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IMSA replaces Watkins Glen, Lime Rock rounds with Road Atlanta, Charlotte roval

The IMSA SportsCar Championship has altered its calendar in light of revised COVID-19 guidelines, with both the Six Hours of Watkins Glen and the GT-only Lime Rock event being replaced

The Watkins Glen round, which traditionally comprises part of the four-race Michelin Endurance Cup together with the Daytona 24 Hours, Sebring 12 Hours and 10-hour Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, was due to be staged on 6 September having been postponed from its original 28 June date amid a calendar reshuffle.

Watkins Glen's NASCAR round had already been cancelled last month and been replaced with an additional race on the Daytona road course.

The six hour race will now move to the 2.54 mile Road Atlanta track on 6 September, barely five weeks before Petit Le Mans.

The Georgia venue follows Daytona in hosting two rounds in 2020.

IndyCar races at Laguna Seca and Mid-Ohio - the latter scheduled for next weekend - have also been cancelled, but both tracks remain on the IMSA schedule for the time being.

Meanwhile, the GTLM and GTD classes have lost the planned 12 September round at Lime Rock in Connecticut, and will instead run a 100-minute race on Charlotte Motor Speedway's roval the following month.

It will share the bill with on NASCAR on 10 October.

IMSA's statement said that it "continues to monitor state and local COVID-19 guidelines which may make additional schedule revisions appropriate in the coming weeks."

Penske takes pole at Road America

Acura Team Penske locked out the front row in qualifying for IMSA's fourth round at Road America, with Ricky Taylor pacing team-mate Dane Cameron.

The session was red-flagged with minutes to go when Felipe Nasr spun the Sebring-winning Action Express Racing Cadillac into the gravel, at which point Taylor's lap of 1m49.061s was enough to see off reigning champion Cameron by 0.318s in a reversal of the FP2 order.

Mazda team-mates Harry Tincknell and Tristan Nunez will start the 2hr40 minute race from the second row, while Nasr lost his best time for causing the red flag and was demoted from fifth to seventh behind Ryan Briscoe's Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac and the JDC-Miller example driven by Joao Barbosa.

In LMP2, Patrick Kelly was fastest for PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, a second faster than Henrik Hedman of DragonSpeed.

Laurens Vanthoor took pole for Porsche in the GTLM class ahead of the two Corvette C8.Rs of Jordan Taylor and Oliver Gavin, while Aaron Telitz claimed the top spot in the GTD class in his AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus.

IMSA Road America Qualifying Result

Pos Class Driver Car Gap
1 DPi H.Castroneves, R.Taylor Acura 1m49.061s
2 DPi D.Cameron, J.P.Montoya Acura 0.318s
3 DPi J.Bomarito, H.Tincknell Mazda 0.546s
4 DPi O.Jarvis, T.Nunez Mazda 1.059s
5 DPi R.van der Zande, R.Briscoe Cadillac 1.155s
6 DPi J.Barbosa, S.Bourdais Cadillac 1.681s
7 DPi F.Nasr, P.Derani Cadillac 2.330s
8 DPi C.Miller, T.Vautier Cadillac 2.620s
9 LMP2 S.Trummer, P.Kelly ORECA/Gibson 5.413s
10 LMP2 H.Hedman, B.Hanley ORECA/Gibson 6.366s
11 LMP2 C.Cassels, J.French ORECA/Gibson 7.904s
12 LMP2 D.Merriman, K.Tilley ORECA/Gibson 8.528s
13 GTLM E.Bamber, L.Vanthoor Porsche 11.529s
14 GTLM A.Garcia, J.Taylor Chevrolet 11.793s
15 GTLM O.Gavin, T.Milner Chevrolet 11.843s
16 GTLM B.Spengler, C.De Phillippi BMW 12.094s
17 GTLM J.Krohn, J.M.Edwards BMW 12.141s
18 GTLM N.Tandy, F.Makowiecki Porsche 12.244s
19 GTD J.Hawksworth, A.Telitz Lexus 17.190s
20 GTD F.Montecalvo, T.Bell Lexus 17.977s
21 GTD C.Fergus, P.Holton McLaren 18.204s
22 GTD R.Foley, B.Auberlen BMW 18.300s
23 GTD G.Robinson, L.Aschenbach Mercedes 18.850s
24 GTD C.MacNeil, T.Vilander Ferrari 18.863s
25 GTD M.Farnbacher, M.McMurry Acura 18.881s
26 GTD A.Parente, M.Goikhberg Acura 19.057s
27 GTD R.Hardwick, P.Long Porsche 19.208s
28 GTD T.Bechtolsheimer, M.Miller Acura 19.459s
29 GTD R.De Angelis, I.James Aston Martin 19.479s
30 GTD A.Lally, J.Potter Lamborghini 20.761s
31 GTD R.Ferriol, S.Pumpelly Audi 21.413s


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