Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
RACER.com has teamed up with the Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup series to offer livestream coverage of each 2023 race. In case you missed the live action of Rounds 9 and 10 at Road America watch highlights of them below: Round 9: Round 10: Tune in …
RACER.com has teamed up with the Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup series to offer livestream coverage of each 2023 race. In case you missed the live action of Rounds 9 and 10 at Road America watch highlights of them below:
Round 9:
Round 10:
Tune in Saturday, August 26 from 1:30 PM – 2:15 PM ET for Round 11 and Sunday, August 10:25 AM – 11:10 AM ET for Round 12 at Virginia International Raceway on RACER.com or RACER.tv.
For more information on Mazda MX-5 Cup visit: mx-5cup.com
Alessandro Balzan and Milwaukee-native Manny Franco in the PRO Class, plus Samantha Tan with Neil Verhagen in the Pro-Am Class, came out on top of the second race of the Road America weekend for the Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS. …
Alessandro Balzan and Milwaukee-native Manny Franco in the PRO Class, plus Samantha Tan with Neil Verhagen in the Pro-Am Class, came out on top of the second race of the Road America weekend for the Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS.
The 4.048-mile, 14-turn circuit does not allow for mistakes to go unnoticed and is quick to serve punishment. All in all, only one caution period was served in the second half of the race, post-mandatory pit window.
PRO
Franco and Balzan in the No. 21 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 captured a second win for the team and a second win in North America for the Ferrari 296 GT3. Conquest Racing would have 2.5s added to the finishing time for a pitlane infraction but Franco’s lead of 4s over Madison Snow put him firmly in the window of a win. Snow would also serve a penalty for an incident responsibility; 45 seconds was added to his finish.
Second place went to Eric Filgueiras and Stevan McAleer in the No. 28 RS1 Porsche 911 GT3 R. McAleer dropped back at the start of the race, causing the team to go into recovery mode. Third place was well fought for by Trenton Estep and Seth Lucas. The duo drove the No. 53 MDK Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R with damage to the podium finish.
The No. 93 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 EVO was gaining ground in the hands of Ashton Harrison when she was spun by Snow, pushing the Acura off track. Harrison continued but she and co-driver Mario Farnbacher would miss out on the podium opportunity.
Snow and Heylen finished fifth ahead of sixth place, Chandler Hull and Bill Auberlen in the No. 94 BimmerWorld BMW M4 GT3. Auberlen and Hull seemed unstoppable, having led most of the race before a suspected broken axle slowed Hull on course.
PRO-AM
Tan and Verhagen in the No. 38 ST Racing BMW M4 GT3 brought home their first win after starting the race fifth. Verhagen battled competitors more seasoned than he but came out ahead to hand over the car to Tan, who continued to make magic happen. She avoided a scary incident between the previous leader, George Kurtz in the No. 04 CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG and Paul Kiebler in the No. 77 TR3 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. Kurtz and Kiebler would not continue the race.
The No. 91 DXDT Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Jeff Burton and Corey Lewis finished second in the class. This is their first podium of the season. Third place went to the home team entry of No. 43 RealTime Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Anthony Bartone and Adam Christodoulou. It was Christodoulou’s second race ever at Road America and the duo’s first podium.
Derek DeBoer and Valentin Hasse-Clot in the No. 007 TRG Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 survived rough racing to finish fourth. Fifth place went to the No. 08 DXDT Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Scott Smithson and Bryan Sellers, who crossed the finish line under a second behind fourth place. The No. 32 EBOOST Porsche 911 GT3 R of GMG Racing with Kyle Washington and Jeroen Bleekemolen finished sixth after a relatively quiet race.
The No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R of Adam Adelson and Eliott Skeer finished seventh. The No. 9 TR3 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Ziad Ghandour and Daniel Morad were fighting out front for the majority of the race and looking to take home a podium finish. However, the duo had to pit near the end of the race due to a punctured tire, forcing them to finish eighth.
Next, the Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS series heads to Sebring International Raceway for the penultimate round Sep. 22-24.
TC America Powered by Skip Barber’s 40-minute first race at Road America had two full course cautions and a red flag come into play. Once the dust settled, Colin Garrett, Jeff Ricca, and Spencer Bucknum emerged victorious in the TCX, TC, and TCA …
TC America Powered by Skip Barber’s 40-minute first race at Road America had two full course cautions and a red flag come into play. Once the dust settled, Colin Garrett, Jeff Ricca, and Spencer Bucknum emerged victorious in the TCX, TC, and TCA classes.
