2024
News
8/23/24 - McAleer Leads Opening VIR Practice
8/5/24 - Double Podium Results for Acura at Road America
8/5/24 - First career podium for Sheena Monk in IMSA
8/3/24 - RS1 becomes first two-time MPC winner in 2024 at Road America
7/13/24 - RS1's strategy brings CTMP MPC win
4/22/24 - Sheena Monk equals personal best in IMSA with P4 at Long Beach
4/10/24 - McAleer Replaces Legge at Gradient for Rest of Season
3/14/24 - RS1 Porsche Sweeps Sebring Practice
McAleer Leads Opening VIR Practice
8/23/24 (via sportscar365.com)
No. 28 RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport continues top form in first VIR practice…
Stevan McAleer was quickest in the opening IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge practice session for Saturday’s Virginia is for Racing Lovers Grand Prix at Virginia International Raceway.
The RS1 driver, who along with Trent Hindman are seeking their third consecutive GS class win, reeled off a best lap of 1:52.334 in the 60-minute session aboard his No. 28 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport to edge out the No. 19 Van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 of Scott Andrews by 0.464 seconds.
Robin Liddell was third quickest in the No. 71 Rebel Rock Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 EVO, followed by Gregory Liefooghe in the No. 43 Stephen Cameron Racing Ford Mustang GT4 and Michai Stephens’ No. 34 JMF Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4, which completed the top-five.
The TCR class, meanwhile, was led by the No. 5 KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR of Tim Lewis Jr.
The session featured a single red flag, for the No. 69 Motorsports In Action McLaren Artura GT4 of Michael de Quesada, who went off in Turn 6.
RESULTS: Practice 1
Double Podium Results for Acura at Road America
8/5/24 (via acuranews.com)
Highlights:
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Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque pilot their #10 Acura ARX-06 to third at IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America
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Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 scores their best result of 2024, comes home third in GTD following chaotic final lap
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WTRAndretti #40 Acura suffers from penalties, ill-timed cautions to finish eighth
In the production based GTD category, the #66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 of Sheena Monk and Stevan McAleer turned their own two-stop strategy into a third-place GTD finish – their best result of the 2024 season. McAleer was able to take advantage of a chaotic, contact-filled, final two laps that started with class leader Parker Thompson pitting for fuel, to jump from seventh to the final step on the podium.
IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America Acura Race Results:
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Finished 3rd overall - #10 Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor; Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06
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Finished 8th overall - #40 Louis Deletraz and Jordan Taylor; Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06
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Finished 3rd in GTD - #66 Stevan McAleer and Sheena Monk; Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22
Quotes:
Stevan McAleer (#66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22) 3rd in GTD: "This means a helluva lot, especially for Sheena. They've been hovering around P4, P5, P6 for a long time. I saw the two Mercedes getting into each other, something funky happening coming out of three, and that was my shot. I don't like finishing P5, so I was willing to take the risk! I'm absolutely stoked for Gradient, for JG Wentworth and Sheena. This is a massive day."
Sheena Monk (#66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22) 3rd in GTD: "It's a shame it took this long. I'm just really grateful to Stevan for coming in and bringing some life into this. The people at Gradient have been working really hard, it's been a long time where the folks at JG Wentworth have been supporting us and supporting us through a lot of adversity. This just feels good to me for everyone else. I'm just happy that a lot of other people are able to take part in this. It's a good feeling. Road America has traditionally been quite kind to me, so it's just a pleasure to be here and it's a pleasure to get my first WeatherTech podium here."
David Salters (President, Honda Racing Corporation USA) on today's IMSA race at Road America: "An interesting weekend. Thanks to a huge team effort from our men and women at HRC and WTRAndretti, the car was fast – as shown in qualifying and in large parts of the race. In truth, it was a caution-strewn, scrappy race, which we probably didn't make the most of. It's good to be disappointed with podium finish, but we seemed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. On a happier note, a big shout out to everyone at Gradient Racing, it was lovely to see them get a podium result today. Congratulations to Andris Laivins and his team."
First career podium for Sheena Monk in IMSA
8/5/24 (via racers-behindthehelmet.com)
"This just feels good to me for everyone else" - Sheena Monk achieved her first IMSA podium by securing third place at Road America, in a breakthrough performance for the JG Wentworth Gradient Racing Acura that saw flawless drives for Monk and McAleer, an efficient strategy and a chaotic finale.
