2022 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix (IMSA)



The 2022 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix (formally known as the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear) was a sports car race held at The Raceway on Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan on June 4, 2022. It was the sixth round of the 2022 IMSA SportsCar Championship and the fourth round of the 2022 WeatherTech Sprint Cup. Chip Ganassi Racing's No. 01 piloted by Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande earned the victory in DPi, while the VasserSullivan No. 17 Lexus RC F GT3 driven by Ben Barnicoat and Kyle Kirkwood won in the GTD class.

Background
International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2022 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2021. It was the eighth year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the twelfth annual running of the race, counting the period between 2007 and 2013 when it was a round of the Rolex Sports Car Series and the American Le Mans Series respectively. The 2022 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix was the sixth of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2022 by IMSA, and it was the fourth of eight rounds held as part of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup. The race was held at the fourteen-turn 2.350 mi Belle Isle Park in Detroit, Michigan on June 4, 2022.

On May 26, 2022, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outlining Balance of Performance for the DPi and GTD classes. In DPi, the Cadillac DPi-V.R received a 15 kilogram weight increase. In GTD, the BMW M4 GT3 received a 10 kilogram weight increase.

Before the race, Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor led the DPi Drivers' Championship with 1707 points, 32 clear of Tom Blomqvist and Oliver Jarvis followed by Alex Lynn and Earl Bamber in third with 1603 points. With 1237 points, Stevan McAleer led the GTD Drivers' Championship, 12 points ahead of Ryan Hardwick and Jan Heylen in second followed by Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley in third with 1161 points. Acura and Mercedes-AMG were leading their respective Manufactures' Championships while Wayne Taylor Racing and Gilbert Korthoff Motorsports each led their own Teams' Championships.

Entries
A total of 16 cars took part in the event, split across two classes. 6 were entered in DPi and 10 in GTD. In DPi, Oliver Pla replaced Tristan Nunez in the Whelen Engineering Racing entry. In GTD, Inception Racing were absent due to a clash with the GT World Challenge Europe at Circuit Paul Ricard. Ben Barnicoat subbed for Jack Hawksworth, who was injured, in the Vasser Sullivan Racing No. 17. Ross Gunn subbed for Maxime Martin in the Heart of Racing team No. 27.

Practice
There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, both on Friday. The first session lasted 90 minutes on Friday morning while the second session lasted for 120 minutes on Friday afternoon.

Qualifying
Friday’s afternoon qualifying was broken into two sessions, with one session for the DPi and GTD classes, which lasted for 15 minutes each, and a ten minute interval between the sessions. The rules dictated that all teams nominated a driver to qualify their cars, with the Pro-Am (GTD) class requiring a Bronze/Silver Rated Driver to qualify the car. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order. IMSA then arranged the grid to put DPis ahead of the GTD cars.

Qualifying results
Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by ‡.


 * The No. 96 Turner Motorsport entry was moved to the back of the GTD field as per Article 40.1.4 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).

Post-Race
Blomqvist and Jarvis retook the DPi Drivers' Championship lead with 2027 points while Albuquerque and Taylor dropped to second with 2017 points. Bourdais and van der Zande advanced from sixth to fourth. The final results of GTD meant McAleer increased his gap to Hardwick and Heylen to 34 points. Montecalvo advanced from fifth to fourth while De Angelis jumped from ninth to fifth. Cadillac and BMW assumed the lead of their respective Manufacturers' Championships while Gilbert Korthoff Motorsports continued to top the GTD Teams' Championship. Meyer Shank Racing took the lead of the DPi Teams' Championship with six rounds remaining.

Race Results
Class winners are denoted in bold and ‡.

Standings after the race

 * Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.


 * Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.


 * Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.