GTLM, GTD Points Battles Going Down to the Wire

It’s crunch time in both the GT Le Mans (GTLM) and GT Daytona (GTD) classes, with the championship battles going right down to the checkered flag of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season-ending Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda at Road Atlanta on Saturday, Oct. 4.

The GTLM lead changed hands in the recent Lone Star Le Mans at Austin’s Circuit of The Americas. SRT Motorsports’ Jonathan Bomarito and Kuno Wittmer took over the lead in the No. 93 Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R. After leading much of the campaign, Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia is now the challenger, with the driver of the No. 3 Corvette C7.R trailing the Dodge drivers by seven points, 300-293.

Bomarito and Wittmer can clinch the championship by finishing third at Road Atlanta.

Nine drivers remain mathematically eligible for the title entering the finale: Dominik Farnbacher and Marc Goossens in the No. 91 SRT Motorsports Dodge Viper GTS-R with 283 points; Bill Auberlen and Andy Priaulx in the No. 55 BMW Team RLL BMW Z4 GTE with 276; John Edwards and Dirk Mueller in the No. 56 BMW Team RLL BMW Z4 GTE with 275; Michael Christensen and Patrick Long in the No. 912 Porsche Motorsports North American Porsche 911 RSR with 270; and Jan Magnussen, Garcia’s co-driver in the No. 3 Corvette with 269.

While all of that group will be mathematically eliminated once either Bomarito or Wittmer achieve the 45-minute minimum driving time needed to score points, if the current season has been an indication, nothing can be taken for granted.

The GTD class entered the Austin event with a five-way tie for first in the driver championship spread among three teams and manufacturers for the lead. After the race, Dane Cameron emerged with a four-point advantage by virtue of a third-place finish.

Cameron now has 275 points driving the No. 94 Turner Motorsport BMW Z4 (the car carried No. 300 at Austin to commemorate Turner’s 300th race). Leh Keen and Cooper MacNeil are four points back with 271 points in the No. 23 Alex Job Racing WeatherTech Porsche 911 GT America, while Townsend Bell and Bill Sweedler are another three points back with 268 in the No. 555 AIM Autosport Ferrari 458 Italia. Cameron can clinch the title outright with a second-place run.

Also in title contention are Christopher Haase and Bryce Miller in the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Audi R8 LMS; John Potter in the No. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT America; and Markus Palttala in the No. 94 BMW, although the latter will be eliminated if co-driver Cameron scores points.

Jan Heylen and Madison Snow in the No. 58 Dempsey Racing Discount Tire/Universal Industrial Sales Porsche 911 GT America; Jeff Westphal in the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia; and Andy Lally in the No. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT America all have a mathematical chance but will be eliminated if Cameron achieves the minimum two hour, 15 minute driving time needed to score points.

So far this season, a championship leader sat out a race due to suffering a concussion in practice; a pole-winning car was eliminated in morning warm-up; and a two-time race-winning Prototype missed the first hour of a race due to crashing on the reconnaissance lap.

Anything can still happen.