2015 Chevrolet Sports Car Classic Explained

The 2015 Chevrolet Sports Car Classic was a sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The race was held at the Raceway on Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan on May 30, 2015. The race was the fifth round of the 2015 United SportsCar Championship.

Background

Preview

International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2015 IMSA Tudor United SportsCar Championship (IMSA TUSC) in August 2014.[1] [2] It was the second consecutive year the event was held as part of the Tudor United SportsCar Championship, and the sixth annual running of the race, counting the period between 2007 and 2013 when it was a round of the Rolex Sports Car Series and the American Le Mans Series respectively. The 2015 Chevrolet Sports Car Classic was the fourth of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2015 by IMSA, the shortest in terms of time, and was the third round not held on the held as part of the North American Endurance Cup. The event was held at the fourteen-turn 2.35miles Belle Isle Park on May 30, 2015. The PC category would participate in the event for the first time.[3]

Entry list

Twenty-three cars were officially entered for the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic, with the bulk of the entries in the Prototype (P) and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) categories.[4] Action Express Racing (AER) fielded two Chevrolet Corvette DP cars while VisitFlorida Racing (VFR) and Wayne Taylor Racing (WTR) fielded one. Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) entered one Ford-powered Riley MkXXVI. Mazda Motorsports had one Lola B12/80, and Michael Shank Racing (MSR) entered one Ligier JS P2 chasis with Honda HR28TT twin-turbocharged 2.8-liter V6 engine.[5] [6] The DeltaWing skipped to undergo further testing.[7] The Prototype Challenge (PC) class was composed of six Oreca FLM09 cars. CORE Autosport, JDC-Miller MotorSports, Performance Tech PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, RSR Racing, and Starworks Motorsport entered one car each. In the list of GTD entrants, ten GT-specification vehicles were represented by six different manufacturers. With the absence of the Grand Touring Le Mans (GTLM) class from the field, only three racing classes were represented in Belle Isle.

Qualifying

Qualifying results

Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by . P stands for Prototype, PC (Prototype Challenge), and GTD (Grand Touring Daytona).

ClassTeamDriverTime
1P5 Action Express Racing Christian Fittipaldi1:24.746_1
2P10 Wayne Taylor Racing Ricky Taylor1:24.796+0.0502
3P90 VisitFlorida.com Racing Michael Valiante1:25.156+0.4103
4P01 Chip Ganassi Racing Scott Pruett1:25.987+1.2414
5P31 Action Express Racing Eric Curran1:26.009+1.2635
6P60 Michael Shank Racing with Curb/Agajanian John Pew1:26.889+2.1436
7PC38 Performance Tech Motorsports James French1:29.317+4.5717
8PC11 RSR Racing Chris Cumming1:29.321+4.5758
9PC8 Starworks Motorsport Mirco Schultis1:30.687+5.9419
10PC52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Mike Guasch1:30.780+6.03410
11PC54 CORE Autosport Jon Bennett1:31.180+6.43411
12P07 SpeedSource Tom Long1:31.308+6.56212
13PC85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Misha Goikhberg1:31.741+6.99513
14GTD48 Paul Miller Racing Dion von Moltke1:33.546+8.80014
15GTD33 Riley Motorsports Ben Keating1:34.261+9.51515
16GTD007 TRG-AMR North America Christina Nielsen1:34.338+9.59216
17GTD73 Park Place Motorsports Patrick Lindsey1:34.656+9.91017
18GTD23 Team Seattle / Alex Job Racing Ian James1:34.821+10.07518
19GTD58 Wright Motorsports Madison Snow1:35.031+10.26719
20GTD63 Scuderia Corsa Bill Sweedler1:35.632+10.88620
21GTD44 Magnus Racing John Potter1:35.801+11.05521
22GTD22 Alex Job Racing Cooper MacNeil1:37.080+12.33422
23GTD97 Turner Motorsport Michael Marsal1:37.218+12.47223
Source:[8]

Race

Race Results

Class winners are denoted in bold and . P stands for Prototype, PC (Prototype Challenge), and GTD (Grand Touring Daytona).

