By Noah Poser, Staff Writer
Renger van der Zande took the lead with four laps to go on a late lunge into turn one and drove off from there to score the win Sunday for the No. 93 Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06 in the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic.
The Acura outfit had a very successful weekend in Detroit, not only winning the race, but doing so from pole after Nick Yelloly’s fast lap in qualifying Saturday. They’re the first team to win from pole in the GTP class since…Meyer Shank Racing at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in July 2023.
“It’s very special to win the first one with the new group,” van der Zande said. “There’s been a lot of areas we’ve needed to improve, but the preparation from the team has been amazing from Daytona on. I think this is a tribute to the program, the investments made in time and money, and the effort was just amazing. I’m very impressed and it’s nice to be a part of it.”
It’s the first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race this season won by a team not named Porsche Penske Motorsport, although for some time it appeared they were well on their way to going five-for-five on the season.
While Acura was out front for the beginning portion with Yelloly and at the very of the race with van der Zande, it was the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 driven by Felipe Nasr that was out front after all the driver changes were completed.
That is until the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R driven by Ricky Taylor made its move with 14 laps remaining.
“He (Nasr) made a little mistake in turn one and there’s not a lot of opportunities here, so I went for it,” Taylor said. “He defended quite a lot and we made a bit of contact towards the apex of turn three, which allowed me to be really close into four. I knew as soon as he opened the door, I was just going to go for it, and yeah, the car hung on.”
Ultimately, the thrill of being out front was short-lived for Cadillac, as van der Zande quickly dispatched the Porsche as well, and with just a few laps remaining, successfully made his own bid for the lead.
But only after a quick study session.
“Into turn three I was very strong on the brakes, but there was never a chance for me to really dive in on the inside,” van der Zande said. “But into turn one Ricky was taking it a little easy, and I know the Cadillac quite well, as I was kind of part of its development, and I also struggled a bit in turn one last year.
“So I thought, okay, if I have a go, it’s going to be turn one. I asked on the radio to the team if I have a chance, can I go for it and they said to go for it. And that’s when we kind of just mutually decided to go for it.”
The win is van der Zande’s 22nd victory in his IMSA career, while it’s Yelloly’s second career IMSA win.
The final margin of victory was 0.947 seconds.
The Cadillac duo of Taylor and co-driver Filipe Albuquerque would hold on to finish second, while Mathieu Jaminet and co-driver Matt Campbell finished third in the GTP class in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 to round out the podium.
Nasr and co-driver Nick Tandy, who continue to lead the IMSA GTP standings by 70 points over Jaminet and Campbell, settled for fourth in Detroit.
Meanwhile in GTD Pro, Sebastian Priaulx and Mike Rockenfeller also won Sunday after starting from pole position in the No. 64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Mustang GT3.
It’s the first IMSA win for Ford in Detroit, and it’s the second consecutive GTD Pro win for Priaulx in the Motor City.
“I think for myself, I just wanted to keep the car clean for Mike,” Priaulx said. “I think I timed it just right on the start, so I was happy about that. And then I just had to keep it out of the walls, which I was happy I did. Mike did a great job and he finished the car in such a great place for us and I can’t thank him and also Ford and Multimatic enough for giving us a great car this weekend.”
Finishing second in the GTD Pro category was the No. 3 Corvette Racing Z06 GT3.R of Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims, 1.623 seconds behind Priaulx and Rockenfeller.
Klaus Bachler and Laurin Heinrich maintain their points lead in the IMSA GTD Pro standings by 11 points over Garcia and Sims after a fifth-place finish in class in Detroit.