2019 Petit Le Mans
The 2019 Petit Le Mans (formally known as the 2019 MOTUL Petit Le Mans for sponsorship reasons) was the 22nd running of the Petit Le Mans, and was held on October 12, 2019. It was the last race in the 2019 IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship, and the last race of the 2019 Michelin Endurance Cup, and was run at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia. The race was won overall by the #31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R after its sister car fell out with brake failure with less than 30 minutes remaining. The distance covered was a race record.[1]

Background
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As the final race for the 2019 season, the race concluded IMSA's 50th anniversary season.
Scott Atherton would retire from his position as President of the International Motor Sports Association following the event.[2] In his final race as president, Scott Atherton served as the events grand marshal.[3] John Doonan would replace Scott Atherton as president of the International Motor Sports Association beginning in 2020.[4]
This would be the final race for the Ford GT as Ford was ending their factory involvement following the 2019 season.[5] The Nissan Onroak DPi made its final appearance as Jon Bennett would retire from full time driving.[6][7]
The Chevrolet Corvette C7.R and Porsche 911 RSR also entered their final IMSA events, ahead of the switch to new-generation GTE machinery for both manufacturers in 2020.[8][9][10] Chevrolet would transition to the Chevrolet Corvette C8.R,[11] while Porsche introduced the Porsche 911 RSR-19.[12]
Entries
A total of 34 cars took part in the event split across 4 classes. 11 cars were entered in DPi, 2 in LMP2, 9 in GTLM, and 12 in GTD.[13] In DPi, Juncos Racing made its first appearance since the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park round.[14] Graham Rahal substituted for Alexander Rossi in the #7 Acura Team Penske entry due to a clash with the Bathurst 1000.[15] In GTLM, Risi Competizione returned for the first time since the season opening round at Daytona.[16][17] In GTD, Park Place Motorsports were absent due to not having a spare chassis.[18] Montaplast by Land-Motorsport and Precision Performance Motorsports made their first appearances since the Watkins Glen round. Compass Racing skipped the event. Marco Seefried joined Bryan Sellers and Corey Lewis in the Paul Miller Racing entry.[19] Parker Chase joined Jack Hawksworth and Richard Heistand in the #14 AIM Vasser-Sullivan entry.[20]
Qualifying
Felipe Nasr secured overall pole for the event.[21]
Qualifying results
Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by ‡.
Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap | Grid |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | DPi | 31 | Whelen Engineering Racing | Felipe Nasr | 1:08.457 | _ | 1‡ |
2 | DPi | 7 | Acura Team Penske | Ricky Taylor | 1:08.598 | +0.141 | 2 |
3 | DPi | 5 | Mustang Sampling Racing | Filipe Albuquerque | 1:08.629 | +0.172 | 3 |
4 | DPi | 6 | Acura Team Penske | Dane Cameron | 1:08.802 | +0.345 | 4 |
5 | DPi | 77 | Mazda Team Joest | Timo Bernhard | 1:08.847 | +0.390 | 5 |
6 | DPi | 55 | Mazda Team Joest | Harry Ticknell | 1:09.204 | +0.747 | 6 |
7 | DPi | 84 | JDC-Miller Motorsports | Simon Trummer | 1:09.243 | +0.786 | 7 |
8 | DPi | 10 | Konica Minolta Cadillac | Renger van der Zande | 1:09.253 | +0.796 | 8 |
9 | DPi | 50 | Juncos Racing | Spencer Pigot | 1:09.507 | +1.050 | 9 |
10 | DPi | 85 | JDC-Miller Motorsports | Misha Goikhberg | 1:09.673 | +1.216 | 10 |
11 | LMP2 | 38 | Performance Tech Motorsports | Kyle Masson | 1:10.722 | +2.265 | 11‡ |
12 | LMP2 | 52 | PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports | Matt McMurry | 1:10.853 | +2.396 | 12 |
13 | DPi | 54 | CORE Autosport | John Bennett | 1:11.511 | +3.054 | 13 |
14 | GTLM | 62 | Risi Competizione | James Calado | 1:15.639 | +7.182 | 14‡ |
15 | GTLM | 3 | Corvette Racing | Antonio García | 1:15.702 | +7.245 | 15 |
16 | GTLM | 24 | BMW Team RLL | Philip Eng | 1:15.784 | +7.327 | 16 |
17 | GTLM | 912 | Porsche GT Team | Laurens Vanthoor | 1:15.842 | +7.385 | 17 |
18 | GTLM | 66 | Ford Chip Ganassi Racing | Joey Hand | 1:15.856 | +7.399 | 18 |
19 | GTLM | 67 | Ford Chip Ganassi Racing | Richard Westbrook | 1:15.967 | +7.510 | 19 |
20 | GTLM | 911 | Porsche GT Team | Nick Tandy | 1:16.037 | +7.580 | 20 |
21 | GTLM | 4 | Corvette Racing | Olivier Gavin | 1:16.048 | +7.591 | 21 |
22 | GTLM | 25 | BMW Team RLL | Colton Herta | 1:16.327 | +8.870 | 22 |
