The 2022 Lexus Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio was a sports car race held at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course near Lexington, Ohio on May 15, 2022. It was the fifth round of the 2022 IMSA SportsCar Championship and the third round of the 2022 WeatherTech Sprint Cup. Wayne Taylor Racing's #10 car piloted by Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque collected their second victory of the season.[1]
International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2022 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2021.[2] It was the fifth consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The 2022 Lexus Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio was the fifth of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2022 by IMSA, and it was the third of eight rounds held as part of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup.[3] The race was held at the thirteen-turn 2.258miles Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course near Lexington, Ohio on May 5, 2022.[4]
On May 5, 2022, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outlining Balance of Performance for the event. In DPi, the Cadillac DPi-V.R received a 10 kilogram weight break. In GTD, The Porsche 911 GT3 R received a 10 kilogram weight increase.[5]
Before the race, Tom Blomqvist and Oliver Jarvis led the DPi Drivers' Championship, ahead of Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor on countback followed by Tristan Vautier and Richard Westbrook with 1308 points in third.[6] In LMP2, Ryan Dalziel and Dwight Merriman led the Drivers' Championship by 33 points over John Farano and Louis Delétraz. With 374 points, João Barbosa, Lance Willsey, and Malthe Jakobsen led the LMP3 Drivers' Championship with a 31 point advantage over Ari Balogh, Dakota Dickerson, and Garett Grist. The GTD Drivers' Championship was led by Ryan Hardwick and Jan Heylen with 985 points followed by Stevan McAleer with 955 points. Acura and Porsche were leading their respective Manufactures' Championships while Meyer Shank Racing, PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, Sean Creech Motorsport, and Wright Motorsports each led their own Teams' Championships.
A total of 31 cars took part in the event, split across four classes. 6 were entered in DPi, 6 in LMP2, 8 in LMP3, and 11 in GTD.[7] In LMP2, Will Stevens subbed for Louis Deletraz in the Tower Motorsport entry due to a clash with the European Le Mans Series round at Imola.[8] In LMP3, MLT Motorsports made its debut in the IMSA SportsCar Championship. In GTD, Team Hardpoint was absent while Vasser Sullivan Racing added a second entry featuring Jack Hawksworth and Richard Heistand. NTE Sport withdrew from the event due to a lack of funding.[9] Jordan Pepper joined Brendan Iribe in the Inception Racing entry.
There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Sunday; one on Friday and one on Saturday. The first session on Friday afternoon ran for 90 minutes while the second session on Saturday morning lasted 105 minutes.[10]
Saturday's afternoon qualifying was broken into three sessions, with one session for the DPi and LMP2, LMP3, and GTD classes, which lasted for 15 minutes each, and a ten minute interval between the sessions. The rules dictated that all teams nominated a driver to qualify their cars, with the Pro-Am (LMP2/LMP3/GTD) classes requiring a Bronze/Silver Rated Driver to qualify the car. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order. IMSA then arranged the grid to put DPis ahead of the LMP2, LMP3, and GTD cars.[11]
Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by .
| Class | Team | Driver | Time | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DPi | 1 | 01 |  Cadillac Racing |  Sébastien Bourdais | 1:10.439 | - | 1 |
