Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Winner & highlights of the Tudor United Sports Car Championship Lonestar Le Mans @ Circuit of The Americas

The driver's love the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, and the Lonestar Le Mans, the penultimate race of the 2014 Tudor Championship season, is going to provide lots of action.  This is the final 2 hour and 45 minute sprint race of the season.  The championship contenders, will be able to control their own destiny in this one.

If you are a driver in a championship situation, you know, and focus on, the competition, in whichever of the four classes you are competing in.  To the winners of the final two events, (this one, and the season ending Petit Le Mans in a little over a week), if you win, you score a boatload of points.  In the Prototype class, we've got three Corvette Prototypes at the top of the table, that have all won this year, from Action Express, Wayne Taylor Racing, and Spirit of Daytona.

In GT Le Mans, Corvette Racing, and SRT Viper, are the two teams that have the best chances of winning the title, as they've battled fender to fender, all season.  Prototype Challenge has seen Core Autosport dominate, winning half of the races that have been contested so far.  Four, out of eight.  If they finish second in class here in Texas, they clinch the Prototype Challenge crown.  GT Daytona sees the closest battle, with a three-way tie.  AIM Autosport vs. Turner Motorsports vs. Alex Job Racing.

That's three different makes, too, folks.  Ferrari vs. BMW vs. Porsche.  We're ready to race, as the cars are on their pace and formation laps right now.  Gustavo Yacaman and Alex Brundle, have pole, in their new #42 Ligier JS P2 coupe prototype, using Honda power for Oak Racing.  Here we go!  We've got a green flag, and we're underway at COTA!  Now, Gustavo Yacaman may have jumped the start, as he was winding up that Honda motor before exiting the last turn.

Traffic will be a big deal.  20 turns on this 3.4 mile course.  That's more turns than any other track on the Tudor Championship schedule.  But, there's a monstrous grid of 51 cars.  So, that means, a whopping 15 cars per mile in traffic.  Someone hops a curb in turn one.  But, there's lots of space on this track.  Boatloads of it.  The cars wind their way through the esses.  Now, there was some contact, and one of the cars involved was a GT Daytona contender just spoken of.  The #555 Aim Autosport Ferrari 458 Italia.

Hmmm.  Now, there is a full course yellow flag.  We see the #555 AIM Autosport Ferrari has crashed.  Well, he's still going.  Bill Sweedler starts, with Townsend Bell taking over later.  We're going to start again, even though the clock is running.  The Taylor brothers want a title.  They are ahead of Action Express Racing right now, with the #5 of Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi.  The #42 Ligier Honda is starting off well with Gustavo Yacaman and Alex Brundle.

Colin Braun and Jon Bennett are doing what they need to, and might just win the championship in Prototype Challenge.  In GT LM, the SRT Viper has the definite advantage over Corvette Racing Porsche has a third car, in order to boost their factory effort.  We are green, now!  Watch out!  The #01 Ganassi Racing Riley Ford is going up the outside as there is contact between the Oak Racing Ligier Honda, and the Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette prototype.

Ricky Taylor runs wide.  Memo Rojas wants the lead.  Yacaman says, "no way, sunshine."  We've got two cars spun at the top of turn one.  It looks like a couple Prototype Challenge cars got tangled up up there.  Mirco Shultis is at the wheel, sharing with championship contender, Renger van der Zande.  Another Prototype Challenge car is running a little slow.  This is car #88 in the hands of Johnny Mowlem and Tom Pappadopoulos.  Ricky Taylor may have rear bodywork damage on his car.  Watch out for the diffuser.  That's very important for aerodynamics.  If you lose it, your lap time goes down the drain.

A little bit of brake lockup from the #2 Patron ESM HPD prototype.  In replay we see Yacaman and Taylor did play a game of dodge 'em cars.  Yacaman was sandwiched between Taylor and Rojas, and couldn't move.  Taylor, meanwhile, has a flat left rear tire.  Race control is reviewing the incident.  The tires and suspension components are ready for the #10 car.  They are still battling for the championship with the #5 Action Express Racing Corvette Prototype, and the #42 machine is not even in the hunt.

