This year’s Detroit Sports Car Classic delivered the kind of classic, chaotic racing that can only occur when you stuff more than 20 prototypes and GT3 cars into a narrow, tight street circuit for 100 minutes.
The second and final sprint race of the IMSA season was relatively tame for the most part — until things hit the fan in the closing stages. The No. 31 Whelen Cadillac, driven by Earl Bamber and Jack Aitken, ran away with the overall victory, making good on their strong practice and qualifying pace. In GTD Pro, the No. 3 Corvette of Alexander Sims and Antonio Garcia did the same, converting pole position into a dominant class win after leading a staggering 75 laps.
Following last year’s outing, this edition delivered yet another intense scrap, with drivers and teams fighting for every inch on the ultra-tight street circuit. Cars in both classes went door-to-door repeatedly — often bending or outright breaking the rules that race control deemed over the line.
Not included was the footage of Dries Vanthoor in the No. 24 BMW clipping his brother Laurens in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport which resulted in rear bodywork damage to the Porsche 963, nor is there a clip of Dries also spinning out Jack Hawksworth in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus; two incidents that resulted in two drive through penalties.
All of those previous three instances came with corresponding penalties, with Laurin Heinrich's proving to be the most costly of the day as it produced a Stop + 60 hold from race control, which came right after the team was issued a drive through penalty for personnel over the wall before the car had come to a complete stop in the pits.
Nicky Catsburg's penalty for moving under breaking and wiping out the No. 15 Vasser Sullivan Lexus was also substantial as it eliminated the potential of a Pratt Miller 1-2 finish, and it sent the 15 car spiraling towards a heinous final three minutes where the damage sustained crippled the car, forcing Aaron Telitz to drive into a closed pit lane thus receiving a post-race Stop + 60 penalty and an official classified DNF.
Max Esterson’s divebomb on Dennis Olsen in the No. 64 Mustang was the most blatant of the bunch — and the easiest call for officials. Given the 23-year-old’s relative inexperience in both the series and with the RLL McLaren, it’s clear he simply misjudged the braking zone/suffered a major lock-up.
Hawksworth was also issued a drive-through penalty in the final minutes for passing Sims in the No. 3 Corvette right after a yellow flag was thrown when Nick Tandy sent Rexy into the tire barriers. The penalty dropped him from P2 to P6, killing any chance of a podium or race win.
After the race, both Hawksworth and teammate Ben Barnicoat voiced their frustration, with Barnicoat telling reporters that
the penalty handed to Hawksworth was "controversial," with him adding he and the team believe Hawksworth was in the right to make the move he did on the No. 3 when he did it.
In the aftermath, fans were split — as they always are in racing — on the driving standards and the stewards’ decisions. You’ll find plenty of arguments about what was justified, what was overreach, and the usual “how was this a penalty when that wasn’t?”
Regardless, there’s broad agreement that this version of the Detroit Sports Car Classic — on the new street circuit layout that mirrors that of the IndyCar race that takes place on the same weekend — is simply more trouble than it’s worth for these sports car and racing. The track is extremely tight almost everywhere except the long straight, which inevitably leads to these high-drama incidents when so much is on the line.
With next season's schedule already released, we're going to get as least one more iteration of this race weekend in 2027, and due to the obvious scene and setting of having General Motors host a race on their home ground and the influence they have in the series it's easy to imagine that this race isn't going anywhere for a looong time. We also know that there has to be space on the calendar for these 100-minute sprint rounds, and let's be real, having just two out of 11 total events serving as the format isn't so bad at all. With the legendary history that Long Beach has going for it, along with the very positive link-up between IndyCar and IMSA that plays out for both of these races, it does make logistical sense for these two weekends to be on the calendar for both IMSA and IndyCar.
Playing Devil's Advocate even further, if we're being totally honest, we don't mind the kind of carnage that comes out of these sprint rounds as much as some other fans do. It comes with the territory of racing on the streets, and sure, the literal track layout isn't the best, and if we're going the 'No Publicity Is Bad Publicity' route the race incidents that have come out of these last three years at Detroit continue to be some of IMSAs most-watched replays on any social media platform.
Who could forget the battle between Roxy and the Corvette last season?
We're not condoning reckless driving that emulates your average simracing lobby, we simply understand that madness is always going to be an ingredient in the pie, especially on street circuits. The way things go sometimes in racing, given the size of the track, the size of the cars and seeing the kind of aggressiveness from the drivers that we *want* to see in IMSA, things like this are going to happen and whoever can outlast the bareknuckle brawling is going to have seriously earned it.
What do you guys make of all of it? Is it too over the line? Does the Detroit street circuit need to go away forever? Let us know below.
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