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2016 Lone Star Le Mans

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Map of the Circuit of the Americas - Grand Prix Circuit

The 2016 Lone Star Le Mans was a sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The race was held at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas on September 17, 2016. The race was the eleventh round of the 2016 IMSA SportsCar Championship.

Background

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Circuit of the Americas (pictured in 2015), where the race was held.

Preview

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International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2016 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2015.[1] It was the third consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The 2016 Lone Star Le Mans was the eleventh of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2016 by IMSA, and was the eighth round not held on the held as part of the North American Endurance Cup. The race was held at the twenty-turn 3.426 mi (5.514 km) Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas on September 17, 2016.[2]

IMSA altered the balance of performance to try to create parity within the Prototype, GTLM, and GTD categories. The Ligier JS P2 had its weight lowered by 10 kg (22 lb). The DeltaWing DWC13 received an increase in turbo boost pressure. The Lola B12/80 had its refueling hose restrictor increased by 1 mm (0.039 in). The BMW M6 GTLM had its weight increased by 10 kg (22 lb) and received a 0.5 mm (0.020 in) larger refueling hose restrictor while the Ford GT had a 1 mm (0.039 in) refueling restrictor reduction. The Ferrari 488 GTE received an increase in turbo boost pressure, a 1-liter fuel capacity increase, and a 0.5 mm (0.020 in) larger refueling hose restrictor. The Ferrari 488 GT3 received an increase in turbo boost pressure and a 1-liter fuel capacity increase. The Porsche 911 GT3 R received a 2 mm (0.079 in) larger air restrictor, a 1-liter fuel capacity increase, and a 1 mm (0.039 in) larger refueling hose restrictor. The BMW M6 GT3 and Lamborghini Huracán GT3 had their refueling restrictors increased by 1 mm (0.039 in) while the Dodge Viper GT3-R and Ferrari 488 GT3 received their fuel restrictors reduced by 0.5 mm (0.020 in).[3]

Before the race, João Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi led the Prototype Drivers' Championship with 253 points, ahead of Eric Curran and Dane Cameron in second by one point, and Jordan Taylor and Ricky Taylor in third with 242 points.[4] With 293 points, Alex Popow and Renger van der Zande led the Prototype Challenge Drivers' Championship over Robert Alon and Tom Kimber-Smith by 7 points.[4] In GTLM, Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner led the Drivers' Championship with 287 points, 7 ahead of Ryan Briscoe and Richard Westbrook.[4] In GTD, the Drivers' Championship was led by Alessandro Balzan and Christina Nielsen with 268 points; the duo held a twenty-point advantage over Jeroen Bleekemolen and Ben Keating.[4] Chevrolet and Audi were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Action Express Racing, Starworks Motorsport, Corvette Racing, and Scuderia Corsa each led their own Teams' Championships.[4]

Entry list

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Thirty-nine cars were officially entered for the Lone Star Le Mans, with most of the entries in the Prototype Challenge (PC), Grand Touring Le Mans (GTLM) and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) categories. Action Express Racing (AER) fielded two Chevrolet Corvette DP cars while VisitFlorida Racing (VFR) and Wayne Taylor Racing (WTR) fielded one. Mazda Motorsports had two Lola B12/80 cars and Michael Shank Racing (MSR) entered one Ligier JS P2 chassis with a Honda HR35TT twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 engine. Panoz brought the DeltaWing car to Circuit of the Americas for the fourth successive year.[5] The Prototype Challenge (PC) class was composed of eight Oreca FLM09 cars: three from Starworks Motorsports and two from BAR1 Motorsports. JDC-Miller MotorSports, Performance Tech and PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports entered one car each.[5] Although it was listed as an entrant,[5] CORE Autosport's No. 54 car withdrew from the event due to the team prepping for 2017.[6] GTLM was represented by nine entries from five different brands. In the list of GTD entrants, fourteen GT3-specification vehicles were represented by seven different manufacturers.[5] The No. 007 The Racer's Group Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 was reinstated to the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship after making its first appearance since the Laguna Seca round.[7]

Practice

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There were three practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, two on Thursday and one on Friday. The first two one-hour sessions were on Thursday morning and afternoon. The third on Friday morning lasted an hour.[8]