23 | GTD | 48 | Paul Miller Racing | Corey Lewis | 1:19.530 | +11.073 | 23‡ |
24 | GTD | 33 | Riley Motorsports – Team AMG | Ben Keating | 1:19.665 | +11.208 | 24 |
25 | GTD | 63 | Scuderia Corsa | Jeff Westphal | 1:19.721 | +11.264 | 25 |
26 | GTD | 86 | Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian | Justin Marks | 1:19.820 | +11.363 | 26 |
27 | GTD | 57 | Heinricher Racing with Meyer-Shank | Christina Nielsen | 1:19.952 | +11.495 | 27 |
28 | GTD | 9 | Pfaff Motorsports | Zacharie Robichon | 1:20.200 | +11.743 | 28 |
29 | GTD | 14 | AIM Vasser Sullivan | Richard Heinstand | 1:20.260 | +11.803 | 29 |
30 | GTD | 12 | AIM Vasser Sullivan | Frankie Montecalvo | 1:20.323 | +11.866 | 30 |
31 | GTD | 44 | Magnus Racing | John Potter | 1:21.234 | +12.777 | 31 |
32 | GTD | 29 | Montaplast by Land-Motorsport | Christopher Miles | No time1 | _ | 32 |
33 | GTD | 47 | Precision Performance Motorsports | Shinya Michimi | No time2 | _ | 33 |
34 | GTD | 96 | Turner Motorsport | Robby Foley | No time | _ | 34 |
Source:[22] | |||||||
Race
Results
Class winners are denoted in bold and ‡.
Standings after the race
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
References
- Dagys, John (October 12, 2019). "Action Express Wins Petit Le Mans; Cameron, JPM Claim Title". Sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media, LLC. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
- "IMSA President Atherton Announces Retirement". sportscar365.com. September 19, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
- "Atherton Named Grand Marshal for Petit Le Mans". sportscar365.com. September 30, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
- Ryan, Nate (October 15, 2019). "Mazda's John Doonan named as IMSA's new president". nbcsports.com. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
- Dagys, John (April 18, 2019). "Ford Confirms End of Factory GT Program". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
- Lloyd, Daniel (August 22, 2019). "Bennett Announces Retirement; CORE DPi Program to End". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
- Klein, Jamie (August 22, 2019). "CORE autosport to bow out of DPi as Bennett retires". us.motorsport.com. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
- Malsher-Lopez, David (September 17, 2019). "Porsche to run Coca-Cola livery at Petit Le Mans". us.motorsport.com. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
- "2019 Goodbyes: Corvette C7.R". dailysportscar.com. December 30, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
- "CORVETTE RACING AT PETIT LE MANS: Hoping to Close on a High Note". imsa.com. October 9, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
- Stocksdale, Joel (October 10, 2019). "Chevy Corvette C8.R race car revealed with a new 5.5-liter engine". autoblog.com. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
- Chin, Chris (July 7, 2019). "New Porsche 911 RSR Revealed With Massive 4.2-Liter Flat-Six at Goodwood Festival of Speed". thedrive.com. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
- Dagys, John (October 2, 2019). "34 Entries for Petit Le Mans". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
- Dagys, John (September 26, 2019). "Pigot Completes Juncos Lineup for Petit Le Mans". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
- Dagys, John (September 4, 2019). "Rahal Rejoins Acura Team Penske for Petit Le Mans". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
- Dagys, John (October 1, 2019). "Risi Sets Driver Lineup for Petit Le Mans". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
- Dagys, John (June 19, 2019). "Risi Set for Petit Le Mans Return". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
- Dagys, John (October 1, 2019). "Park Place Porsche to Miss Petit Le Mans". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
- Dagys, John (October 3, 2019). "Seefried to Complete Paul Miller Lineup for Petit Le Mans". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
- Pruett, Marshall (September 19, 2019). "Chase joins AIM Vasser Sullivan for Petit Le Mans". racer.com. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
- Lloyd, Daniel (11 October 2019). "Nasr Grabs Petit Le Mans Pole". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
- "05_Results_Class_Qualifying.pdf" (PDF). 11 October 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
- "00_Championship Points - Official.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
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