The IMSA officially announced the participation of 34 teams in the next round of the 2024 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. This sprint race, lasting 2 hours and 40 minutes, will take place at the famous Laguna Seca circuit. The event will feature three different classes: GTP, GTD, and GTD Pro. The track itself is a 2.238-mile circuit with 11 turns, including the well-known Corkscrew complex.
Similar to the previous race in Long Beach, the Monterey Course will coincide with the FIA World Endurance Championship. Specifically, the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps will be held on Saturday, May 11, while the IMSA race is scheduled for Sunday, May 12.
Due to the nature of this sprint round, each car will be driven by its two full-season drivers. It is worth noting that the current entry list does not specify Gianmaria Bruni’s partner for the Porsche 963 from Proton Competition. However, it is known that Mike Rockenfeller was hired for the previous race in Long Beach to complete the team.
As usual, there will be 10 GTP cars participating in the event. The Lamborghini SC63 #63, however, will only compete in the Endurance Cup races and will return for the Six Hours of Glen on June 23. The winners of the previous race in Long Beach, Renger van der Zande and Sebastien Bourdais, will be seeking another victory as they chase the championship leaders, Porsche Penske and their duo #7 Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr. It is worth mentioning that Cameron and Nasr were victorious at Laguna Seca last year.
The GTD Pro category will make its return after the 12 Hours of Sebring and will feature nine entries. This class mainly consists of factory teams and drivers from seven different manufacturers.
Finally, the GTD class will have 15 participants. Frankie Montecalvo and Parker Thompson will return in car #12 after Vasser Sullivan made changes to their driver lineup for the previous race in Long Beach, where they entered two modified Lexus RC Fs.
Despite the challenges faced in the Long Beach race, Philip Ellis and Russell Ward, from Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 #57, continue to lead the championship standings. Ward holds the GTD track record with a time of 1:23.567. However, their rivals are still within striking distance.
In other news, Turner Motorsport will be celebrating their 557th race as a BMW customer team. This milestone sets a new record for the team with the most races worldwide for the manufacturer. To commemorate this achievement, they will use the number #557 on their BMW M4, instead of their usual number #96.
To see the full entry list for the Monterey Race on Sunday, May 12, please refer to this link.