TCX
As race one got underway, the TCX field sprung into action as soon as the green flag began to wave. The frontrunners were all challenging for the lead, going three-wide into the first corner. However, this resulted in a collision that ultimately took pole sitter Matthew Pombo out of the race as his No. 73 LA Honda World Racing Honda Civic Type-R TCX was caught in the wreck. Maddie Aust and Adam Gleason were also involved in the No. 09 Fast Track Racing BMW M2 CS (Cup) and the No. 21 Fast Track Racing BMW M2 CS (Cup). The incident currently remains under review.
The incident brought out the yellow flags instantly, with the field proceeding under full course caution for a little over 10 minutes before the race was then red flagged. After a momentary delay, the race was resumed with just under 28 minutes remaining on the clock. Colin Garrett was the new leader in the No. 44 Rooster Hall Racing BMW M2 CS (Cup), followed by Dai Yoshihara in the No. 99 VGRT Honda Civic Type-R TCX.
As the green flag waved once more, Colin Garrett sped away while Yoshihara tumbled down the running order, finding himself in fifth shortly thereafter. Another full course caution packed the field back together shortly after the halfway mark, which sent them off on a final sprint to the line in the closing stages of the race once they went back to green.
Garrett went on the claim victory, followed by Lucas Catania completing a great drive to finish in second place in the No. 26 Rigid Speed Company BMW M2 CS (Cup), with Aaron Kaplan completing the podium in third in the No. 18 Kaplan Racing Systems BMW M2 CS (Cup).
TC
Cristian Perocarpi got the jump over his teammate Clayton Williams at the start, with the No. 37 and No. 60 MINI JCW Team Mini JCW Pro TC cars swapping positions before Ricca further went on to move up to second place in the No. 78 Genracer / Ricca Autosport Hyundai Elantra N TC.
Ricca continued to lunge forward on the race restart, moving up into the class lead as he charged down the track, but Perocarpi remained in pursuit as he waited for a moment to strike again. The two went back and forth, with Perocarpi retaking the lead as the race approached the final minutes. However, Ricca had one last trick up his sleeve.
As the finish line came into view, Ricca powered past Perocarpi in a sprint to the checkered flag, snatching away the win as he sped into the lead on the final straight. Perocarpi therefore had to settle for second place, finishing just 0.091s behind. Celso Neto stepped up to complete the top three in his No. 7 Skip Barber Racing School Honda Civic Type-R.
TCA
The TCA Class running order remained relatively unchanged before the red flag came out, but they certainly did not hesitate to get their elbows out on the restart. P.J. Groenke got to jump over Bucknum, moving his No. 62 MINI JCW Team Mini JCW up into first, relegating Bucknum to second in the No. 5 LA Honda World Racing Honda Civic Si FE1.
However, Bucknum was not going to back down that easily, and fought back to reclaim the top spot. The two continued to battle back and forth, giving each other no room for error. Soon enough, Anderson inserted himself into the conversation, maneuvering his way through the field in his No. 22 TechSport Racing Subaru BRZ before going on to overtake Groenke for second place just before the halfway mark.
Anderson gave it his best shot to challenge Bucknum for the lead, but the LA Honda World Racing driver went unmatched, adding another win to his tally this season. Anderson crossed the finish line to claim second place, with Groenke following in third to complete the TCA podium.
Let’s Go Racing
The series will be back on track for race two on Sunday morning at 9:50 a.m CT. Stream the races live on the YouTube page, GT World, or join the conversation on Twitch.
The Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS race one at Road America showcased what home field advantage means. Milwaukee-native Manny Franco and teammate Alessandro Balzan take home Conquest Racing’s first win of the year. George Kurtz …
The Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS race one at Road America showcased what home field advantage means. Milwaukee-native Manny Franco and teammate Alessandro Balzan take home Conquest Racing’s first win of the year. George Kurtz and Colin Braun walked away winners in the PRO-AM Class.
The start of the race came with haste, and in the urgency, a few mistakes were made. Will Hardeman in the No. 19 Esses Racing with Mercedes-Benz of Austin Mercedes-AMG GT3 went off and into a wall, taking on significant damage and retiring the car early. Shortly after the track went back to green Adam Adelson made contact with a tire barrier. The No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R bounced back onto the track before coming to a stop. The damage ended Adelson’s day and caused a nearly 20-minute caution for cleanup.
