This weekend, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will race on the streets of Detroit on the undercard of the NTT IndyCar Series. There are 22 teams entered in the GTP and GTD Pro classes.
In the GTP class, there are 11 teams entered, unchanged from the last round at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. There are also no driver changes in class.
So far this year, Porsche Penske Motorsport has been dominant, winning all four races to this point. Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy won the first three races, while teammates Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell won Laguna Seca.
Since Laguna Seca, there have been multiple changes to the Balance of Performance to try to better equalize the cars. The Porsche 963 has had 11 kilograms (~24.2 pounds) added to it, plus a five kilowatt (~6.7 horsepower) power cut. On the other hand, the Cadillac VSeries.R has been allowed to cut 29 kilograms (63.8 pounds).
Whether or not these changes help to create more parity remains to be seen.
In the GTD Pro class, there are 11 teams entered, up one from Laguna Seca. Since the GTD class is not running this weekend, Vasser Sullivan is entering a second car in the class.
In doing so, there are some changes in store. Ben Barnicoat is still on the mend after his mountain biking crash back in February and will not only miss Detroit, but he’ll also miss Le Mans with Akkodis ASP Team.
Jack Hawksworth will slide back into the No. 14 this weekend alongside Aaron Telitz. In addition, Akkodis ASP Team announced last Friday (May 23) that Hawksworth would drive in Barnicoat’s place at Le Mans.
The second car will run the No. 15. That car will be shared by Hawksworth’s regular teammate Parker Thompson and Frankie Montecalvo.
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Chevrolet Sports Car Classic Entry List
The race is scheduled to go green at 3:40 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon. The race will air live on Peacock starting at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.