The 2022 Petit Le Mans (known as the 2022 MOTUL Petit Le Mans for sponsorship reasons) was the 25th running of the Petit Le Mans, and was held on October 1, 2022. It was the 12th and final race in the 2022 IMSA SportsCar Championship, and the 4th race of the 2022 Michelin Endurance Cup. The race was held at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia. The event was the last ever race for the DPi Class.
Background
International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2022 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2021.[1] It was the ninth consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The 2022 Petit Le Mans was the final of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2022 by IMSA , and it was the last of four rounds held as part of the Michelin Endurance Cup.[2] The race took place at the 12-turn, 2.540-mile (4.088 km) Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia on October 1, 2023.[3]
As the final event of the 2022 season, the race marked the swansong for the DPi class.[4] First introduced in 2017, the class enjoyed six seasons of success before making way for the new-for-2023 GTP class.[5] Wayne Taylor, whose team scored the first DPi championship in 2017, described the class as one of the best in North American sports car racing history.[6]Wayne Taylor Racing competed from 2017 to 2020 with the Cadillac DPi-V.R, and from 2021 to 2022 with the Acura ARX-05; the only two manufacturers which took to the grid for the 2022 running of Petit Le Mans. Nissan, who exited following the 2019 season, and Mazda, who pulled their entry after 2021, did not take part.[7] The championship battle in the class was still on, with just 19 points separating the Acura entries from Wayne Taylor Racing and Meyer Shank Racing entering the race weekend.[8][9]
The Porsche 911 GT3 R and Ferrari 488 GT3 also entered their final IMSA events, ahead of the switch to new-generation GT3 machinery for both manufacturers and their respective customers in 2023.[10][11][12]Porsche would introduce a new GT3 offering based on the 992 model,[13] while Ferrari would transition to an entry based on the Ferrari 296.[14]
The race was initially feared to be threatened by Hurricane Ian, with serious concerns expressed early in the preceding week that the storm could threaten the race's running.[17] However, with the changing course of the storm, high winds early in the weekend proved the only major effect on the event's 25th running.[18]
On September 21, 2022, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outlining Balance of Performance for the event.[19] No changes were made to cars in any of the four classes eligible for BoP adjustments.
The event also preceded an IMSA-sanctioned joint test for the LMDh entries, attended by Acura, BMW, and Cadillac. Of the 2023 LMDh manufacturers, Porsche were the only entrant that did not take part.[21]
LMP3 featured a number of changes from the preliminary entry list. FastMD Racing initially were set to return with Colin Noble, Adam Ali, and Max Hanratty, but were withdrawn late on.[25] The Forty7 Motorsports No. 7 was also withdrawn, with all three of their scheduled drivers spread across AWA's two entries.[26]Mühlner Motorsport also withdrew their scheduled entry. Other notable additions included Tyler Maxson for Performance Tech Motorsports,[27] and Nico Pino for Sean Creech Motorsport.
15 cars were entered in GTD, decreased by one following the withdrawal of Crucial Motorsports' McLaren 720S GT3.[26] Ulysse de Pauw was drafted into Cetilar Racing's entry with endurance driver Antonio Fuoco taking part in the GT World Challenge Europe season finale in Europe,[30] while Sebastian Priaulx's addition to the Inception Racing McLaren marked the only other brand new addition to a GTD driver roster.
Practice
There were three practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, all three on Thursday. The first session on Thursday morning lasted 90 minutes. The second session on Thursday afternoon lasted 105 minutes. The final session on Thursday evening lasted 90 minutes.[31]
Practice 1
The first practice session took place at 9:50 AM ET on Thursday and ended with Earl Bamber topping the charts for Cadillac Racing, with a lap time of 1:09.583.[32]
The second practice session took place at 2:55 PM ET on Thursday and ended with Sébastien Bourdais topping the charts for Cadillac Racing, with a lap time of 1:09.040.[34]
The night practice session took place at 7:30 PM ET on Thursday and ended with Earl Bamber again topping the charts for Cadillac Racing, with a lap time of 1:09.880.[36]
Friday's afternoon qualifying was broken into three sessions, with one session for the DPi and LMP2, LMP3, GTD Pro and GTD classes, which lasted for 15 minutes each, and a ten minute interval between the sessions.[31] The rules dictated that all teams nominated a driver to qualify their cars, with the Pro-Am (LMP2/LMP3/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, LMP3, GTD Pro, and GTD cars.[38]
^The no. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports entry was moved to the back of the LMP3 class after changing their starting tires.
^The no. 76 AWA entry was moved to the back of the LMP3 class after changing their starting tires.
Warm-Up
The morning warm-up took place at 9:15 AM ET on Saturday and ended with Loïc Duval topping the charts for JDC-Miller MotorSports, with a lap time of 1:10.406.[42]
Blomqvist and Jarvis took the DPi Drivers' Championship with 3422 points. They were 86 points clear of Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor.[44] With 2018 points, Farno won the LMP2 Drivers' Championship, 126 points ahead of Dalziel and Merriman.[44] With 2002 points, Bennett and Braun won the LMP3 Drivers' Championship, 54 points ahead of Robinson.[44] Campbell and Jaminet took the GTD Pro Drivers' Championship with 3947 points. They were 220 points clear of Barnicoat in second. Antonio García and Jordan Taylor were third with 3194 points.[44] De Angelis won the GTD Drivers' Championship with 2898 points, 23 points ahead of Hardwick and Heylend. McAleer was third with 2860 points.[44] Acura, Porsche, and BMW won their respective Manufactures' Championships, while Meyer Shank Racing, Tower Motorsport, CORE Autosport, Pfaff Motorsports, and Heart of Racing Team won their respective Teams' Championships.[44]
^The no. 62 Risi Competizione entry was moved to the rear of the GTD Pro classification for violating drive time rules after Daniel Serra was found to have driven more than the maximum 4 hours within a 6 hour time period.[45]
^The no. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports entry was given a 97-second time penalty for failing to serve a stop + 60 penalty.
^"500 Wins For The Ferrari 488 GT3". dailysportscar.com. October 1, 2022. Retrieved October 1, 2022. The following day saw the overall title fall to the Car Guy team, again extending the roll of title winning honour for the car, set to be replaced as the contemporary customer racing offering next season by the new Ferrari 296 GT3.
^"Road Atlanta Thursday Notebook". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. September 29, 2022. Retrieved October 1, 2022. IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competitors battled wind gusts in upwards of 40 mph on Thursday morning as an effect from Hurricane Ian, which has been downgraded to a tropical storm as it passes through Florida. Current weather forecasts call for significantly less rain on Saturday — if any at all — with series officials now confident of getting the race in as planned.
^"Road Atlanta Wednesday Notebook". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. September 28, 2022. Retrieved October 1, 2022. The German manufacturer will be joined by Cadillac and Acura for a three-day scheduled IMSA-sanctioned LMDh test at Road Atlanta that's scheduled to kick off on Monday.