Once through the second caution, every team seemed to put their heads down and focus forward. The pole sitters turned to winners while their respective classes fought for ground throughout the 90-minute race.
PRO
Franco and Balzan had as close to perfect of a race as possible, earning the Ferrari 296 first win in North America. Franco put the No. 21 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 on the pole and kept the lead while fighting off pressure from the No. 28 RS1 Porsche 911 GT3 R of Eric Filgueiras. He and co-driver McAleer would ultimately finish the race fourth. This in part because the No. 94 BimmerWorld BMW M4 GT3 of Chandler Hull and Bill Auberlen was unstoppable.
Hull started the race third and hung in the front of the field, amongst the very competitive and winning No. 04 CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3 of George Kurtz. Auberlen took over for Hull and put his veteran status to use, keeping the No. 93 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 EVO of Mario Farnbacher at bay. Farnbacher’s teammate Ashton Harrison kept the car clean, pushing forward to hand the No. 93 Acura NSX over. Farnbacher challenged Jan Heylen to push past the No. 45 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R and the Porsche of McAleer.
McAleer would hold off Heylen who tried to push past along with Farnbacher. Heylen came to the race guns blazing after Madison Snow handed off the Porsche in perfect condition and the Wright Motorsports crew performed a well-conditioned pit stop to get the car ahead on track. The No. 53 MDK Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R of Seth Lucas and Trenton Estep finished the race sixth in the PRO Class. Lucas and Estep recovered to from early off to finish eighth overall.
PRO-AM
Kurtz started the race from pole and challenged for the overall lead at the start. Once he settled into his own race Kurtz became untouchable. Braun’s story was similar to Kurtz in never being caught but chasing down an overall win. Braun would finish the race third overall. However, he was slowly being reeled in by and eager Neil Verhagen in the No. 38 ST Racing BMW M4 GT3. He and teammate Samantha Tan found success with back-to-back podium finishes in their first weekend as co-drivers at VIRginia International Raceway. They made it three in a row today with a second-place finish. Third place went to the No. 007 TRG Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 of Derek DeBoer and Valentin Hasse-Clot who silently weaved their way to the podium.
Scott Smithson and Bryan Sellers No. 08 DXDT Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 served a penalty for a pit lane speed violation. The team had the car on rails and he recovered for a fourth-place finish. Teammates Corey Lewis and Jeff Burton in the No. 91 Mercedes-AMG GT3 took home fifth with an 8s gap between the cars. Daniel Morad and Ziad Ghandour in the No. 9 TR3 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 had a similar story to that of Sellers and Smithson as their headway was halted by a penalty for a pitlane speed violation.
The No. 32 EBOOST Porsche 911 GT3 R made its first appearance in the PRO-AM Class with drivers Kyle Washington and Jeroen Bleekemolen. The GMG Racing team will continue to push as they test themselves against the ultra-competitive class. What had appeared to be a podium finish for the home team turned into an eighth-place finish due to a mechanical issue. Drivers Anthony Bartone and Adam Christodoulou get a second shot at success in Race Two.
The lone AM Class entry of Paul Kiebler and Jon Branam continued gathering intel in their No. 77 TR3 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. The race was successful as the team walked away 14th overall in race one.
Race two’s green flag set to drop at 2:15 p.m. Sunday and will be live streamed on the GT World YouTube page.
GT America powered by AWS race one at Road America started with a green flag and an on-track battle nearly simultaneously. In the No. 04 CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3, George Kurtz went on to win the SRO3 Class and Elias Sabo prevailed in …
GT America powered by AWS race one at Road America started with a green flag and an on-track battle nearly simultaneously. In the No. 04 CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3, George Kurtz went on to win the SRO3 Class and Elias Sabo prevailed in the GT4 Class in the No. 8 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4.
Jason Daskalos would attempt to get the jump on SRO3 polesitter Memo Gidley. GT4 Class leader Elias Sabo was also under pressure from teammate Jason Bell at the start. The race would feature two caution periods for cars off, the second caution coming within the final five minutes. The checkered flag joined the yellow flag to end the race.
SRO3
Gidley held the lead in his No. 101 TKO Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 from the start of the race, which he steadily led to the dismay of Daskalos in the No. 27 CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. Daskalos jumped Gidley at the start, resulting in a drive-through penalty. After serving the penalty, Daskalos would retire from the race early.
Meanwhile, Gidley would battle with George Kurtz in the No. 04 CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3. Gidley began creating a gap as he approached the rear of the GT4 Class field. However, a yellow was brought out by the No. 009 TRG Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 of Tim Savage. The yellow packed up the field and on the restart, Kurtz pulled a veteran move and overtook Gidley for the lead.
In a fight of their own, Anthony Bartone in the No. 427 RealTime Racing had settled into third prior to the yellow, but at the restart, Adam Adelson in the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R took advantage of the speed coming down from the start/finish line and passed Bartone for third place. Johnny O’Connell was out of the mix but held his own, advancing from eighth to fifth over the race in the No. 3 SKI Autosports Audi R8 LMS.
Mirco Schultis finishes sixth after starting the race ninth in the SRO3 Class. He battled alongside Kyle Washington in the No. 32 EBOOST Porsche 911 GT3 R who finished seventh. Taking home eighth place was newcomer Brian Lock in the No. 86 CDR Valkyrie Acura NSX GT3 who had an unexpected pit stop for damage to a rear panel. Marc Austin from Lone Star Racing finishes ninth overall. Alex Vogel went on to take home 10th, while Andy Wilzoch would finish in 11th place.
GT4
Sabo led from start to finish, but Bell in the No. 2 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 was always on his bumper. Bell had a look at the lead after the No. 009 brought out a caution. Sabo was able to close the door and keep Bell behind in second place. Bell was followed across the finish line by the No. 50 Chouest Povoledo Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 of Ross Chouest. Chouest steered clear of the dueling teammates as he held off the Tony Gaples in the No. 5 Blackdog Speed Shop Chevrolet Camaro GT4 R.
Newcomer Scott Blind in the No. 045 Archangel Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 finished fifth in class and took home the honors of hard charger with 10 overtakes. Gray Newell has shown speed all weekend and in doing so, walked away sixth in his No. 25 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 with John Roberts in the No. 11 Fast Track Racing BMW M4 GT4 a second back. Nicholas Shanny had a great handle on the No. 21 Carrus Callas Raceteam Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO and brought it home eighth. Ninth place went to Brady Behrman in the No. 428 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 who survived his first race of the season.
Todd Parriott took home 10th place after holding off Savage in the No. 009 Aston Martin Vantage AMR who nicely recovered after bringing out the first caution from an off-course excursion. Amir Haleem caught out Robb Holland in the No. 099 Rotek Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport. Holland was fighting out front when Haleem in the No. 66 CDR Valkyrie Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 slid into the side of Holland and took him off course. This incident brought out the final caution of the race.
Race two will close out the weekend on Sunday, Aug. 20 at 8:45 a.m. CT. Fans can stream the race live on YouTube or Twitch.
Quinn Armstrong sped to his third win of the season and second in succession for DEForce Racing as the Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Road America tripleheader kicked off Saturday afternoon with an eventful 10-lap race. After starting from pole …
Quinn Armstrong sped to his third win of the season and second in succession for DEForce Racing as the Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Road America tripleheader kicked off Saturday afternoon with an eventful 10-lap race. After starting from pole position, Armstrong, from Australia, narrowed the deficit to championship-leading teammate Nicolas Giaffone to 49 points with five races remaining on the season.
The Exclusive Autosport pair of Jack Jeffers and Joey Brienza finished second and third.
The high level of competition in this year’s USF Juniors field already had been amply demonstrated prior to qualifying earlier Saturday afternoon. Carson Etter (DC Autosport), Ethan Barker (VRD Racing) and fellow Texan Jeffers all had enjoyed a share of the limelight by leading one of the three test sessions on Friday, while Saturday morning during official practice it was VRD’s Max Taylor who set the fastest time thus far at 2m15.609s.
When it mattered in qualifying, Armstrong became the fifth different driver – from four different teams – to top the timing charts when he sliced well over 4s from the USF Juniors qualifying lap record to secure his first ever Cooper Tires Pole Award. Armstrong’s best time of 2m15.003s was enough to edge Taylor by a scant 0.072s. The previous mark, using a different equipment package, was established last year by eventual series champion Mac Clark at 2m19.578s.
Armstrong took off into the lead at the start but was unable to break the draft on the long Road America straightaways as Taylor, Hudson Schwartz (VRD Racing), Jeffers and Jimmie Lockhart (VRD Racing) remained close behind during the early stages.
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Taylor took the lead with a nice move under braking for Turn 12, Canada Corner, on the third lap, although Armstrong soon regained the advantage and was out front when the caution flags waved following an incident in the midfield at Turn 5.
“This win is massive,” Armstrong said. “A win is always a big deal but when you can do two in a row, it builds on that confidence. It’s not over yet. We still have five more races left and we have to use this momentum to keep going and keep pushing. I went into today knowing it was going to be a high-speed game of chess with the tow. The restart didn’t make it easy but we managed to pull a bit of a gap with some carnage behind and drove off. We are still taking it race by race. There are so many factors to a championship; it just doesn’t happen overnight. It’s every race.”
Soon after the restart, Jeffers made a move on Taylor for second at Turn 5. Unfortunately, the pair then made contact at the next corner, which left Armstrong with a clear lead which he had no trouble in retaining until the finish.
Taylor was forced to make a pit stop to replace a damaged front wing. Teammate Lockhart also fell out of contention when he lost control and spun while the melee unfolded at Turn 6.
Jeffers was left alone in second, chased by teammate Brienza, who picked up the Tilton Hard Charger Award after having started in ninth.
Barker also profited from the dramas to claim a personal best fourth-place finish, well clear of Giaffone who could only salvage a distant sixth following an incident at the first corner which caused him to fall from fourth to the tail of the field .
DEForce Racing’s David and Ernesto Martinez took home their ninth PFC Award as the winning car owners.
The fastest lap of the race was set impressively by Jay Howard Driver Development’s Ayden Ingratta, from Ruthven, Ont., Canada, who started third on his and the team’s debut but was forced into the pits after making contact with Giaffone at Turn 1 on the opening lap. The former karter returned to finish a lap down in 14th, although will start from the pole position for the first of two more races Sunday at 10:10am CDT. The third and final race will see the green flag at 2:30pm.
Robin Liddell’s late charge to second across the finish line wound up netting the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race win Sunday at Road America. Liddell and co-driver Frank DePew pushed the No. 71 Rebel Rock Racing Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R from the …
Robin Liddell’s late charge to second across the finish line wound up netting the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race win Sunday at Road America.
Liddell and co-driver Frank DePew pushed the No. 71 Rebel Rock Racing Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R from the 17th starting position in the Grand Sport (GS) class to cross the finish line 3.229s behind the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT4 at the checkered flag of the Road America 120. But following post-race technical inspection, the Mercedes was found to have exceeded its fuel capacity and moved to the rear of the class in the provisional results.
The resulting win is the first of the season for Liddell and DePew and comes on the heels of a second-place finish last month at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The revised results put a pair of Ford Mustang GT4s on the GS podium, with the No. 59 KohR Motorsports Mustang shared by Bob Michaelian and Luca Mars taking second place and the No. 13 McCumbee McAleer Racing with AEROSPORT Mustang co-driven by Jenson Altzman and Chad McCumbee placing third.
The race became one of differing fuel strategies and mileage, with a potential BMW podium sweep going awry when the Nos. 95 and 96 Turner Motorsport and No. 92 Random Vandals Racing entries all forced to pit for a splash of fuel with eight minutes to go in the two-hour race.
That promoted Daniel Morad in the No. 57 Winward Mercedes to the front, which he held to the checkered flag – only to have the result negated by the post-race penalty. The win is the 15th of Liddell’s Michelin Pilot Challenge career and the sixth for DePew.
The GS points-leading No. 72 Murillo Mercedes also needed to pit and ended in 11th place.
No. 5 Alfa Romeo triples up at Road America in TCR
The story of the Touring Car (TCR) weekend battle at Road America can be told in two halves. Hyundai dominated qualifying with four of the top five spots. Yet manufacturer parity emerged in the race, with the sole Alfa Romeo and the sole new Audi finishing ahead of the seven-car armada of Hyundai Elantra Ns.
An epic scrap occurred between Tim Lewis Jr. in the No. 5 KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR and Mikey Taylor in the No. 17 Unitronic/JDC-Miller MotorSports Audi RS3 LMS TCR in the waning stages of the race.
Taylor’s co-driver Chris Miller rocketed to the lead early but fell back to fourth on the pit stop, behind three Hyundais: the No. 91 van der Steur Racing car and the Nos. 98 and 33 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian cars.
However, with 34 minutes to go, Taylor put together a sequence of moves on par with his charge at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park – where he and Miller secured their first win of the season. Taylor darted around the outside of Tyler Maxson, in the No. 91 van der Steur Hyundai, for the lead at Turn 1.
But Lewis, who’d taken over for Roy Block, was keen to extend the KMW Alfa Romeo win streak at Road America to three. With a methodical charge and an eventual pass for the win, the No. 5 car was back on top of the box.
Lewis and Taylor praised each other in a clean battle.
“The pass was a few laps in the making, trying to figure out where we were good and where he was good,” Lewis said. “I felt like the fuel number on the dash kept getting closer to zero.”
Taylor added, “It was a super-good battle. They’re good friends and it’s great they’re up there as well. We would have been there, but had to save on fuel. The pace they were running was super good, and hard to maintain.”
Fuel saving became a story in TCR as several cars ran out of fuel. The pole-sitting No. 33 Hyundai of Harry Gottsacker and Robert Wickens was best of the bunch in third, while their championship-contending teammates Mark Wilkins and Mason Filippi in the No. 98 Hyundai were not so lucky with an apparent stop on the backstraight.
The Michelin Pilot Challenge season resumes on Saturday, Aug. 26, with the Virginia is for Racing Lovers Grand Prix at VIRginia International Raceway.
It was a good day to be a GT polesitter in the IMSA SportsCar weekend at Road America. While the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 squad had a lot of difficulties in the early part of the season, plus a big crash at Canadian Tire …
It was a good day to be a GT polesitter in the IMSA SportsCar weekend at Road America.
While the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 squad had a lot of difficulties in the early part of the season, plus a big crash at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park that required a complete rebuild of the car, they’ve come on strong with consecutive wins, with Sunday’s Road America victory coming from pole.
The day might have gone to the No. 3 Corvette C8.R of Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia had the team not made a small error in refueling time. Instead of continuing to fight off Gunn for the lead, Garcia had to roll through the pits late in the race, costing the No. 3 C8.R any shot at victory.
“We’ve had a package that has been quick enough, competitive enough to compete at the front,” said Gunn. “But things just hasn’t haven’t quite clicked. So happy that now things are starting to work and obviously we’ve had two back-to-back wins. And ideally we want to keep that momentum going. We were a bit fortunate today as well. We were really probably trailing Corvette for the majority of the race; we had a really good fight — nice hard fight with Garcia which was fun — but at the end of the day they made a small mistake and they had to pay for it. We got lucky that we got the win.”
Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth ended up second in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus, followed by Taylor and Garcia. The Lexus duo now lead the Corvette squad by 169 points in the GTD PRO standings, with WeatherTech Racing’s Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon third, another 47 points back.
Madison Snow and Bryan Sellers might have won their fifth GTD race of the season, and won from pole going virtually flag-to-flag, but hey had a McLaren breathing down their neck the entire time. While Frederik Schandorff and Brendan Iribe were close, they could never mount a real attack on the No.1 BMW.
“We came out of the gate strong,” said Snow. “This repave was difficult for a lot of people. Fortunately it seemed like it really suited the BMW well. It just handled great out the gate and qualifying was the best car I’ve ever had handling wise.
“When the race started, I got the GTD pro cars past me. It’s a decision you have to make whether you want cars between you to help or whether it’s better to have them ahead. They ended up going around me and that was that — was perfect for me because then I wasn’t worried about having them right behind me. Then I just pushed hard as I could to try and get a gap back. The McLaren was fast and strong all day and never gave us a break.”
Snow both started and finished the race, with Sellers handling the middle stint. That was a decision made mid-race, and one Sellers says he asked for.
“I asked because I felt like his opening stint was so strong and I felt like we had a very good car,” Sellers explained. “There’s always something very special about being the one to finish a race, being the one that gets across the checkered flag and I felt that today – everyday, but today undoubtedly – that he could be the one to do that and should be the one to do that. You want these things right? You want them for the people you share the car with and you want those moments and everyone to be able to experience those moments. For me, it’s just a show of faith that we have in Madison and what he’s capable of.”
