Lots of news out of the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship headed for Sunday's next round of the championship at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.
Chase Confirmed for Remainder of Season at Starworks
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/chase-confirmed-for-remainder-of-season-at-starworks/
Nielsen Confirmed in MSR Acura for Mid-Ohio
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/nielsen-confirmed-in-msr-acura-for-mid-ohio/
Lamborghini Hit With Weight Increase for Mid-Ohio
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/lamborghini-hit-with-weight-increase-for-mid-ohio/
Lone Star Returns; 36 Entries for Mid-Ohio in Sprint Cup Debut
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/lone-star-returns-36-entries-in-mid-ohio-sprint-cup-debut/
Laurens Vanthoor's latest column.
VANTHOOR: Winning in Long Beach
https://sportscar365.com/features/commentary/vanthoor-winning-in-long-beach/
Lone Star Set for Five-Race Sprint Cup Program
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/lone-star-set-for-five-race-sprint-cup-program/
Hunter-Reay to Sub for Tincknell at Mid-Ohio
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/hunter-reay-to-sub-for-tincknell-at-mid-ohio/
Castroneves Aiming to "Take the Lead" in DPi Points at Mid-Ohio
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/castroneves-aiming-to-take-the-lead-in-dpi-points-at-mid-ohio/
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
FIA WEC news headed for Spa
Heading into the penultimate race of the 2018-2019 FIA WEC "Super Season" at Spa Francorchamps in Belgium this weekend, some news to catch up on, including DragonSpeed withdrawing from the race due to issues with electronics on the car.
FIA Introduces Fuel Flow Meters for GTE-Pro Cars
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/fia-introduces-fuel-flow-meters-to-gte-pro-cars/
LMP1 Non-Hybrids Receive EoT Fuel Break for Spa
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/lmp1-non-hybrids-receive-eot-fuel-break-for-spa/
Ford Confirms Bomarito for 24H Le Mans
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/ford-confirms-bomarito-for-le-mans/
DragonSpeed Withdraws LMP1 Entry from Spa
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/dragonspeed-withdraws-lmp1-entry-from-spa/
FIA Introduces Fuel Flow Meters for GTE-Pro Cars
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/fia-introduces-fuel-flow-meters-to-gte-pro-cars/
LMP1 Non-Hybrids Receive EoT Fuel Break for Spa
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/lmp1-non-hybrids-receive-eot-fuel-break-for-spa/
Ford Confirms Bomarito for 24H Le Mans
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/ford-confirms-bomarito-for-le-mans/
DragonSpeed Withdraws LMP1 Entry from Spa
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/dragonspeed-withdraws-lmp1-entry-from-spa/
Double Stint: VIR Recap; Matt Fassnacht Interview (4-30-19)
The latest Double Stint podcast recapping Blancpain GT America and Pirelli GT4 America from VIR and also including an interview with GT4 race winner, Matt Fassnacht.
https://sportscar365.com/podcasts/double-stint/double-stint-vir-recap-matt-fassnacht-interview/
https://sportscar365.com/podcasts/double-stint/double-stint-vir-recap-matt-fassnacht-interview/
Monday, April 29, 2019
Baptista, Soulet Win Race 2; K-PAX Sweeps VIR
Rodrigo Baptista, Maxime Soulet take Blancpain GT World Challenge Race 2 win...
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt-america/baptista-soulet-win-race-2-k-pax-sweeps-vir/
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt-america/baptista-soulet-win-race-2-k-pax-sweeps-vir/
Blancpain GT World Challenge America, VIR: Race 2
We are set for the second Blancpain GT World Challenge America race of the weekend at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia. The cars are on track, on their formation lap. Remember now, this race will be an hour and a half, and for ten minutes at the halfway mark, the pit stop window will open for tires and a driver change. In some of the Am class cars, the starting drivers are very, very competitive. Dane Cameron, Ryan Dalziel, Colin Braun, Kyle Marcelli, Matt Plumb... there are some great drivers ready to race. 60 seconds is the minimum time you spend in the pit lane. You've got to be quick! No margin for error.
