Starting from pole position for the fourth time this season, Sébastien Bourdais retained the lead at the start, ahead of Tom Blomqvist in the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura DPi and Ricky Taylor in the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura . With an offbeat strategy, the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi of Pipo Derani and the ghost Olivier Pla (see elsewhere) took control for a time, thanks to an early driver change.
The Brazilian returned to 1st position during a second stop, less than 45 minutes from the end, Renger van der Zande recovering the good of the Cadillac n°01. Unleashed in Belle Isle Park, Derani rejoined the leading trio, where Wayne Taylor Racing had disappeared following a second pit stop in a short time. An unusual strategic error at the WTR. “A difficult race for us, commented a disillusioned Filipe Albuquerque following the race. We had good pace, but the race was a good example of what happens when things go wrong. Ricky and the team tried their best, but it didn’t pay off. We will certainly analyze and investigate what went wrong, and why we made these decisions. We just have to analyze and come back stronger. »
Final four
With 20 minutes to go, van der Zande (Cadillac), Oliver Jarvis (Meyer Shank Racing), Earl Bamber (Cadillac) and Derani (Action Express Racing) found themselves in a pocket handkerchief. The final promised to be grandiose in the middle of the traffic, generated by the only other category in contention this weekend, the GTDs. Derani took the opportunity to dispossess Bamber of 3rd place. The New Zealander took his revenge three minutes from the finish, in a maneuver where the two drivers came into contact. “We didn’t have the best position in office, so we took a different strategy to go flat out until the end, analyzed Derani. I took a lot of risks. I moved up to 3rd place. I tried to pass Jarvis, but had a bad corner exit and unfortunately lost the podium position. The car was on spokes