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2020 Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio

The 2020 Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio was a sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The race was held at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, on September 27, 2020. This race was the seventh round of the 2020 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the fifth round of the 2020 WeatherTech Sprint Cup.

Track map of Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

Hélio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor claimed their third consecutive overall victory for Acura Team Penske, while Antonio García and Jordan Taylor were crowned victors in GTLM for the fourth time that season. In GTD, Jack Hawksworth and Aaron Telitz of AIM Vasser Sullivan similarly scored their third class victory of the season.[1]

Background

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Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, 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 third consecutive year it was part of the IMSA SCC. The event was the seventh of eleven sports car races of 2020 by IMSA, and the fifth of seven races on the WeatherTech Sprint Cup.[3] The event was one of the first postponed by IMSA as a result of the emerging COVID-19 pandemic, with the organization citing CDC regulations on public gatherings as the official cause of postponement.[4] A tentative reschedule for the weekend of September 27th followed shortly thereafter, which became the finalized date on which the race was held.[5] As with most events on the 2020 calendar, the race was held with a limited number of spectators in accordance with Ohio Department of Health guidelines. A maximum of 6,000 spectators were permitted, facemasks were required, temperature checks were instituted, and paddock access was restricted.[6] Acura Team Penske duo Dane Cameron and Juan Pablo Montoya entered the race as defending champions.[7]

On September 11, 2020, IMSA released their latest technical bulletin outlining BoP for the race.[8] The DPi class featured changes to fuel capacity, as the Cadillac and Mazda received three liter fuel capacity increases. No changes were made to GTLM competitors. In GTD, the Acura received a decreased fuel capacity of one liter, while the Porsche and Lexus received increases of one and two liters respectively. The Aston Martin also received a 30 kilogram weight decrease.

Before the race, Ryan Briscoe and Renger van der Zande led the DPi Drivers' Championship with 150 points, ahead of Sébastien Bourdais and João Barbosa in second with 146 points, and Pipo Derani in third with 145 points.[9] Antonio García and Jordan Taylor led the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 191 points, 14 points ahead of Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner in second.[9] With 150 points, the GTD Drivers' Championship was led by Mario Farnbacher and Matt McMurry, ahead of Aaron Telitz.[9] Cadillac, Chevrolet, and Acura were leading their respective Manufactures' Championships while Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R, Corvette Racing, and Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian each led their own Teams' Championships.[9]

Entries

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A total of 24 cars took part in the event, split across three classes. 8 were entered in DPi, 4 in GTLM, and 12 in GTD.[10] JDC-Miller Motorsports' driver lineup once again shuffled, as Matheus Leist and Stephen Simpson were replaced by Tristan Vautier and Gabriel Aubry. Porsche's factory GTLM effort was sidelined at Mid-Ohio after positive COVID-19 tests within the team's 24 Hours of Le Mans camp, which had competed the previous weekend with much of their IMSA cohort in attendance. As a result, the already anemic GTLM class was further reduced to just four competitors.[11] GTD featured a late withdrawal of the Scuderia Corsa Ferrari, as driver Cooper MacNeil was competing in both Ferrari Challenge and IMSA competition, and was leading the championship of the former. The Ferrari Challenge was racing at Laguna Seca, so MacNeil's IMSA entry was pulled from the Mid-Ohio race.[10]

Practice

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There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Sunday, one on Friday and one on Saturday. The first session lasted one hour on Friday while the second session on Saturday lasted 75 minutes.[12]

Practice 1

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The first practice session took place at 6:00 pm ET on Friday and ended with Juan Pablo Montoya topping the charts for Acura Team Penske, with a lap time of 1:13.057.[13] Antonio García was fastest in GTLM with a time of 1:19.690.[14] Bill Auberlen set the fastest time in GTD.[14]

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap
1 DPi 6 Acura Team Penske Juan Pablo Montoya 1:13.057 _
2 DPi 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Pipo Derani 1:13.293 +0.236
3 DPi 7 Acura Team Penske Ricky Taylor 1:13.302 +0.245
Sources:[15][16]

Practice 2

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The second and final practice session took place at 10:55 am ET on Saturday and ended with Hélio Castroneves topping the charts for Acura Team Penske, with a lap time of 1:11.395.[17] Jordan Taylor set the fastest time in GTLM.[18] Aaron Telitz was fastest in GTD with a time of 1:20.465.[19]

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap
1 DPi 7 Acura Team Penske Hélio Castroneves 1:11.395 _
2 DPi 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac Renger van der Zande 1:11.587 +0.192
3 DPi 6 Acura Team Penske Dane Cameron 1:11.645 +0.250
Sources:[20][21]

