Originally scheduled to run on April 25, 2021, the race was set to wrap up the two "West Coast Swing" rounds also consisting of Long Beach, however the event was postponed to September 12, 2021, due to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic in California.[1]
On September 10, 2021, IMSA and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca announced a three-year contract extension that would keep the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on the calendar through to the end of 2024.[2]
A total of 26 cars took part in the event, split across 4 classes. 6 cars were entered in DPi, 4 in LMP2, 3 in GTLM, and 13 in GTD.[4] In GTD, NTE Sport didn't return after their outing at Road America. Heart of Racing added a second entry alongside its own full time entry.[5]Grasser Racing Team was absent from the event due to a clash with the ADAC GT Masters round at Lausitzring.[6]Jacob Abel subbed for Jeff Kingsley in the Compass Racing Acura.[7][8]
Practice
There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Sunday, one on Friday and one on Saturday. The first session lasted one hour on Friday while the second session on Saturday lasted 75 minutes.[9]
Qualifying was broken into three sessions.[9] The first was for cars in GTD class. Trent Hindman qualified on pole for the class driving the No. 16 car for Wright Motorsports, beating Robby Foley in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW by less than one-tenth of a second. Roman De Angelis in the No. 23 heart of Racing Team Aston Martin was third followed by The No. 1 Lamborghini of Madison Snow, and Richard Heistand's No. 39 Audi rounded out the top five.[20]
The second session was for cars in the GTLM and GTD classes. Jordan Taylor qualified on pole in GTLM driving the No. 3 car for Corvette Racing, besting teammate Tommy Milner in the sister No. 4 Corvette Racing entry.[21]Ross Gunn set the fastest time in the GTD points paying session driving the No. 23 car for Heart of Racing Team. However, the team were sent to the back of the GTD grid after Gunn exited the car before the session ended. As a result, Laurens Vanthoor was promoted to first and earned 35 championship points.[22]Bill Auberlen was second in the No. 96 BMW followed by Bryan Sellers in the No. 1 Lamborghini.[21]
1 The No. 55 Mazda Motorsports entry was moved to the back of the DPi classification for violating competition rules regarding the car's camber.[29]
2 The No. 8 Tower Motorsport By Starworks entry was moved to the back of the LMP2 classification as per Article 40.1.4 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).[30]
3 The No. 23 Heart of Racing Team entry was moved to the back of the GTD classification as per Article 40.2.9. of the Sporting regulations (Gunn exited the car during the second GTD qualifying segment before the session ended).[30]
4 The No. 44 Magnus Racing with Archangel Motorsports entry was moved to the back of the GTD classification as per Article 40.1.4 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).[30]
Race
Post-race
With a total of 2765 points, Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor's victory allowed them to increase their advantage over Derani and Nasr in the DPi Drivers' Championship to 98 points.[31] With a total of 1807 points, Keating and Jensen's victory allowed them to increase over Nunez and Thomas in the LMP2 Drivers' Championship to 113 points.[31] The result kept Antonio García and Jordan Taylor atop the GTLM Drivers' Championship.[31] As a result of winning the race, Robichon and Vanthoor advanced from third to second in the GTD Drivers' Championship.[31] Cadillac and Chevrolet continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships while Porsche took the lead of the GTD Manufactures' Championship.[31] WTR-Konica Minolta Acura, PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, Corvette Racing, and Turner Motorsport kept their respective advantages in the their respective of Teams' Championships with three rounds remaining in the season.[31]
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