Coming off their first victory at Detroit Belle Isle, the No. 88 BMW M Hybrid V8 of DS Racing eSports Team carries the biggest amount of momentum going into Road America.
It was the organization’s first ever win in VSCA competition and now the Portuguese team will look to go for more.
Grizzly Motorsports and their No. 7 BMW have done a masterful job managing their championship lead in the last race, taking home a nice points haul by finishing second.
Going into championship round 8, the No. 7 BMW leads the LMDh championship by 56 points and is only one of three entries to finish in the top ten every single race.
One of the other two entries to accomplish that feat is the No. 3 BMW of Mayer Simspeed Performance. The team out of Germany has struggled with crashes recently, and had to surrender the championship lead earlier this season, after starting out strong, winning the 24 Hours of Daytona.
At Detroit, Mayer Simspeed Performance suffered another crash. While it seems unlikely the No. 3 car’s championship aspirations are over already, the team will have to return to form quickly and avoid further issues at Road America.
Defending VSCA Endurance Cup champions, and carrying a fitting name of Champion Motorsports, the No. 79 BMW enters Road America in third place, 95 points back.
Since winning at Laguna Seca in early May, the team has finished third, seventh and fourth in the three most recent races. But can the team also make it back to victory lane? The Denton, Texas team will try to give the answer on the track at Road America.
JO Motorsports and the No. 99 BMW M Hybrid V8 saw themselves on the wrong end of the action a few too many times at Detroit. Still, the organization’s first season in VSCA competition has been nothing but impressive so far, garnering six top-ten results in seven starts.
For Road America, the team will have to hope for some bad luck by the top-three in the championship, because despite a solid season, they’re currently looking at a 282-point deficit.
Detroit Racing eSports Team and the No. 88 car round out the top-five in the championship, 347 points back.
At 4.048 miles (6.514 km), Road America is the longest track on the circuit. Which also means, any potential full course yellows will be significantly longer than at other tracks. Strategy will once again be a key component in any team’s competitive advantage or disadvantage in Saturday’s event.
Trading Paints Racing the team to beat in LMP2 class
While the championship battles in the other two classes are rather close, things look very much in favor of Trading Paints Racing and the No. 19 Dallara in LMP2 class.
Incredibly enough, the team out of Allentown, Pennsylvania has been missing from the LMP2 class podium only twice all year long.
Which begs the question: Is the No. 19 Dallara through the woods already?
While five wins is an incredible feat, the LMP2 competition can be counted on, that they will do everything in their power at Road America, to close the gap and move into position to attack the championship leaders going into the final quarter of the schedule.
Leading the charge might be Albrecht Motorsports and their No. 96 Dallara. Still looking for their first win, they have shown competitive pace all year long and have six top-ten finishes in seven stars to show for it.
Still, trailing the No. 19 Dallara by 283 points means there is zero cushion for errors the rest of the way and Albrecht Motorsports have to hope for a misstep or problems for the championship leaders, to cut into the lead.
Of course, earning the organization’s first VSCA win would go a long way. After nearly two full seasons, the German team is still looking at a big zero in the win column, but has proved again and again to have the competitive speed, to win.
In a similar situation, the No. 14 Dallara of Fischer Motorsport sits in third, 351 points back and will hope to put their recent struggles in the rearview mirror, with a strong bounce back performance at Road America.
Crashing at Detroit was the last thing the German team was looking for. Of course it didn’t help that the championship leaders won again. Realistically speaking, the team’s focus has probably shifted to race wins, instead of the 2023 championship by now. But never count out anyone!
VRG Sport and their No. 66 Dallara are fourth in the championship and ought to feel very confident after getting six top-ten finishes in seven starts. At Road America, the California-based team will hope to bounce back from a miserable experience at Detroit, when a big crash on lap eight ruined all chances for a decent result.
The No. 86 GSE Racing eSports car rounds out the top-five in points, at a massive 755-point deficit, but Road America will provide the German team with another opportunity to break through for their inaugural race win.
No. 5 Mercedes enjoys spoiling the Torque Freak-Kinetic show
The No. 6 Torque Freak Racing and No. 67 Kinetic Racing cars have dominated the headlines and championship battle in GTD class last year and for long periods, this season as well.
However after four top-fives in seven starts and yet another very solid points day at Detroit, it is Screeching Moose Motorsports and their No. 5 Mercedes AMG GT3 holding the points lead since Watkins Glen.
All this, despite the fact that the Canadian team is still looking for its first win in VSCA. But championships come down to consistency, as much they come down to competitiveness. And consistency has been a stellar hallmark of the team this season. With Road America being the most northwest race of the year, one could argue it is kind of a home race for Screeching Moose Motorsports.
Can the team put their stamp on the 2023 GTD class championship by winning and putting Torque Freak and Kinetic to the distance?
Of course the No. 6 Lamborghini will look to repeat their Laguna Seca win. And the No. 67 Porsche will look to return to victory lane, after winning the opening three championship rounds in 2023.
Road America proved to be a good track for Kinetic Racing last year, when the team won the Elkhart Lake Sports Car Challenge and cashed in on a horrible day for Torque Freak Racing.
For Torque Freak Racing, just making it through the opening laps without crashing, would be an improvement from what took place in this race last year, when their team-mate car took out the then-championship leaders.
Sitting in fourth place in the GTD class championship going into championship round eight, the No. 78 Champion Motorsports BMW has been running a somewhat quiet, under the radar season. But at only 166 points back, the Texas based team still has all the chances to mix up the championship fight.
However, for the No. 78 BMW bad memories linger from last year’s race at Road America, when they wound up only P28 in class, and were disqualified for an average team iRating violation, which cost the team a potential podium and third-place finish.
Finally, the No. 151 World Of SimRacing Team BMW has to be considered one of the hottest teams in GTD class right now, coming off of two wins at CTMP and Watkins Glen, followed by a second-place finish at Detroit Belle Isle.
But looking at a 245-point deficit, it will still require a lot of good fortune, skill and bad luck for the competition, for the Spanish team to have a realistic shot at the championship. But once again - anything can happen in racing.
Live Stream to be broadcast by VSCA on YouTube
Saturday’s Elkhart Lake Sports Car Challenge at Road America will be streamed live, from flag to flag, on the VSCA YouTube channel with live timing and scoring and overlays. All fans are welcome to tune in for free, to support their favorite drivers and teams.
Race start to the event is scheduled for Saturday at 16:00 GMT and the race is set for a distance of two hours and 40 minutes.
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