Qualifying

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Sunday's morning qualifying was broken into three sessions, with one session for the DPi, GTLM, and GTD classes, which lasted for 15 minutes each, and a ten minute interval between the sessions.[12] The rules dictated that all teams nominated a driver to qualify their cars, with the Pro-Am (GTD) class 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 GTLM and GTD cars.[22]

The first was for cars in the GTD class. Aaron Telitz qualified on pole for the class driving the #14 car for AIM Vasser Sullivan, besting Matt McMurry in the #86 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian entry.[23]

The second session was for cars in the GTLM class. Jordan Taylor qualified on pole driving the #3 car for Corvette Racing, beating Jesse Krohn in the #24 BMW Team RLL entry by over four-tenths of a second.[24]

The final session of qualifying was for cars in the DPi class. Dane Cameron qualified on pole driving the #6 car for Acura Team Penske, beating teammate Hélio Castroneves in the sister #7 Acura Team Penske entry by less than less than twenty-hundredths of a second.[25]

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 United States  Acura Team Penske United States  Dane Cameron 1:10.839 _ 1
2 DPi 7 United States  Acura Team Penske Brazil  Hélio Castroneves 1:10.855 +0.016 2
3 DPi 55 Canada  Mazda Motorsports United States  Jonathan Bomarito 1:11.004 +0.165 3
4 DPi 31 United States  Whelen Engineering Racing Brazil  Pipo Derani 1:11.067 +0.228 4
5 DPi 10 United States  Konica Minolta Cadillac Australia  Ryan Briscoe 1:11.271 +0.432 5
6 DPi 77 Canada  Mazda Motorsports United Kingdom  Oliver Jarvis 1:11.365 +0.526 6
7 DPi 5 United States  JDC-Mustang Sampling Racing France  Sébastien Bourdais 1:11.382 +0.543 7
8 DPi 85 United States  JDC-Miller MotorSports France  Gabriel Aubry 1:12.081 +1.242 8
9 GTLM 3 United States  Corvette Racing United States  Jordan Taylor 1:17.985 +7.146 91
10 GTLM 24 United States  BMW Team RLL Finland  Jesse Krohn 1:18.361 +7.522 122
11 GTLM 4 United States  Corvette Racing United Kingdom  Oliver Gavin 1:18.448 +7.609 103
12 GTLM 25 United States  BMW Team RLL Canada  Bruno Spengler 1:18.515 +7.676 114
13 GTD 14 Canada  AIM Vasser Sullivan United States  Aaron Telitz 1:20.974 +10.135 13
14 GTD 86 United States  Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian United States  Matt McMurry 1:21.089 +10.250 14
15 GTD 57 United States  Heinricher Racing with MSR Curb-Agajanian Canada  Misha Goikhberg 1:21.196 +10.357 15
16 GTD 76 United States  Compass Racing United States  Corey Fergus 1:21.302 +10.463 245
17 GTD 96 United States  Turner Motorsport United States  Robby Foley 1:21.364 +10.525 16
18 GTD 23 United States  Heart of Racing Team United Kingdom  Ian James 1:21.431 +10.592 17
19 GTD 12 Canada  AIM Vasser Sullivan United States  Frankie Montecalvo 1:21.442 +10.603 18
20 GTD 16 United States  Wright Motorsports United States  Ryan Hardwick 1:21.659 +10.820 19
21 GTD 22 United States  Gradient Racing United Kingdom  Till Bechtolsheimer 1:22.189 +11.350 20
22 GTD 74 United States  Riley Motorsports United States  Gar Robinson 1:22.254 +11.415 226
23 GTD 44 United States  GRT Magnus United States  John Potter 1:22.388 +11.549 21
24 GTD 30 United States  Team Hardpoint United States  Rob Ferriol 1:22.855 +12.016 237
Sources:[26][27]
  • 1 The No. 3 Corvette Racing entry was moved to the back of the GTLM field as per Article 40.1.4 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).[22]
  • 2 The No. 24 BMW Team RLL was moved to the back of the GTLM field as per Article 40.1.4 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).[22]
  • 3 The No. 4 Corvette Racing entry was moved to the back of the GTLM field as per Article 40.1.4 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).[22]
  • 4 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).[22]
  • 5 The No. 76 Compass Racing entry was moved to the back of the GTD field for violating competition rules regarding the car's ride height.[28]
  • 6 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).[22]
  • 7 The No. 30 Team Hardpoint entry was moved to the back of the GTD field as per Article 40.1.4 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).[22]

