was moved to the back of the GTD field as per Article 40.1.4 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).[24]

Race

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Post-race

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As a result of winning the race Hélio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor took the lead of the DPi Drivers' Championship. Bomarito and Tincknell advanced from fifth to fourth.[31] By starting the race, Patrick Kelly clinched the LMP2 Drivers' Championship.[31][32] As a result of Gavin and Milner's disqualification, Antonio García and Jordan Taylor clinched the GTLM Drivers' Championship.[31][33] As a result of winning the race, Mario Farnbacher and Matt McMurry took the lead of the GTD Drivers' Championship. Hardwick and Long advanced from third to second while Telitz dropped from first to third.[31] Cadillac, and Chevrolet continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships while Acura took the lead of the GTD Manufactures' Championship.[31] PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports and Corvette Racing their respective advantages in their respective of Teams' Championships while Acura Team Penske took the lead of the DPi Teams' Championship. Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian took the lead of the GTD Teams' Championship with one round remaining in the season.[31]

Results

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Class winners are denoted in bold and ‡.

Pos Class No. Team Drivers Chassis Laps Time/retired
Engine
1 DPi 7   Acura Team Penske   Hélio Castroneves
  Ricky Taylor
Acura ARX-05 119 2:40:48.146‡
Acura AR35TT 3.5L Turbo V6
2 DPi 6   Acura Team Penske   Dane Cameron
  Juan Pablo Montoya
Acura ARX-05 119 +0.487
Acura AR35TT 3.5L Turbo V6
3 DPi 31   Whelen Engineering Racing   Pipo Derani
  Felipe Nasr
Cadillac DPi-V.R 119 +1.498
Cadillac 5.5L V8
4 DPi 55   Mazda Motorsports   Jonathan Bomarito
  Harry Tincknell
Mazda RT24-P 119 +3.344
Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0L Turbo I4
5 DPi 77   Mazda Motorsports   Oliver Jarvis
  Tristan Nunez
Mazda RT24-P 119 +4.095
Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0L Turbo I4
6 DPi 10   Konica Minolta Cadillac   Ryan Briscoe
  Renger van der Zande
Cadillac DPi-V.R 119 +22.411
Cadillac 5.5L V8
7 DPi 5   Mustang Sampling Racing / JDC-Miller Motorsports   Sébastien Bourdais
  Tristan Vautier
Cadillac DPi-V.R 118 +1 Lap
Cadillac 5.5L V8
8 DPi 85   JDC-Miller MotorSports   Matheus Leist
  Stephen Simpson
Cadillac DPi-V.R 116 +3 Laps
Cadillac 5.5L V8
9 GTLM 912   Porsche GT Team   Earl Bamber
  Laurens Vanthoor
Porsche 911 RSR-19 113 +6 Laps‡
Porsche 4.2L Flat-6
10 GTLM 3   Corvette Racing   Antonio García
  Jordan Taylor
Chevrolet Corvette C8.R 113 +6 Laps
Chevrolet 5.5L V8
11 GTLM 911   Porsche GT Team   Frédéric Makowiecki
  Nick Tandy
Porsche 911 RSR-19 112 +7 Laps
Porsche 4.2L Flat-6
12 GTLM 24   BMW Team RLL   John Edwards
  Jesse Krohn
BMW M8 GTE 112 +7 Laps
BMW S63 4.0L Turbo V8
13 GTLM 25   BMW Team RLL   Connor De Phillippi
  Bruno Spengler
BMW M8 GTE 112 +7 Laps
BMW S63 4.0L Turbo V8
14[a] GTLM 4   Corvette Racing   Oliver Gavin
  Tommy Milner
Chevrolet Corvette C8.R 112 +7 Laps
Chevrolet 5.5L V8
15 GTD 86   Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian   Mario Farnbacher
  Matt McMurry
Acura NSX GT3 Evo 108 +11 Laps‡
Acura 3.5L Turbo V6
16 GTD 96   Turner Motorsport   Bill Auberlen
  Robby Foley
BMW M6 GT3 108 +11 Laps
BMW 4.4L Turbo V8
17 GTD 57   Heinricher Racing w/ MSR Curb-Agajanian   Misha Goikhberg
  Álvaro Parente
Acura NSX GT3 Evo 108 +11 Laps
Acura 3.5L Turbo V6
18 GTD 23   Heart of Racing Team   Roman De Angelis
  Ian James
Aston Martin Vantage GT3 108 +11 Laps
Aston Martin 4.0L Turbo V8
19 GTD 44   GRT Magnus   Andy Lally
  John Potter
Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 108 +11 Laps
Lamborghini 5.2L V10
20 GTD 16   Wright Motorsports   Ryan Hardwick
  Patrick Long
Porsche 911 GT3 R 108 +11 Laps
Porsche 4.0L Flat-6
21 GTD 63   Scuderia Corsa   Alessandro Balzan
  Cooper MacNeil
Ferrari 488 GT3 108 +11 Laps
Ferrari F154CB 3.9L Turbo V8
22 GTD 12   AIM Vasser Sullivan   Townsend Bell
  Frankie Montecalvo
Lexus RC F GT3 107 +12 Laps
Lexus 5.0L V8
23 GTD 74   Riley Motorsports   Lawson Aschenbach
  Gar Robinson
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 107 +12 Laps
Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2L V8
24 GTD 30   Team Hardpoint   Rob Ferriol
  Spencer Pumpelly
Audi R8 LMS Evo 107 +12 Laps
Audi 5.2L V10
25 GTD 14   AIM Vasser Sullivan   Jack Hawksworth
  Aaron Telitz
Lexus RC F GT3 107 +12 Laps
Lexus 5.0L V8
26 GTD 22   Gradient Racing   Till Bechtolsheimer
  Marc Miller
Acura NSX GT3 Evo 106 +13 Laps
Acura 3.5L Turbo V6
27