In the first session, Barbosa set the fastest time in the No. 5 AER Corvette DP with a time of 1 minute, 58.813 seconds, 0.105 seconds faster than teammate Cameron in the sister No. 31 AER car.[9] The fastest PC car was Kimber-Smith's No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports car with a lap of 2 minutes, 01.131 seconds.[10] With a 2:04.638 lap, Dirk Müller led the GTLM class in the No. 66 CGR Ford GT, followed by Pilet's No. 911 Porsche.[9][10] Jens Klingmann's No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 recorded the fastest time in GTD.[9]

In the second session, Cameron led with a lap of 1 minute, 58.139 seconds, ahead of Jordan Taylor's WTR car.[11] The eight-vehicle PC class was led by Starworks' No. 88 car, driven by Bradley with a time of 2 minutes, 01.367 seconds.[12] Ford paced GTLM with Westbrook's No. 67 CGR car lapping 2:04.107 from Giancarlo Fisichella's second-placed Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE.[11] With a 2:08.174 lap, Markus Palttala led the GTD class in the No. 97 Turner Motorsport BMW M6, followed by Balzan's Scuderia Corsa 488 GT3.[13][12]

Miller led the final practice session in the No. 70 Mazda with a lap of 1 minute, 58.033 seconds. Ricky Taylor's WTR car was second-fastest.[14] A 2:00.238 lap saw Kimber-Smith's PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports car lead PC over van der Zande's No. 8 Starworks entry.[15] Ferrari paced GTLM with Risi Competizione's 488 of Vilander lapping 2:03.380, ahead of the two Ford GTs.[14][15] Alex Riberas in the No. 23 Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing Porsche was fastest in GTD with a time of 2 minutes, 07.116 seconds.[15]

Qualifying

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Friday afternoon's 90-minute four-group qualifying session gave 15-minute sessions to all categories. Cars in GTD were sent out first before those grouped in GTLM, PC, and Prototype had three separate identically timed sessions. Regulations stipulated teams to nominate one qualifying driver, with the fastest laps determining each classes starting order. IMSA would arranged the grid to put all Prototypes ahead of the PC, GTLM, and GTD cars.[8][16]

Qualifying results

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

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap Grid
1 P 10 United States Wayne Taylor Racing United States Ricky Taylor 1:58.712 _ 1‡
2 P 55 Japan Mazda Motorsports United States Tristan Nunez 1:58.715 +0.003 2
3 P 70 Japan Mazda Motorsports United States Joel Miller 1:59.120 +0.408 3
4 P 31 United States Action Express Racing United States Eric Curran 1:59.199 +0.487 4
5 P 5 United States Action Express Racing Brazil Christian Fittipaldi 1:59.421 +0.709 5
6 P 0 United States Panoz DeltaWing Racing United States Sean Rayhall 2:00.030 +1.318 6
7 P 90 United States VisitFlorida Racing Belgium Marc Goossens 2:00.506 +1.794 7
8 PC 52 United States PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports United States Robert Alon 2:01.847 +3.135 8‡
9 PC 7 United States Starworks Motorsport Mexico José Gutiérrez 2:02.271 +3.559 9
10 PC 8 United States Starworks Motorsport Venezuela Alex Popow 2:02.274 +3.562 10
11 PC 20 United States BAR1 Motorsports United States Matt McMurry 2:02.305 +3.593 11
12 P 60 United States Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian United States John Pew 2:02.595 +3.883 161
13 PC 38 United States Performance Tech Motorsports United States Nicholas Boulle 2:03.420 +4.708 12
14 PC 85 United States JDC-Miller MotorSports Canada Misha Goikhberg 2:03.527 +4.815 13
15 GTLM 67 United States Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Australia Ryan Briscoe 2:04.188 +5.476 17‡
16 GTLM 62 United States Risi Competizione Finland Toni Vilander 2:04.694 +5.982 18
17 GTLM 911 United States Porsche North America France Patrick Pilet 2:04.874 +6.162 19
18 GTLM 912 United States Porsche North America France Frédéric Makowiecki 2:05.002 +6.290 20
19 GTLM 66 United States Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Germany Dirk Müller 2:05.084 +6.372 21
20 GTLM 4 United States Corvette Racing United Kingdom Oliver Gavin 2:05.190 +6.478 22
21 GTLM 25 United States BMW Team RLL Germany Dirk Werner 2:05.230 +6.518 23
22 GTLM 3 United States Corvette Racing Denmark Jan Magnussen 2:05.461 +6.749 24
23 GTLM 100 United States BMW Team RLL United States John Edwards 2:05.737 +7.025 25
24 PC 26 United States BAR1 Motorsports United States Don Yount 2:05.971 +7.259 14
25 GTD 23 United States Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing Spain Alex Riberas 2:08.568 +9.856 26‡
26 GTD 9 United States Stevenson Motorsports United States Lawson Aschenbach 2:08.944 +10.232 27
27 GTD 73 United States Park Place Motorsports United States Patrick Lindsey 2:09.009 +10.297 28
28 PC 88 United States Starworks Motorsport United States Mark Kvamme 2:09.6162 +10.904 15
29 GTD 6 United States Stevenson Motorsports United States Andrew Davis 2:09.744 +11.032 29
30 GTD 63 United States Scuderia Corsa Denmark Christina Nielsen 2:09.756 +11.044 30
31 GTD 48 United States Paul Miller Racing United States Madison Snow 2:09.841 +11.129 31
32 GTD 27 United States Dream Racing Italy Paolo Ruberti 2:09.913 +11.201 32
33 GTD 16 United States Change Racing United States Corey Lewis 2:10.174 +11.462 33
34 GTD 96 United States Turner Motorsport United States Bret Curtis 2:10.612 +11.900 34
35 GTD 33 United States Riley Motorsports United States Ben Keating 2:10.979 +12.267 393
36 GTD 44 United States Magnus Racing United States John Potter 2:11.089 +12.377 35
37 GTD 97 United States Turner Motorsport United States Michael Marsal 2:11.357 +12.645 36
38 GTD 80 United States Lone Star Racing United States Dan Knox 2:11.536 +12.824 37
39 GTD 007 United States TRG-AMR Australia David Calvert-Jones 2:12.181 +13.469 38
Sources:[17][18]
  • 1 The No. 60 MSR Ligier was sent to the back of the Prototype grid as per 43.1 of the Sporting regulations (Starting driver change).[16]
  • 2 The No. 88 Starworks Motorsport had its fastest lap deleted as penalty for causing a red flag during its qualifying session.
  • 3 The No. 33 Riley Motorsports Dodge was sent to the back of the GTD grid as per 40.1.5 of the Sporting regulations (Tire change).[16]

