The battle for the Tudor Championship has been waged on some of the most iconic tracks. Two points covers the top three Prototype teams. Porsche leads GT Le Mans. We are at the newest road racing track... Circuit of the Americas, in Austin, Texas. This is round nine of the Tudor United Sports Car Championship, the Lone Star Le Mans.
Ozz Negri is doing a parade lap, celebrating Justin Wilson, their fallen friend and team mate. COTA is a great race track. But, the weather today, is a huge problem. Temperatures in the low 90s with high humidity. Porsche is on pole in GT Le Mans. BMW and Corvette want to beat Porsche. In Prototype Challenge, it's been speed vs. consistency. CORE Autosport, has had one win and some top fives. There are other teams up there. Christina Nielsen is looking to be the first woman to win an international sports car racing title.
Bill Sweedler and Townsend Bell, and then, Dion von Moltke, and Christopher Haase, in the Paul Miller Racing Audi R8 LMS, are also looking for glory. Go! The race is underway as we watch Scott Pruett take the lead. Michael Valiante flies to the lead, from sixth spot! Scott Pruett regains the lead. In GT, three Porsche's get the jump, and the Corvette's and BMW's follow. Michael Valiante is applying the pressure already. Car #31 spun into turn three.
The stakes are high, becauseof the closeness of the championship. But, these blokes are pushing like it's a 30 lap feature. The field has been told that they cannot undercut the apex, but, also, they can take lines onto the paint on the outside of the track. The track limits have been increased. Eric Curran spins on his own, coming up behind team mate (#5), Christian Fittipaldi. Meanwhile, in GT Le Mans, it's Porsche vs. BMW. They are good on long runs. Porsche has been on a roll in GTLM lately.
John Edwards is trying to pass the Risi Competizione Ferrari 458 Italia as he is driving the sister BMW Z4 GT. John Edwards is very excited about the new idea of going four off, to try and pass a rival. Dion von Moltke is running well, and Bill Sweedler in the Ferrari won't give up. Sweedler and Bell, won last time out, at Virginia International Raceway, about three weeks ago. Ooh! Patrick Lindsey almost spins through turn eleven.
There are great vantage points all over this 3.4 mile, 20 turn layout at Circuit of the Americas. But, it's sweltering in the red hot Texas sun. Polesitter Scott Pruett wants to get a first win of 2015. The #01 car has not won in a solid year, even though their sister car #02 won the Rolex 24 at the beginning of the season, back in January. Over the winter, bumps have emerged on this track. There will be just one race left after this one... the ten hour Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, in a few weeks.
Michelin is no longer using the single stint tires for the GT Le Mans cars. The #44 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT America has early troubles. The gearbox is suspect. There has also been a spin, somewhere. It was the automobile shared by Jason Hart and Mike Vess. Not sure what number it is. This line calls for a different driving style than a driver is accustomed to. Last year, we had astro turf. Now they are saying you can go as far as you can as long as you don't go off with all four wheels.
Explore track limits, to a reasonable level, as we watch the Mazda SkyActive diesel prototype of Tristan Nunez, following Prototype Challenge leader Chris Cumming. Jordan Taylor is starting to pressure Scott Pruett in the overall in Prototype competition. Jordan Taylor will surely apply the blowtorch to Pruett. #01 and #10, are long shots for the championship title as Scott Pruett passes Christina Nielsen in the TRG/AMR Aston Martin V12 Vantage in GT Daytona.
Eighteen minutes into this race, we are lapping slower traffic. This race is an all day sucker, daddy-o. Aggression is the order of the day as you've probably intuited by now. Scott Pruett continues to lead. Chris Cumming, Patrick Pilet, and Dion von Moltke all lead their respective classes. We watch Wolf Henzler, chasing Earl Bamber. Ray Mason did not realize that the #61 Prototype Challenge car, was trying him on the inside. Mason, drives the #76 Audi R8 LMS for Compass360 Racing, sharing with Pierre Kleinubing.
Pit stop time for Prototype. No minimum drive time. But, multiple driver changes are planned because of the heat. Dirk Werner has a flatspotted tire. They need to fix it. Pit stop time for Prototypes. Four tires and fuel for Jordan Taylor. Not much fuel is needed. Split strategies as Scott Pruett and Oswaldo Negri Jr. pit. Taylor is not happy about something. Ooh. The #90 of Michael Valiante, and the #5 of Christian Fittipaldi are having an issue. Now, it is down to the driver's to decide who beat who off pit lane.
There's lots of turns, and very little passing on a 20 turn, 3.47 mile road course. Oswaldo Negri Jr. has water pouring from the chin area on his helmet. That's got to be some discomfort. We watch pit stops for the #17 Falken Tire Porsche 911 RSR. Wolf Henzler stays in the car. Both factory Porsche's are also in. Same for the two Corvette's. We are ready for another green flag, and, the race restart, here at the Lone Star Le Mans.