Race

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Post-race

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As a result of winning the race, Hélio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor advanced from sixth to third in the DPi Drivers' Championship. Bourdais and Barbosa dropped from second to fifth while Derani moved from third to second.[29] With 226 points, Antonio García and Jordan Taylors' victory allowed them to increase their advantage over Gavin and Milner to 17 points.[29] The result kept Farnbacher and McMurry atop the GTD Drivers' Championship, 3 points ahead of race winner Telitz. Hardwick and Long advanced from fifth to fourth while Aschenbach and Robinson jumped from sixth to fifth.[29] Cadillac and Chevrolet continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships while Lexus took the lead of the GTD Manufactures' Championship.[29] Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R, Corvette Racing, and Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian kept their respective advantages in Teams' Championships with four rounds remaining in the season.[29]

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 United States  Acura Team Penske Brazil  Hélio Castroneves
United States  Ricky Taylor
Acura ARX-05 115 2:40:07.918‡
Acura AR35TT 3.5L Turbo V6
2 DPi 31 United States  Whelen Engineering Racing Brazil  Pipo Derani
Brazil  Felipe Nasr
Cadillac DPi-V.R 115 +0.607
Cadillac 5.5L V8
3 DPi 10 United States  Konica Minolta Cadillac Australia  Ryan Briscoe
Netherlands  Renger van der Zande
Cadillac DPi-V.R 115 +15.861
Cadillac 5.5L V8
4 DPi 55 Canada  Mazda Motorsports United States  Jonathan Bomarito
United Kingdom  Harry Tincknell
Mazda RT24-P 115 +16.433
Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0L Turbo I4
5 DPi 77 Canada  Mazda Motorsports United Kingdom  Oliver Jarvis
United States  Tristan Nunez
Mazda RT24-P 115 +20.646
Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0L Turbo I4
6 DPi 5 United States  JDC-Mustang Sampling Racing Portugal  João Barbosa
France  Sébastien Bourdais
Cadillac DPi-V.R 115 +24.257
Cadillac 5.5L V8
7

DNF

DPi 6 United States  Acura Team Penske United States  Dane Cameron
Colombia  Juan Pablo Montoya
Acura ARX-05 112 Did not finish
Acura AR35TT 3.5L Turbo V6
8 GTLM 3 United States  Corvette Racing Spain  Antonio García
United States  Jordan Taylor
Chevrolet Corvette C8.R 110 +5 Laps‡
Chevrolet 5.5L V8
9 GTLM 4 United States  Corvette Racing United Kingdom  Oliver Gavin
United States  Tommy Milner
Chevrolet Corvette C8.R 110 +5 Laps
Chevrolet 5.5L V8
10 GTLM 25 United States  BMW Team RLL United States  Connor De Phillippi
Canada  Bruno Spengler
BMW M8 GTE 110 +5 Laps
BMW S63 4.0L Turbo V8
11 GTLM 24 United States  BMW Team RLL United States  John Edwards
Finland  Jesse Krohn
BMW M8 GTE 110 +5 Laps
BMW S63 4.0L Turbo V8
12 GTD 14 Canada  AIM Vasser Sullivan United Kingdom  Jack Hawksworth
United States  Aaron Telitz
Lexus RC F GT3 108 +7 Laps‡
Lexus 5.0L V8
13 GTD 74 United States  Riley Motorsports United States  Lawson Aschenbach
United States  Gar Robinson
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 108 +7 Laps
Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2L V8
14 GTD 16 United States  Wright Motorsports United States  Ryan Hardwick
United States  Patrick Long
Porsche 911 GT3 R 108 +7 Laps
Porsche 4.0L Flat-6
15 GTD 23 United States  Heart of Racing Team Canada  Roman De Angelis
United Kingdom  Ian James
Aston Martin Vantage GT3 108 +7 Laps
Aston Martin 4.0L Turbo V8
16 GTD 86 United States  Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian Germany  Mario Farnbacher
United States  Matt McMurry
Acura NSX GT3 Evo 108 +7 Laps
Acura 3.5L Turbo V6
17 GTD 57 United States  Heinricher Racing w/ MSR Curb-Agajanian Canada  Mikhail Goikhberg
Portugal  Álvaro Parente
Acura NSX GT3 Evo 108 +7 Laps
Acura 3.5L Turbo V6
18 GTD 44 United States  GRT Magnus Racing Team United States  Andy Lally
United States  John Potter
Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 108 +7 Laps
Lamborghini 5.2L V10
19 GTD 76 United States  Compass Racing United States  Corey Fergus
United States  Paul Holton
McLaren 720S GT3 108 +7 Laps
McLaren M840T 4.0L Turbo V8
20 GTD 22 United States  Gradient Racing United Kingdom  Till Bechtolsheimer
United States  Marc Miller
Acura NSX GT3 Evo 107 +8 Laps
Acura 3.5L Turbo V6
21 GTD 12 Canada  AIM Vasser Sullivan United States  Townsend Bell
United States  Frankie Montecalvo
Lexus RC F GT3 87 +28 Laps
Lexus 5.0L V8
22

