IMSA's doubleheader at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca gave Oswaldo Negri Jr. a Prototype win and Tom Kimber-Smith a Prototype Challenge win, with Ford taking GTLM.
Negri, Kimber-Smith, Westbrook and Farnbacher each won a class at Laguna Seca on 1 May 2016. The IMSA doubleheader gave Negri a Prototype win in the first race and Kimber-Smith a Prototype Challenge win in the second.
The 2016 Monterey Grand Prix was a pair of IMSA sports car races held at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on 1 May 2016. Oswaldo Negri Jr. won the first race in the Prototype class, and Tom Kimber-Smith took the second race in the Prototype Challenge class. The weekend was the fourth of twelve rounds in the 2016 IMSA SportsCar Championship.
Who won the 2016 Monterey Grand Prix?
Oswaldo Negri Jr., driving the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ligier, won the first race after 80 laps. Goossens finished second, 30.099 seconds behind, and Curran completed the Prototype podium in third. In the second race Tom Kimber-Smith of PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports won the Prototype Challenge class after 82 laps.
Ford Chip Ganassi Racing took the Grand Touring Le Mans class win with Ryan Briscoe and Richard Westbrook, and Mario Farnbacher and Alex Riberas won the Grand Touring Daytona class for Alex Job Racing in the second race.
A doubleheader at Laguna Seca with two different class winners in the Prototype classes and a Ford GT win in GTLM.
Why was the Laguna Seca round significant for IMSA?
The round was the third consecutive year the event had been held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. It was also the second time that the venue had hosted a doubleheader weekend with two races, and the third occasion on which the course had been used for IMSA racing.
The Laguna Seca circuit is an eleven-turn track measuring 2.238 mi (3.602 km). IMSA president Scott Atherton confirmed the race in the 2016 calendar in August 2015. Because of the size of the field, IMSA split the weekend into two events, with Prototype and GTLM running the first race and Prototype Challenge and GTD the second.
The weekend was not part of the North American Endurance Cup, which made it the second round of the year outside that series. The field was still large, with forty-two cars officially entered for the event.
How did the championship stand before the race?
Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi topped the Prototype table on 93 points, one ahead of the Curran and Cameron pairing on 90. Jordan Taylor and Ricky Taylor sat third on 89. The Prototype Challenge class was led by Misha Goikhberg and Stephen Simpson on 101 points, eight ahead of Alex Popow and Renger van der Zande.
In GTLM, Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner led on 105 points, eighteen clear of Earl Bamber and Frederic Makowiecki. Andy Lally, John Potter and Marco Seefried led the GTD standings on 67 points, five ahead of Alessandro Balzan, Christina Nielsen and Jeff Segal.
Honda, Chevrolet and Audi led the manufacturers' tables, and four teams topped the team standings: Action Express, JDC-Miller, Corvette Racing and Magnus.
How did the entry list shape the weekend?
Action Express Racing fielded two Chevrolet Corvette DP cars, and VisitFlorida Racing and WTR each ran one. Mazda Motorsports entered two Lola B12/80 cars, and Michael Shank Racing brought a Ligier JS P2. Panoz returned with the DeltaWing for the fourth successive year.
The Prototype Challenge class had seven Oreca FLM09 cars, two of them from Starworks Motorsports. GTLM featured ten entries from five manufacturers, and Alessandro Pier Guidi returned to the No. 68 Scuderia Corsa entry. GTD had seventeen GT3 cars from seven manufacturers, and Lone Star Racing made its season debut.
Because most of the remaining 2016 rounds were sprint races, GTD teams entered their regular driver pairings for the first time that season.
Those championship positions set up a weekend in which every class had something to prove, from the Prototype leaders chasing a pole to the GTD runners trying to hold on to the points lead before the next round.
What happened in practice?
There were three practice sessions before the races. The first two were one-hour sessions on Friday, and the third lasted 45 minutes on Saturday morning. Joel Miller set the fastest time in the first session in the No. 70 Mazda at 1 minute 18.564 seconds, just 0.004 seconds ahead of teammate Jonathan Bomarito.
Bomarito was quickest in the second session at 1 minute 18.139 seconds. Miller then led the final session at 1 minute 18.478 seconds, with Tristan Nunez second, and Oswaldo Negri Jr. was third in the Michael Shank Ligier.
In the first session the quickest in the other classes were van der Zande in PC at 1 minute 20.018 seconds, Alessandro Pier Guidi in GTLM and Alex Riberas in GTD at 1 minute 25.260 seconds. Riberas was the fastest GTD driver again in the last session, at 1 minute 25.639 seconds.
How was qualifying decided?
Saturday afternoon's 90-minute qualifying session was split into four groups, each given 15 minutes. GTD went first, followed by GTLM, PC and the Prototype cars. IMSA arranged the grid so that all Prototypes started ahead of the PC, GTLM and GTD cars.
