IMSA title fights head down to the wire for Petit Le Mans finale

After qualifying for the 28th annual Motul Petit Le Mans, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship picture has only shifted slightly in GTP.

The odds have gotten a little better for GTP championship leaders Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell in their No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963. Going into the weekend, they knew that a seventh-place finish at Petit Le Mans would win them the title.

With Friday's qualifying results, that magic position now improves to eighth place as the minimum that Jaminet and Campbell (accompanied by Julien Andlauer) would need to take the GTP drivers’ championship.

If they fail to do so, the No. 7 Penske Porsche of Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy (with Laurens Vanthoor) could take the GTP title back with a win. If they finish second, they’d need Jaminet and Campbell to be 12th and last.

For the No. 24 BMW M Team RLL Hybrid V8 of Philipp Eng and Dries Vanthoor (with Kevin Magnussen) to score a huge upset, they must win the race with Jaminet and Campbell in 11th or 12th.

In GTD, the objective is simple: Russell Ward and Philip Ellis (No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO) can clinch the championship as long as they finish 18th in their 19-car class.

Ellis had the chance to clinch the title early in qualifying, if he could qualify high enough to score six more points than Casper Stevenson in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo. The two were only separated by one position at the end of the GTD session, keeping Stevenson’s very faint title hopes alive into Saturday.

There’s been little change in the LMP2 and GTD PRO title races.

In LMP2, PJ Hyett and Dane Cameron in the No. 99 AO Racing ORECA 07-Gibson can clinch the championship – and the Jim Trueman Award for Hyett – with a fourth-place finish or better. Fourth or better is what Daniel Goldburg (No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA) needs to have any chance.

In GTD PRO, it’s still a close fight between Corvette Racing’s Antonio García and Alexander Sims (No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R) and DragonSpeed’s Albert Costa. 

A win for either the Corvette or Ferrari would be enough to win the championship, as the gap has now come down to 13 points. If the Ferrari finishes second, third, or fourth, the Ferrari wins the title if it finishes one place ahead of the Corvette.

The gap between Porsche and Acura in the GTP manufacturers’ championship has come down to just two points; whichever manufacturer has the highest-finishing car in the race will take the championship.

First or second among manufacturers in GTD PRO would be enough for Chevrolet to take the manufacturers’ championship. In GTD, Mercedes-AMG needs to be the sixth-highest finishing manufacturer in the race.