Gradient Racing battles early adversities to conclude IMSA season at Petit Le Mans

Gradient Racing's Tatiana Calderón, Sheena Monk, and Stevan McAleer showed promising pace but faced early setbacks at the Motul Petit Le Mans that cost them several laps after barely two hours. With not enough cautions to recover, the trio finished 12th in GTD, concluding a challenging IMSA season.

Photo credits: Gradient Racing

Gradient Racing's Tatiana Calderón and Sheena Monk, who shared the #66 JG Wentworth Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 with Stevan McAleer, completed the Motul Petit Le Mans event in 12th position in the GTD class, rounding out the IMSA SportsCar Championship with another unfortunate outcome despite showing good pace over the 10-hour race.

The season finale at the tricky Road Atlanta Circuit, a 2.54-mile, 12-turn track located in Georgia, US, was another unlucky chapter for the Gradient Racing team, which has been unable to capitalize on its speed due to either technical issues or contact in the Michelin Endurance Cup rounds.

The team often found itself recovering from several laps down, as in the previous race meeting at Indianapolis, where an electrical issue took the car out of contention early on, although the drivers continued to perform in the remaining hours, taking the chequered flag in 16th place despite the delay.

Their strongest run came at the Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen, where another technical issue and two penalties ultimately denied the team a representative result for their efforts, finishing in P13 after a very competitive run. More issues at the season opener at Daytona and a crash at Sebring made for a challenging endurance season. However, Monk and McAleer were still able to collect important results at Long Beach, Mosport, and Road America, where they secured their first GTD podium finish.

For Colombian racing star Tatiana Calderón, who joined the team for the endurance races, it was a more frustrating campaign, as she showed good pace and steady improvements throughout her first US-based sports car season despite the lack of headline results.

That was the case again at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, where Sheena Monk had been steadily moving up the field in the opening stints before she was hit by a prototype, which caused a tyre puncture. Later, she was hit again by a GTD car, which cost the team several laps after barely two hours of racing. With a remarkable caution-free second half of the race, Monk, Calderón, and McAleer simply couldn’t make up for the lost time with not enough neutralizations to close the gaps.

Aiming to bounce back from the Indianapolis disappointment, Gradient Racing focused on making progress during the practice sessions at Road Atlanta, which Calderón was visiting for the first time.

"I will have to adapt very quickly and although we have 3 practice sessions on Thursday, when you split that among three drivers, running becomes more limited", Calderon commented before the weekend. "We will have an additional challenge with part of the race running at night, where everything is a little more difficult given the characteristics of this track and the speed differences among the different classes."

"I really want to close the season on a high note, and be able to translate the rhythm we’ve had in several races during the year into the kind of result we have been working hard as a team to achieve.“

The team was 15th fastest in FP1 and 16th in the second session. They continued to make progress in the final session, clocking the tenth fastest time in GTD with a 1:20.323, which gave good hopes for the remainder of the weekend.

In qualifying, Sheena Monk took on driving duties for Gradient Racing. The session was briefly interrupted by a red flag due to contact between Serra's Ferrari and the #12 Lexus of Thompson. Once back underway, Monk put in a solid lap of 1:20.470, securing 14th place overall and second among the bronze drivers, just behind Iribe's #70 Ferrari.

Photo credits: Gradient Racing

On race day, Sheena Monk got a clean start, taking no risks, and slotted into P15 in GTD. She battled with Potter and Hardwick, eventually moving down to 16th, but then settled into a rhythm with a good gap ahead and behind.

An early incident saw the GTD leader in the #80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes spin into the gravel, bringing out the first Safety Car of the race 20 minutes into the competition. Monk moved up to P14; she pitted on lap 18 under caution and rejoined in P15.

During the restart, Monk executed a great move, overtaking two cars and moving up to 12th. A few laps later, she passed Iribe and climbed to 11th. She continued to improve her pace, gaining another spot as the Cetilar Racing Ferrari pitted from the lead under green.