Sheena Monk secured her first career IMSA podium claiming third place at Road America, in a breakthrough result for Gradient Racing that saw the duo turning a flawless two stop strategy into the team's first top-three in over two years following a hectic finale.
Monk had run a brilliant first stint, running as high as third maximising the team's strategy in a caution-disrupted race, lapping on consistent and very competitive pace just before the pit stops. Stevan McAleer continued the progression, navigating through traffic and executing great passes in a closely contested GTD race - up to the final lap.
Sheena Monk therefore improved on two fourth-place finishes as her best result in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship - the first collected in her debut season at the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona, then matched at this year's Long Beach Grand Prix. Her podium-worthy pace, however, hardly comes as a surprise, as the team has been often in contention for the front-running positions over the last two years, with a podium only slipping away from them for misfortunes.
Having finished eleventh in Monk's GT3 debut season, her 2024 campaign started with a challenging first few rounds. The first top-10 eventually came at Long Beach, where Sheena and McAleer - who stepped in full time from an endurance round role - bagged fourth. They would return to the top ten at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park with a seventh place finish, and aimed to keep momentum at Road America, on a circuit where Monk claimed her maiden victory in the GT4-based GS class of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge in 2020.
Gradient Racing’s weekend began with a 2:06.284 lap in the opening practice session, placing the JG Wentworth-sponsored Acura NSX GT3 seventh in the GTD class. The team built speed over Friday's sessions, though the #66 Acura struggled more in the second practice and was 14th fastest, leaving Monk with a difficult car ahead of qualifying.
During qualifying, bronze-rated Sheena Monk took over driving duties and was fourth in GTD halfway through the session, as times started to drop. She improved again with five minutes to go, putting the #66 Acura back in the top 10 in ninth; in the final minute, however, Sheena couldn’t find further improvements in her last run and ended 13th fastest, second among the Bronze drivers. Mikael Grenier (#32 Korthoff Mercedes AMG) took the top spot in GTD, ahead of Zachary Robichon (#27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin) and Onofrio Triarsi's #023 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3.
The team opted for some significant setup changes for the race, attempting something different to turn their performance around. From P13, Sheena Monk took the start of the 2-hour and 40-minute contest at one of the most challenging circuits in North America.
The Corvette Racing cars led the GTD pack at lights out, but the race was shortly back under caution when Alexander Sims spun after contact from the #64 Ford Mustang of Mike Rockenfeller and got beached in the gravel. In GTD, Mikael Grenier held position and, ahead of a few GTD Pro entries, led Robichon and Gallagher (Turner Motorsport BMW). Sheena Monk had a clean first lap, crucially avoiding trouble and slotting just behind the Forte Racing Lamborghini of Misha Goikhberg before the neutralization.
The green flag flew ten minutes into the race, and Monk gained a position when Manny Franco brought the Conquest Racing Ferrari into the pits for a drive-through penalty for jumping the start. Just a few laps later, a technical issue for the #34 WTR with Andretti Lamborghini saw Danny Formal having to park his Huracan up in smoke, triggering the second caution.
On lap 10, most teams pitted under yellow, and Gradient Racing, having opted to stay out, climbed the order up to third in class and into the overall top ten.
The action resumed with 2 hours to go, with Monk holding her own and retaining third in GTD as the top bronze driver - well clear of Mikael Grenier in fourth - as she mingled with the GTD Pro entries.
Monk continued to run superb times, holding position and matching the front runners before eventually pitting on lap 18, having completed the bronze driving time. After a solid drive, Sheena Monk handed over to Stevan McAleer, who rejoined in P12 following a perfectly smooth pit stop by the Gradient crew.
Despite a few collisions involving LMP2 cars, the race stayed green, and McAleer ran his first laps on the 2:05 pace, moving up to P11 once Loris Spinelli served a drive-through penalty.
When the TDS Racing LMP2 Oreca went off at the Kink, several teams pitted, anticipating a caution; Gradient Racing stayed out and climbed to seventh. The yellow flag in fact didn’t materialize until on lap 28, when a big accident for the #25 BMW hypercar brought out the safety car with 1 hour and 20 minutes left on the clock.
