2020 Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship

The 2020 Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship was a sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The race was held at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey County, California, on November 1, 2020. This race was the tenth round of the 2020 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the seventh round of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup.

The overall race was won by Hélio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor, their fourth victory of the season. In LMP2, PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports secured the class victory by default, as no other teams were entered. The GTLM class was won for the second consecutive race by Porsche, albeit this time with the #912 team of Earl Bamber and Laurens Vanthoor. In GTD, Mario Farnbacher and Matt McMurry scored their second victory of the season.

Background

Then International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2020 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2019. It was the seventh consecutive year it was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The 2020 Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship was the tenth of eleven sports car races of 2020 by IMSA, and the event was the last of seven races on the WeatherTech Sprint Cup. The race was held at the eleven-turn 2.238 mi (3.602 km) WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

Initially scheduled to be run on September 13, the event was rescheduled for the weekend of November 1st, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was run behind closed doors in order to maintain compliance with California state gathering regulations, as it was the only DPi round, and second GT round ( Virginia International Raceway the other round in the season) to be held as such, as the second Daytona, Road America, Mid-Ohio, Charlotte, and both Sebring and Road Atlanta rounds were run with spectators. In May, Hyundai was announced as the new title sponsor of the event.

No changes were made to IMSA's balance of performance from the previous round at Road Atlanta.

Before the race, Ryan Briscoe and Renger van der Zande led the DPi Drivers' Championship with 215 points, ahead of Hélio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor in second with 207 points, and Pipo Derani in third. In LMP2, Patrick Kelly led the Drivers' Championship with 126 points. Antonio García and Jordan Taylor led the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 293 points, 28 points ahead of Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner. With 228 points, Aaron Telitz led the GTD Drivers' Championship, ahead of Jack Hawksworth. Cadillac, Chevrolet, and Lexus were leading their respective Manufactures' Championships while Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R, PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, Corvette Racing, and AIM Vasser Sullivan each led their own Teams' Championships.

Entries

A total of 28 cars took part in the event, split across four classes. 8 were entered in DPi, 1 in LMP2, 6 in GTLM, and 13 in GTD. DPi's only changes were between the two JDC entries. With João Barbosa's exit from the team, Tristan Vautier was drafted in to replace him. As a result, Stephen Simpson returned to the #85 to partner Matheus Leist. LMP2 was reduced to just one entry due to a back injury sustained by Era Motorsport driver Dwight Merriman, leaving championship leaders PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports as the only entrant. In GTD, Alessandro Balzan replaced Toni Vilander as Scuderia Corsa's pro driver. Sprint competitors Team Hardpoint and Compass Racing also returned after skipping Petit Le Mans.

Practice

There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Sunday, both on Saturday. The first session lasted one hour on Saturday morning while the second session lasted 75 minutes on Saturday afternoon.

Practice 1

The first practice session took place at 8:00 am PT on Saturday and ended with Pipo Derani topping the charts for Whelen Engineering Racing, with a lap time of 1:15.851, ahead of the #10 Cadillac of Renger van der Zande. Simon Trummer set the fastest time in LMP2. The GTLM class topped by the #3 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R of Antonio García with a time of 1:21.898. Nick Tandy was second in the #911 Porsche GT Team entry and Earl Bamber rounded out the top 3. Bill Auberlen was fastest in GTD. 44 minutes into the session, Tristan Nunez, driving the #77 Mazda RT24-P, hit a trackside sign at turn 9 whilst trying to avoid hitting the #85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Cadillac of Stephen Simpson. Debris became scattered across the track and brought out the red flag. The Team Hardpoint Audi only completed three laps due to broken drive shaft.

Practice 2

The second final practice session took place at 12:00 pm PT on Saturday and ended with Oliver Jarvis topping the charts for Mazda Motorsports, with a lap time of 1:15.692, 0.185 seconds faster than Dane Cameron's #6 Acura. The PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports did not set a time in LMP2. The GTLM class was topped by the #3 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R of Jordan Taylor with a time of 1:22.279. Connor De Phillippi in the #25 BMW Team RLL entry was second and Nick Tandy rounded out the top 3. Robby Foley set the fastest time in GTD. The #85 Cadillac of Matheus Leist crashed in turn 2 after suffering a mechanical issue. Felipe Nasr and Hélio Castroneves collided at turn 3 after they exited the pits and Nasr tried letting Castorneves pass. The #7 Acura Team Penske Acura cut across the #31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac and both cars received damage. Castroneves received a stop-and-hold plus 60 second penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct while Nasr was given a drive-through penalty.

Qualifying

Sunday's morning qualifying was broken into three sessions, with one session for the DPi and LMP2, GTLM, and GTD classes, which lasted for 15 minutes each, and a ten minute interval between the sessions. The rules dictated that all teams nominated a driver to qualify their cars, with the Pro-Am (LMP2/GTD) classes requiring a Bronze/Silver Rated Driver to qualify the car. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order. IMSA then arranged the grid to put DPis ahead of the LMP2, GTLM, and GTD cars.

The first session was for cars in GTD class. Matt McMurry qualified on pole for the class driving the #86 car for Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian, beating Robby Foley in the Turner Motorsport entry by less than two-tenths of a second.

The second session was for cars in the GTLM class. Jordan Taylor qualified on pole driving the #3 car for Corvette Racing, besting Laurens Vanthoor in the #912 Porsche GT Team entry.

The final session of qualifying was for cars in the LMP2 and DPi classes. Juan Pablo Montoya took overall pole for the event driving the #6 car for Acura Team Penske, beating teammate Hélio Castroneves in the sister #7 Acura Team Penske by less than two-tenths of a second. Patrick Kelly secured the LMP2 pole by default.

Qualifying results

Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by .

* The No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac entry was moved to the back of the DPi field as per Article 40.1.4 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).
* The No. 25 BMW Team RLL entry was moved to the back of the GTLM field as per Article 40.1.4 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).
* The No. 24 BMW Team RLL entry was moved to the back of the GTLM field as per Article 40.1.4 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).
* The No. 74 Riley Motorsports entry was moved to the back of the GTD field as per Article 40.1.4 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).

Race

Post-race

As a result of winning the race Hélio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor took the lead of the DPi Drivers' Championship. Bomarito and Tincknell advanced from fifth to fourth. By starting the race, Patrick Kelly clinched the LMP2 Drivers' Championship. As a result of Gavin and Milner's disqualification, Antonio García and Jordan Taylor clinched the GTLM Drivers' Championship. As a result of winning the race, Mario Farnbacher and Matt McMurry took the lead of the GTD Drivers' Championship. Hardwick and Long advanced from third to second while Telitz dropped from first to third. Cadillac, and Chevrolet continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships while Acura took the lead of the GTD Manufactures' Championship. PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports and Corvette Racing their respective advantages in their respective of Teams' Championships while Acura Team Penske took the lead of the DPi Teams' Championship. Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian took the lead of the GTD Teams' Championship with one round remaining in the season.

Results

Class winners are denoted in bold and .

Standings after the race

* Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

* Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

* Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

References

External links

{{Monterey Sports Car Championships
Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship
Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship
Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship