Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Saturday recap from the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix with Vasser Sullivan Lexus driver Parker Thompson and Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood from the streets of downtown Detroit.
Saturday recap from the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix with Vasser Sullivan Lexus driver Parker Thompson and Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood from the streets of downtown Detroit.
Drivers and teams seemed to be in universal agreement that it couldn’t be done – that nobody could go the full race on a single set of tires as Porsche Penske Motorsports did last year to win in Long Beach. The No. 01 Cadillac Racing crew was of a …
Drivers and teams seemed to be in universal agreement that it couldn’t be done – that nobody could go the full race on a single set of tires as Porsche Penske Motorsports did last year to win in Long Beach. The No. 01 Cadillac Racing crew was of a different mind.
Aided by three full-course cautions in the 1h40m IMSA SportsCar Grand Prix of Long Beach, the No. 01 crew only added fuel when Sebastien Bourdais handed the Cadillac V-Series.R over to Renger van der Zande with an hour left in the race. Through a pair of restarts and a pileup in the hairpin, van der Zande held off Jack Aitken in the Whelen Cadillac Racing No. 31 V-Series.R to win the third round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. It was the 66th IMSA victory for Chip Ganassi Racing, the 20th for van der Zande and 12th for Bourdais.
The No. 89 Vasser Sullivan Lexus led the entire race from pole to claim the GT Daytona victory.
Polesitter Pipo Derani got the holeshot at the start as Bourdais slotted into second from his inside-second-row starting spot. Derani controlled the race at the front for the first half, and through the first full-course caution brought out when Brendan Iribe put the No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 into the wall exiting Turn 5 and rebounded into the path of Adam Adelson’s Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, taking both cars out of the race.
Most of the GTP runners pitted around 30m into the race, giving them sufficient energy to make it to the end. Bourdais was the last of the bunch, after all the other cars had taken either four tires or left-side tires. Electing not to take tires as Bourdais exited and van der Zande entered moved the No. 01 out in front of the No. 31, a track position they would never relinquish.
“When we woke up this morning, it was quite cold,” explained van der Zande. “And the sun came out at one point and it started to warm up, so we really left it until the last minute to decide. I think that’s the best you can do in racing. If you plan a start or where to go at the start, it never turns out the same way. So in this case, as well, and with tires it’s something to make the decision right at the spot. They made the right choice for sure.”
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1486]
Of course, that meant that at the end of the race, van der Zande had much older tires under him than Aitken did since the No. 31 took left-side tires. Aitken said he could see van der Zande struggling, but Long Beach is a tough place to pass under any circumstances, and the difference in grip wasn’t great enough.
“It was a handful – especially easy to look up the fronts, which at a street track I think is the end of the race most of the time. So taking it easy. When I got in the car I knew I had to keep the tires alive. So keeping control of the race and just don’t over push it, don’t over drive those tires so I have some some rubber left at the end of the race, was the key for me to how I managed the tires and it worked out that way. And traffic got really hairy at one point because the Lamborghini and the Aston Martin were fighting into … I think it was Turn 8, and we almost wrecked right there. I think those yellows always help for tire degradation, so that was nice,” van der Zande added.
BMW M Team RLL had high hopes for a good finish after Nick Yelloly qualified the No. 25 M Hybrid V8 in second, only 0.009s off Derani’s pole. But it was one misfortune after another for Yelloly and De Phillippi, starting with getting passed by Nick Tandy in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 10 minutes into the race for third position. It went downhill from there. The No. 25 hadn’t pitted as the second caution came out when Lous Deletraz put the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura into the wall in Turn 1, and ended up losing another position in the pit stop.
Chasing Nasr, De Phillippi tagged him in the back heading into Turn 9. The No. 25 suffered further damage to the nose in a pileup at the hairpin, started by Loris Spinelli in the No. 78 Forte Racing by USRT Lamborghini Huracan making contact with Mathieu Jaminet’s No. 6 PPM 963 and spinning the Porsche. After a nose change, De Phillippi buried the car into the tires at at Turn 6, bringing out the race’s third and final full-course caution with 16 minutes to go.
The No. 25 BMW’s troubles, along with the assisted spin for Jaminet, elevated the No. 7 PPM 963, giving third to Nasr and Dane Cameron. As a result, Cameron and Nasr took sole position of the points lead they had shared with the No. 40 WTRAndretti squad with 1082 points. Bourdais and van der Zande moved into second at 974, and Aitken and Derani are third, ahead of Jordan Taylor and Delétraz, with 955 points.