Mikael Grenier and Mike Skeen recovered from a big practice crash to finish third in the No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes AMG. Loris Spinelli and Misha Goikhberg were fourth in the No. 78 Forte Racing Powered by USRT Lamborghini Huracán, followed by Aaron Telitz and Frankie Montecalvo in the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F.
Madison and Snow padded their GTD lead, now 205 points over Marco Sorensen and Roman De Angelis for Heart of Racing. Iribe and Schandorff are third, another 134 points back.
What could have been an interesting battle turned into a dominant display for Porsche Penske Motorsports in the IMSA Sportscar Weekend at Road America as several contenders caused their own woes, some of them well before the green flag waved. Matt …
What could have been an interesting battle turned into a dominant display for Porsche Penske Motorsports in the IMSA Sportscar Weekend at Road America as several contenders caused their own woes, some of them well before the green flag waved.
Matt Campbell and Felipe Nasr started on pole in their No. 7 Porsche 963 thanks to the No. 31 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R that had qualified first having a crash in the warmup. From there they were never headed and led the entire race, which was green for 2h18m after one early full-course caution.
A late-race charge by Tom Blomqvist looked like it might thwart them, but Nasr survived to take the No. 7’s first GTP victory in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Campbell and Nasr became the sixth different GTP winners in seven races.
“I’m just happy that everything finally came together this weekend,” said Nasr. “We’ve been close several times — the speed was there, just a couple of reliability issues along the year. But the whole weekend I felt was felt like we’ve done a great job all around to set up for the race. Matt did a great qualifying, maximizing the package and getting up front in the race and just looking after his tires looking after his pace. He’s done a great job all weekend, to be honest. It’s a big relief for the whole team because I know how much hard work has put on that 7 crew. So I’m very proud of everybody.”
Campbell was able to put a bit of a gap on the field and looked fairly comfortable out front in the first stint, and Nasr had no issues maintaining that gap and controlling the race when he got into the car at the first pit stop.
“I feel like our pace was really really good,” declared Campbell. “I was looking after the tire as well and I was just quite comfortable out in front, slowly chipping away. I think we got really lucky with traffic; that’s why the gap looked so big at times because even I was surprised just how easy it was to get through. So for sure it made our race, especially at the start, quite a lot easier.”
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Blomqvist was making a hard charge in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 he shares with Colin Braun, and closed the gap to under two seconds. That was as close as he would get to Nasr, however, and a couple of bad breaks in traffic in the final laps left the gap at 4.635s and the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park winners had to settle for second.
“What hurt us the most was the 01 [Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac] looked like it was struggling a bit and I was stuck behind it for probably a little bit too too long,” explained Blomqvist. “It was difficult to pass if you don’t find an opportunity in traffic. Thankfully, I got one halfway through that first stint and then the car was working really well.
“Traffic always ebbs and flows and I guess he got a bit more fortunate than I did towards last five laps or so of the race. Obviously it’s one thing getting close, but passing is a completely different matter. But I’m really happy with the job our boys did today — good execution, clean stops and a bit of fortune fell away as well.”
The other big winners of the weekend, despite the fact that Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuqerque finished a distant third in the No. 10 Acura, were Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport. With the woes for Action Express Racing and the No. 25 BMW, they emerged with the championship lead, despite the fact that they are still looking for their first victory. Albuquerque and Taylor lead Alexander Sims and Pipo Derani by 14 points, 2171 to 2157.
Derani had qualified the No. 31 on pole for AXR, but Alexander Sims lost the car in the morning warmup. The AXR crew went to work, completing a swap of gearbox, rear suspension, hybrid components, undertray and rear bodywork and wing in 90 minutes and get the car to grid before the cars rolled off. That was critical, as it allowed Derani to start at the back of the GTP field rather than starting from pit lane and also having to serve a drive-through. While ultimately the team didn’t rediscover the pace it had all weekend, a sixth-place finish kept the day from being a complete disaster for the team that had been leading the championship.
It was disaster, however, for BMW. While the two BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8s hadn’t shown top-flight pace at Road America, Connor De Phillippi was starting the car fourth with the No. 31 at the back. However, De Phillippi spun on the first pace lap, and had to be fished out of the gravel. Now starting at the back, De Phillippi worked his way through the GT field in two laps, but flew off at The Kink and pancaked the wall.