Race

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post-race

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With a total of 285 points, Curran and Cameron's second-place finish allowed them to take the lead of the Prototype Drivers' Championship.[19] Popow and van der Zande's victory allowed them to increase their advantage in the PC Drivers' Championship by 3 points over Alon and Kimber-Smith.[19] The final results of GTLM meant that Gavin and Milner extended their advantage to 11 points in the Drivers' Championship over Briscoe and Westbrook.[19] Balzan and Nielsen's third-place finish allowed them to increase their advantage in the GTD Drivers' Championship to 32 points over Bleekemolen and Keating.[19] Chevrolet and Audi continued to top their respective Manufactures' Championships while Action Express Racing, Starworks Motorsport, Corvette Racing, and Scuderia Corsa kept their respective advantages in their of Teams' Championships with one round left in the season.[19]

Race Results

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Class winners are denoted in bold and ‡. P stands for Prototype, PC (Prototype Challenge), GTLM (Grand Touring Le Mans) and GTD (Grand Touring Daytona).

Final race classification
Pos Class No. Team Drivers Chassis Tire Laps Time/Retired
Engine
1 P 10 United States Wayne Taylor Racing United States Jordan Taylor
United States Ricky Taylor
Corvette Daytona Prototype C 75 2:41:55.076‡
Chevrolet 5.5 L V8
2 P 31 United States Action Express Racing United States Eric Curran

