IMSA Motul Petit Le Mans – Five Classes Up For Grabs

GTD class promises some tough and tight bumping and racing.

Titles in all five classes of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship are on the finish line at the 2022 close – the 25th Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on 1 October.* The five classes are Daytona Prototype international (DPi), Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3), Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO), Grand Touring Daytona (GTD).

Right now a total of 48 cars are on the pre-event entry list, the most for the 10-hour race in eight years.** Live coverage will be available through a combination of NBC network, USA Network and Peacock, as well as IMSA Radio.

The points leaders in GTD PRO – Matt Campbell, Mathieu Jaminet and the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, aka the Plaid Porsche, need to just start the race to take the class driver and team crowns. It would give Pfaff back-to-back championships following the 2021 title in the GTD class. (AutoInformed: IMSA Petit Le Mans Sees Cadillac, Corvette, Win Season Titles***)

The last DPi Championship – it is replaced by the new Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class in 2023 –  is between the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 and the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-05. Superstitious? The No. 10 Acura holds the same 19-point edge heading into the race as it had last year when beaten by the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac.

In LMP2 John Farano leads the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) driver standings by 33 points over Dwight Merriman and Ryan Dalziel, but Farano’s No. 8 Tower Motorsport ORECA LMP2 07 trails the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA by 19 in the team standings. Farano and the No. 8 are the defending race winners.

In LMP3 last year Gar Robinson and the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier JS P320 led the Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) standings over co-drivers Jon Bennett and Colin Braun and the No. 54 CORE autosport Ligier. However in 2022, with Bennett, Braun and the No. 54 now 83 points up on Robinson and the No. 74 and 119 points better than Ari Balogh, Garett Grist and the No. 30 Jr III Racing Ligier.

GTD promises great racing: A mere 140 points separate the top four teams in GT Daytona (GTD). There are 16 cars entered in the class. Roman De Angelis and the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 lead Stevan McAleer and the No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 by 45 points, followed by Ryan Hardwick, Jan Heylen and the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (57 points off the lead) and Philip Ellis, Russell Ward and the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes (140 points back).

GTD Pro: Matt Campbell is close to taking GTD PRO championship in the first year for the class,. The Australian is also seeking his third straight Motul Petit Le Mans victory. He won in 2020 and ’21 in the former GT Le Mans (GTLM) class.

IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Championships: Along with the season titles earned, the Motul Petit Le Mans is also the last of the four longer races that are part of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup. Using a different scoring system with points awarded at times throughout the race, the honors in all five classes are still undecided heading into the race. No team or driver leads their class by more than five points, so these titles will all go down to the checkered flag.

*Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta – Braselton, Georgia, Saturday 1 October – 12:10 pm ET. Circuit – 2.54-mile, 12-turn road course.

U.S. Television Live Coverage

• Noon-3 p.m.: NBC Network
• -10:30 p.m.: USA Network
• Peacock Streaming Coverage: LIVE – Flag-to-flag beginning at noon (outside the U.S. on IMSA.com/TVLive)
• Peacock and IMSA.com/TVLive Live Qualifying Stream:  Friday, September 30 – 3:35 p.m. ET

IMSA Radio: Select sessions live on IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com; SiriusXM live race coverage begins at noon Saturday, October 1 (XM 207, Web/App 992)

** Entry List (Click Here)

*** AutoInformed on

• Penske Motorsport Heads List of Porsche 963 WEC and IMSA Contenders During 2023. A New Golden Age of Racing?
• IMSA Prototype Challenge Nixed for VP Racing SportsCar Challenge
• IMSA LMDh: Cadillac and Porsche Testing Together
• IMSA NASCAR Street fight: Bye Road America, Hi Chicago
• IMSA 2023 – Acura ARX-06 GTP Racer Revealed
• Corvette Racing Goes Global – IMSA, FIA WEC in 2022

WeatherTech Championship Track Records

Qualifying:

• DPi: Dane Cameron, Acura ARX-05, 1:08.412 / 133.660 mph, October 2020
• LMP2: Kyle Masson, ORECA LMP2, 1:10.722 / 129.294 mph, October 2019
• LMP3: Niklas Kruetten, Ligier JS P320, 1:15.664 / 120.849 mph, November 2021
• GTD PRO: new class for 2022
• GTD: Jack Hawksworth, Lexus RC F GT3, 1:18.843 / 115.977 mph, November 2021

2021 Motul Petit Le Mans Winners:

• DPi: Oliver Jarvis/Harry Tincknell/Jonathan Bomarito, No. 55 Mazda Motorsports Mazda DPi
• LMP2: John Farano/Gabriel Aubry/James French, No. 8 Tower Motorsport ORECA LMP2 07
• LMP3: Gar Robinson/Felipe Fraga/Scott Andrews, No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier JS P320
• GTD PRO: new class for 2022
• GTD: Roman De Angelis/Ross Gunn/Ian James, No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3