McAleer then pitted from seventh on lap 32 when the pit lane opened for GT cars, retaining eighth after another good stop by the Gradient team.
After a lengthy cleanup, cars accelerated away for the final hour of racing. McAleer had Wright Motorsport's Elliott Skeer and Albert Costa's Conquest Racing Ferrari to keep at bay, although the safety car was immediately back out when contact displaced the rear bumper of the Multimatic Mustang of Joey Hand, who lost the big piece of bodywork on the main straight, just ahead of Stevan McAleer's Acura and a big group of cars that took evasive action and escaped without damage.
With 49 minutes to go, McAleer defended strongly and kept up the pace with Roman De Angelis in the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin. This big group of GTD cars engaged in an incredible fight with the Corvette of Tommy Milner: McAleer seized the opportunity when Milner and De Angelis traded positions with some contact and dived on the inside at the final corner, making a move stick on his opponent and moving up to seventh.
Just behind him, chaos ensued when Skeer and Spinelli hit each other, scattering debris that brought out another caution with 30 minutes left. Alessio Rovera pitted the #023 Triarsi Ferrari, handing sixth place to Stevan McAleer just before the restart.
The Scottish driver again held off Albert Costa's Ferrari, following him three-tenths behind. Over the following laps, the Gradient Acura managed to open a small breathing space as the race reached its final ten minutes.
With a handful of laps to go, there was fuel drama for the #12 Vassar Sullivan Lexus, promoting McAleer to fifth. But an unbelievably chaotic final lap saw the Gradient Racing Acura NSX navigate through the GTP traffic, and when Ellis and Koch made contact, McAleer was quick to snatch third place, also surviving contact with the #10 WTR Acura GTP and ultimately crossing the finish line in an outstanding third place.
"This means a helluva lot, especially for Sheena", McAleer commented after the eighth round of the championship. "They've been hovering around P4, P5, P6 for a long time."
"I saw the two Mercedes getting into each other, something funky happening coming out of three, and that was my shot. I don't like finishing P5, so I was willing to take the risk! I'm absolutely stoked for Gradient, for JG Wentworth and Sheena. This is a massive day."
It was McAleer and Monk's best result of the season, improving on a fourth place at Long Beach, as well as Sheena Monk's first-ever IMSA podium after one of her strongest runs in the first stint - a well-deserved reward for the bronze driver who has remarkably improved with hard work throughout her two seasons of GT3 competitions.
"It's a shame it took this long. I'm just really grateful to Stevan for coming in and bringing some life into this", Monk said. "The people at Gradient have been working really hard, it's been a long time where the folks at JG Wentworth have been supporting us and supporting us through a lot of adversity."
"This just feels good to me for everyone else. I'm just happy that a lot of other people are able to take part in this", she added. "It's a good feeling. Road America has traditionally been quite kind to me, so it's just a pleasure to be here and it's a pleasure to get my first WeatherTech podium here."
Monk now sits third in the Bob Akin Award classification for bronze-drivers, just 30 points behind the leader, with three rounds to go.
RS1 becomes first two-time MPC winner in 2024 at Road America
8/3/24 (via racer.com)
Stevan McAleer took the lead of the Road America 120 with more than an hour remaining in the two-hour race.
When the dust settled, he was still leading, but the details of how he got there were a blur.
McAleer and co-driver Trent Hindman won the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race Saturday at Road America following McAleer’s tense duel with Aaron Telitz, who chased McAleer after a restart with 11m remaining but couldn’t make the pass.
The final three laps were a master class in pursuit and defense from the two veterans of the Grand Sport (GS) class. With the mirrors of McAleer’s No. 28 RS1 Porsche 718 GT4 RS Clubsport full of Telitz’s bright green No. 88 Archangel Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT4, McAleer maintained position and reached the finish line 0.394s ahead.
“People always say, ‘Look how red your face is,’” McAleer joked after the exhausting effort. “My face is this color after one lap. It doesn’t really change too much.”
The victory, their second in consecutive races, made McAleer, Hindman and the No. 28 the first repeat winners in the seventh race of the season. It also pushed the No. 28 team into second place in the GS standings, 200 behind the No. 46 Team TGM Aston Martin Vantage GT4 co-driven by Matt Plumb and Paul Holton that finished 11th on Saturday.