Jaminet and Tandy’s No. 6 Porsche was fourth, followed the No. 5 Proton Competition Porsche 963 of Mike Rockenfeller and Gianmaria Bruni.
With GTD PRO sitting this one out in favor of Detroit next month, Vasser Sullivan Racing took the opportunity to do as it has in the past and run a second car in GTD. Splitting the two regular drivers in the No. 12 Lexus RC F GT3, Frankie Montecalvo and Parker Thompson, and pairing them with the GTD PRO drivers, Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat, respectively, the team doubled its chances. They locked out the front row, Thompson claiming his second pole of the season.
The No. 12 of Montecalvo and Hawksworth had a miserable race, with Montecalvo receiving a drive-through penalty for changing lanes at the start. Later, Hawksworth had contact with the wall, breaking the suspension and retiring the car. For the No. 89, though, it was smooth sailing, and Thompson took his second victory in the WeatherTech Championship (the first came as the endurance addition in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen in 2023), and Barnicoat a second consecutive Long Beach win after he and Hawksworth won GTD PRO last year.
“It’s tough when you know execution is the only thing between you and winning the race,” said Thompson. “There was a lot of pros that qualified, so I was up against a pretty tough field at the start but controlled the race from the start, got a good jump, got into Turn 1, handled a couple of restarts and just saved our Lexus RC F to make sure that Mr. Platinum himself beside me can bring it home. So it was good. It’s really cool that 89 … the message behind that is 1989 was the first time that Lexus came stateside to the U.S., so it’s awesome to honor them, get the win for them. Back to back at Long Beach is fantastic.”
Several of the would-be frontrunners in GTD struck trouble, such as Spencer Pumpelly in his Heart of Racing debut getting tagged and spun out of fourth place by Anders Fjordbach in Turn 6. The No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage Evo Pumpelly shared with Roman De Angelis had been having a good run to that point.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1406]
The No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 had been having a solid race as well in the hands of Albert Costa Balboa, which continued with Manny Franco, but both drivers had minor incidents of contact that left the car struggling at the end. And winner of the first two races, Winward Racing, lost any hope at victory when they were issued a drive through for too many crew members over the wall.
At the end, it was a three-way battle between cars that had started well back in the field for second. The No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 emerged in good position after the round of pit stops, and Robby Foley kept the car started by Patrick Gallagher in second.
Korthoff/Preston Motorsports had a rough start to their weekend, Mikael Grenier plastering the No. 32 Mercedes AMG into the wall in the first practice session and thus missing the second. With little practice, Grenier qualified the car in sixth and kept the car clean before handing over to Mike Skeen in fourth. Skeen benefitted from Pumpelly’s problems to get to third and proceeded to hound Foley, but could never get by.
The drive of the race, though, would likely go to the drivers that finished fourth. The No. 66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 skipped qualifying to change an engine and started at the back. Sheena Monk moved up a few positions to 11th. After pit stops, Stevan McAleer, in his first stint as full-time partner to Monk, moved the car from 12th to fourth, and was on Skeen’s tail at the checker.
The No. 55 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 of Giammarco Levorato and Corey Lewis finished fifth, followed by Orey Fidany and Matthew Bell in the No. 13 AWA Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.
Russell Ward and Philip Ellis retain the GTD points lead for Winward despite a seventh-place finish with 987 points. Gallagher and Foley moved into second with 802 and Thompson is third in the points at 792 as the series heads next to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on May 10-12.
Vasser Sullivan Racing took the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Cadillac pole position and victory in GTD PRO, but it wasn’t quite that straightforward. On the final restart, and in less than a lap, Jack Hawksworth battled from third to …
Vasser Sullivan Racing took the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Cadillac pole position and victory in GTD PRO, but it wasn’t quite that straightforward. On the final restart, and in less than a lap, Jack Hawksworth battled from third to the lead in the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 he shared with Ben Barnicoat and Kyle Kirkwood, a nice recovery from a disastrous Rolex 24 that saw them out of the race early.
The defending champion had to get by Daniel Juncadella in the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R and then Daniel Serra in the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 within several corners — a run to a 0.121s margin of victory that had Barnicoat and Kirkwood both averting their eyes and screaming with delight.
“We knew it was going to be a battle,” said Hawksworth. “These long races, you have to do everything perfectly. Everyone has to do their job absolutely perfectly just to be there to even have a chance at the end. Then you just hope that the cards fall your way. We had a tough day. But the team, we made good steps over the off-season. We wanted to come and show what we could do, right? This has been a proper bounceback.