| 2 | DPi | 2 | 10 | WTR - Konica Minolta Acura |  Filipe Albuquerque | 1:10.661 | +0.222 | 2 |
| 3 | DPi | 3 | 60 | Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian |  Oliver Jarvis | 1:10.791 | +0.352 | 3 |
| 4 | DPi | 4 | 02 | Cadillac Racing | Alex Lynn | 1:10.995 | +0.556 | 4 |
| 5 | DPi | 5 | 31 | Whelen Engineering Racing | Tristan Nunez | 1:11.053 | +0.614 | 5 |
| 6 | DPi | 6 | 5 | JDC-Miller MotorSports | Tristan Vautier | 1:11.083 | +0.644 | 6 |
| 7 | LMP2 | 1 | 52 | PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports | Patrick Kelly | 1:14.340 | +3.901 | 7 |
| 8 | LMP2 | 2 | 11 | PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports | Steven Thomas | 1:15.276 | +4.837 | 8 |
| 9 | LMP2 | 3 | 81 | DragonSpeed - 10 Star |  Henrik Hedman | 1:15.332 | +4.893 | 9 |
| 10 | LMP2 | 4 | 18 | Era Motorsport | Dwight Merriman | 1:16.077 | +5.638 | 10 |
| 11 | LMP2 | 5 | 8 | Tower Motorsport |  John Farano | 1:16.313 | +5.874 | 11 |
| 12 | LMP2 | 6 | 20 |  High Class Racing | Dennis Andersen | 1:16.515 | +6.076 | 12 |
| 13 | LMP3 | 1 | 36 | Andretti Autosport | Jarett Andretti | 1:17.104 | +6.665 | 13 |
| 14 | LMP3 | 2 | 58 | MLT Motorsports | Josh Sarchet | 1:17.441 | +7.002 | 14 |
| 15 | LMP3 | 3 | 38 | Performance Tech Motorsports | Dan Goldburg | 1:17.788 | +7.349 | 15 |
| 16 | LMP3 | 4 | 74 | Riley Motorsports | Gar Robinson | 1:17.892 | +7.453 | 16 |
| 17 | LMP3 | 5 | 54 | CORE Autosport | Jon Bennett | 1:18.448 | +8.009 | 17 |
| 18 | LMP3 | 6 | 30 | Jr III Motorsports | Ari Balogh | 1:19.279 | +8.840 | 18 |
| 19 | LMP3 | 7 | 13 | AWA | Orey Fidani | 1:19.819 | +9.380 | 19 |
| 20 | LMP3 | 8 | 33 | Sean Creech Motorsport | Lance Willsey | 1:19.924 | +9.485 | 20 |
| 21 | GTD | 1 | 1 | Paul Miller Racing | Madison Snow | 1:20.525 | +10.086 | 21 |
| 22 | GTD | 2 | 32 | Team Korthoff Motorsports | Stevan McAleer | 1:20.725 | +10.286 | 22 |
| 23 | GTD | 3 | 27 | Heart of Racing Team | Roman De Angelis | 1:20.822 | +10.383 | 23 |
| 24 | GTD | 4 | 96 | Turner Motorsport | Robby Foley | 1:21.012 | +10.573 | 24 |
| 25 | GTD | 5 | 57 | Winward Racing | Russell Ward | 1:21.016 | +10.577 | 25 |
| 26 | GTD | 6 | 12 | Vasser Sullivan Racing | Frankie Montecalvo | 1:21.120 | +10.681 | 26 |
| 27 | GTD | 7 | 17 | Vasser Sullivan Racing | Richard Heistand | 1:21.410 | +10.971 | 27 |
| 28 | GTD | 8 | 39 | CarBahn with Peregrine Racing | Robert Megennis | 1:21.450 | +11.011 | 28 |
| 29 | GTD | 9 | 51 |  RWR Eurasia Motorsport |  Aidan Read | 1:21.469 | +11.030 | 29 |
| 30 | GTD | 10 | 70 | Inception Racing with Optimum Motorsport | Brendan Iribe | 1:22.044 | +11.605 | 30 |
| 31 | GTD | 11 | 16 | Wright Motorsports | Ryan Hardwick | 1:22.652 | +12.213 | 31 |
| Sources:[12] [13] | ||||||||
Albuquerque and Taylor took the lead of the DPi Drivers' Championship with 1707 points while Blomqvist and Jarvis dropped to second with 1675 points. Bamber and Lynn jumped from fourth to third.[14] The result in LMP2 meant Montoya and Hedman took the lead of the LMP2 Drivers' Championship with 972 points while Bomarito and Thomas advanced from fourth to third. Grist and Balogh took the led of the LMP3 Drivers' Championship with 688 points while Braun and Bennett advanced from fifth to second with 661 points. The result in GTD meant McAleer retook the lead of the Drivers' Championship with 1237 points while Hardwick and Heylen dropped to second with 1225 points. Megennis and Westphal jumped from fifth to fourth while Montecalvo advanced from eighth to fifth. PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports continued to top the LMP2 Teams' Championship while Wayne Taylor Racing, Jr III Motorsports, and Gilbert Korthoff Motorsports became the leaders of their respective class Teams' Championships. Acura and Mercedes-AMG assumed the lead of their respective Manufacturers' Championships with seven rounds remaining.
