The racing action resumed late Saturday morning at Road America for race one of the TC America powered by Skip Barber Racing School championship, with a yellow flag briefly punctuating the race.
It was Celso Neto, Cristian Perocarpi, and PJ Groenke who came out on top when it was all said and done, putting in strong performances to walk away with the victories in the TCX, TC, and TCA classes.
TCX
As the green flag waved, Neto started from pole position and led the field in his No. 22 Skip Barber Racing Acura Integra Type S. He immediately found himself being challenged by Chris Walsh in the No. 104 Carrus Callas Raceteam BMW M2 CS (Cup), while TC class competitor Perocarpi was also eager to join the battle.
Neto and Walsh went wheel to wheel in the opening laps of the race, but the fight was momentarily halted as a full course yellow emerged due to contact between Aaron Kaplan in the No. 18 Kaplan Racing Systems BMW M2 CS (Cup), Cooper Broll in the No. 19 Skip Barber Racing Acura Integra Type S, and TC class driver Ruben Iglesias Jr. in the No. 77 Ricca Autosport Hyundai Elantra N1 TC.
With under 10 minutes remaining, the green flag running resumed. The Brazilian driver retained the lead after a masterful restart, and kept his composure in the final laps to take the checkered flag first, claiming his second win of the season. The podium was further completed by Walsh and Broll in second and third, respectively.
“It’s been a significant work in progress, and all this emotion comes from knowing how much we’ve developed this car,” said Celso Neto. “Each time we’re on track, it proves to be better and better. We’ve definitely improved on tire degradation, which was our main concern today. I can’t thank everyone enough—my team, sponsors, and everyone who supports me. It’s truly amazing.”
“In this race, I just put my head down, focused on myself, and didn’t make a single mistake,” he explained. “That’s really what brought it together for us. The battle with Chris (Walsh) was interesting—he had a lot of pace in sector 2, especially in the braking zones, while I had the advantage in the Kink and faster sections. It was tough, but he’s a great driver, and it was a clean, exciting battle. I’m really happy with how it all played out.”
TC
Action arose across the board in the TC Class, as Cristian Perocarpi established himself as the driver to beat right from the start of the race. On the opening lap, Jeff Ricca in the No. 78 Ricca Autosport Hyundai Elantra N1 TC briefly overtook the No. 37 MINI JCW Team MINI JCW TC Pro of Perocarpi. However, the young gun regained control of the race, even challenging the TCX class leaders in the early stages.
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As a full course caution was brought out for a significant portion of the race, it resulted in a final nine-minute dash to the checkered flag, which saw Ricca and Perocarpi going wheel to wheel, quite literally. The fight behind them was just as intense as Connor Attrell, commanding the No. 75 Ricca Autosport Hyundai Elantra N1 TC, had to defend from teammate Sally McNulty, who was persisting in her car. As Attrell fell down the order, McNulty was able to claim the third step on the podium in her trusty No. 780 Ricca Autosport Hyundai Elantra N1 TC.
“Honestly, I had no idea what was going on in the first three laps,” said race winner Cristian Perocarpi. “ I thought the others were going to pull away, but they never did. On that first lap, I found myself going around the outside of the carousel on one of the BMWs, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ Then Chris (Walsh) and another driver started battling, and I realized, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m actually fighting for the overall lead!’ I even said it on the radio, ‘I guess we’re fighting for overall today.’”
He continued, “ the car was amazing, though the restart got a little hairy. On that first lap after the restart, I thought I was going around in the first corner, but I kept my foot in it, front-wheel-drive style. Honestly, I think practicing on iRacing last week, running consistent races, really paid off. It was an absolute blast.”
TCA
The TCA class competitors were kept close together throughout the race, with Canadian driver PJ Groenke leading from start to finish in the No. 62 MINI JCW Team MINI JCW, with Alex Garcia in hot pursuit in the No. 14 Skip Barber Racing Honda Civic Si FE1.
However, in the final five minutes, Bruce Myrehn in the No. 63 MINI JCW moved up ahead of Garcia into second position, making it a 1-2 finish for MINI JCW Team.
“This was absolutely amazing,” stated PJ Groenke. “To win a race at America’s Nurburgring, Road America of all places. I’ve always been really good here, I like to say this is my home track, and now I’ve finally proved it.”
The TC America powered by Skip Barber Racing School will return Sunday, August 18th for race two at 9:50 a.m. CT.