Lots of power and massive downforce in GT3 cars as we know and it's demanding here on a track like Virginia International Raceway. The Oak Tree corner is a major part of the course. The oak tree it was named for may be gone, but the corner itself is still very daunting. Don't burn the tires off too early. There is a secondary pit lane but it won't be anything but a second grandstand today. We are set for round four of the 2019 Blancpain GT World Challenge America championship. The field is set. The safety car eases toward pit lane. Andy Soucek and Toni Vilander on the front row. Drop the hammer! It's go time! Green flag! Round four underway!
Vilander tires for the lead, look, but Soucek goes for it almost immediately and here comes Ryan Dalziel and Scott Hargrove flies into the race lead still on cold tires. Vilander has dropped like a stone already. Through the esses for the first time climbing uphill. Tire pressures are not up just yet. Scott Hargrove leads the motor race. Down the backstretch they go for the first time. Track position is critrical after nil points on Saturday. Acura leads Pro Am, Dane Cameron at the wheel of it. Recall on Saturday, Bret Curtis was penalized by the stewards after contact with Martin Barkey in the Racer's Edge Acura. Now, Toni Vilander is pressing hard. Points are scored based on overall finishing positions, and not the position in class.
Vilander will be fighting. Both these blokes are experienced and they are fighters. Now, Andy Soucek is working to reel in the Porsche. R. Ferri does not have an overall win at VIR. They want a win here, as the other tracks on the schedule, they've won at. The reason there is no longer a tree at the Oak Tree corner, is because it was felled several years ago during a major storm. The throttle is matted on the back straight and Ryan Dalziel is definitely on form as we watch ahead from the onboard camera in the Ferrari, down the Rollercoaster, and through Hog Pen. Like the Oak Tree corner, there used to be a farm and a pigpen off to the side of the road. Vilander is pressing hard. Oh man, they almost touch, look!
Vilander tries the undercut. Last year, Mike Skeen passed Daniel Morad in this same turn. Maxime Soulet has passed Colin Braun as well. Kyle Marcelli is looking racy in the #80 Racer's Edge Acura NSX GT3 as well. It's settling down at the sharp end now. Maxime Soulet is also a very competitive driver. Rodrigo Baptista, the Brazilian, is his co-driver. Baptista and Soulet as a Pro Am pairing, won race one at VIR last year. Colin Braun and Kyle Marcelli are chasing and so is Matt Plumb. Matt Campbell is in the #91 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R. Campbell, the Aussie, is a hot shoe as well and you know that if you follow worldwide GT3 racing.
The R. Ferri team's strategy with the tires seem to work really well. Maxime Soulet continues harrying Ryan Dalziel, look. Rain on Friday made it harder for Bentley's rivals to catch them. Vilander is clear of Dalziel. Soulet is putting daylight between himself and Colin Braun. RealTime Racing, legends of World Challenge competition, are back in the 1990s. Dane Cameron's uncle, Steve Cameron, was an Acura driver in the 1990s. Scott Hargrove has a 1.4 second lead over Andy Soucek as we watch Toni Vilander pushing, pushing, pushing.
Scott Hargrove makes a move around the outside. Soucek and Vilander may have brushed each other buit it is hard to say. Vilander is in hot pursuit of Dane Cameron. Scott Hargrove had a very knackered race car, and a couple crew members were able to send parts from Black Swan Racing to help their fellow Porsche team who had to drive 400 miles south to Savannah, Georgia. Scott Hargrove has the ability and confidence to drive a race car. That's for sure. The Canadian is becoming quite the driver. His margin has blossomed a little bit, over the Bentley. Hargrove had to be dreaming about how this race was going to work out while asleep the night before. Track limits are hard to figure out at a track like this.
More room had to be given, according to Race Director Alain Adam. Cameron is feeling the pressure from Vilander and he botches the turn in to Oak Tree but continues. Mega move at the end of the straight as Maxime Soulet swoops past Ryan Dalziel. Dalziel has trouble with the Mercedes. He must have a Pirelli tire going down and has to make an unscheduled pit stop just 15 minutes into the motor race. Can Dane Cameron hang on over Toni Vilander? That's the question. RealTime missed the season opening event at Circuit of the Americas. Cameron gets some space over Vilander. Scott Hargrove has had a two second lead but Andy Soucek is coming in a hurry.
Turn one is an increasing radius corner. We saw Martin Barkey fly off the road on Saturday. This is the Sunday race of course, being reported on, on a Monday. Toni Vilander made that mega move on Kyle Marcelli in the Saturday race of course and he is very decisive in his overtaking. Decisive and capable, is Vilander. Vilander will score points if indeed he makes his way past Cameron. Maxime Soulet has turned on the afterburners breaking into the 1:44 bracket. Colin Braun shares the CrowdStrike/Amazon Web Services Mercedes AMG GT3 with George Kurtz, and Kyle Marcelli is sharing the Racer's Edge Acura with Martin Barkey.
Matt Plumb is running really well, too with Matt Campbell behind him. Campbell is a global Porsche factory driver. Marco Holzer is next in the #24 Alegra Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R. Racer's Edge and team boss John Morachi, are running extremely well at this time. RealTime Racing boss Peter Cunningham is a legend of World Challenge and he is confident that the Cameron/Curtis team, his drivers, can run extremely well. They are focused on the Pro Am victory. Peter Cunningham is also on the World Challenge America Board of Directors with the SRO. Dane Cameron is hanging on ahead of Vilander and Soulet, and Vilander slides wide into Oak Tree. Maxime Soulet has fastest lap of the motor race thus far.
Colin Braun is hanging on again in sixth place over Kyle Marcelli and Matt Plumb, followed by Matt Campbell. In the Am class, Martin Fuentes leads in the Squadra Corsa Garage Italia Ferrari 488 GT3 with sponsorship from Hublot watches. Next up is the #19 Ferrari of Chris Cagnazzi driving for One11 Competition sharing with Brian Kaminsky. They are in line for the Kavana Cup at the end of the year. Fuentes with co-driver Cesar Bacarella, are really improving. Scott Hargrove leads, heading down through the bottom of The Rollercoaster. Andy Soucek has set his fastest lap of the day in the Bentley at 1:45.1. Pit stop time is near. Through The Snake, they go, turns five and six. Then, the blast back uphill through the esses.
Toni Vilander is all over Dane Cameron like the proverbial el cheapo suito here, look. GT3 cars are so aerodynamically sensitive. You need the power and the aero grip to work together. High speed corners through the esses. This is a stout scrap between Dane Cameron, Toni Vilander, and Maxime Soulet. GT3 racing is so, so competitive. Just incredible. Vilander and Molina are defending champions in this series which was titled Pirelli World Challenge GT last year. Dane Cameron is giving Vilander a tow, much like the DRS unit in Formula 1. Soulet is right up on Vilander. K-PAX has had a much better start to 2019 than they did to the '18 campaign, going through chassis' like we go through cookies, just eating them up.
But, the 2019 campaign for these boys has gone very well so far. Maxime Soulet is closing in on the Ferrari and the Acura, and you can hear a harmonic between the different engines. V8, V6, flat six. That's why we love sports car racing. Deary me! There's a big off course moment as Andy Soucek has spun the sister Bentley, fortunately not hitting anything, and parking nicely on the grass. No time for parking, sunshine. This is a raceway, not a car park. Try to start it and get back into the race. Maybe he's beached it. Oh, well, it looks like he can get going, but the Spaniard has been under real pressure to perform. He didn't have a good race at the Bathurst 12 Hours to open the Intercontinental GT Challenge, and was benched by Bentley for the California 8 Hours in favor of another driver. So, he needs to prove himself.