“Today everyone was perfect. We had the one drive-through early in the race, a wobble there [a crewmember was bumped by the car as it started to leave the pits]. Other than that it was rock solid all day. The guys on pit lane were unbelievable all day. Ben and Kyle were absolutely monsters out there. Yeah, we ended up in the fight there at the end. Come out on top. I couldn’t be prouder of everybody.”
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1406]
The victory was the first for the team since Watkins Glen last July, and the second endurance racing victory for Lexus. And the final half-hour had the pit box on the edge of their seats.
“It was insane,” said Kirkwood. “I’ve never screamed so much in my life over any instance in racing, other than probably today. It’s a different feeling being a part of a car when you’re not in it and you’re relying on someone else to go do it. For us, we’re screaming like, ‘C’mon, Jack!’ Yeah, that was a cool moment for the team, right? Of course, the win was great. Everyone was hooting and hollering then. During that last bit, we knew that he needed to get it done right there to hang on to the lead. That was probably the moment that would have won us or lost us the race.”
Serra, Davide Rigon and James Calado finished second. A late-race battle between Juncadella and Laurin Heinrich in the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R sent Juncadella off track and out of the race, while Heinrich received a drive-through penalty, handing third to the Iron Lynx Lamborghini squad of Mirko Bortolotti, Jordan Pepper and Frank Perera.
Winward Racing ran a near-flawless race to come from the back of the grid to the lead, controlling most of the race to take its second consecutive win in GTD, and its third in four races going back to Indianapolis Motor Speedway last season.
Philip Ellis had qualified the No. 57 Mercedes AMG on pole, but the car was moved to the back due to unapproved sensors on the car. Nevertheless, the team was at the front by the end of the second hour, and Ellis, Russell Ward and Indy Dontje controlled the race from there.
“We knew we had the car for it,” said Ward. “We just wanted to keep our heads clean. We started off the season in such a great form winning Daytona. Our goal really was just to get the maximum amount of points that we could out of this race. This track really suits this race car well. The Mercedes-AMG gives you a ton of confidence here. You need it at Sebring — a dangerous racetrack. A lot of chances to make a mistake. The crew performed flawlessly. No mistakes on their part. Few mistakes on the drivers’ part. Came out on the top.”
Winward is on quite a role after a rough start to last season, and full-timers Ward and Ellis are eager to keep it going.
“I think all of us have the speed to go to where we want to be,” declared Ellis. “We just have to have clean races, not take too much risk like sometimes we did last year, unfortunately. I think we all learned from the mistakes, not only as drivers, but the team as well. It just matured into a more successful team. I think as long as everybody pulls in the same direction, we’ll be up there again.”
The No. 47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 of Roberto Lacorte, Antonio Fuoco and Giorgio Sernagiotto languished in the middle of the race, but it came to them after sunset. In the closing stages, Fuoco had to get past Elliot Skeer in the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R to claim second and pursue Ellis, but came 0.646s short of following up Cetilar’s 2022 victory in the race.
After starting 13th in GTD, Skeer, Adam Adelson and Jan Heylen had the Wright Motorsports Porsche in contention for most of the race, bouncing in and out of the front as the team’s off-sequence pit stops moved them to the middle of the field and back. In the end a third place was a solid reward for the day’s work.
Vasser Sullivan is switching the roles for two of its drivers in the No. 12 GTD-class Lexus RC-F in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Parker Thompson, previously the endurance addition, and Frankie Montecalvo will be the full-season …
Vasser Sullivan is switching the roles for two of its drivers in the No. 12 GTD-class Lexus RC-F in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Parker Thompson, previously the endurance addition, and Frankie Montecalvo will be the full-season drivers. Aaron Telitz, who has partnered with Montecalvo for the past two seasons, will be the third driver in the endurance races.
Thompson will be competing in his second season for Vasser Sullivan and Lexus. He moves into the full-time position after driving all the endurance races for the team last year. Thompson has consistently won in every championship series in which he has competed since 2015.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1406]
In 2021 and 2022, Thompson competed full-time in the IMSA Porsche Carrera Cup North America series. He placed third in the 2021 championship and won the championship in 2022. In just his third race with the team, he co-drove the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus with Montecalvo and Telitz to victory at Watkins Glen.
“I couldn’t be prouder to be racing in IMSA WeatherTech GTD full-time in 2024 with Vasser Sullivan and Lexus,” said Thompson. “After a decade of grinding my way up the ladder, it is a dream come true to earn a full-time position in this world-renowned sports car championship with such an esteemed team.
“The opportunity to continue to represent Vasser Sullivan and Lexus is something I don’t take lightly. I’m hungrier than ever to build off the success we had last year, especially when I get to drive with a stud like Frankie Montecalvo all season long!”
Montecalvo will be contesting his sixth season with Vasser Sullivan and Lexus in the IMSA GTD class. In 2019, he co-drove the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 to a second place showing in the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Montecalvo had a breakout season in 2020, capturing his first IMSA win (Road America) and first IMSA poles (Grand Prix of Sebring and Grand Prix at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta).
In five seasons with Vasser Sullivan and Lexus, Montecalvo has scored two victories and four poles. Telitz will also be returning for his sixth IMSA season with Vasser Sullivan and Lexus in the IMSA GTD class. He ran endurance races for the team in 2019 before becoming a full-time driver in 2020. During the 2020 season, Telitz teamed with Hawksworth to win the GTD Sprint Cup Driver, Team and Manufacturer championships. In four IMSA seasons with Vasser Sullivan and Lexus, Telitz has earned five wins and five poles.
“We’re thrilled to have three race-winning drivers back with Vasser Sullivan in the No. 12 Lexus RC F GT3 for the 2024 season,” said Jeff Bal, Senior Manager, Motorsports, Experiential Marketing & Sponsorships for Lexus.
“Aaron and Frankie have both been key partners of ours behind the wheel of the RC F GT3, and we’re excited to see a young, up-and-coming talent like Parker competing full-time in the Lexus next season. All three drivers were a part of the program’s historic double win at Watkins Glen last season and we’re confident they will chase more wins and the GTD class championship in 2024.”
The current points leaders in both GTD PRO and GTD demonstrated a good part of the reason they’re at the front by taking the Motul Pole Awards for Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge at VIRginia International Raceway. In high temperatures that produced …
The current points leaders in both GTD PRO and GTD demonstrated a good part of the reason they’re at the front by taking the Motul Pole Awards for Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge at VIRginia International Raceway. In high temperatures that produced different track conditions than the drivers had seen so far this weekend, Jack Hawksworth took the GTD PRO and overall pole for the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus squad, bringing his total pole count to 10. He would have tied Madison Snow in that statistic, but Snow added another to his total by putting the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 on the GTD pole, qualifying fourth overall.
Hawksworth’s best lap of 1m44.780s — 112.35mph around the 3.27-mile, 17-turn circuit — didn’t match the quick times from Saturday morning’s session and were well off the 1m43.356s record held by Ross Gunn, thanks to the hot weather. It was enough, though, to snatch the pole by 0.096s from Daniel Juncadella in the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes AMG.
“Can’t get better than pole, right? So that was good,” declared Hawksworth. “Mega weekend so far. It’s been brilliant and the boys have been fantastic and the car has been working really well. Heads down for tomorrow now, but very happy with it.
“The temperature outside is absurd. The track grip was a lot different than we had in practice two. It was greasy and I just tried to put a clean lap together. The guys obviously gave me a really fast car; the Lexus was working really well. Just tried not to make any mistakes. It was easy to overdrive, I think.”
For Juncadella, who was quickest in the morning session after the No. 79 suffered a fire yesterday, the results were a disappointment.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1406]
“First, great job by the crew to get the WeatherTech Mercedes-AMG GT3 back together after what happened yesterday,” Juncadella said. “I didn’t have the smoothest qualifying session. I think Road America was better. It was so close to pole that it hurts. Third time this year I have just missed out on pole. I made a small mistake, then on the last lap I was able to get close. It’s a shame to miss out on pole by such a small margin.”
Antonio Garcia was third in the No. 3 Corvette Racing C8.R with a 1m45.133, the last PRO car before six GTD cars. Patrick Pilet (No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R) and Gunn (No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3) were 10th and 11th overall, respectively.
Snow’s 11th pole position, and second of 2023 – the only GTD driver to have more than one so far this season – came courtesy of a 1m45.225s lap to best Aaron Telitz in the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 by 0.153s. Telitz’s second attempt at a flyer was hurt by running wide at the exit of Oak Tree. Loris Spinelli qualified the No. 78 Forte Racing Powered by USRT Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 third with a 1m45.416s lap.