United States Dane Cameron

Corvette Daytona Prototype C 75 +1.421
Chevrolet 5.5 L V8
3 P 5 United States Action Express Racing Portugal João Barbosa
Brazil Christian Fittipaldi
Corvette Daytona Prototype C 75 +47.256
Chevrolet 5.5 L V8
4 P 70 Japan Mazda Motorsports United States Tom Long
United States Joel Miller
Mazda Prototype C 75 +1:46.420
Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0 L I4 Turbo
5 PC 8 United States Starworks Motorsport Venezuela Alex Popow
Netherlands Renger van der Zande
Oreca FLM09 C 74 +1 lap‡
Chevrolet 6.2 L V8
6 PC 52 United States PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports United States Robert Alon
United Kingdom Tom Kimber-Smith
Oreca FLM09 C 74 +1 lap
Chevrolet 6.2 L V8
7 PC 38 United States Performance Tech Motorsports United States James French
United States Nicholas Boulle
Oreca FLM09 C 74 +1 lap
Chevrolet 6.2 L V8
8 P 0 United States Panoz DeltaWing Racing United Kingdom Katherine Legge
United States Sean Rayhall
DeltaWing DWC13 C 74 +1 lap
Élan (Mazda) 1.9 L I4 Turbo
9 PC 20 United States BAR1 Motorsports United States Matt McMurry
Brazil Bruno Junqueira
Oreca FLM09 C 74 +1 lap
Chevrolet 6.2 L V8
10 GTLM 912 United States Porsche North America New Zealand Earl Bamber
France Frédéric Makowiecki
Porsche 911 RSR M 74 +1 lap‡
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
11 PC 7 United States Starworks Motorsport Mexico José Gutiérrez
Colombia Gustavo Yacamán
Oreca FLM09 C 74 +1 lap
Chevrolet 6.2 L V8
12 GTLM 911 United States Porsche North America France Patrick Pilet
United Kingdom Nick Tandy
Porsche 911 RSR M 73 +1 lap
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
13 GTLM 3 United States Corvette Racing Spain Antonio García
Denmark Jan Magnussen
Chevrolet Corvette C7.R M 73 +1 lap
Chevrolet LT5.5 5.5 L V8
14 GTLM 25 United States BMW Team RLL United States Bill Auberlen
Germany Dirk Werner
BMW M6 GTLM M 73 +2 Laps
BMW 4.4 L Turbo V8
15 GTLM 4 United States Corvette Racing United Kingdom Oliver Gavin
United States Tommy Milner
Chevrolet Corvette C7.R M 73 +2 Laps
Chevrolet LT5.5 5.5 L V8
16 PC 85 United States JDC-Miller MotorSports Canada Misha Goikhberg
South Africa Stephen Simpson
Oreca FLM09 C 73 +2 Laps
Chevrolet 6.2 L V8
17 GTLM 66 United States Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Germany Dirk Müller
United States Joey Hand
Ford GT M 73 +2 Laps
Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Twin-turbo V6
18 GTLM 100 United States BMW Team RLL United States John Edwards
Germany Lucas Luhr
BMW M6 GTLM M 73 +2 Laps
BMW 4.4 L Turbo V8
19 GTLM 62 United States Risi Competizione Finland Toni Vilander
Italy Giancarlo Fisichella
Ferrari 488 GTE M 73 +2 Laps
Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8
20 PC 26 United States BAR1 Motorsports United States Don Yount
United States John Falb
Oreca FLM09 C 73 +2 Laps
Chevrolet 6.2 L V8
21 P 60 United States Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian United States John Pew
Brazil Oswaldo Negri Jr.
Ligier JS P2 C 72 +3 Laps
Honda HR35TT 3.5 Turbo V6
22 GTD 96 United States Turner Motorsport United States Bret Curtis
Germany Jens Klingmann
BMW M6 GT3 C 71 +4 Laps‡
BMW 4.4 L Turbo V8
23 GTD 48 United States Paul Miller Racing United States Bryan Sellers
United States Madison Snow
Lamborghini Huracán GT3 C 71 +4 Laps
Lamborghini 5.2 L V10
24 GTD 63 United States Scuderia Corsa Denmark Christina Nielsen
Italy Alessandro Balzan
Ferrari 488 GT3 C 71 +4 Laps
Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8
25 GTD 44 United States Magnus Racing United States John Potter
United States Andy Lally
Lamborghini Huracán GT3 C 71 +4 Laps
Lamborghini 5.2 L V10
26 GTD 73 United States Park Place Motorsports Germany Jörg Bergmeister
United States Patrick Lindsey
Porsche 911 GT3 R C 71 +4 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
27 GTD 007 United States TRG-AMR United Kingdom Ben Barker
Australia David Calvert-Jones
Aston Martin Vantage GT3 C 71 +4 Laps
Aston Martin 6.0 L V12
28 GTD 23 United States Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing Germany Mario Farnbacher
Spain Alex Riberas
Porsche 911 GT3 R C 70 +5 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
29 GTD 80 United States Lone Star Racing United States Dan Knox
United States Mike Skeen
Dodge Viper GT3-R C 70 +5 Laps
Dodge 8.3L V10
30 GTD 16 United States Change Racing United States Corey Lewis
United States Spencer Pumpelly
Lamborghini Huracán GT3 C 70 +5 Laps
Lamborghini 5.2 L V10
31 GTD 6 United States Stevenson Motorsports United States Andrew Davis
United Kingdom Robin Liddell
Audi R8 LMS C 70 +5 Laps
Audi 5.2L V10
32 GTD 27 United States Stevenson Motorsports Italy Luca Persiani
Italy Paolo Ruberti
Audi R8 LMS C 70 +5 Laps
Audi 5.2L V10
33 GTD 9 United States Stevenson Motorsports United States Lawson Aschenbach
United States Matt Bell
Audi R8 LMS C 70 +5 Laps
Audi 5.2L V10
34 GTD 33 United States Riley Motorsports Netherlands Jeroen Bleekemolen
United States Ben Keating
Dodge Viper GT3-R C 67 +8 Laps
Dodge 8.3L V10
35 PC 88 United States Starworks Motorsport United States Mark Kvamme
United Kingdom Richard Bradley
Oreca FLM09 C 65 +10 Laps
Chevrolet 6.2 L V8
36 GTLM 67 United States Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Australia Ryan Briscoe
United Kingdom Richard Westbrook
Ford GT M 58 +17 Laps
Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Twin-turbo V6
37 GTD 97 United States Turner Motorsport United States Michael Marsal
Finland Markus Palttala
BMW M6 GT3 C 58 +17 Laps
BMW 4.4 L Turbo V8
38 P 90 United States VisitFlorida Racing Belgium Marc Goossens
United Kingdom Ryan Dalziel
Corvette Daytona Prototype C 39 +36 Laps
Chevrolet 5.5 L V8
39 P 55 Japan Mazda Motorsports United States Jonathan Bomarito
United States Tristan Nunez
Mazda Prototype C 35 Did Not Finish
Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0 L I4 Turbo
Sources:[20][21]
Tyre manufacturers
Key
Symbol Tyre manufacturer
C Continental
M Michelin