De Phillipi’s spin had cause the first lap after the clock started to be a third pace lap, and now he had brought another full-course caution, the only two cautions of the race. The car came back to the pits on a flatbed, and the crew got the car back out with Nick Yelloly at the wheel, but it only made two more laps before Yelloly pulled off track. The No. 24 BMW had a rough day as well, coasting to stop before refiring and making it back to the pits, where it stayed for the duration.
The No. 01 Cadillac of Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande had shown good pace all weekend and started second, but they were never really a factor in the race and finished fourth. JDC-Miller Motorsports looks to be getting a handle on their Porsche 963 in their fourth race with the car, and Mike Rockenfeller and Tijmen van der Helm finished fifth.
Ben Keating and Paul-Loup Chatin came away with the first LMP2 victory of the year for the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA after their chief competitors in the championship struck trouble.
“We chose not to test here to save the money and the time — that really put us behind this weekend,” related Keating. “Any data we’ve had in the last five or six years is useless on a new surface. It’s basically a brand-new track and a lot of our competitors have tested here for a couple of days. We made big gains every time we went out, but really felt like we were behind even throughout the race.
“I had a really good start. I guess I would say I didn’t make the mistakes that the other guys I was around were making and I was able to get up to the front courtesy of their mistakes. And our car was better in the race than it was in qualifying. I think I did a lap that was pretty close to my qualifying lap when I was full of fuel on old tires. It was really nice to drive in the race and I still felt like I was learning at the end. Our big competitors each had problems whether it was penalties or punctures, so it’s a really great day for the championship.”
Giedo van der Garde and Jon Falb were second in the No. 35 TDS Racing ORECA, followed by Mikkel Jensen and Steven Thomas in the No. 11 TDS Racing entry. Polesitters George Kurtz and Ben Hanley had a late-race puncture and other issues that left them last in the seven-car field. Keating and Chatin now lead the LMP2 points by 45, followed by Jensen and Thomas, with Hanley and Kurtz another 52 points back.
The No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsports Ligier led most of the LMP3 race from pole, first with Nico Pino and then Joao Barbosa. But Josh Burdon in the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier chased Barbosa down and took over the lead with 22 minutes to keep an unbeaten record for the team and for co-driver Gar Robinson. Robinson had been partnering with Felipe Fraga for the sprint races, but Fraga had a commitment elsewhere so the team’s endurance driver stepped in.
“We had a very raceable car,” declared Burdon. “The traffic and the fluctuations in lap time and the risk to reward and how you had to drive the race, I feel allowed me to attack a little bit harder and feel a little bit more confident to take a little bit more risk than others. So I think we did have a bit of a pace advantage. But the majority of it over the 33 was in traffic and just a little bit of efficiency — and maybe they didn’t mow the grass and I did three times, so I was pushing quite hard!”
Pino and Barbosa ended up second with Matthew Bell and Orey Fidani finishing third in the No. 13 AWA Racing Duqueine. Robinson now has a massive 251 points gap to Bell and Fidani in the championship.
With 30 minutes until green, the Action Express Racing crew expressed confidence that the No. 31 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R would make the race after Alexander Sims’ crash in warmup. “It just snapped,” was Sims explanation of the accident. With only …
With 30 minutes until green, the Action Express Racing crew expressed confidence that the No. 31 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R would make the race after Alexander Sims’ crash in warmup.
“It just snapped,” was Sims explanation of the accident.
With only two hours between warmup and race start, the Action Express Racing crew worked feverishly to repair the Cadillac. The championship-leading car was set to start on pole for today’s race, but will have to start from pit lane and serve a drive-through penalty after missing the recon lap.
The car sustained damage to the rear suspension and gearbox. The crew replaced the gearbox and rear suspension as a unit. The hybrid components also had to be replaced due to the crash exceeding the g-load rating. Driver Pipo Derani, who had set the quickest time in qualifying, lent a hand where he could, delivering parts and tools. The Chip Ganassi Racing squad offered help of parts or manpower as well, although AXR had the situation under control
By 8:55, the crew had the new hybrid unit and rear and was bleeding the brakes. At 9:30, bodywork and the undertray were going back onto the car, while mechanics were still tightening bolts at the rear and otherwise checking and buttoning up. The car was still in the air as of 9:40am.