GT cars have pitted. There's great variation in elevation change here at COTA. Lights out on the safety car. John Edwards got into the back of the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 458 Italia. Christian Fittipaldi was far off the road, ashe could not go up hill, after not gaining speed up the hill. Valiante got ahead of Fittipaldi, because the #90 has the last pit box. We are back to green,and we watch Jordan Taylor nearly slamming into the #31 car. Katherine Legge in the Deltawing also would have been in that scrum.
Eric Curran, thankfully, saved the car! Fittipaldi and Valiante are still playing dodge 'em cars! These are the championship leaders! Race control will have hawk eyes on these two blokes. They wind around the Carousel, through the stadium section. Fittipaldi forces the issue with Chris Cumming. No etiquette among the Prototype and Prototype Challenge cars, it seems. Whoa. A spin mid pack. That's the #38 Performance Tech Prototype Challenge car of James French. We also watch the #33 SRT Viper and the #48 Audi, held for a minute, running the red light at the end of pit lane.
Being in the sin bin for a minute, feels like ten. Ooh. #10 did make contact with #31. Eric Curran gets tapped by Jordan Taylor. Dig deep with a championship on the line. We watch the intra-team battle between the two Porsche's, but, BMW leads, with John Edwards at the controls, after not pitting. Edwards will be short on fuel soon. We are not seeing a large spread in GT Le Mans. Normally, the spread between the factory Corvette's, the factory Porsche's and the Falken Tire Porsche, is closer. Not now.
The Balance of Performance is changing again. Antonio Garcia and Tommy Milner are battling. #4 has won Le Mans a bunch of times. But, they have not won in the United States, in a couple years. #3 has been on a roll, winning the two enduros, and they only lost their points lead, after the Road America race. Lots of tributes have gone on in honor of Justin Wilson, who won the 2012 Rolex 24 at Daytona with Justin Wilson, and his co-drivers. There was a moment of silence, and there is a tribute decal on every car and every driver helmet in this race.
We are ten minutes from the hour mark. The silver/bronze Pro Am drivers, have reached their drive time limit. Pit stop time, for driver changes. Kuno Wittmer will take over from Christina Nielsen. Park Place Racing is staying on track. Patrick Lindsey is in the car right now. It took a while for Kuno Wittmer to start the V12 engine in that Aston Martin. 91 degrees with 65% humidity. That's muggy! Cooper MacNeil handed the #22 Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT America, to Leh Keen. Cars are harder to restart in hot weather. Maybe the engine had shut down, even though, in this series, you keep the engine running in pit lane.
Kuno Wittmer had a quicker stop, and did not need as much fuel. He took longer getting the belts fastened. We watch Mario Farnbacher battle another of the Porsche's. That is the Park Place machine of Patrick Lindsey. Wow! These two chaps are definitely going at it hammer and tongs. There's an ebb and flow to the track limits, or lack thereof. The #07 Mazda Prototype, had a belt come off the motor. This combination of Spencer Pumpelly and Patrick Lindsey, has gelled real well through the whole season.
There's more curbing (orange concrete speed bumps), that you don't want to hit. They mark turns eleven through twenty. Michael Marsal is getting out of the way, in the Turner Motorsports BMW Z4 to let the Prototypes go by. Whoops. Another spinfor James French in car #38. Pit this lap, for a full service. Co-driver Ian James says that Mario Farnbacher might do most of the driving. Eric Curran, meanwhile, is holding off Jordan Taylor, who is racing on fresher tires.
Is something not working with the #10? Meanwhile, Scott Pruett pits the #01 Riley Ford EcoBoost. Joey Hand will take over the car. A lot of drivers use electrolyte drinks to stay hydrated. Joey Hand is using just plain water. The #07 Mazda's race could be run. They are behind the wall as we've run for a good hour in this race already. We have an hour and 37 minutes remaining, folks. Keep in mind, Eric Curran was spun and facing backwards at the start. But, he is now leading. His team mate Dane Cameron will finish the race later on.
John Pew has taken over from Oswaldo Negri Jr. The car stalled, on the pit stop. Team boss Michael Shank had to say, "go!, go!, go!" several times. Oh! The #4 Corvette whacks John Pew! That was a wallop! Yikes! The boys running this Ligier Honda do not have cool suits. So, they are steaming, in the car. Jordan Taylor is having a tough time getting past Eric Curran. There are some surface blemishes coming to this track. The surface is becoming like a washboard, because of the weather changes, and the winters, which are still existent, in Texas, despite the heat we always hear about.
