BRASELTON – It was a clean sweep for Cadillac as they took both the race win and series championship at Road Atlanta for the 21st IMSA Petit Le Mans.
The Wayne Taylor Racing team earned their first victory of the season in Atlanta at the 10-hour event. The Action Express Cadillac Daytona Prototype team earned the season victory and championship.
It was a great weekend of racing in Braselton, with fantastic weather, as the 21st edition of the event paid homage to Dr. Don Panoz, who passed away earlier this year. The race was intended to bring the magic of the Le Mans in France race to North America, and it has over the past years. This year’s race was no exception as the race victory was earned on the last lap after 10 hour of racing.
The finish capped a great weekend of motorsports, seeing cars running in multiple classes in several races over the weekend at one of the nation’s best racing venues, Road Atlanta. The track will see some significant upgrades for next year, as it will become Michelin Raceway at Road Atlanta with a new press tower and other infrastructure improvements.
In addition to the Action Express overall season victory, the Corvette Racing team of Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia earned the season title in GTLM, as the factory Porsche team won the race victory.
In the GTD division, it was the Paul Miller racing Lamborghini team who earned the series championship. In speaking with Valdosta Today, the team was expecting an increased investment from Lamborghini next season to highlight the team as the face of the marque in racing. This comes as the team earned its first championship before the increased investment.
The race was won by the WeatherTech Ferrari team. Valdosta Today interviewed WeatherTech Ferrari driver Cooper MacNeil earlier prior to the race.
In other racing news from the event, Valdosta Today spoke with members of the ESM race team. ESM runs a twin-turbo Nissan powerplant. The main sponsor of the team, Tequila Patron, owned by Bacardi, will be withdrawing their sponsorship to the team. In addition, Bacardi will also pull sponsorship of the Williams Formula One team which is sponsored by Martini. Members of the team were still waiting to see who would sponsor the team next year, and frankly, whether they would have jobs. It is odd to consider that a team which almost won this race would be without a title sponsor for next season.
For fans of motorsport, this event is a real treat. Fans of all ages are welcome to the event to watch the race, or to stay for the weekend. These teams represent the pinnacle of sportscar racing internationally and this event, founded by Panoz as a way to connect fans to the best the sport has to offer, more than represents that effort.