“Every race we went into, we knew we were a contender,” Hindman said. “We knew the car had the performance. It was just a matter of execution on our side. We’ve had some things in and out of our control that haven’t gone our way, but I think finally a couple of weeks ago (at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park), it all came together.”
It all came together Saturday in a rather busy way. When a yellow flag waved 42m into the two-hour race, Jesse Lazare, who had led from the start in his No. 69 Motorsports In Action McLaren Artura GT4, stayed on track while the rest of the GS field pitted. Hindman was third in the No. 28 Porsche, but McAleer emerged after the driver change second behind Lazare.
On the ensuing restart, McAleer used fresh tires to his advantage, passing Lazare in Turn 3. Jack Hawksworth soon followed in the No. 50 Hattori Motorsports Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO.
Daniel Morad inherited the lead in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT4 when McAleer made RS1’s second and final pit stop. NASCAR Sprint Cup regular Ross Chastain followed Morad into second place in the No. 16 Skip Barber Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4.
Lurking in third place was Sebastian Carazo in the No. 67 Czabok-Simpson Motorsport Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS, which had already made its final stop of the race and was poised to take the lead when Morad and Chastain pitted.
But with 21m remaining, Carazo’s left rear tire went flat, forcing him to limp to the pits just as Morad made his last stop. That gave the lead to Chastain, but only briefly.
With 15 minutes left, Chastain pitted moments before Hawksworth spun off course at Turn 13, putting McAleer back in the lead and Telitz behind him, with only a restart and a few laps remaining. Telitz chased McAleer hard after the restart, but to no avail.
“I wouldn’t have said I was concerned,” McAleer said. “Our car had strengths compared to his. Where he was a little better was through the Kink (Turn 11). The previous lap before the white, he was maybe close enough to do something silly, so I just made sure that on the next lap that I had a big move through the Kink so he didn’t get close enough and see an opportunity.”
The win encouraged the RS1 duo to carry the momentum into the next race, the Virginia Is For Racing Lovers Grand Prix on Aug. 24 at VIRginia International Raceway.
“We’re just happy to be in a position to take advantage of that and to show that the capability is there between both of us and the whole team,” Hindman said. “It’s a really good time to be coming alive with three rounds to go.”
RS1's strategy brings CTMP MPC win
7/13/24 (via racer.com)
Trent Hindman isn’t usually one to get emotional after winning races. That changed Saturday at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
As Hindman emerged victorious from the No. 28 RS1 Porsche 718 GT4 RS Clubsport, he shouted and showered his teammates with water.
“IMSA wins are so special,” Hindman said after teaming with Stevan McAleer to win the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park 120, the sixth race of the 10-race IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season.
“Unfortunately, you learn the hard way how hard it is to win in this championship – how hard it is to win in any level of IMSA competition,” he continued.
The timely victory ended a run of bad luck for RS1 – with one second-place finish this season but all others seventh place or worse. The team’s strategy play Saturday put the Porsche into the overall and Grand Sport (GS) class lead after McAleer’s opening stint.
“Track position was important,” McAleer said. “I feel that we’re the best driver pair in the series and it’s kind of shown at most of the events. We just haven’t been able to execute. I’m hoping this is a turnaround for us in the season with four events left. Trent was incredible. He was flying all weekend.”
Hindman credited the call that got the Porsche the lead after a full-course caution just past the midpoint of the two-hour race. The RS1 Porsche was among eight cars opting not to pit for a splash of fuel and moved to the front of the field, where Hindman remained for the final 43m of green-flag racing.
“Fortunately, it worked out,” Hindman said. “I had to do a lot of fuel saving in the end, for sure, but I knew our car was super quick, and I knew we could keep our momentum up and still save fuel. If we were in traffic, it would’ve been a different story.”
Scott Andrews brought the No. 19 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 he co-drove with Rory van der Steur home in second place, 2.537 seconds behind the winning Porsche. The No. 46 Team TGM Aston Martin Vantage GT4 driven by Matt Plumb and Paul Holton finished third. All three podium finishers opted for the one-stop strategy and went into fuel-saving mode to the finish.
RS1’s victory – the 11th for both Hindman and McAleer in the Michelin Pilot Challenge – also marked the sixth different GS team to win in as many races this season.
With the third-place finish, Plumb and the No. 46 Aston Martin unofficially extended their GS lead to 430 points over van der Steur and the No. 19 Aston and to 450 over Hindman, McAleer and the No. 28 Porsche.