DNF

DPi 85 United States  JDC-Miller MotorSports France  Gabriel Aubry
France  Tristan Vautier
Cadillac DPi-V.R 86 Did not finish
Cadillac 5.5L V8
23 GTD 96 United States  Turner Motorsport United States  Bill Auberlen
United States  Robby Foley
BMW M6 GT3 83 +32 Laps
BMW 4.4L Turbo V8
24

DNF

GTD 30 United States  Team Hardpoint United States  Rob Ferriol
United States  Spencer Pumpelly
Audi R8 LMS Evo 60 Did not finish
Audi 5.2L V10
Sources:[30][31]

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. ^ "IMSA Mid-Ohio: Castroneves, Taylor score third straight win for Acura". autosport.com. 27 September 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  2. ^ Dagys, John (August 2, 2019). "2020 WeatherTech Championship Schedule Released". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  3. ^ Pruett, Marshall (June 25, 2020). "IMSA refines 2020 calendar". racer.com. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  4. ^ "IMSA Update on the 2020 Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio". imsa.com. 18 March 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  5. ^ "2020 Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio Reschedule Update". midohio.com. 24 March 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  6. ^ "Mid-Ohio to Permit Up to 6,000 Spectators". sportscar365.com. 17 September 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  7. ^ "Acura Sports Car Challenge Fact Sheet". midohio.com. 23 September 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  8. ^ "TB-IWSC-20-22-DPi-and-GTD-BoP-Tables-Mid-Ohio-09112020.pdf" (PDF). imsa.com. 11 September 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  9. ^ a b c d "00_Championship Points - Official.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. September 9, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  10. ^ a b "Entry List: Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio". frontstretch.com. 22 September 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  11. ^ "Porsche pulls GTLM cars from Mid-Ohio because of COVID-19 positives". motorsports.nbcsports.com. 22 September 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  12. ^ a b "2020 IMSA Official Schedule and SR M-O 091620 V1" (PDF). results.imsa.com/noticeBoard.php. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  13. ^ Malsher-Lopez, David (September 25, 2020). "IMSA Mid-Ohio: Montoya puts Acura on top in first practice". motorsport.com. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  14. ^ a b Dagys, John (September 25, 2020). "Montoya Paces Opening Practice at Mid-Ohio". sportscar365.com. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  15. ^ "03_Results_Practice 1.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. September 25, 2020. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  16. ^ "06_Fastest Lap By Driver_Practice 1.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. September 25, 2020. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  17. ^ Malsher-Lopez, David (September 26, 2020). "IMSA Mid-Ohio: Castroneves leads van der Zande in FP2". motorsport.com. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  18. ^ Barnes, Joey (September 26, 2020). "Castroneves leads final Mid-Ohio IMSA practice". racer.com. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  19. ^ Dagys, John (September 26, 2020). "Castroneves Tops Saturday Practice at Mid-Ohio". sportscar365.com. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  20. ^ "03_Results_Practice 2.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. September 26, 2020. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  21. ^ "06_Fastest Lap By Driver_Practice 2.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. September 26, 2020. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  22. ^ a b c d e f g "2020 IMSA SPORTING REGULATIONS and SERIES SUPPLEMENTARY REGULATIONS" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 December 2023. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  23. ^ "Cameron takes IMSA Mid-Ohio pole for Acura". racer.com. 27 September 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  24. ^ Dagys, John (September 27, 2020). "Cameron Leads Acura Penske Front Row Sweep at Mid-Ohio". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  25. ^ Malsher-Lopez, David (September 27, 2020). "IMSA Mid-Ohio: Acura Team Penske locks out front row". motorsport.com. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  26. ^ "03_Results_Qualifying.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  27. ^ "01_Grid_Race_Official.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. September 27, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  28. ^ "IWSC 20-14 Mid-Ohio #75 Compass Racing.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com/noticeBoard.php. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
  29. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "00_Championship Points - Official.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. September 30, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  30. ^ "03_Results_Race_Official.PDF" (PDF). October 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  31. ^ "2020 ACURA SPORTS CAR CHALLENGE". racing-reference.info. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
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IMSA SportsCar Championship
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