Final round of the 2021 IMSA SportsCar Championship season
The Track map of Road Atlanta
The 2021 Petit Le Mans (known as the 2021 MOTUL Petit Le Mans for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th running of the Petit Le Mans, and was held on November 13, 2021. It was the 12th and final race in the 2021 IMSA SportsCar Championship, and the 4th race of the 2021 Michelin Endurance Cup. The race was held at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia. This race was the last ever race for the GTLM Class.
International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2021 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in September 2020. It was the eighth consecutive year it was part of the IMSA SCC, and 24th Petit Le Mans.[1] The 2021 Petit Le Mans was final of 2021's IMSA sports car endurance races, and the last of four races of the Michelin Endurance Cup (MEC).[2] The race took place at the 12-turn, 2.540-mile (4.088 km) Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia.
The 2021 running marked the event's return to the final calendar spot on the schedule following the wholesale schedule changes that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.[3] The 2021 edition underwent a date change of its own, being postponed from its traditional early-October spot to the weekend of November 13th.[4] The event featured support from four of IMSA's supporting series; the Michelin Pilot Challenge, IMSA Prototype Challenge, Porsche Carrera Cup North America, and Mazda MX-5 Cup.[5]
On November 3, 2021, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outlining Balance of Performance for the event.[6] In GTLM, the Chevrolet Corvette C8.R received a one-liter reduction in fuel capacity, while in GTD the 2021 debut of the McLaren required its addition to the BoP table.
This would be the final race for entry Mazda Motorsports as Mazda was stepping back from all racing activities following the 2021 season with the exception of the Mazda MX-5 Cup.[7] Also making its farewell was the GTLM class which in 2022 would be replaced by the new GTD Pro class.[8]
A total of 43 cars took part in the event, split across five classes. 7 were entered in DPi, 5 in LMP2, 10 in LMP3, 6 in GTLM, and 15 in GTD.
In DPi, the expected addition of the Endurance Cup effort from Ally Cadillac Racing was present, while Hรฉlio Castroneves replaced Olivier Pla as Meyer Shank Racing's third driver.[10] In LMP2, United Autosports returned to complete their scheduled Endurance Cup campaign. In GTLM the pair of BMW Team RLLM8s returned for the Endurance Cup, WeatherTech Racing also added a second entry, which alongside its own full time entry and the two Corvettes boosted the class to six entries for its last ever race. LMP3 saw its largest grid of the season with ten cars, which included a series debut for FastMD Racing.[11] Returns for United Autosports, Forty7 Motorsports, Jr III Racing (whose lineup included former IndyCar driver Spencer Pigot),[12] and WIN Autosport[13] helped to boost the class to its record-breaking entry number. GTD also featured a number of changes, including the first appearance of the season for the McLaren 720S GT3, fielded by Inception Racing.[14] NTE Sport and Gilbert/Korthoff Motorsports also returned as part of their selective 2021 calendars, as did Alegra Motorsports, who added Mercedes-AMG factor driver Daniel Juncadella to their lineup.[15] Winward Racing also returned for the first time since their class victory at the 24 Hours of Daytona,[16] while the Heart of Racing Team dropped their second entry.[17]
There were three practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, all three one on Thursday. The first session on Thursday morning lasted one hour. The second session on Thursday afternoon lasted 75 minutes. The final session on Thursday evening lasted 90 minutes.[19]
Qualifying was broken into four sessions.[19] The first was for cars in GTD class. Madison Snow qualified on pole driving the No. 1 car for Paul Miller Racing, beating Benjamin Hites in the No. 42 NTE Sport entry. Robby Foley was third in the No. 96 BMW followed by Aaron Telitz in the No. 14 Lexus.[35]
The second session was for cars in the GTLM and GTD classes. Jesse Krohn qualified on pole in GTLM driving the No. 24 car for BMW Team RLL, beating Matt Campbell in the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing entry by just over five-tenths of a second.[36]Jack Hawksworth set the fastest time in the GTD points paying session and earned 35 championship points.[35]
The third session was for cars in the LMP3 class. Niklas Krรผtten qualified on pole for the class driving the No. 2 car for United Autosports, besting Rasmus Lindh in the Performance Tech Motorsports entry.[35]
^The no. 01 Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing entry was moved to the rear of the DPi classification after the team elected to change starting driver after qualifying.
^The no. 14 Vasser-Sullivan Racing entry was moved to the rear of the GTD classification for violating competition rules regarding the car's ride height.
^The no. 23 Heart of Racing Team entry was moved to the rear of the GTD classification after the team elected to change tires after qualifying.
^The no. 44 Magnus Racing with Archangel Motorsports entry was moved to the rear of the GTD classification after the team elected to change tires after qualifying.
^The no. 83 WIN Autosport entry was moved to the rear of the LMP3 classification after the team elected to change tires after qualifying.
Race
Post-race
Derani and Nasr took the DPi Drivers' Championship with 3407 points. They were 11 points ahead of Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor.[43] With 2162 points, Jensen and Keating won the LMP2 Drivers' Championship, 136 points ahead of Nunez and Thomas in second.[43] With 2176 points, Robinson won the LMP3 Drivers' Championship, 186 points ahead of Bennett and Braun.[43] Antonio Garcรญa and Jordan Taylor took the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 3549 points. They were 101 points ahead of Milner and Tandy in second. MacNeil was third with 3356 points and Campbell was fourth with 2084 points.[43] With 3284 points, Robichon and Vanthoor won the GTD Drivers' Championship, 121 points ahead of Sellers and Snow in second. De Angelis and Gunn were third position with 3111 points and Long was fourth with 2943 points.[43] Cadillac, Chevrolet, and Porsche won their respective Manufactures' Championships while Whelen Engineering Racing, PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, Riley Motorsports, Corvette Racing, and Pfaff Motorsports won their respective Teams' Championships.[43]
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