He's headed for the lane, look. He's got no left rear tire! Apologies to Andy, with a tech issue that has caused him to fly off the road. No tire on the left rear, look. Quite the bugaboo, and he was way off the road rarly into the corner and was jolly lucky to not hit the guardrail or run smack into a tree. Where was the damage created on the Pirelli tire? More tire engineers from Pirelli are on site to study it. Scott Hargrove has a tremendous amount of daylight over Dane Cameron right now. K-PAX team boss Darren Law is not sure why the tire blew on the Bentley. The sister car is still running and so is Soucek who is 16th overall. He needs a yellow to get back in the game. Hargrove, Cameron, Vilander, and Soulet are your top four so far.
Scott Hargrove still has a buffer but he ran a bad last lap. His lead has shrunk a little bit. Maxime Soulet will have to watch out for the curbs as this race continues. Five or so minutes from now, we will see the pit window open at 50 minutes to go. By the time 40 minutes appears, you should be in the lane, or, have already made a pit stop. 60 seconds is the delta time you must meet. You have to wonder if Toni Vilander is being annoyed by the Acura orange and white livery. Toni Vilander doesn't mince words. He tells it like it is. Maxime Soulet has probably backed it down and is running at 8/10ths or 9/10ths instead of 10/10ths.
The margin between Hargrove and Cameron is still shrinking. Cameron is closing up and is under pressure from Vilander as we go for a ride with Toni Vilander around VIR. Pictures show the car racing around the track, but with the scream of the Ferrari V8 in the background. We are not riding directly with Toni, from the onboard camera. Vilander is catching the Porsche, and well, so is Dane Cameron. Cameron will extend his run before pitting and turning the car over to Bret Curtis. Cameron lays down his fastest lap of the motor race, his personal best. Pit stop time coming for Hargrove. 60 seconds minimum time in the lane. K-PAX and Wright were on the button, and other teams were 10-15 seconds over that pit margin.
Now, it is game on for Hargrove vs. Cameron. The pit window is open. Here comes Cameron, looking into the corner, and Hargrove slams the door in his face. Pit window open. Here he goes. Hargrove in the lane. Cameron into the lead with Vilander now second. Great stint for Hargrove. Her will hand the car over to Patrick Long. 60.6 seconds in the lane. Good stop! Michael de Quesada brings the #22 Alegra Motorsports Porsche to the pit lane, handing the car over to Daniel Morad. Ryan Eversley hands over to Till Bechtelsheimer. They are long on their stop, too. Keep the fast guy in the car until the last possible moment as Vilander and Soulet are catching Cameron hand over fist!
How hard does Toni Vilander push as Patrick Long will have fresh tires? Daniel Morad had a 71.8 second stop. They were slow! Dear me! That's not good. The Gradient Acura, car #5 had a 75 second stop! That's the Bechtelsheimer/Eversley duo. Vilander in the lane, to hand over to Miguel Molina, as they want to leapfrog Patrick Long. Enrico Deanno, team manager is also the lollipop man. Now, Molina will have to push just as hard as Vilander did. That stop may have took longer than they wanted. 62.1 seconds. They should have dropped the car off the air jacks just a tad earlier. Now, Patrick Long is right on Molina's six, and Molina tries slamming the door in his face, but will Long have it? Hot tires for Molina, and the Spaniard isn't just going to roll over and play dead.
Molina runs wide into the grass! Long is pressing hard through The Snake and the esses. Jeepers creepers! Long needs the setup through Oak Tree. The Roller Coaster is crucial. This is hot and heavy stuff, chaps. How close do you like it? Pit stop time for the #3 Bentley as Maxime Soulet hands over to Rodrigo Baptista. They have a good stop, and they had a 60.2 second stop! That was close! Baptista has a margin. Dane Cameron leads the motor race extending the run. The pit window will close soon. Cameron has to hurry. Patrick Long has settled down just a bit. He still has cold tires.