Class winners are denoted in bold and .
| +DPi Drivers' Championship standings | +/– | Driver | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Filipe Albuquerque Ricky Taylor | 1707 | ||
| 2 | 1 | Tom Blomqvist Oliver Jarvis | 1675 | ||
| 3 | 1 | Alex Lynn Earl Bamber | 1603 | ||
| 4 | 1 | Tristan Vautier Richard Westbrook | 1583 | ||
| 5 |  Pipo Derani Tristan Nunez | 1575 | |||
| Source: | |||||
| +LMP2 Drivers' Championship standings | +/– | Driver | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 |  Juan Pablo Montoya Henrik Hedman | 972 | ||
| 2 | 1 | Ryan Dalziel Dwight Merriman | 963 | ||
| 3 | 1 | Steven Thomas Jonathan Bomarito | 950 | ||
| 4 | 2 | John Farano | 948 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Josh Pierson | 900 | ||
| Source: | |||||
| +LMP3 Drivers' Championship standings | +/– | Driver | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Garett Grist Ari Balogh | 688 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Jon Bennett Colin Braun | 661 | ||
| 3 | 2 | João Barbosa Lance Willsey | 647 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Dakota Dickerson | 635 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Daniel Goldburg Rasmus Lindh | 596 | ||
| Source: | |||||
| +GTD Pro Drivers' Championship standings | +/– | Driver | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matt Campbell Mathieu Jaminet | 1345 | |||
| 2 |  Antonio García Jordan Taylor | 1295 | |||
| 3 | Ben Barnicoat Jack Hawksworth | 1265 | |||
| 4 | Cooper MacNeil | 1112 | |||
| 5 | Ross Gunn Alex Riberas | 1106 | |||
| Source: | |||||
| +GTD Drivers' Championship standings | +/– | Driver | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Stevan McAleer | 1237 | ||
| 2 | 1 | Ryan Hardwick Jan Heylen | 1225 | ||
| 3 | Bill Auberlen Robby Foley | 1161 | |||
| 4 | 1 | Robert Megennis Jeff Westphal | 1012 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Frankie Montecalvo | 1006 | ||
| Source: | |||||
| +DPi Teams' Championship standings | +/– | Team | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | #10 WTR - Konica Minolta Acura | 1707 | ||
| 2 | 1 | #60 Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian | 1675 | ||
| 3 | 1 | #02 Cadillac Racing | 1603 | ||
| 4 | 1 | #5 JDC-Miller MotorSports | 1583 | ||
| 5 | #31 Whelen Engineering Racing | 1575 | |||
| Source: | |||||
| +LMP2 Teams' Championship standings | +/– | Team | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 982 | ||||
| 2 | 3 | #81 DragonSpeed USA | 972 | ||
| 3 | 1 | #18 Era Motorsport | 963 | ||
| 4 | 950 | ||||
| 5 | 2 | #8 Tower Motorsport | 948 | ||
| Source: | |||||
| +LMP3 Teams' Championship standings | +/– | Team | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | #30 Jr III Motorsports | 688 | ||
| 2 | 3 | #54 CORE Autosport | 661 | ||
| 3 | 2 | #33 Sean Creech Motorsport | 647 | ||
| 4 | 1 | #38 Performance Tech Motorsports | 596 | ||
| 5 | 2 | #74 Riley Motorsports | 583 | ||
| Source: | |||||
| +GTD Pro Teams' Championship standings | +/– | Team | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #9 Pfaff Motorsports | 1345 | |||
| 2 | #3 Corvette Racing | 1295 | |||
| 3 | #14 Vasser Sullivan Racing | 1265 | |||
| 4 | #79 WeatherTech Racing | 1112 | |||
| 5 | #23 Heart of Racing Team | 1106 | |||
| Source: | |||||
| +GTD Teams' Championship standings | +/– | Team | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | #32 Gilbert Korthoff Motorsports | 1237 | ||
| 2 | 1 | #16 Wright Motorsports | 1225 | ||
| 3 | #96 Turner Motorsport | 1161 | |||
| 4 | 1 | #39 CarBahn with Peregrine Racing | 1012 | ||
| 5 | 3 | #12 Vasser Sullivan Racing | 1006 | ||
| Source: | |||||
| +DPi Manufacturers' Championship standings | +/– | Manufacturer | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Acura | 1856 | ||
| 2 | 1 | Cadillac | 1829 | ||
| Source: | |||||
| +GTD Pro Manufacturers' Championship standings | +/– | Manufacturer | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Porsche | 1345 | |||
| 2 | Chevrolet | 1305 | |||
| 3 | Lexus | 1295 | |||
| 4 | Mercedes-AMG | 1220 | |||
| 5 | BMW | 1180 | |||
| Source: | |||||
| +GTD Manufacturers' Championship standings | +/– | Manufacturer | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Mercedes-AMG | 1310 | ||
| 2 | 1 | Porsche | 1297 | ||
| 3 | 1 | BMW | 1289 | ||
| 4 | 1 | Aston Martin | 1206 | ||
| 5 | Lamborghini | 1199 | |||
| Source: | |||||