Packed House: Nine Races, Nearly 200 Cars Convening At Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
The Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix, powered by Mazda, comes to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca this weekend featuring the Monterey debut of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, America's all-new premier sports car racing Series. The Series was created by the merger of the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car and American Le Mans organizations, both of which had a long history of competing at Mazda Raceway. The TUDOR Championship features two styles of cars, Prototype and GT (Grand Touring). Each style of car has two classes, Pro and Pro-Am, meaning there are four classes of racing on track together, each with their own battle for the lead.
Four other very competitive Series will also be competing, the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, Mazda MX-5 Cup, IMSA GT3 Challenge by Yokohama and making its first-ever appearance, the Lamborghini Super Trofeo.
Nine races will be run over the course of three days (Friday-Sunday) on the famed road circuit (2.238 miles, 11 turns) located on California's scenic Monterey Peninsula. Seven of those races will be sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), including Sunday's headlining, nationally televised (FOX Sports 1) TUDOR United SportsCar Championship doubleheader.
Mid-week, the entry lists illustrated the packed-house situation, with a total number of 193 cars – 165 for the IMSA-sanctioned events. The breakdown:
· 60 entries for Saturday's IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge race;
· 56 entries for Sunday's TUDOR Championship doubleheader consisting of one race with Prototype Challenge and GT Daytona cars, the second combining Prototype and GT Le Mans classes;
· 34 entries for the two Sunday races in IMSA's Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama;
· 15 entries for Saturday and Sunday races in the IMSA-sanctioned Lamborghini Super Trofeo series;
· And in the Sports Car Club of America-sanctioned Mazda MX-5 Cup, 28 cars for races on Friday and Saturday.
"We anticipated and planned for this kind of turnout, but to have almost 200 cars in the paddock is a welcomed reality for IMSA and exceeded our original positive expectations," said IMSA Vice President of Competition and Technical Regulations Scot Elkins.
"From an IMSA standpoint, 165 cars across seven events is simply an outstanding number. All of this is made possible by the incredible group of stakeholders, which includes our drivers, teams, tracks, manufacturers, sponsors, suppliers, media partners, and most importantly, our growing fanbase."
WEEKEND RACE SCHEDULE (all times PT)
Thursday, May 1, 2014
12:30 pm – 5:20 pm Promoter Test Day
Friday, May 2, 2014
8:00 am – 8:30 am Practice #1 – MAZDA MX-5 CUP
8:40 am – 9:20 am PRACTICE #1 – LBST
9:35 am – 10:20 am PRACTICE #1 – CTSC
10:35 am – 11:05 am PRACTICE #1 – GT3 CUP
11:15 am – 11:45 am Practice #2 – MAZDA MX-5 CUP
12:00 pm – 12:40 pm PRACTICE #2 – LBST 1:40 pm – 2:25 pm PRACTICE #2 – CTSC
2:40 pm – 3:20 pm PRACTICE #2 – GT3 CUP
3:30 pm – 4:00 pm Qualifying – MAZDA MX-5 CUP
4:10 pm – 4:25 pm QUALIFYING – CTSC ST
4:40 pm – 4:55 pm QUALIFYING – CTSC GS
5:10 pm – 5:40 pm QUALIFYING – LBST
5:45 pm – 6:30 pm Race #1 – MAZDA MX-5 CUP – 45 Minutes
Saturday, May 3, 2014
8:00 am – 8:45 am Race #2 – MAZDA MX-5 CUP – 45 Minutes
9:00 am – 9:20 am QUALIFYING – GT3 CUP
9:35 am – 10:35 am Practice #1 – TUDOR Championship (All Classes)
10:50 am – 11:40 am RACE #1 – LBST – 40 MINUTES
12:30 pm – 12:45 pm PRE-RACE – RECON / FORMATION LAPS – CTSC
12:45 pm – 3:15 pm RACE – CTSC – 150 MINUTES
3:45 pm – 4:45 pm Practice #2 – TUDOR Championship (All Classes)
4:55 pm – 5:10 pm Qualifying – TUDOR Championship (GTD)
5:15 pm – 5:30 pm Qualifying – TUDOR Championship (GTLM)
5:40 pm – 5:55 pm Qualifying – TUDOR Championship (PC)
6:00 pm – 6:15 pm Qualifying – TUDOR Championship (P)
Sunday, May 4, 2014
8:00 am – 8:20 am Warm Up – TUDOR Championship (All Classes)
8:50 am – 9:00 am PRE-RACE – GT3 CUP
9:00 am – 9:45 am RACE #1 – GT3 CUP – 45 MINUTES
9:55 am – 10:15 am Recon Lap / Pre-Race Activities / IMSA Hot Lap Experience / Formation Laps
10:15 am – 12:15 pm Grand Prix of Monterey Race for the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship PC/GTD (Round 4) – 2 Hrs
12:40 pm – 1:30 pm RACE #2 – LBST – 50 MINUTES
1:45 pm – 2:45 pm Recon Lap / Pre-Race Activities / Open Grid – Fan Walk / IMSA Hot Lap Experience / Formation Laps
2:45 pm – 4:45 pm Grand Prix of Monterey Race for the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship P/GTLM (Round 4) – 2 Hrs
5:05 pm – 5:15 pm PRE-RACE – GT3 CUP
5:15 pm – 6:00 pm RACE #2 – GT3 CUP – 45 MINUTES
TV Times: The TUDOR Championship PC/GTD race will air LIVE of FOX Sports 1 at 10 a.m. PT, followed by the P/GTLM race at 2:30 p.m. PT.
The Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, which races races May 3, will air on FOX Sports 1 at 7 a.m. PT on Sunday, May 11.
Canadian viewers can stream the race live via IMSA.com - We suggest those on COGECO or SHAW check local listings
Live Timing & Scoring: http://scoring.imsa.com/