Patrick Pilet leads GT Le Mans ahead of his Porsche team mate, Earl Bamber. We now have less than an hour and a half to go in this race. #31 pitted for a full service stop. Eric Curran got out of the car, who needs to cool off. Dane Cameron is into the car, as Patrick Pilet spins in turn one. He tries to pass for the lead in GT Le Mans. It's Falken Tires in the middle of a Michelin sandwich. Car #90 is in the lane. Richard Westbrook takes over for Michael Valiante. Meanwhile, Wolf Henzler has passed the factory car!
Win, driving a Porsche. I wonder if these chaps will be sharing bratwurst at Rennsport Reunion next weekend. The hole shot is taking the wide, wide line, washing out rivals, between turns 19 and 20. Wolf Henzler was in low earth orbit, and these blokes needed GPS devices to tell them where they were! John Pew gets slapped with a drive through penalty from the stewards, for spinning the Porsche out. The #5 Corvette pits. The #4 Corvette is also pitting. We are past halfway, and it looks to be a battle between Richard Westbrook and Joao Barbosa, before this race is over.
More contact and more spinners. Renger van der Zande got spun, and now, Dane Cameron is hung up, and he spun, turning the other way. He might have right hand damage. Yup. Right front is tattered. He jumped the curb, forcing him into van der Zande. Dane Cameron tells the team there is a vibration in the car. The damage is a long way from the wheel arch. Ooh! #61 spins. That's Don Yount and Ryan Lewis. #31 did not serve a penalty in time, as now the full course yellow is out. Yount or Lewis (whoever is driving), could not re-fire the car.
Joey Hand leads, and has six laps less fuel than the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette Prototype. The #60 Ligier Honda pits, and Oswaldo Negri Jr. gets back in the car, taking it to the checkers. Pits are open for Prototypes. The GT field finishes their pit stops, with just over an hour remaining in this event. Lights out on the safety car. We are ready for a restart. We are back to green. Hard to defend into turn one. Joey Hand wants to give Ganassi Racing another win, and the first of the season for car #01. Ricky Taylor is understeering.
We see #90 aheads of #5. Westbrook third and Barbosa fourth. Memo Rojas is in the Deltawing. Colin Braun passes Tom Kimber-Smith for second in Prototype Challenge as Oswaldo Negri Jr. wants by. Prototype Challenge cars are a half a second or so off the Prototype pace. The #48 Audi spins, and loses a spot up at the top of the hill. Christopher Haase at the wheel. Paul Miller Racing's day has gone pear shaped.
Race Director Beaux Barfield said, "hey, if you are fighting for a championship, you don't have special privileges, because other drivers are fighting for a win." Kuno Wittmer leads GT Daytona. But, the final pit stops are coming, and fast. There's fisticuffs going on for positions behind the Aston Martin in GT Daytona. Dodge 'em cars, and off road excursions, ahoy. But, the racing is still good. Bad news, however, after Jon Bennett (the Prototype Challenge leader for CORE Autosport), loses power steering. The car is smoking, too.
Correction. Colin Braun is in the car. They will leave him out there unless he gets too fatigued. These cars are designed for power steering. The geometry is not set up with the suspension, to drive the cars with manual steering. Suspension geometry, tire grip, and aerodynamics all play a part. #60 and #5 pit. Action Express does fuel only for their final stop. They needed a splash and dash. It is great to see the Mazda diesel Prototype's back on track. Take in every bit of the diesel four cylinder, before the new petrol motor comes next year.
Car #90 is pitting. You have to respond to the leader. #10 beats out the #90. Ricky Taylor takes the car to the finish. These blokes did not take tires. Just fuel. Under 45 minutes to go. Joey Hand pitted, and they did a four tire change, due to having lots more fuel needed. They needed a full fuel load at Ganassi Racing. The Deltawing leads, with Memo Rojas at the controls. Katherine Legge and Memo Rojas are continuing to run well under the guidance of former Ganassi team boss, Tim Keane.
We watch Nick Tandy leading GT Le Mans. Nick Tandy signed a racing suit he wore at Le Mans for the win in that race, for the Justin Wilson memorial auction fund. Porsche, BMW, and Ferrari, are running in the 2:06 range. All of them, running those identical times, show how close GTLM racing is here, compared to earlier races this year. Kuno Wittmer continues to lead GT Daytona, despite the team making just one pit stop. We have only about 35 minutes to go in this race.
The #007 car pits for fresh tires and fuel. They did not need a full fuel load at TRG AMR. The top three has changed order. Joey Hand is in P1. #01 has been really quick, and they have not won in over a year. Joey Hand has to push the car. Car #5 was tapped by Townsend Bell, spinning the Corvette, and the #90 Corvette goes by. #90 is fourth in the overall and #5 is sixth. Scuderia Corsa is waiting for a penalty call by the marshals. Barbosa retaliates on Townsend Bell. He's not happy. Whoa! He gets slammed by the Turner Motorsports BMW Z4 GT in the hands of Markus Palttala. Palttala is racing with Townsend Bell.