The lap at COTA is very long.  3.4 miles.  So, there could be time for #10 to pit and not lose track position.  In the GT LM class right now, the lead battle is between SRT Viper and the factory cars from Porsche North America/Porsche AG.  Car #10 is now back on track.  In Prototype Challenge, we follow the #25 8Star Motorsports car.  Sean Rayhall shares with Luis Diaz.  Diaz at the controls at the moment.  Diaz is being chased by the #54 CORE Autosport car of Colin Braun and Jon Bennett.  If these two finish second or better, they clinch the PC class championship.

#54 has definite contact with a competitor in the same class.  The elevation change and width of this Circuit of The Americas course, is incredible.  But, that doesn't mean there's always racing room.  The Turner Motorsports BMW Z4 GTE leads GT Daytona at the moment.  It carries a special number for this event.  #300.  That is because it is the 300th race they've professionally run with the BMW brand.

Be cautious in traffic.  We don't expect many yellows.  Manage the tires and fuel strategy.  Memo Rojas runs second at the moment.  We now see the #70 SpeedSource Mazda prototype on pit lane.  Once again, as they have all season, Sylvain Tremblay, and Tom Long, share the car.  The car runs on a special fuel, made on byproducts of food processing, specifically, chicken parts.  The exhaust odor, smells like French fries.  The team are making improvements, and are working to improve cooling on the diesel four cylinder engine.

We watch once more, the #300 Turner Motorsports BMW of Markus Palttala and Dane Cameron.  The #70 Mazda is having issues with a turbocharger boost hose.  In GT LM it remains Porsche vs. Viper.  Michael Christensen is under pressure from Dominik Farnbacher and Kuno Wittmer.  Porsche entered a third car for this race to protect their narrow lead in the constructors championship in GT LM.  That is car #910.  The #17 Falken Tire Porsche is also here, that ran so well in the previous race at Virginia International Raceway.

Wolf Henzler is at the controls of the #17 right now, sharing with Bryan Sellers.  We also watch the #4 Chevrolet Corvette C-7-R- for the factory team, running eighth in class in GT LM.  Will anyone be penalized for the earlier turn one kerfuffle between Yacaman and Rojas?  On their pit stop to fix damage, the #10 team did not get fuel in the car.  How will that affect their strategy?  IMSA stewards say there will be no action taken on the aforementioned turn one fracas.  It's done and dusted.  The Taylor brothers, to say the least, will not send a Christmas card to Gustavo Yacaman.

Gustavo Yacaman still leads.  Memo Rojas makes contact with the #30 NGT Motorsports GT Daytona Porsche piloted by Henrique Cisneros.  Was there any damage to the #01 car?  The #01 is missing a couple dive planes on the front splitter.  Antonio Garcia is driving the #3 factory Corvette.  This speedway was designed by the renowned track engineer Herman Tilke, for the Formula One United States Grand Prix.  Drivers love it.

The #48 Audi R8 LMS in GT Daytona is spun on the front straight.  This is the Paul Miller Racing machine.  Bryce Miller at the controls.  These blokes are a darkhorse contender for the GT Daytona championship.  Miller shares with Christopher Haase, who is a very quick shoe.  For this event, (as well as the FIA World Endurance Championship event which was blogged here), there was lots and lots of rain in Austin, Texas.  The infield grass and the runoff areas with grass, became like sponges, soaking up the moisture.

The #01 Riley Ford EcoBoost cat for Ganassi Racing was loose at the beginning of the event.  But, the only real advantage to losing the dive planes off the front nose, earlier, is that it brings the handling and the balance of the car, back.  Team manager Mike O'Gara says that if they stop under green, there will be no nose change.  If the stop happens under a full course yellow, they might take the chance.  The battle is hot and heavy in GT LM.  BMW, Ferrari, Porsche, Porsche, Corvette.

Andy Priaulx leads Pierre Kaffer.  The third factory Porsche #910 is piloted by Fred Makowiecki at the moment.  His team mate, Patrick Pilet put the car on pole.  But, IMSA officials disqualified the car after the team did not put the small post on the car, that is meant to fit an on board camera onto the car, should it be needed.  Seeing something that small slip through for a team as well organized as the factory Porsche squad, well, yikes.  That's just totally uncharacteristic.

In two car teams, one car has all the good luck, and another one, has all the bad.  The #4 guys cannot catch a break no matter how hard they try.  They have not had the pace at all this year.  The #3 car has more pace.  The #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette Prototype is now a lap down to the similar car #5 for Action Express Racing.  As for the #5, Christian Fittipaldi is at the wheel of it.  Points in the GT Daytona class, as they run now, see ties for second and third.  But, there is a mere 17 point spread amongst the top five drivers.

The BMW has speed, and the Ferrari and Porsche should move up.  There's lots of debris on the road right now.  GT Daytona has lots of Pro Am drivers.  You have to have a Pro Am or Silver driver in your lineup.  The minimum driver time is 50 minutes.  The #5 Action Express Racing Corvette Prototype tries to pit.  But, Fittipaldi is blocked by a Prototype Challenge car that is also trying to make a stop.  #555 and #22 are moving up.  They started 15th and 19th in GT Daytona respectively, and are now up to 11th and 12th in class.

The #911 Porsche 911 RSR pits.  Jorg Bergmeister out, and Nick Tandy in.  Bergmeister is subbing for the injured Richard Lietz, who broke his arm in a wreck at the previous Tudor Championship race, during the warmup at Virginia International Raceway.  The #5 Corvette has finally pitted, and is getting new tires.  Joao Barbosa takes over the car.  Michael Valiante has pitted the #90 Corvette Prototype, and the #8 Martini liveried Starworks Prototype Challenge machine is also in the lane.  Memo Rojas is back to fourth overall.

Memo Rojas had to take evasive action against the #30 Porsche.  We've got a yellow flag for debris.  A full course yellow at that.  A front bumper has come off one of the cars.  It's John Edward's #56 factory BMW Z4 GTE in GT Le Mans.  There's more bits of the car scattered about on the road as well.  The astro turf on the outside of the corners is also getting torn to pieces.  The #01 car pits again.  They get a break, even though the pit lane closes initially under a full course yellow.  Talk about dodging a bullet!

The team cycled into the lead before pitting.  There won't be a nose change, despite the dive plane damage.  John Edwards hops the curb and loses the rear bumper cover from his BMW.  It was pulled away, by the curbing.  This is our second full course yellow.  For every Tudor race, there seems to be four on average.  There might be more, here at Circuit of The Americas.  Correction.  This is the first full course yellow.

This track at COTA was designed to have corners that pay tribute to some of the great ones at speed palaces all over the world of motorsport.  A long, uphill climb like Spa Francorchamps in Belgium after Eau Rouge.  The esses are patterned after the Copse/Maggots/Becketts corners at Silverstone in England.  Also at this course, is a quadruple apex right hand corner, very much like the left hand complex at Turkey.  The lights are out on the safety car, as we prep to go back to green.  The #10 car made a brief pit stop for fuel.

They will have to come right back in, going back to green.  The #90 car stopped, and it's running rich, burning too much fuel.  Race cars do not like to go slow.  Some dive for pit lane, while others, are headed back to green flag racing.  We're underway once more, at COTA.  There looks to be some raindrops around, too.  Keep an eye on the sky.  Gustavo Yacaman leads with Michael Valiante second, as Valiante locks the brakes on the uphill to turn one.