“The track was definitely slippery out there,” Snow explained. “I had two mock qually runs in the first practice, so I definitely went into qualifying knowing exactly where my brake points were and what I needed to do. [At] he beginning of qualifying, I went out on my first good lap and immediately went wide in [Turn] 1 and realized, ‘OK, I’m going to need to reevaluate what I’m doing out here.’ Just accept the track for what it was, and it was slippery. Super hot, but that is what it is. It was about not making mistakes and just putting a lap together.”
Mike Skeen (No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3) and Patrick Gallagher (No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3) completed the top five in GTD. Gallagher had been near the top of the time sheets in the two previous practice sessions, but an off-course excursion during qualifying likely scuttled his chances for pole.
Up Next: A 20 minute warmup at 8:15 a.m. ET ahead of a 2:10 p.m. race start.
Vasser Sullivan Lexus, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GTD PRO points leaders, asserted their intent to extend that lead by posting fast times in the first practice session for the Michelin GT Challenge at VIRginia International Raceway. …
Vasser Sullivan Lexus, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GTD PRO points leaders, asserted their intent to extend that lead by posting fast times in the first practice session for the Michelin GT Challenge at VIRginia International Raceway. This weekend’s round features the GTD PRO and GTD classes only, with Ben Barnicoat claiming the top time overall with a 1m45.201s lap in the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3, an average of 111.9mph around the 3.27-mile, 17-turn road course.
Barnicoat’s teammate Jack Hawksworth had held the top time in GTD PRO in the No. 14 before Barnicoat, in his second race weekend at the track, bettered his co-driver’s time. It was a clear step forward for the team after they struggled at VIR last season.
“I’m not going to lie and say it was a good track for me last year because it wasn’t,” Barnicoat said before the start of the weekend’s activities. “I knew that and we’ve been working hard away from the track. We’ve got great simulators and tools…to work with and use to help us improve. We’ve done a lot of simulator running, probably moreso for this event than we have any other event this year, along with our offline tools, and we feel like we’ve made really good gains there to help push us forward. I feel like going back to the track for a second time should should help me a lot to take another step. Can’t say too much, or give away too many details, but we’re feeling much more confident heading back.”
The top time of the session was held briefly by Patrick Gallagher in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3. His 1m45.234 (111.86mph) was only 0.033s off Barnicoat’s best to lead the GTD field. With conditions likely close to what they will be for qualifying Saturday, the Turner crew sent Gallagher out on fresh sticker Michelins to see what he could do, and he rewarded them with the second-quickest overall time.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1406]
“The Turner guys have it working good,” said Gallagher. “We still have a little work to do – qualifying is always quicker than these practice sessions, but the Turner guys have done a great job and they got this working good and we’ll keep rubbing on it. Hopefully we progress with everyone else and have a shot at pole.”
GTD cars took the next three spots on the time sheet, Aaron Telitz in the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus falling 0.160s short of the best time in the class. Philip Ellis took third in GTD with a 1m45.422s lap for defending VIR winners Winward Raacing in the No. 57 Mercedes AMG. Frederik Schandorff (No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S Evo) and Bryan Sellers (No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3) completed the GTD top five.
After the No. 12 Lexus, the rest of the GTD PRO runners were sprinkled throughout the field. The No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, winners here last year with Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell, was second in GTD PRO and sixth overall in the hands of Patrick Pilet, whose best lap was 1m45.895s. Antonio Garcia was third, ninth overall, for Corvette Racing with a 1m46.023s in the No. 3 C8.R.
With only a few off-track excursions, there were no red-flag interruptions of the 90-minute session. The most serious incident came at the very end, when the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes AMG caught fire in the pits. Daniel Juncadella was already part way out of the car, ready to hand over to Jules Gounon, when the fire started. It was extinguished quickly, but the extent of the damage is unknown.
All cars in the event (19) turned laps during the session. The entry list originally included 20, but Andretti Autosport withdrew the No. 94 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for Jarett Andretti and Gabby Chaves.
Up Next: 1h45m split practice session beginning at 10:20 a.m. ET.
Jimmy Vasser was all smiles behind the podium celebrations for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, the Vasser Sullivan Lexus team having scored its first double victory by capturing both GTD and GTD PRO with its pair of Lexus RC F GT3s. For the No. …
Jimmy Vasser was all smiles behind the podium celebrations for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, the Vasser Sullivan Lexus team having scored its first double victory by capturing both GTD and GTD PRO with its pair of Lexus RC F GT3s. For the No. 12 GTD squad of Aaron Telitz, Frankie Montecalvo and Parker Thompson, it was extra sweet as they headed the GT field overall.
“What a day for this team and the organization,” beamed Telitz. “I’ve been with Vasser Sullivan and Lexus racing for four years now and I gotta say this is coolest, best day we’ve had, and the best day I think I’ve had as a driver overall. It feels pretty good.”
The victory was Telitz’s fifth in IMSA WeatherTech Championship competition, Montecalvo’s second and Thompson’s first.
The No. 12 had been out front most of the day. The team did have its challenges, notably from the Iron Dames as Michelle Gatting battled with Montecalvo for the lead in the middle of the race. A short time later, though, the Lamborghini Huracán was given a mechanical black flag for a tire specification violation, which happened to a number of teams, especially among the GT cars. The violation could have been tire pressure outside the specifications, or a malfunctioning TPMS unit.
Lone GTD-class car out front, the No. 12 — with four GTD PRO teams right behind them, led by the No. 14 of Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat — came into the race as championship leaders. They padded that lead with their second win of the season and kept their podium streak alive.
Vasser Sullivan’s sister car in GTD PRO had to survive a mid-race battle with the No. 63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo22 of Andrea Caldarelli and Jordan Pepper. That challenge ended when Caldarelli was passing Rob Ferriol in the No. 42 NTE Sport Lamborghini, and both got hit by Alex Kirby in the No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports Ligier LMP3, ending the race for both Lamborghini teams. After that, the win for Hawksworth and Barnicoat should have been easy, except for a drive-through penalty for violating the pit-lane speed limit.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1486]
“When I got in the car for the final stint, that was not how I was expecting things to play out,” explained Hawksworth. “The boys had done amazing job all the way through the race; we made really good calls at the right time. And you know, Ben had done a fantastic job and it kind of looked like at that point, as long as we didn’t get a caution or something, that it was going to be kind of plain sailing to the end of the race. Obviously, we don’t know exactly what what happened yet, why when I left the box the PLC wasn’t controlling the speed…”
That set up a final battle where Hawksworth first had to get by the No. 3 Corvette Racing C8.R and then fend off polesitter Daniel Serra in the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3. Hawksworth was stuck behind Antonio Garcia in the Corvette for a long time. He finally saw his opportunity, and dove inside at Turn 7 to take the apex away from Garcia. That slowed Garcia enough that Serra was able to sneak through as well.
“I don’t know if a prototype kind of held him up or something but I got slightly better run off Turn 7 than I had on the previous laps. I was just slightly closer. I think I caught him by surprise a little bit and then got back to the lead,” Hawksworth said.
Hawksworth then had a fight on his hands as Serra was doing everything he could to catch and pass the Lexus. Serra and Davide Rigon finished second for Risi, with Garcia and Jordan Taylor third.
To overcome the speed violation and come back to take a double victory for the team was the cherry on top of a season that has been about as good as can be imagined for the team.
“The amount of work that we’ve been putting in as an organization has been phenomenal and I see myself as incredibly lucky to be here at Vasser Sullivan Lexus racing,” said Barnicoat. “Days like today show that. We’ve had a great run of form this year and the No. 12 guys have been doing just as good of a job. GTD in some ways can be harder to get good results – there’s more cars and they’ve certainly deserved a win for a long time, so it’s great to see them finally get that. I’m super pumped for them and for Parker as well – his first win as Lexus driver, which is great for everyone involved.”
The drive of the race came from the Paul Miller Racing crew. A disconnection between steering wheel and dash left them sitting in the pits, eventually going two laps down. Some lucky breaks with pass-arounds and wave-by enabled them to get their laps back in one go, and Corey Lewis, Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow put their heads down to move through the field to get to second and bolstered the championship lead.
“We got a pretty fortunate yellow there and it had to fall the right way, and it did,” explained Sellers “And then you have to make the right call on the stand, when to stay out, when to pit and they did it. We were super lucky with how it fell, where we were on track; we got our two laps back in that one yellow. And then from there, they just told me to go and said, ‘Go as hard as you can and see how far we can go. ’And the positions just kept coming. The car was super strong. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t have a run at the whole race with the electrical problem early, but I think you’ve got to look at days like today and say, when you come back like that, it’s a really great day.”
Ryan Hardwick, Jan Heylen and Zacharie Robichon finished third in the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R.