DNF

GTD 76   Compass Racing   Paul Holton
  Jeff Kingsley
McLaren 720S GT3 83 Power Steering
McLaren M840T 4.0L Turbo V8
28

DNF

LMP2 52   PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports   Patrick Kelly
  Simon Trummer
Oreca 07 67 Did not finish‡
Gibson 4.2L GK428 V8
Sources:[35][36]
  1. ^ The no. 4 Corvette Racing entry was moved to the rear of the GTLM classification for violating competition rules regarding the height of the car's rear diffuser.[34]

Standings after the race

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  • 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

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  1. ^ "Laguna Seca IMSA: Taylor and Castroneves profit from team orders to win". autosport.com. 2 November 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  2. ^ Dagys, John (August 2, 2019). "2020 WeatherTech Championship Schedule Released". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  3. ^ "Revised 2020 Sports Car Racing Calendars". sportscar365.com. April 4, 2020. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  4. ^ Pruett, Marshall (June 25, 2020). "IMSA refines 2020 calendar". racer.com. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  5. ^ "IMSA Announces Date Changes for Three 2020 WeatherTech Championship Event Weekends". imsa.com. 25 June 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  6. ^ "Laguna IMSA race to run without spectators". racer.com. 11 September 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  7. ^ "WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca to Host Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship". imsa.com. 28 May 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  8. ^ a b c d e "00_Championship Points - Official.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. October 20, 2020. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Entry List: WeatherTech Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship". frontstretch.com. 28 October 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  10. ^ a b "Single LMP2 Car on Laguna Seca Entry List". sportscar365.com. 21 October 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  11. ^ a b "2020 IMSA Official Schedule and SR WRLS 102120 V1" (PDF). results.imsa.com/noticeBoard.php. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  12. ^ Malsher-Lopez, David (October 31, 2020). "IMSA Laguna Seca: Derani leads Cadillac 1-2 in FP1". motorsport.com. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  13. ^ a b c O'Malley, J.J. (October 31, 2020). "Derani leads opening Laguna IMSA practice". racer.com. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  14. ^ Dagys, John (October 31, 2020). "Derani Blazes Field in Opening Practice at Laguna Seca". sportscar365.com. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  15. ^ a b Dagys, John (October 31, 2020). "Laguna Seca Saturday Notebook". sportscar365.com. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  16. ^ "03_Results_Practice 1.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. October 31, 2002. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  17. ^ "06_Fastest Lap By Driver_Practice 1.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. October 31, 2020. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  18. ^ a b Malsher-Lopez, David (October 31, 2020). "IMSA Laguna Seca: Mazda moves to the top in FP2". motorsport.com. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  19. ^ a b Dagys, John (October 31, 2020). "Jarvis Quickest as Castroneves, Nasr Collide in Practice 2". sportscar365.com. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  20. ^ O'Malley, J.J. (October 31, 2020). "Mazda fastest, tempers flare in P2 at Laguna Seca". racer.com. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  21. ^ Allaway, Phil (October 31, 2020). "Oliver Jarvis Fastest in WeatherTech Laguna Seca Practice; Road Atlanta Anger Remains". frontstretch.com. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  22. ^ "03_Results_Practice 2.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. October 31, 2020. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  23. ^ "06_Fastest Lap By Driver_Practice 2.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. October 31, 2020. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  24. ^ a b c d e "2020 IMSA SPORTING REGULATIONS and SERIES SUPPLEMENTARY REGULATIONS" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 December 2023. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  25. ^ O'Malley, J.J. (November 1, 2020). "Montoya leads Penske Acura front-row sweep at Laguna". racer.com. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  26. ^ Dagys, John (November 1, 2020). "Montoya Leads Acura Team Penske Front Row Lockout". sportscar365.com. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  27. ^ "Acuras Sweep Laguna Seca Front Row". dailysportscar.com. November 1, 2020. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  28. ^ "IMSA Laguna Seca: Acuras lock out front row, Corvette tops GTLM". motorsport.com. 1 November 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  29. ^ "03_Results_Qualifying.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  30. ^ "01_Grid_Race_Official.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. November 1, 2020. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  31. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "00_Championship Points - Official.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. November 4, 2020. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  32. ^ Dagys, John (November 1, 2020). "Taylor, Castroneves Take Tactical Win at Laguna Seca". sportscar365.com. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  33. ^ O'Malley, J.J. (November 1, 2020). "No.3 Corvette secures IMSA GTLM title after sister car penalized". racer.com. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  34. ^ "Garcia, Taylor win title after penalty for sister Corvette". 1 November 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  35. ^ "03_Results_Race_Official.PDF" (PDF). November 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  36. ^ "2020 HYUNDAI MONTEREY SPORTS CAR CHAMPIONSHIP". racing-reference.info. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
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IMSA SportsCar Championship
Previous race:
2020 Petit Le Mans
2020 season Next race:
2020 12 Hours of Sebring