Yacaman runs wide and gets loose!  He gets turned around!  Shades of earlier on in the season.  No love lost between Oak Racing and Spirit of Daytona.  How will the marshals call that one?  Michael Valiante leads for now.  The #007 GT Daytona Aston Martin is in the pits.  This was the pole sitting car in GT Daytona.  They have an issue at the back.  James Davison is at the controls.  Ah.  They are changing the cool box, which keeps the driver cool in the car.  The #10 Corvette, as well as both factory Corvette's, both factory Viper's, and the #33 ViperExchange.com GT Daytona Viper, all pitted.

This race has been disaster for the #10 team so far.  Everyone has hit pit lane to get their pro driver behind the wheel, and top up with fuel.  The #10 team had a slow pit stop due to a malfunctioning air gun and having to move the car.  They cannot fix the diffuser yet, either.  You cannot recover from these issues.  Their race is going pear shaped, again.  There's lots of congestion on track between Prototype, GT Le Mans, and GT Daytona class cars.  Lots of scattering in pit lane.  The action continues with varying grip levels and driver changes, in GT Le Mans.

The #90 car of Valiante will be assessed a drive through penalty for contact.  With the penalty, the #90 will lose 30 seconds due to the delta time of running through the pits.  The speed limit is 60 kilometers per hour, which equals 37 miles per hour.  Meanwhile, the leading Prototype Challenge machine, pits as well.  Sean Rayhall takes over for Luis Diaz.  Joao Barbosa continues to lead this race.  Nick Tandy leads GT Le Mans in one of the factory Porsche's.  Martin Fuentes leads Prototype Challenge.  In GT Daytona, it's the sister #23 Alex Job Racing Porsche leading, in the hands of Mario Farnbacher.

Joao Barbosa takes over the overall race lead.  More moisture coming.  It might rain.  We watch Johannes van Overbeek in the #2 Tequila Patron HPD prototype.  Michael Valiante is fifth after his penalty.  Stay cool, though, and keep racing.  Nick Tandy still leads GT Le Mans.  Jonathan Bomarito is second, and Antonio Garcia is eighth.  Bomarito is currently second in GT LM points.  Meanwhile, in GT Daytona, Mario Farnbacher still leads over Damien Faulkner, Jan Heylen, Dane Cameron, and Andy Lally.

Dempsey/Snow Racing is running well.  The #58 Porsche of Madison Snow and Jan Heylen is third in class in GTD.  Joao Barbosa still leads this race.  They are trying for their third straight race.  They have moved into a new race shop, looking ahead to 2015.  Now, there's been another wreck.  The #35 Audi R8 LMS in GT Daytona and the #910 Porsche 911 RSR in GT Le Mans have gotten into something.  Ooh!  The #910 Porsche and the #35 Audi spin simultaneously after contact.

For that contact, Patrick Pilet will get a drive through penalty.  Dion von Moltke was at the wheel of the #35 car.  After Jan Magnussen's wreck and subsequent concussion in the last race at VIR, he was out racing again, and doing well, a week later, in the Danish Thundersports Series.  The battle for second overall amongst the prototype cars is heating up.  Ganassi vs. ESM vs. Oak Racing.  Rojas vs. van Overbeek vs. Yacaman.  Gustavo Yacaman is going to thunder around Johannes van Overbeek.  The new Ligier is really on the money, and takes third spot away.

The Ligier maintains the designation, JS for the model number.  JS is Jo Schlesser, who was a longtime buddy of Guy Ligier (who built sports cars and Formula One cars).  Schlesser died in a racing accident many years ago, in Formula One.  He was racing for Honda in the 1968 French Grand Prix at the Rouen-Les-Essarts circuit.  Joao Barbosa leads at halfway in this event.  They've won two races on the trot.

Oh dear.  We've got a Prototype Challenge car turned around in the wrong place on the track.  That's the #7 Starworks entry in the hands of Alex Popow.  Both Starworks PC entries were right together, and then, Popow spun.  He was drafted in as a third driver for this race.  The Ligier bounds over the curbs.  That, was a wild ride!  The Ligier comes back into the race.  We have about an hour and fifteen minutes left in this one.

