WTR Cadillac wins Petit Le Mans, title crown for AXR's Nasr, Curran

The #10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R. of Wayne Taylor Racing wins the Petit Le Mans, the last race of the 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Renger van der Zande and Jordan Taylor won the race at Road Atlanta, joined by Ryan Hunter-Reay, for their first win of the season.

The overall title in the IMSA SportsCar Championship went to Felipe Nasr and Eric Curran in the #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi of Action Express Racing, who finished 8th in the race. Their co-driver was Gabby Chaves. It’s the Action Express Racing’s fourth championship title in the last five years. For Eric Curran, it’s his second title after he won in 2016.

The championship-winning #31 Cadillac

The famous 10-hour race at the 2.54-mile circuit was decided in the final corners of the final lap. Renger van der Zande in the #10 Cadillac took advantage of the #5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac DPi running out of gas three turns from the finish line. WTR Cadillac took the victory ahead of two Mazda Team Joest’s cars. Oliver Jarvis, Tristan Nunez and Lucas di Grassi finished second in the #77 Mazda DPi, ahead of #55 Mazda of Jonathan Bomarito, Spencer Pigot and Marino Franchitti.

The fuel issue demoted Filipe Albuquerque, Tristan Vautier and Christian Fittipaldi from the late lead to P4. The #7 Acura Team Penske car of Helio Castroneves, Ricky Taylor and Graham Rahal led the most laps (128) but finished fifth overall after overcoming a pit road violation late in the race. There were seven different leaders in the race.

Jon Bennett and Colin Braun, who was sharing CORE Autosport’s #54 Oreca LMP2 with Romain Dumas, finished seventh in the race and second in the championship.

Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen defended championship title

GTLM class: Race win for #911 Porsche, title for #3 Corvette

Behind prototypes, the #911 Porsche RSR of Nick Tandy, Patrick Pilet and Frederic Makowiecki was the fastest GT car and took the victory in the GTLM class. It’s the second win of the season for the trio after they won Sebring 12 Hours.

The Porsche GT Team crew shared a podium with the #4 Corvette Racing crew (Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, Marcel Fassler) and the #24 BMW Team RLL crew (Jesse Krohn, John Edwards, Chaz Mostert).

The eighth place was good enough for Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen to take their second consecutive championship for the #3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R. They were joined by Marcel Fassler as a co-driver at Road Atlanta. It’s the 13th team championship and 12th driver title for Corvette Racing in its 20-year history.

Garcia/Magnussen won the championship with a 6-point advantage over Richard Westbrook and Ryan Briscoe, who finished fifth in the #67 Ford GT. The championship-winning #3 crew managed to win the championship without scoring a race win, thanks to a remarkable consistency that included eight podium finishes in eleven starts. Ford, meanwhile, secured the GTLM manufacturer championship with five wins during the season between its two entries.

Bryan Sellers (left) and Madison Snow (right) are GTD class champions

GTD class: Race win for Scuderia Corsa, championship trophy for Paul Miller Racing

In the GTD class, Scuderia Corsa and Paul Miller Racing were celebrating at Road Atlanta. The #63 Ferrari 488 GT3 of Scuderia Corsa won the race, driven by Cooper MacNeil, Gunnar Jeannette and Daniel Serra. It was the team’s first win in the Ferrari, which became the seventh different manufacturer to win a GTD race this season.

Katherine Legge, Alvaro Parente and Trent Hindman finished second in the #86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3. Paul Miller Racing’s Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow finished third in the #48 Lamborghini Huracan GT3, joined by endurance co-driver Corey Lewis, to take the championship title in the GTD class. Katherine Legge finished second in the championship, four points behind PMR’s duo.