The Countdown Begins to the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Season Finale at Road Atlanta

Photography: George Bucur

  • Road Atlanta is a 2.54-mile road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, and is most famous for hosting Petit Le Mans, a grueling 10-hour endurance race.
  • The notoriety of Petit Le Mans has helped make Road Atlanta a destination for other road racing series and drivers who want to leave their mark on the circuit.
  • IMSA’s Michelin Pilot Challenge championship emphatically ends here, and drivers will give it everything to end the season as far up the leaderboard as possible.
  • Pit+Paddock, Montreal Motorsport Group, our star driver pairing, and Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) are looking to do the same while building momentum towards next year’s campaign.

Driving in Atlanta is one of my least favorite things to do. The regular traffic isn’t that different from the flurry of parked cars you see in The Walking Dead—you’ll sit there stationary for what seems like hours before getting to where you need to go. Fortunately, there’s one place in the city that redeems the gridlock ten-fold: Road Atlanta. This 2.54-mile road course is located just north of Braselton, Georgia, and is most famous for hosting Petit Le Mans, a grueling 10-hour endurance race (the equivalent of 1,000 miles) within its hallowed motorsport grounds. The notoriety of Petit Le Mans has helped make Road Atlanta a destination for other road racing series—including IMSA—and drivers who want to leave their mark on the circuit.

The circuit’s plunging and sweeping nature also contributes to its beloved status among active racers. Each corner isn’t just a turn; some are blind, and some of the undulations provide additional challenges at the top of the corner while others do at the bottom. There are 12 of these tests per go-around, including a high-speed, uphill, right-hander to start, the famous “esses” and the fast downhill right-hander onto the pit straight where nail-biting racing action (or incident) ends the lap. Even though there have been some revisions to make the track a bit less frenetic, Turn 12 exists in its original, terrifying form before another rollercoaster lap begins again. It’s a road course that demands supreme respect.

FROM THE DRIVERS

Dai Yoshihara and Karl Wittmer have some unfinished business from Indianapolis that they, and the Montreal Motorsport Group team, want to quickly rectify. After all, the enigmatic driver pairing has used the second half of the season to create one hell of a highlight reel, including a brilliant win at VIR. As I mentioned ahead of Indianapolis, the team’s accolades made the IMSA “Who’s Hot?” list, even before Yoshihara clinched pole position honors at the Brickyards. Closing the season strong is at the top of mind for both drivers, knowing that a formidable result here would swing massive amounts of momentum toward their 2025 Michelin Pilot Challenge campaign.

“The team, Karl, Honda, and all of our sponsors have been amazing all year. Getting on the podium [at Road Atlanta] would be our way to say thank you in the best possible way,” confessed Yoshihara. The pressure will be turned up to 11 since every driver will be looking to close the championship with maximum points, including ours.

THE GREEN FLAG

The green flag drops at the two-hour Fox Factory 120 on Friday, October 11 at 12:40 PM ET. Practice on Wednesday and qualifying on Thursday precede the final round of this season’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge championship.

Thank you to ARPENEOSTurn 14 DistributionMishimotoWhiteline, and DBA for supporting Pit+Paddock’s inaugural IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge campaign with Montreal Motorsport Group.



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