Palttala has not won, as he was at the Spa 24 Hours for Marc VDS when Turner won at Lime Rock Park. Townsend Bell will have to do a drive through penalty for spinning the #5 car out. People will have nightmares about the incidents from today's race, going into the finale at Petit Le Mans in a few weeks. Scott Pruett is a veteran driver. But, he is as tough as shoe leather. Now, the DeltaWing has spun, and almost got in the gravel. He's back in it. Ooh! What a lockup on the front tires. He, or she. Not sure if it's Memo Rojas, or, Katherine Legge.
Another championship twist, folks. Townsend Bell got a drive through penalty for contact with Barbosa. For retaliating, he will get a stop and hold penalty. Tensions are high here. In the Prototype Challenge battle, Colin Braun leads sans power steering, with his rivals all bunched up behind. Conor Daly, Mikhail Goikhberg, Bruno Junquiera, Tom Kimber-Smith, and others. Tom Kimber-Smith gets around Conor Daly. Jeroen Bleekemolen is looking for victory in GT Daytona along with Ben Keating.
This is a home race for Ben Keating and ViperExchange.com, in Texas. The #24 BMW Z4 GT of John Edwards and Lucas Luhr, has not had the best race today. Fuel will be tight on the extreme ends of the fuel windows for GTLM and GTD cars, both. TRG AMR has their Aston Martin back on top in class. Joey Hand, with ten minutes left, will hear everything, as he is going to get his first sports car win, in a good three years. He won the 2012 GT championship, and then, went to race in DTM touring cars in Germany, for a couple of years.
Richard Westbrook has to hold on to third spot, but, he is feeling the heat from Oswaldo Negri Jr. in the MSR Ligier Honda. It would be awesome if their Justin Wilson tribute car, could get on the podium. Juan Pablo Montoya wants to test the FIA WEC factory Porsche, that won the World Endurance Championship round at COTA, yesterday, which ran after this race being highlighted now. Oh my. Joao Barbosa just found out that he has to take a penalty and is told to pit. Tough on the team, but justified. Where is Memo Rojas in the Deltawing? He could leapfrog the Action Express car.
Colin Braun continues to lead in Prototype Challenge, despite losing power steering. Just about five minutes left in this race. #5 is back on track. But, this may have taken a chance to win, out. He loses a minute and a half, which is 2/3rds of a lap around Circuit of the Americas. Joey Hand still leads overall and in Prototype. Some GTLM and GTD cars are running out of fuel. A splash and dash will be needed, so these chaps won't be lugging it at the end.
#911 pits. What do BMW have to do? This is so close to the end, with a white flag coming next lap. #911 and #912 both pit. Ooh. Connection missed on #911 and #912. It has cost them the class lead. Dirk Werner is now leading GTLM for BMW. Werner and Bill Auberlen will close the points gap in GTLM if they win this, and go into the finale. Save fuel, and be smart. The #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 458 Italia is right behind, with Giancarlo Fisichella at the controls, taking it to the flag. One lap left here at COTA for Ganassi Racing. They won this race a year ago. They have only one race left with the Riley Ford EcoBoost prototype, before they go GT racing with the new Ford GT with the same EcoBoost V6 powerplant.
The #90 VisitFlorida.com Corvette Prototype will be the highest placed Chevrolet powered prototype, and also, the Ligier Honda is right there, with Oswaldo Negri Jr. Negri needs to draft the Corvette down the straight. Can he do it? Thundering Chevrolet vs. turbocharged Honda V6. Joey Hand and Scott Pruett have gone back-to-back at the Lone Star Le Mans, and not going winless in 2015!
Negri and Westbrook split a GTD Audi! Westbrook gets third, over Negri Jr! It is going to go down to the wire and Renger van der Zande has crashed right at the end. Jeroen Bleekemolen and Ben Keating win GT Daytona with the #33 car. In GT Le Mans, Dirk Werner and Bill Auberlen win GT Le Mans, cutting into the lead held by Patrick Pilet and Porsche. Colin Braun and Jon Bennett take the Prototype Challenge win, without power steering. Yikes!
Overall/Prototype: #01 Pruett/Hand Riley Ford EcoBoost
Prototype
Challenge: #05 Braun/Bennett Oreca FLM Chevrolet
GT Le Mans: #25 Werner/Auberlen BMW Z4 GT
GT Daytona: #33 Keating/Bleekemolen SRT Viper GTS-R-
The finale of the 2015 Tudor Championship, will be the 10 hour Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, in the red clay hills of northern Georgia. Braselton, Georgia, to be precise (just outside the capitol city of Atlanta), coming up in less than two weeks.
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