! rowspan="2"
ClassTeamDriversChassisTireTime/Retired
Engine
1P31 Action Express Racing Eric Curran
Dane Cameron
Corvette Daytona Prototype591:40:49.112
Chevrolet 5.5 L V8
2P60 Michael Shank Racing with Curb/Agajanian John Pew
Oswaldo Negri Jr.
Ligier JS P259+18.631
Honda HR28TT 2.8 L V6 Turbo
3P5 Action Express Racing João Barbosa
Christian Fittipaldi
Corvette Daytona Prototype59+19.207
Chevrolet 5.5 L V8
4P01 Chip Ganassi Racing Joey Hand
Scott Pruett
Ford EcoBoost Riley DP59+20.391
Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L V6 Turbo
5P90 VisitFlorida.com Racing Richard Westbrook
Michael Valiante
Corvette Daytona Prototype59+21.513
Chevrolet 5.5 L V8
6PC8 Starworks Motorsport Mirco Schultis
Renger van der Zande
Oreca FLM0959+45.524
Chevrolet 6.2 L V8
7P10 Wayne Taylor Racing Jordan Taylor
Ricky Taylor
Corvette Daytona Prototype59+46.080
Chevrolet 5.5 L V8
8P07 SpeedSource Tom Long
Joel Miller
Mazda Prototype59+46.593
Mazda Skyactiv-D 2.2 L Turbo I4 (Diesel)
9PC85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Misha Goikhberg
Stephen Simpson
Oreca FLM0959+1:01.774
Chevrolet 6.2 L V8
10PC38 Performance Tech Motorsports James French
James Vance
Oreca FLM0959+1:17.299
Chevrolet 6.2 L V8
11GTD23 Team Seattle / Alex Job Racing Mario Farnbacher
Ian James
Porsche 911 GT America57+2 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
12GTD007 TRG-AMR North America James Davison
Christina Nielsen
Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT357+2 Laps
Aston Martin 6.0 L V12
13GTD48 Paul Miller Racing Christopher Haase
Dion von Moltke
Audi R8 LMS ultra57+2 Laps
Audi 5.2 L V10
14GTD22 Alex Job Racing Leh Keen
Cooper MacNeil
Porsche 911 GT America57+2 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
15GTD73 Park Place Motorsports Patrick Lindsey
Spencer Pumpelly
Porsche 911 GT America57+2 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
16GTD97 Turner Motorsport Michael Marsal
Markus Palttala
BMW Z4 GT357+2 Laps
BMW 4.4 L V8
17GTD44 Magnus Racing John Potter
Andy Lally
Porsche 911 GT America56+3 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
18DNFGTD58 Wright Motorsports Jan Heylen
Madison Snow
Porsche 911 GT America54Accident
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
19PC54 CORE Autosport Jon Bennett
Colin Braun
Oreca FLM0954+5 Laps
Chevrolet 6.2 L V8
20GTD63 Scuderia Corsa Bill Sweedler
Townsend Bell
Ferrari 458 Italia GT346+13 Laps
Ferrari 4.5 L V8
21DNFPC11 RSR Racing Chris Cumming
Bruno Junqueira
Oreca FLM0938Accident
Chevrolet 6.2 L V8
22DNFPC52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Mike Guasch
Tom Kimber-Smith
Oreca FLM0932Accident
Chevrolet 6.2 L V8
23DNFGTD33 Riley Motorsports Jeroen Bleekemolen
Ben Keating
Dodge Viper GT3-R22Accident
Dodge 8.3 L V10
Sources:[9] [10]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Dagys . John . 10 August 2014 . 2015 TUSC, CTSC Schedules Released . 18 October 2024 . Sportscar365.com . John Dagys Media, LLC.
  2. Web site: Pruett . Marshall . 10 August 2014 . IMSA: 2015 TUDOR Championship schedule revealed . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150323093836/http://www.racer.com/imsa/item/107323-imsa-2015-tudor-championship-schedule-revealed . 23 March 2015 . 18 October 2024 . Racer.
  3. Web site: 31 October 2014 . Detroit In, VIR Out for PC Teams in 2015 . 18 October 2024 . Sportscar365.com . John Dagys Media, LLC.
  4. Web site: DiZinno . Tony . 21 May 2015 . 25 Cars on Detroit Entry List . 18 October 2024 . Sportscar365.com . John Dagys Media, LLC.
  5. Web site: Dagys . John . 28 May 2015 . SpeedSource Scales Back to Single Mazda Prototype for Detroit . 18 October 2024 . Sportscar365.com . John Dagys Media, LLC.
  6. Web site: 28 May 2015 . IMSA: Hometown heroes: Chevrolet and Ford in the Motor City . 18 October 2024 . Racer.
  7. Web site: Dizinno . Tony . 18 May 2015 . DeltaWing to Forego Detroit, Focus on Further Testing . 18 October 2024 . John Dagys Media, LLC.
  8. Web site: 29 May 2015 . Qualifying . 18 October 2024 . Dailysportscar.com.
  9. Web site: 30 May 2015 . Unofficial Race Report . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20181201180944/http://imsatiming.com/Results/2015/TUDOR%20Championship/05-Detroit/TUDOR%20Championship%20Detroit%20Race%20Unofficial.pdf . 1 December 2018 . 18 October 2024.
  10. Web site: 2015 Chevrolet Sports Car Classic . 18 October 2024 . Racing-Reference . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC.