Streets of Detroit prove unforgiving in Pfaff Motorsports’ first visit
June 2, 2024
Detroit, MI, June 2, 2024 – Pfaff Motorsports took to the streets of Detroit aiming to carry the momentum of its third-place finish at Monterey last month. The 2.647-km (1.645 mi) downtown circuit debuted on the IMSA WeatherTech GTP and GTD PRO calendar for 2024 – the tight corners and long straights promising for some of the most exciting – if not physical – racing of the season.
Unfortunately for Pfaff, it was the latter that put a damper on what was otherwise a strong weekend of overcoming adversity.
The shortened race weekend saw the team taking two practices and qualifying on opening day Friday, the team placing the driveway.com McLaren 720S GT3 EVO in sixth and eighth place in practices respectively, before driver Oliver Jarvis (UK) qualified in eighth ahead of Saturday’s one-hour and 40-minute sprint.
Jarvis wasted no time when the green flag waved, jumping two positions in the first lap before handing the car to teammate Marvin Kirchhöffer (GER) in an early pit stop on strategy. Kirchhöffer continued Jarvis’s momentum by pushing the driveway.com McLaren up to fourth by lap 22, the German cutting through the Mustang, Aston Martin, and Ferrari challengers and eyeing a podium position.
By lap 46 of 74, Pfaff was securely in third place – the McLaren squad confident at its chances of capturing its second-straight podium in the GTD PRO championship hunt.
That was until, with two minutes remaining, Kirchhöffer was rear-ended by a surging Aston Martin at the end of the back straight, sending the McLaren 720S straight into the wall and effectively ending the team’s race in eighth position.
The finish holds Pfaff to seventh position in the GTD PRO championship standings, where it will look to gain valuable points in the third endurance round of the season at the 6 Hours at Watkins Glen on June 23.
Steve Bortolotti (general manager): “We were having a great race until a few minutes to go when we received contact from the Heart of Racing Aston Martin. It was unfortunate because we worked our way from P8 to P3 just to have it come unglued in a racing incident. I’m really gutted for the whole Pfaff Motorsports team who did a fantastic job battling through adversity all weekend and deserved better, but we’ll move on to Watkins Glen and keep doing what we do best.”
Marvin Kirchhöffer (driver): “That was a tough one definitely – the podium was in our hands with two laps to go, and it it just really sucks that we couldn’t hold on to it. It was a hard fight, but I’m not very happy about the move that was put on me, because there was no way it could have worked out in any circumstance. It was tough, but I’m very proud of the team and what we’ve done to put us in strong situations, especially in weekends like this because we didn’t have the speed this weekend to be competitive, but it shows how well everyone has worked and executed on every level. Our pit stops and strategy put us in a position to fight for a podium, so we’ll take that as a positive and get our revenge at Watkins.”
Oliver Jarvis (driver): “Absolutely gutted with the way this race turned out. It was a tough weekend all the way through, where we lacked the pace to some of our competitors, which meant we relied on the team working their magic, which they did to perfection during the race – some great strategy calls meant that we progressed up to P3. But ultimately we lacked a bit of pace and towards the end of the race got hit by the Aston Martin which unfortunately ended our race in the tire wall. It’s definitely not the result the team deserved – it was a tough one to swallow, but we’re going to work hard between now and Watkins and come back stronger, and hopefully we can reward the team with a strong result there.”
For event information stay tuned to Pfaff Motorsports web and social media pages, and IMSA.com.
For further news, announcements and behind-the-scenes content regarding Pfaff Motorsports and the 2024 IMSA Weathertech season, follow @PfaffMotorsports on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and @PfaffMotorsport on X (twitter).
About Pfaff Motorsports
Pfaff Motorsports has established itself as one of the most successful sportscar racing programs in North America over the past decade. A professional team in the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), it has established long-term partnerships with premium brands such as Lithia & Driveway, Motul, and the Automotive Owned Brands of Canadian Tire Corporation, and is one of the top-performing teams in the sport.
Pfaff Motorsports’ competition résumé includes historic victories and championships across multiple series. Since joining the top-tier IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2019, the team has won the prestigious 24 Hours of Daytona and twice at the 12 Hours of Sebring, in addition to being crowned the 2022 WeatherTech Championship GTD Pro class and 2021 GTD class champions. It has also won the 2018 GT World Challenge America championship and is a three-time Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada champion. For more information, please visit www.pfaffmotorsports.com.
Contact: Jordan Lenssen // info@pfaffmotorsports.com