Championship standings after the race

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  • 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.


References

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  1. ^ Pruett, Marshall (August 8, 2015). "IMSA: 2016 schedule revealed". Racer. Archived from the original on January 1, 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  2. ^ "IMSA announces new title sponsor, 2016 schedule". motorsport.com. August 9, 2015. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  3. ^ Dagys, John (8 September 2016). "GTD Porsche Gets BoP Change for COTA". Sportscar365.com. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e "00_Official Points.pdf" (PDF). imsa.results.alkamelcloud.com. Alkamel Systems. 29 August 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 September 2024. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d "All Four Classes Return for Lone Star Le Mans". Sportscar365.com. 7 September 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  6. ^ Pruett, Marshall (12 September 2016). "IMSA: CORE exits PC to start 2017 GTD prep". Racer. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  7. ^ Dagys, John (14 September 2016). "Calvert-Jones, Barker Confirmed in TRG Aston Martin for COTA". Sportscar365.com. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  8. ^ a b Dagys, John (14 September 2016). "Continental Tire Keys to the Race: COTA". Sportscar365.com. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  9. ^ a b c Kilshaw, Jake (15 September 2016). "Action Express Goes 1-2 in Opening Practice at COTA". Sportscar365.com. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  10. ^ a b "Action Express To The Fore In Lone Star Le Mans FP1". dailysportscar.com. 15 September 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  11. ^ a b Kilshaw, Jake (15 September 2016). "Cameron Tops Practice 2 at COTA". Sportscar365.com. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  12. ^ a b "Dane Cameron Paces The Field In CoTA FP2". dailysportscar.com. 16 September 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  13. ^ Pruett, Marshall (15 September 2016). "IMSA: Corvettes continue to pace COTA". Racer. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  14. ^ a b Kilshaw, Jake (16 September 2016). "Miller Goes Fastest in Final Practice". Sportscar365.com. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  15. ^ a b c "Miller Puts Mazda On Top In Final Free Practice". dailysportscar.com. 16 September 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  16. ^ a b c "2016 IMSA Sporting Regulations & Series Supplementary Regulations of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship" (PDF). International Motor Sports Association. May 25, 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 5, 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  17. ^ "Qualifying Results" (PDF). imsa.results.alkamelcloud.com. Alkamel Systems. 16 September 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  18. ^ "01_Starting Grid.PDF" (PDF). imsa.results.alkamelcloud.com. Alkamel Systems. 17 September 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "00_Official Points.pdf" (PDF). imsa.results.alkamelcloud.com. Alkamel Systems. 17 September 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 October 2024. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  20. ^ "Race Official Results" (PDF). imsa.results.alkamelcloud.com. Alkamel Systems. 17 September 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  21. ^ "2016 Lone Star Le Mans". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
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IMSA SportsCar Championship
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Petit Star Le Mans