Chevrolet Sports Car Classic Features 29-Car Entry List

The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) today released a 29-car entry list for the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic presented by the Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers. Round 5 of the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will be held on Saturday, June 4, at the Raceway at Belle Isle Park in Detroit.

 

The Prototype (P), Prototype Challenge (PC) and GT Daytona (GTD) classes will compete in a 100-minute race on the temporary 2.350-mile circuit. The race will be televised live on FS1 and streamed on FOX Sports GO at 12:30 p.m. ET.

 

Action Express Racing returns with a pair of Corvette DPs, including the defending race-winning No. 31 Whelen Engineering/Team Fox entry of Eric Curran and Dane Cameron, as well as the No. 5 Mustang Sampling car of two-time defending Prototype champions Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi.

 

“Winning last year’s race was huge,” said Curran, who joins Cameron in holding a slim three-point lead atop the Prototype standings over teammates Barbosa and Fittipaldi. “If you’re driving a Chevrolet Corvette DP, and you’re going to win a race, probably the best one to win is Detroit. It’s sponsored by Chevrolet and it’s at the home of General Motors and Chevrolet. We love to see a Chevrolet win in their back yard, although the Mazda and Honda guys have come on stronger than ever this year and it’s going to be tough.”

 

Other Corvette DPs include the 2013-14 race-winning the No. 10 Konica Minolta Corvette DP of brothers Ricky and Jordan Taylor and the No. 90 Visit Florida Racing Corvette DP with Ryan Dalziel and Marc Goossens.

 

Challenging the Corvettes is Michael Shank Racing’s Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca-winning Honda Ligier JS P2, with Katherine Legge joining Ozz Negri for Detroit, as well as the pair of Mazda Prototypes, coming off top-five performances in the two most recent races and a TOTAL Pole Award at Mazda Raceway.

 

Starworks Motorsport defends its PC victory with a pair of ORECA FLM09s. Renger van der Zande, the 2015 winner at Belle Isle, joins Alex Popow in the No. 8 entry, while Ashley Freiberg and Mark Kvamme share the No. 88.

 

The PC standings are currently tied. Robert Alon and Tom Kimber-Smith – winners at Mazda Raceway for PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports – share the lead with Daytona and Long Beach winners Stephen Simpson and Misha Goikhberg for JDC-Miller Motorsports. Two-time defending class champions Colin Braun and Jon Bennett return for CORE autosport, joined by entries from BAR1 Motorsports and Performance Tech Motorsports.

 

The GTD class features 15 entries – up from 10 entries last year – with the addition of international GT3 regulations bringing a new manufacturer and new models to the division. Alex Job Racing defends its GTD victory with Alex Riberas joining 2015 Belle Isle winner Mario Farnbacher in the No. 23 Team Seattle/Heart of Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R.

 

The team is coming off its first victory with the new car at Mazda Raceway. Alex Job Racing’s two-car entry also includes the No. 22 WeatherTech Porsche for Cooper MacNeil and Leh Keen. Also fielding the new Porsche GT3 R is Park Place Racing, with the No. 73 for Patrick Lindsey and Joerg Bergmeister, and Black Swan Racing with the No. 540 driven by Tim Pappas and Nicky Catsburg.

 

Sebring winners Christina Nielsen and Alessandro Balzan, drivers of the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3, currently lead the GTD standings by six points over Farnbacher and Riberas. Balzan won the GTD class at Detroit two years ago with Scuderia Corsa alongside then-co-driver Jeff Westphal.

 

Bringing American muscle to the class is Dodge, with its No. 33 built-in-Detroit Riley Motorsports ViperExchange.com/Gas Monkey Garage Dodge Viper GT3-R of Ben Keating and Jeroen Bleekemolen.

 

New to GTD for 2016 is Lamborghini, which makes its Belle Isle racing debut with four Huracán GT3s fielded by Paul Miller Racing, Change Racing and Dream Racing. Audi is set with three cars, including two for Stevenson Motorsports and one for Magnus Racing.

 

Practice for the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic begins at 8:05 a.m. ET on Friday, June 3, with qualifying on Friday at 5:05 p.m. ET.

Adam Sinclair