Preview: Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix Presented by Lear

All good things must come to an end, and so too will the sound of sports cars on Belle Isle echoing across the Detroit River and through the canyons of streets of Detroit. The 2022 installment of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix Presented by Lear will be the last one to take place on the Belle Isle Street Circuit. First visited by the American LeMans series in 2007 and 2008, Belle Isle became a staple of the Rolex Sports Car Series in 2012 continuing through reunification in 2014 until this weekend, except for the outright cancellation in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is believed that this race will continue on the new Detroit circuit with IndyCar from 2023, but there has been no official word from IMSA as of yet. 

This years edition of IMSA racing on the 2.35 mile, 14 turn street course on Belle Isle will feature two classes, Daytona Prototype International (DPi) and GTD. There will be 6 DPi contenders and 10 GTD entries for a total of 16, down from 20 in 2021. Entry lists for the Detroit Grand Prix have always been shorter, given the event’s proximity to the 24 Hours of Le Mans later in the month, however 16 entries is the smallest number of cars that have entered this race in the history of this event. 

In the DPi class, the  #01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi piloted by Renger Van der Zande and Sebastian Bourdais will look to repeat as winners from 2021. The 01 car won the previous street race of the season in Long Beach in commanding fashion and will contend for their second win of the season in the shadow of General Motors headquarters. Meanwhile the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura DPi piloted by Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque will look to extend their winning streak to 3 races. Cadillac has won 3 of the 4 Detroit Grand Prix races in the DPi era, the only exception being the #6 Team Penske Acura DPi winning in 2019. One additional key change in DPi is Action Express Racing has signed Olivier Pla to partner with Pipo Derani in the #31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac DPi for the rest of the 2022 season, replacing Tristan Nunez, who will remain with the team in a standby role. 

In GTD, the Heart of Racing #27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 driven by Ross Gunn and Roman De Angelis hope to repeat from 2021 and take their first win of the 2022 season. Steven McAleer will look to extend his GTD points lead in the Team Korthoff Motorsports #32 Mercedes Benz AMG GT3 chased by the #96 Turner Motorsport M4 GT3 of Robby Foley and Bill Auberlen. As with last month’s race at Mid Ohio, Vasser Sullivan will enter an additional GTD entry, the #17 Lexus RC F GT3 piloted by Ben Barnicoat, filling in for an injured Jack Hawksworth, and Kyle Kirkwood, fresh off his rookie Indy 500 and doing double duty in the IndyCar race on Sunday in the #14 A.J. Foyt entry. The previous 100 minute street course race of the season in Long Beach was won by the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 of Madison Snow and Brian Sellers. 

The 100 minute race will kick off at 3PM on Saturday, June 4th on the USA network and IMSA Radio in the United States and across the globe on IMSA.tv. Tickets are still available for Saturday’s event and may be purchased at detroitgp.com