It was upset Sunday at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca as the dominant drivers at the halfway point of the 2h40m contest were nowhere to be found at the checkered flag.

The big news for IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship took place in Prototype where a WEC P2 chassis scored its first overall win, thanks to an amazing pass at the Corkscrew by Visit Florida Racing’s Renger van der Zande.

The Dutchman, who spent the last hour stalking Dane Cameron in the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R, shot down the inside of Turn 7 with his No. 90 Ligier JS P217-Gibson with two minutes left on the clock to snatch the lead from the Californian.

Unable to mount a charge to recover the position, Cameron crossed the finish line 2.248s behind Van der Zande.

“It’s awesome for the team, the way we’ve been fighting all year,” said his teammate, Marc Goossens. “I think we found the new [Alex] Zanardi here; what a move. That’s what it takes to win, and he did it.”

Entering the race after Hurricane Irma ravaged the team’s home state and its shop, Goossens turned his thoughts to the East Coast.

“The whole team deserved this win,” he added. “Especially with all that people have gone through in Florida. This couldn’t come at a better time.”

Rounding out the podium was Jordan Taylor, whose team led with ease as his brother Ricky opened the race in commanding fashion. Slow pit stops handed the lead to Cameron and demoted the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R to fourth in the sprint to the finish, but thanks to the No. 5 AXR Cadillac falling back in the closing stages, the Taylors were able to secure third.

With their finish, the WTR drivers are all but guaranteed to win the championship when IMSA heads to its season finale at Petit Le Mans in two weeks.

If the outcome in Prototype was unexpected, absolutely no one could have predicted John Edwards and Martin Tomczyk would go from last in class – and last overall – at the completion of the first lap to take victory in GT Le Mans. A spin that relegated “Darth Bimmer,” BMW Team RLL’s black No. 24 M6, to the back of the field, saw the duo carve through the GT Daytona cars and latch onto the end of the GTLM field on pure pace.

A mid-race caution for the sister No. 25 BMW M6 which was stuck in the gravel at Turn 3 became the turning point in the race as the No. 24 BMW ducked into the pits for fuel and tires before a full-course yellow removed the option. Leapfrogging the competition, Edwards was forced into massive fuel-saving efforts which paid off with their first win of the year and the third for BMW Team RLL.

“After that first lap, fortunately we came back and had a really fast car after spinning,” Edwards said. “Unfortunately, it was our teammate [that helped save our race], but it brought out a yellow so we could duck in. The last time we had a black car, the Z4, we won with a 20-second lead…”

Like the WTR Cadillac team, GTLM polesitters Risi Competizione led with ease until pit stops came and the No. 24 took advantage of the situation. A heroic drive by Toni Vilander, in particular, saw the No. 62 Ferrari 488 come within 0.152s of recapturing the lead as the two cars drag raced to the checkered flag. Dirk Werner rounded out the GTLM podium in the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR.

“He did an amazing job,” Tomczyk said of Edwards. “He did one hour [and] 15 minutes [on a tank] and really saved fuel. I’m really happy and proud of the team. First victory for me in the States; let’s celebrate!”

Whatever degree of unpredictability was found in Prototype and GTLM, GTD had them covered as a win for CORE autosport turned into a fourth as Colin Braun was forced to stop for a splash of fuel with four minutes remaining. With the No. 54 Porsche 911 GT3 R sitting stationary on pit lane, Alessandro Balzan, who started ninth in the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3, inherited the lead and wept as he made a bit of personal history in the car he shares with Christina Nielsen.

The Italian, who won on the debut for Scuderia Corsa at Monterey in 2013, honored the team with a victory on the 60th anniversary of Pete Lovely’s win in a Ferrari 500 TR at the first race held at Laguna Seca.

“Honestly, I’m so emotional right now,” he said. “I wanted this win so bad this year. We smelled it at Daytona, at Mosport, and to do this at Laguna Seca five years after I got to this point with Scuderia Corsa, it’s incredible…”

Andy Lally, who started 11th in the No. 93 Michael Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3, charged to a strong second, albeit 6.55s behind Balzan, and Jorg Bergmeister gave California’s Park Place Motorsports something the celebrate with third in the No. 73 Porsche 911 GT3 R.

The DPi dominance was finally broken under perfect blue skies by the Visit Florida Racing team, BMW Team RLL – which will learn in a matter of days whether it will retain the program – gave the German marque another reason to consider staying, and with the potential of being out of a ride after Petit Le Mans, Balzan and Nielsen stated their case for continued employment elsewhere in the paddock.

The start of the race looked nothing like the end of the race and, for those who love endurance racing, that’s the reason we watch. 

Click here for full results.