Sheena Monk equals personal best in IMSA with P4 at Long Beach
4/22/24 (via racers-behindthehelmet.com)
"It looked like for a minute we were really close to getting on the podium" – Sheena Monk and her Gradient Racing teammate Stevan McAleer charged from dead last to fourth at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, which equalled Sheena's career best in IMSA and gained her the top Bronze Cup award.
Sheena Monk and teammate Stevan McAleer claimed a remarkable fourth place finish at the iconic Long Beach Grand Prix after a stellar charge from the back of the field, which saw the new Gradient Racing driver pairing recovering from an engine change to finishing on the doorsteps of the podium in the third round of the IMSA Sports Car Championship.
Monk had previously shared the #66 Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 with long-time mentor Katherine Legge, in an all female crew that also included Tatiana Calderon for the Michelin Endurance Cup racers. A program change for Legge – who recently announced her return to the Indianapolis 500 in a Dale Coyne Racing entry – resulted in the return of Stevan McAleer, who had previously joined the team at the Rolex 24H of Daytona.
After a highly positive debut season for Monk in the GTD class of North America's premier sports car championship, where she and Legge were often in contention for an elusive podium, expectations were high for a sophomore campaign in the highly competitive GTD field. Unfortunately, retirements at the first two rounds of the 2024 season at Daytona and Sebring interrupted a streak of point scoring finishes; a big accident at the 12H of Sebring – where Legge was pushed by a GTP prototype into the wall – resulted in a new chassis ahead of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, which hosted the first sprint race of the season.
Monk took over driving duties for the first practice session, setting a 1:19.689 that put the #66 Acura P14 in the GTD field. Sheena made more progress in the second session, before Stevan McAleer put in a 1:18.259 lap which moved the Gradient Racing squad to the top of the timing sheets.
While Monk should have tackled qualifying on Friday afternoon, an engine change forced the team to sit out the session – and therefore the JG Wentworth-sponsored Acura would have to recover from the very back of the field in Saturday's race.
Taking the start for her second Grand Prix of Long Beach, bronze-rated Sheena Monk had a great getaway at lights out and cleared two cars already into the first tricky corner, while the two Vasser Sullivan Lexus of Thompson and Montecalvo led the pack after a dominant qualifying for the Japanese brand. Montecalvo, though, had changed lane before the green flag and would receive a drive through penalty.
Albert Costa (Conquest Racing Ferrari) had meanwhile got ahead of Montecalvo for second, with Danny Formal (WTR with Andretti Lamborghini) up to third. By lap 3, Sheena Monk had found a way past Elias Sabo, Kerong Li and Orey Fidani – and was improving her pace to catch Jarett Andretti in the #43 Andretti Motorsports Porsche.
Sheena was very cautious as the GTP traffic approached, but decisive enough to close in on the car ahead. She would move up to P11 on lap 8, when Brendan Iribe's Inception McLaren hit the wall and was collected by the Wright Motorsports Porsche of Adam Adelson. The safety car was deployed and, after a short caution, Monk was ready to resume her chase with 1 hour and 17 minutes to go.
Monk continued to follow closely the Porsche, while at the same time she had the fast recovering Vasser Sullivan Lexus of Montecalvo to keep at bay, after the pole sitter could close back with the pack under caution. Sheena held her own brilliantly throughout the rest of the stint, before she took to the pitlane on lap 23, when she handed over to Stevan McAleer – having charged from 17th to from 12th.
Sadly the Andretti Porsche had held them up in traffic and Anders Fjordbach (MDK Motorsports Porsche) was back ahead after the pit stop – as McAleer rejoined in P12. He gained one more position when the Winward Racing Mercedes received a penalty for a pit stop infraction – and then had the chance to close back in with the rest of the pack when the safety car was out for the accident of Louis Deletraz's WTR Acura prototype on lap 30.
With a spectacular restart, the #66 Acura leapfrogged both the Andretti and the MDK Motorsports Porsches: McAleer now chased Hawksworth in the #12 Lexus after setting his personal best sectors. The Gradient Acura gained another spot when Hawksworth clipped the wall and damaged his left rear suspension; now up to eighth, McAleer further improved the car's best lap and, just as he was trying to close in on Kyle Marcelli, a pile up at the final hairpin gave him the chance to pick up more positions. He navigated through the traffic triggered by a contact between Loris Spinelli and Mathieau Jaminet's Porsche and grabbed fifth in GTD. McAleer further climbed to fourth when the Forte Racing Lamborghini was handed a drive through for the incident.
