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Road America IMSA Preview

Corvette Racing currently leads in GTLM. [Photo by Jack Webster]

Corvette Racing currently leads in GTLM. [Photo by Jack Webster]

By Jack Webster & Eddie LePine

The IMSA circus is coming to Elkhart Lake’s Road America this week for the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship event. The fast and scenic track in Wisconsin is certainly one of our favorite stops on the IMSA circuit, and it is a favorite of fans and drivers as well. The weather forecast looks great and we are looking forward to not only good racing, but also the best race track food in the country.

Heading into the race at Road America, the series is as healthy as ever, with 44 entries signed up for the 2-hour and 40 race around the 4-mile historic track.

With only four events remaining in the 2016 championship, things are getting serious in all classes in the hunt for the drivers, teams and manufacturers titles.

In the Prototype class, Action Express has a lock on the two top spots with Corvette DP cars holding all the top four spots. It certainly looks like the Chevrolet will take the manufacturers title this season, the last year of competition for the venerable DP cars. Honda and Mazda powered cars, which have been fast all season, are in the next spots, but at this point it seems unlikely that they will be able to overtake the Chevrolet powered cars. Next season is a clean sheet of paper, with the end of DP cars and the introduction of the DPi class.

In GTLM, it is another story entirely, with any of the top 5 manufacturers (Chevrolet, Ford, Porsche, Ferrari and BMW) only separated by 27 points going into Elkhart. Corvette Racing just won their 100th race, Ford with their all new Ford GT is only 10 points behind in the manufacturers race, with Porsche, Ferrari and BMW not too far behind. This championship looks to go down to the wire, but if we were betting, we would say it is going to come down to a Corvette and Ford battle for manufacturers honors.

In GTD, Audi leads the manufacturers championship with a 10-point advantage over Ferrari, with Porsche only one point in arrears. This is another battle for the GTD manufacturers championship that will probably not be settled until the end of Petit Le Mans in October. Not only are Audi and Ferrari close at the top, but Porsche and Dodge are still in the hunt as well.

In the LMPC class, there is no manufacturers title up for grabs, as all the cars in this class are powered by Chevrolet power.

The driver’s championship points battle in all four IMSA classes are tight as well and it is likely that none of these championships will be settled until the end of Petit Le Mans.

Great racing, a great track, great food and the best bar (Siebkens) all add up to a great event this week at Elkhart Lake.

Get there if you can.

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