Petit Le Mans 2023 | 6 talking points

1. Meyer Shank signs off with victory

In its last appearance with Acura in IMSA, Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian claimed a valedictory victory with its ARX-06. The defining moment came late in the race at the penultimate restart when Colin Braun swept around leader Renger van der Zande. The race looked set to come down to a dramatic climax with just 5min 30sec left on the clock for the final restart – only for Jan Heylen’s GTD class Porsche to burst into flames after a multi-car collision and effectively end the race.

Braun shared the victory with Tom Blomqvist, the British-born son of 1984 World Rally Champion Stig, and Helio Castroneves who added another major gong to his career in its extended Indian summer. The 48-year-old Brazilian adds the Petit Le Mans win to his three Daytona 24 Hours victories, 2020 IMSA title and record-equalling four Indy 500s. As for Blomqvist, he and Meyer Shank will now train their full focus on IndyCar for 2024.

The victory was delivered after Blomqvist – who also won Petit Le Mans last year – was sent to the pits in the third hour for suspension repairs after contact with a BMW GTD car. “What a way to go out,” said a delighted Blomqvist, who is twice a Daytona 24 Hours winner with Meyer Shank and also claimed the IMSA title last year. “Couldn’t be more proud of this team and our achievements. Beyond grateful.”

2. Derani and Sims win the title under a cloud

The Action Express-run Whelen Engineering Cadillac of Pipo Derani and British ex-Formula E racer Alexander Sims claimed the overall IMSA crown, but only after a contentious collision with a title rival. Derani was battling for the lead with Wayne Taylor Racing’s Filipe Albuquerque with just over an hour to go when the pair made contact. Portuguese Albuquerque got a run on Derani towards Turn 1, went for the outside line, but found himself shoved off and over a kerb. His car then smacked head-on into a tyre wall at high speed. Albuquerque was clearly in pain as his anguish was relayed over the team radio and he was transferred to hospital, but later posted on social media that he was OK.

The accident was reviewed by the stewards, but to some surprise no action was taken against Derani as he and Sims, sharing for the long race with one-time Williams Formula 1 driver Jack Aitken, continued on to finish sixth and claim the title. But it was hardly the way Derani and his team would have wanted to secure its second IMSA crown in three years.

3. Unlucky Tandy caught up in crash

Porsche Penske Motorsport’s hopes of claiming the IMSA title in its first season of racing the new 963 Hypercar ended when British racer Nick Tandy found himself caught up in other people’s accidents. The domino-effect incident occurred on the downhill approach to Turn 10 in the second hour when an LMP2 car made contact with a Ferrari 296 GT3, which then spun into Brendan Iribe – and the Inception Racing McLaren then struck Tandy’s Porsche. The 2015 Le Mans winner was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Tandy was frustrated when his calls to be pulled out of a gravel trap initially fell on deaf ears, but he eventually managed to coax his 963 back to the pits. The no.6 car returned to the race many laps down, only for Laurens Vanthoor to incur new damage in a crash at the Esses in the seventh hour. The sister no.7 car at least finished fourth, just off the podium and behind the customer Proton 963 of Harry Tincknell, Gianmari Bruni and Neel Jani, but it was an anticlimactic end for the Penske Porsche alliance in its first season racing on home soil.

4. Button fifth on IMSA debut

Behind the no.7 Porsche, 2009 Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button logged a solid fifth-place finish on his IMSA debut. The 43-year-old shared a Porsche 963 run by JDC/Miller Motorsports with Mike Rockenfeller and Tijmen van der Helm, as he considers his options for more sportscar racing action in 2024. Button has been linked to a possible 963 drive in the World Endurance Championship with Jota, but remained tight-lipped on the possibility that he might share the car with fellow F1 champion Sebastian Vettel. Whatever deal is concluded, it does appear 15-time grand prix-winner Button will extend his illustrious career on the endurance racing scene, either in WEC or IMSA, over the course of next season.

5. Hanley wins LMP2

There was further success at Petit Le Mans for British drivers as Ben Hanley shared the LMP2 class spoils with George Kurtz and Nolan Siegel in the Crowdstrike by APR ORECA. The class title was claimed by American Ben Keating and Paul-Loup Chatin, who finished third with Alex Quinn in PR1 Mathiesen Motorsport’s ORECA.

Hanley made all the difference in the close battle for race victory. He fought new Indy NXT champion Christian Rasmussen and got ahead after the penultimate safety car period. Rasmussen then crashed out with just 13 minutes left on the clock, elevating the TDS entry of Giedo van der Garde, John Falb and Josh Pierson to a close second.

6. Merc beats Porsche to GTD Pro honours

Finally, there was excitement in the GTD Pro class as Dani Juncadella’s WeatherTech Mercedes faced off against Kevin Estre’s Pfaff Motorsports Porsche, with Juncadella just clinging on to deliver victory. The class title had already been claimed by the Lexus of Jack Hawksworth – another Brit – even though his team-mate Ben Barnicoat had crashed the car out of the race at the Esses.

The next major league sportscar race is the WEC season finale, the Bahrain 8 Hours, which takes place on November 4.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images