Joao Barbosa continues to lead.  The #54 class leading Prototype Challenge car of Colin Braun will need a drive through penalty, for contact.  Sean Rayhall is angry.  His crew chief asked him, "did he spin you?"  Rayhall yells back on the radio, "he spun me!  He spun me out!"  It is really beginning to warm up.  These guys are real athletes with lots of heat inside the cars.  That was a front to rear hit by Braun on Rayhall.  Rayhall had already cleared the apex.

Braun will be penalized, and may not be able to clinch the Prototype Challenge title today.  Perhaps, these boys need to rein themselves in.  Alex Brundle sets fast lap of this race so far at a 1:59.487.  The current leader in Prototype Challenge is the #08 RSR machine driven by Englishman Jack Hawksworth.  There's lots of rubber remaining out on the track at this moment.  With just over an hour to go, the #300 GTD Turner Motorsports BMW Z4 GTE, pits.  Dane Cameron will stay in the car.

Next in, it's the #555 Ferrari 458 Italia.  AIM Autosport, follows suit, for the duo of Bill Sweedler and Townsend Bell.  Bell is at the controls, and running eleventh in class.  Nick Tandy is leading GT LM.  The section of track the drivers just love is from the diving sweeper, into the esses.  Richard Westbrook pitted, and had issues plugging in his cool suit.  But, it seems to be working just fine, now.  One hour to go.  Westbrook can get the cool suit plugged in.  Michael Valiante does not use it.  The #90 machine also has astro turf stuck in the grille.  A big chunk of it.

Watch out, because that could clog the radiator and overheat the car.  Ah.  It's gone.  He tucked in behind the Ferrari, and the aerodynamic slipstream sucked it off.  Andy Lally pits.  The GT Daytona Porsche's have a better aerodynamic package, and engine upgrades.  Lally pits the #44 Magnus Racing car.  Lally sharing with John Potter.  Giancarlo Fisichella pits the #62 Ferrari 458 Italia as well.  They don't have enough front downforce.

The #55 BMW also pits with Andy Priaulx taking over from Bill Auberlen.  Joao Barbosa pits from the lead.  Memo Rojas is still in the #01 car.  Can Action Express get to the checkers?  There's still 57 minutes left.  The #93 SRT Viper pits, too.  Jonathan Bomarito will take the car to the finish.  The GT LM leading factory Porsche of Nick Tandy, also pits.  If they win, they'll extend their lead.  Memo Rojas leads overall.  But, he's gone to the reserve fuel pump.  Porsche, Chevrolet, Dodge, and BMW, are very, very close in the GT LM constructors championship.

Viper and Corvette both pit.  The #91 Viper leaves, and the #4 Corvette is in.  More problems for #4 as the door will not close tightly.  They have had a fraught season, and it doesn't get any better for them here at COTA.  Memo Rojas pits the #01 car from the race lead.  Scott Pruett will take over the car for the last 53 minutes of this event.  Four tires and a full fuel load are also added to the car.  Ganassi will need one more yellow if they are going to make it to the end on fuel.

There were Balance of Performance adjustments for the fuel cells on the Prototype cars.  Chevrolet powered cars (the Corvette Prototype's) got cut back six liters, while the EcoBoost V6 Ford's got cut back three liters in fuel capacity.  Alex Brundle takes the lead as the #3 Corvette is in.  Jan Magnussen will take over for Antonio Garcia.  Garcia only has a six point lead in the championship.  Magnussen was eliminated from contention, after his big crash at VIR.  Jack Hawksworth in the #08 Prototype Challenge car, coasted into the pits.

Now, he had to be pushed into the lane.  Team owner Paul Gentilozzi is on the radio to the pit crew saying, "go!  Fuel the car!"  The fuel hose won't reach far enough!  The fuel vat was also in a precarious position behind pit wall.  Alex Brundle continues to lead this one.  Brundle will need a top up on fuel while other cars just need a splash.  The #42 has eleven laps less fuel than the #01, and nine less than Joao Barbosa in the #5 car.  Johannes van Overbeek also makes his last stop.

No tires for the HPD chassis.  Action Express are going to be close on fuel and will likely need a splash and dash.  Barbosa does a good job of avoiding a monstrous piece of astro turf right in the middle of the road.  The #23 Alex Job Racing Porsche has a holed radiator, and is spewing water out the bottom of it.  Crunch!  A Prototype Challenge car comes right across the #23, and spins in the process.  Gunnar Jeanette in the fourth place Prototype Challenge car, #52, is also being monitored by the stewards, to see if he may have initiated that contact.

The #23 AJR Porsche in GT Daytona, will have to serve a drive through penalty for contact, if it can rejoin the race.  Alex Brundle pitted, for four tires.  There was a slight delay with a wheel nut.  Joao Barbosa leads.  Will he pit for fuel?  Will he stay out?  A big chunk of astro turf was taken out of the car's radiator.  Richard Westbrook is flying.  But, there's lots and lots of junk out on the road.  Richard Westbrook is sixth overall.  He's having to catch up to the #42 car.  The #5 car pits, topping off with fuel.

Temptation is to hold out for a yellow.  But, they are taking no chances.  This track at COTA is so wide, there are very few yellows.  In the Prototype class, Fittipaldi and Barbosa own first place with a tie, and have a 24 point cushion over the Taylor brothers.  But, the overall spread, is only 25 points.  In third, it's the #90 duo of Valiante and Westbrook.  Scott Pruett has now taken over the race lead.  But, Ganassi is not in the championship fight.  Can Pruett stretch the fuel?

Scott Pruett uses the throttle to lock and unlock the rear end of the car.  This is an effective driving style.  But, it burns fuel.  No one in pit lane seems to be happy about the Balance of Performance adjustments.  Bleekemolen is going to pressure the BMW.  The Porsche's are also coming.  Scott Pruett is now leading as the #5 car and the #42 car both pitted.  Pruett will need to save fuel.  Barbosa is coming, at a half a second a lap.  When you save fuel, you lose speed.  Two ways to save fuel.  Run less RPM, but also, roll out of the throttle before you tap the brakes.

Brundle and Barbosa are flying, slicing through GT Daytona traffic.  Brundle is coming, and fast.  Jeroen Bleekemolen takes over the GT Daytona lead, running a pass all the way out on the dirty line.  Cameron tried to protect, but couldn't.  The BMW Z4 does not have the straightaway speed.  But, it does have the corner speed.  #33 leads GTD.  But, they have a loose undertray on the car.  It may or may not stay on the car.  The team does not mind.

The heavier the BMW gets, the more handling it loses.  The flat bottoms on these sports cars, create artificial lift when air gets underneath them.  There are ground clearance and ride height requirements the cars have to maintain in post race scrutinizing by the stewards.  Scott Pruett asks about saving fuel.  His crewman says, "negative.  Let's go."  Looking down from turn one, at "fill hill", which is a 130 feet up in elevation.

Pruett sets his personal best lap at 2:00.8.  Problems for the #911 Porsche of Nick Tandy.  There's a suspension issue.  Tandy is down to eighth in class.  Jonathan Bomarito takes the lead for an SRT Viper 1-2.  Jan Magnussen is also ninth in class.  We're going to see a change in the points.  The drive shaft on the #911 Porsche, has given up the ghost.  Viper could lead the driver's championship in GT LM and take the manufacturer's cup.

Patrick Long in the sister factory Porsche is third.  More woes for the #23 GTD Porsche as it is buried in the gravel trap.  Ian James has since taken over the car from Mario Farnbacher.  This is in turn 12 after the back straight.  In replay, we see James had a long spin, and ALMOST got tangled up with two other cars!  Alex Brundle wants by Joao Barbosa.  Barbosa won't want to fight.  You are sandwiched by two cars that are not a factor in the championship.

