2016 Petit Le Mans

The Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda was the 2016 edition of the Petit Le Mans automotive endurance race, held on October 1, 2016, at the Road Atlanta circuit in Braselton, Georgia, United States.

It was the 12th and final race of the 2016 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship,[1] and the third Petit Le Mans run since the formation of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2014. 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.

[2] It was the third consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the 19th Petit Le Mans.

[2] The Petit Le Mans was the last of twelve scheduled automobile endurance races of 2016 by IMSA, and the last in the four round North American Endurance Cup (NAEC).

[2] The race took place at the 12-turn, 2.540-mile (4.088 km) Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia on October 1, 2016.

[3] In GTLM, Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner led the Drivers' Championship with 314 points, 11 ahead of Ryan Briscoe and Richard Westbrook.

[3] In GTD, the Drivers' Championship was led by Alessandro Balzan and Christina Nielsen with 299 points; the duo held a thirty two-point advantage over Jeroen Bleekemolen and Ben Keating.

[3] 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.

[3] There were four practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, three on Thursday and one on Friday.

The third held later that evening ran for 90 minutes; the fourth on Friday morning lasted an hour.

[4] In the first practice session, Olivier Pla set the fastest lap in the No.

23 Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing Porsche recorded the fastest time in GTD.

[8] Ferrari paced GTLM with Scuderia Corsa's 488 of Serra lapping 1:18.354 from Hand's second-placed No.

[8] Audi paced GTD with Magnus' R8 of Seefreid lapping 1:21.187, ahead of Lawson Aschenbach's No.

68 Scuderia Corsa car faster than Vilander's Risi 488 by two-tenths of a second.

Regulations stipulated that teams nominate one qualifying driver, with the fastest laps determining each class' starting order.

IMSA arranged the grid to put Prototypes ahead of the PC, GTLM and GTD cars.

3 Corvette on the grid's front row with his best lap being 0.152 seconds slower, and Toni Vilander drove the No.

[21] With 355 points, Popow and van der Zande won the PC Drivers' Championship, beating Alon and Kimber-Smith on countback.

[21] Chevrolet and Audi heir respective Manufactures' Championships, while Action Express Racing, Starworks Motorsport, Corvette Racing, and Scuderia Corsa won their respective Teams' Championships.