With 15 minutes to go, the #25 BMW hypercar of Connor de Phillippi crashed into the barriers and triggered another full course yellow. In the final minutes, McAleer had the podium within reach - but at the same time he had to defend from Corey Lewis' Proton Mustang.
After 1 hour and 50 minutes of extremely close racing, the #66 JG Wentworth Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 of Sheena Monk and Stevan McAleer completed a stellar recovery from the back of the grid to cross the finish line in fourth place – banking important points for the championship. As the top Bronze Cup team, Monk and McAleer also took top honor in the Bob Akin Award.
"I'm just really happy for JG Wentworth and also for Acura at their home Grand Prix", Sheena commented. "It's a testament to this entire program and the drivers to go from dead last, being patient and choosing the spots. We were able to go from 17th to fourth."
Fourth place ties Sheena's personal best result in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, equalling her 2023 Daytona 24 Hours result.
"It looked like for a minute we were really close to getting on the podium – which we would have loved for Acura at the Long Beach Grand Prix", she continued. "I'm looking forward to hopefully getting our JG Wentworth Acura in victory lane one of these days soon."
McAleer Replaces Legge at Gradient for Rest of Season
4/10/24 (via SportsCar365)
Stevan McAleer drafted into No. 66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 for remainder of GTD season…
By John Dagys
Stevan McAleer has replaced Katherine Legge in Gradient Racing’s Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 for the remainder of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.
Announced on Wednesday, McAleer, who was part of the No. 66 Acura’s lineup for the Rolex 24 at Daytona, will team up with Sheena Monk for the rest of the GTD season beginning with next weekend’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
A reason for Legge’s departure from the team has not been communicated.
“After the thoroughly great experience I had with the team in Daytona, I was excited to be granted the opportunity to return and run for the rest of the season,” said McAleer.
“This will be my second time competing in the Grand Prix of Long Beach, and I’m looking forward to reconnecting with Gradient Racing. I have known Team Owner Andris Laivins since 2011 through CJ Wilson Racing, and I have won two championships with his programs in 2012 in MX5 Cup and in 2015 in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge.”
McAleer finished third in the GTD standings in 2022, at the wheel of Team Korthoff Motorsports’ Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, in the Scot’s only previous full-season WeatherTech Championship effort.
RS1 Porsche Sweeps Sebring Practice
3/14/24 (via sportscar365.com)
Stevan McAleer keeps No. 28 Porsche on top as practice at Sebring wraps up…
By Davey Euwema
Stevan McAleer paced the second and final practice session for the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Alan Jay Automotive Network 120 at Sebring International Raceway, completing a practice sweep for the RS1 squad in the process.
The Scottish driver steered the No. 28 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS to a best time of 2:09.786, which was 0.179 seconds ahead of the No. 88 Archangel Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT4 in the hands of Aaron Telitz.
McAleer’s time compared strongly to the 2:10.286 that co-driver Trent Hindman set to lead the opening practice session, which took place on Wednesday.
Spencer Pumpelly completed the top three aboard the No. 38 BGB Motorsports Porsche that he shares with Thomas Collingwood, while the No. 34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Michai Stephens slotted into fourth.
Michael de Quesada rounded out the overall top five aboard the No. 69 Motorsports In Action McLaren Artura GT4, leading the No. 13 McCumbee McAleer Racing Ford Mustang GT4 and the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG.
In TCR, Audi beat Hyundai as Chris Miller set a 2:13.552 aboard the No. 17 JDC-Miller Motorsports Audi RS 3 LMS TCR to lead the class.
He remained clear of a trio of Hyundai Elantra N TCRs, led by the No. 33 Bryan Herta Autosport car driven by Harry Gottsacker and the sister No. 98 machine of Mason Filippi.
The 60-minute session was briefly red flagged in the opening minutes as the No. 55 Gou Racing Audi stopped on track at Bishop.
The Pilot Challenge cars return to the track for qualifying at 2:10 p.m. EDT.
RESULTS: Practice 2