Brundle scoops up more turf on the outside of the track.  Can Brundle pass Barbosa to go after Pruett?  Does Pruett have enough fuel in the tank?  The IMSA marshals have had a tough time classifying this new Ligier for purposes of the BoP.  It is, a brand new race car.  We have two real configurations for Prototype race cars.  The Daytona Prototype, and the P2 car.  The gap is closing for the straightaway speed between P2 and DP cars.

Pruett is caught in traffic, and Barbosa and Brundle, are closing.  Barbosa has to be careful.  A Prototype Challenge car has hit the fence in one of the corners.  This is the #7 car again, that we saw spun earlier.  John Martin is now at the wheel of it.  Something broke on the car, and Martin skitters across the gravel trap.  The race continues with less than eight and a half minutes to go.  Ford vs. Chevrolet.  Honda is third.  Brundle wants a win.

Traffic is ahead of these boys.  The top three covered by 1.2 seconds.  Will Pruett stay out?  Will he need a splash and dash?  Brundle is going for it!  Brundle is on the attack!  He looks the outside.  Wham.  He nips Barbosa.  Brundle tries it around the inside of a PC car and nearly slams the wall!  Oh man.  Brundle gets chopped by both RLL BMW's in GT LM!  Brundle holds the inside.  Barbosa trying the outside.  No.  He's still there, running in the clag, trying to move by the two BMW GT cars.
The BMW is off line!  Now, Brundle has cleared this.  But, Barbosa will just have to settle for third.  Alex Brundle is warned by the stewards about unsportsmanlike driving.  The #08 PC car has a spin, and continues.  No yellow.  Four minutes to go.  A little argy bargy between the BMW GT cars and the prototypes.  The BMW's are in their own race for GT Le Mans.  They can't just disappear off the road.  How is Pruett's fuel as we near the end?  Brundle keeps pushing through the esses.

Pruett is amazing at working traffic, and not getting held up.  Scott Pruett has a glittering resume.  He's fresh.  But, he has to go to the reserve tank.  White flag this time by.  Go easy on the fuel.  But, keep Brundle behind.  White flag.  They could get their third win of the year, after winning Sebring, and Long Beach.  It's the last lap.  Brundle will close up,  A Porsche just went off the road.  The gap is at three seconds.  Brundle has to push.  Avoid the shemozzle with traffic.

The #910 Porsche goes off the road and back on.  Half a lap to go.  Youth and enthusiasm vs. age and treachery.  It looks like Pruett (age and treachery), is going to succeed.  This is the fight for the overall win.  Despite a roller coaster season, Ganassi wins the Lone Star Le Mans!  In Prototype Challenge, it's Sean Rayhall and Luis Diaz, and they'll win!

Core Autosport are unofficially, champions in Prototype Challenge in the #54 car.  In GT Le Mans, it will be Jonathan Bomarito and Kuno Wittmer, winning for SRT Viper, and having the points lead going into the finale at Petit Le Mans.  It's a Viper double whammy as Ben Keating and Jeroen Bleekemolen, take their #33 SRT Viper to the victory in GT Daytona, as well.

Overall/Prototype: #01 Pruett/Rojas     Riley Ford EcoBoost

             Prototype
             Challenge: #25 Rayhall/Diaz   Oreca FLM 09 Chevrolet

             GT Le Mans: #93 Bomarito/Wittmer  SRT Viper GTS-R-

            GT Daytona: #33 Keating/Bleekemolen  SRT Viper GTS-R-

That does it for the Lone Star Le Mans at COTA.  The finale of the Tudor United Sports Car Championship for 2014, is the 10 hour or 1,000 mile Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, this weekend.  The race is Saturday, but will be highlighted on Sunday.  Stay tuned, for a race report, as we crown the champions and look at a fascinating event, that also happens to be the finale for the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup.

See you on Sunday, everyone.  Can't wait!

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