The 2021 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge kicked off the season Friday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway’s BMW Endurance Challenge. The race featured two classes in the Grand Sport (GS) and the Touring Car (TCR).
The pole winners for this race were the Canadian team AWA McLaren (GS), who were making their IMSA return with drivers Kuno Wittmer and Orey Fidani, and Atlanta Speedwerks (TCR) with drivers Robert Noaker and Brian Henderson.
The AWA McLaren led the opening thirteen laps of the race. The Atlanta Speedwerks team led the opening twelve laps in the TCR category. There were seven cautions throughout the race, including two significant wrecks on the TCR side.
The race had several incidents that damaged cars and put some out of the race. First, there was a three-car accident at the bus stop involving the No. 5 of Tim Lewis, the No. 61 of Jon Morley, and The No. 84 of Brian Henderson, taking all three out of the race with an hour left. The other one was a single crash at the horseshoe involving the No. 15 Audi of Nelson Canache slamming hard into the tire wall with 37 minutes left in the race.
With 20 minutes to go, the No. 13 AWA McLaren of Kuno Wittmer used the high side to pass the No. 64 Camaro of Hugh Plumb. Over in TCR, the No. 17 Audi of Mikey Taylor, who restarted third, passed both Ryan Eversley and Michael Lewis to move into first place. In the GS category, Kuno Wittmer and AWA McLaren led the last thirteen laps to win the race; however, the battle for second was intense, featuring four BMW teams.
Bill Auberlen in the No. 95 would take second place, trailing Wittmer by 1.169 seconds. His teammate Robby Foley finished third, Mike Skeen finished in fourth, and Gregory Liefooghe finished fifth. Huge Plumb, who Wittmer passed to take the lead, ended up finishing sixteenth.
Mike Taylor led the last three laps in the TCR category to win the race over Ryan Eversley by .736 seconds. This is JDC Motorsports’ first win since Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in 2019. Rounding out the top five in the TCR class were the Bryan Herta Autosport w/ Curb-Agajanian team, with Stephen Simpson finishing third, Michael Lewis fourth, and Mason Filippi fifth.
The next race for the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge will be on the weekend of March 19th and 20th from Sebring International Raceway.