Tristan Nunez set a new category track record of 1 minute 18.143 seconds for his first career pole. Tom Long joined him on the front row in the sister No. 70 car, 0.236 seconds slower. Cameron took third in the Corvette, Ricky Taylor was fourth and Christian Fittipaldi fifth, while Sean Rayhall qualified the DeltaWing sixth.
In GTLM, Serra took his first pole of the season at 1 minute 22.867 seconds. Ford filled second and third, led by Briscoe, whose time was 0.169 seconds faster than Muller's third-placed car. The two Corvette C7.Rs took fourth and sixth, with Vilander fifth in the Ferrari.
Alon took pole in PC on his tenth lap with 1 minute 21.146 seconds, with French second and Popow third. Riberas took GTD pole in AJR's Porsche at 1 minute 25.775 seconds, Nielsen was second for Scuderia Corsa, Patrick Lindsey third and Cedric Sbirrazzuoli fourth.
How did the first race unfold?
Eighteen cars were due to start the first race. Dalziel had to serve a drive-through penalty after missing the grid in time, and Nunez kept his pole advantage at the start. Fittipaldi and Ricky Taylor passed Cameron for third and fourth, while Vilander overtook Milner for fourth at turn eleven.
Nunez and Long pulled more than ten seconds clear of Fittipaldi before the first full-course caution came out. A tyre barrier at the Corkscrew had been dislodged, so the yellow was needed. The race restarted on lap 10 with Nunez leading.
A second full-course yellow came on the twenty-fourth lap, after Taylor passed Fittipaldi at turn nine. Fittipaldi tried to re-pass at turn ten, lost traction and both cars went into the gravel. Under that caution most of the field made pit stops, and Miller's No. 70 retired with a fuel pump failure on lap 36.
Negri overtook Rayhall's DeltaWing at turn eleven to take the lead, and he kept it after the final pit stops. Goossens moved up to second, 30.099 seconds behind at the finish, and Curran completed the podium. Bomarito had spun at turn ten on lap 45, but Negri kept his place.
How did the GTLM and GTD classes finish?
Richard Westbrook conserved fuel in the closing minutes and won GTLM for Ford Chip Ganassi Racing, 12.545 seconds ahead of Alessandro Pier Guidi's Ferrari 488 GTE. Porsche completed the GTLM podium with the No. 912 car, and the Ford GT took its first victory in five starts worldwide.
In the second race Farnbacher and Riberas drove the No. 23 Porsche to a GTD win by 3.632 seconds over the Ferrari of Balzan and Nielsen. Davis and Davison completed the GTD podium, with Davison taking third at turn nine on the final lap.
How did the second race play out?
The No. 44 Magnus Audi caught fire during the warm-up and had to serve a drive-through penalty. Alon kept pole at the start, but French overtook him on lap 4 to take the overall lead. Sbirrazzuoli's Lamborghini suffered suspension damage after contact with Kvamme's Starworks car.
The only full-course yellow came on lap 36 when Tim Pappas spun at turn five and stuck in the gravel. Under that yellow, most drivers pitted for fuel and tyres, and van der Zande's Starworks car led the Prototype Challenge class after the stops.
Van der Zande led the restart, but Tom Kimber-Smith passed him at turn one on lap 41 for the overall lead. Simpson moved the JDC-Miller car into second one lap later, and van der Zande then re-passed him. Kimber-Smith held the lead to the chequered flag after 82 laps.
Colin Braun moved the CORE Autosport car to fourth on lap 78 and then passed Simpson for third three laps later. Kimber-Smith won by a margin of 1.736 seconds over van der Zande, with Braun completing the PC podium.
What were the final results?
The first race was won by Oswaldo Negri Jr., ahead of Goossens and Curran. The second race went to Tom Kimber-Smith, ahead of van der Zande and Braun in the Prototype Challenge class. GTLM was won by Westbrook and Briscoe, and GTD by Farnbacher and Riberas.
| Race | Class | Winner | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 1 | Prototype | Oswaldo Negri Jr. | Michael Shank Racing; 80 laps |
| Race 1 | GTLM | Richard Westbrook | Ford Chip Ganassi Racing; 12.545 seconds clear |
| Race 2 | Prototype Challenge | Tom Kimber-Smith | PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports; 82 laps |
| Race 2 | GTD | Mario Farnbacher | Alex Job Racing; 3.632 seconds clear |
What did the weekend change in the championship?
Curran and Cameron took the lead of the Prototype Drivers' Championship with 121 points after their second-place finish. Negri and Pew moved from seventh to fifth, and Goossens rose from fourth to third.
In the Prototype Challenge championship, Goikhberg and Simpson's advantage fell to zero as Alon and Kimber-Smith moved into second. Milner and Gavin kept the GTLM lead, but their margin was cut by six points when Bamber and Makowiecki took second. Briscoe and Westbrook rose from seventh to third.
In GTD, Balzan and Nielsen took the lead with 95 points after finishing second. Davis and Liddell moved from eleventh to fifth, and Lally and Potter fell from first to third. Porsche took the GTD manufacturers' lead, and Scuderia Corsa took the GTD teams' lead with eight rounds left.