A major crash involving Ben Keating in the #2 United Autosport LMP2 and Tommy Milner's #4 Corvette brought out another Safety Car. Monk pitted under caution and stayed behind the wheel, moving up to P8.

Disaster struck when Sheena was involved in two separate incidents in quick succession: she was first hit by the #24 BMW GTP prototype, which caused a tyre puncture and forced her into an unscheduled pit stop under green flag conditions. Upon returning to the track, she was hit again, this time by the Pfaff McLaren, which sent her spinning and brought out another caution. Although she was able to rejoin the race, these setbacks dropped the team to P17, multiple laps down, and significantly affected their strategy.

Monk got back up to speed and began to claw her way through the field. She set a series of rapid laps, once in clean air. Sheena then handed over driving duties to Stevan McAleer, who quickly found his rhythm; his stint was marked by consistent pace and smart racecraft as he avoided further incidents in the heavy traffic.

Tatiana Calderón took over for her first driving stint of the race, running two laps down but undeterred. Calderón showed competitive pace as she managed to close the gap to the Lamborghini of Graham Doyle and the AWA Corvette.

Calderón’s stint was a solid one; she picked up 16th place at the next caution and, despite running off-sequence, she continued to gain ground on the cars ahead. She handed the car back to McAleer mid way through the race, from 15th place in GTD.

When more cars hit trouble, McAleer moved up to 13th after another strong run - then alternated back behind the wheel with Calderón, who started a single stint after the two previous hours.

Photo credits: Acura Motorsport

Tatiana again steadily improved her lap times, setting the team's fastest lap of the race with a 1:20.692, highlighting her potential.

In the race's latter half, McAleer found a groove as the team ran solidly and capitalized on other issues ahead. A significant crash involving the #10 Acura, the #55 Proton Mustang, and the Wright Motorsport Porsche at Turn 5 brought out the Safety Car with one hour to go and McAleer moved up to 13th.

With just 34 minutes to go in the race, the team made a final driver changes, putting Sheena Monk back behind the wheel to meet her minimum drive-time requirements, before McAleer took back the helm of the #66 Acura for the final minutes.

The race ended with Gradient Racing's #66 Acura crossing the finish line in P12 in the GTD class, a respectable result given the numerous setbacks and the caution-free stretch that limited their chances to make up lost laps. Despite the tough race, Calderón, Monk, and McAleer showcased strong performances and teamwork.

For Calderón, the season finale at Road Atlanta capped off a learning season, as she gained crucial experience in endurance racing on unfamiliar tracks and in night driving conditions.

“Definitely not the way we wanted to finish our IMSA season", Tatiana commented. "We lost a couple of laps early on with a puncture and the timing of that and what unfolded right after Sheena rejoined from the pits was quite unlucky and then we didn’t have that many caution periods after that, so it was impossible to recover from that early deficit."

"During my stints the car felt okay but compared to previous weekends I think we were missing some pace in the car", he Colombian continued. "Without the early problems I think we were competitive enough to fight in the top 10. As it was my first time at Petit Le Mans, I think it was important for me to get into a rhythm with the traffic and driving at night because it’s not an easy track to feel confident at. I’m happy with my performance."

“I want to thank everyone that has supported me this year, including my sponsors, Karol G’s Con Cora Foundation, Wandr Studio, AVL RaceTech, Escudería Telmex, the Colombian Ministry of Sport and Rimas Sports. Hopefully we can build better things for the future. I also want to thank the whole Gradient team and my teammates Stevan and Sheena, who it has been a pleasure to work with. Now I am looking forward to seeing what the future holds.”

Sheena Monk and Stevan McAleer wrapped up the IMSA full season with three top-10 results, including two top-5 finishes and Monk's first podium in GTD. The race marked the last appearance for the Acura NSX GT3 Evo22, with Gradient Racing set to transition to the Ford Mustang GT3 platform in the upcoming season. The drivers' 2025 programs are still to be announced, with final details expected to be revealed in the coming months.

Photo credits: Acura Motorsport