Bret Curtis is waiting to take over the Acura and he will have veteran drivers breathing dsown his neck. Bad stop for Cameron/Curtis and RealTime! Dear me! Baptista makes a pass and RealTime loses the overall lead but might still have the lead in Pro Am. Andy Soucek is in the lane, and we have a fire in the Bentley pit! This is a race team's worst nightmare. Fire in the pit lane. Andy Soucek dove out of the car. The fuel spilled and ignited out of the hose. The fire is extinguished. There was a major fireball, but the situation is resolved. Fire is the worst enemy of a racing driver. However, the sister K-PAX Bentley #3 of Rodrigo Baptista has the lead of this motor race with less than 40 minutes to go.
Baptista is catching David Askew in the #63 DXDT Mercedes AMG GT3 Pro Am car. Askew is going to block Baptista. Baptista is the minnow. Molina is the shark. He's coming in a hurry. Rodrigo clears the David Askew Mercedes. Molina is still in attack mode. But he too, gets balked by the Mercedes. Baptista, Molina, Askew, Long. Once again, these are the four drivers in the battle for position. Kevin Milstein for K2R Motorsports in the Porsche 911 GT3R and here comes Anthony Imperato in the #91 Porsche 911 GT3R, the Pro Am entry for Wright Motorsports, who spins the car he shares with Matt Campbell and keeps on trucking.
Anthony Imperato picks up a place after his spin. He has been passed by George Kurtz and Bret Curtis still leads Pro Am. The #80 Racer's Edge Acura NSX GT3 had a terribly long stop when Martin Barkey took over the car. Barkey will have pull the rabbit out of the hat to get back into contention, after winning Pro Am in the Saturday race and finishing fourth in the overall. Kyle Marcelli is also the real deal. He is a great driver. Stefan Johansson is Marcelli's manager, and so, with the backing of a great like Johansson, you know you are going places as a racing driver. Martin Barkey lets Miguel Molina go past. Patrick Long will also try clearing Barkey.
No worries for Pro Am. They are scored as they finish, not in the overall running order. The lead trio has some clear track so we can start seeing their pace again. Long has an idea of how his co-driver Hargrove did, and well, Patrick Long is recovering after tire degradation got in Hargrove's way, as Rodrigo Baptista continues to lead the motor race, and Miguel Molina and Patrick Long are still giving chase. The championship points will reshuffle after this race as Baptista is pressing hard into turn ten. Cesar Bacarella opened the door, but Baptista nearly went off the road. Patrick Long also passes Cesar Bacarella, leader in the Am category. Again, half an hour to go.
Molina is running really smoothly as he climbs through the esses again. Rodrigo Baptista has 1.4 seconds in hand over the Ferrari, but Molina is running quicker. Patrick Long is catching up as well. The car is running real well, and they had qualifying tires on the car of course, before their pit stop. As you come into the weekend, a team is allotted only so many new Pirelli tires. You have to decide how to manage them. Wet tires don't factor into the tire allocation necessarily. The qualifying session was wet though. Nothing in it in terms of the speed of the top three as we watch Daniel Morad being chased by George Kurtz. Morad, like Hargrove, is a Canadian driver. Kurtz is sharing the Mercedes with Colin Braun of course.
Morad had his breakout race here at Virginia International Raceway. Morad, headed for Hog Pen, the pit stop exchange for him and Michael de Quesada, went long, and they are trying hard to push and catch up. Another stop, too, for David Askew in the DXDT Mercedes. Drive through penalty for #63 and maybe it was an equipment infraction. Miguel Molina is now in the lane for a completely unscheduled pit stop! Oh dear. What's going on? Maybe there is a tire issue. Ah yes. The left rear Pirelli is being changd. These blokes were running real well, but this has perhaps ruined their race with just over 20 minutes remaining. Molina works his way back through The Snake and the esses. The sensors on the car save you from catastrophe, but this is not according to the R. Ferri team's plans.
Molina is now applying the pressure again to Daniel Morad before this race ends. Rodrigo Baptista still leads, with a margin that has ballooned to four seconds. But, what about the pit fire? Everyone is OK according to Darren Law. The fuel probe spilled and lit off the red hot headers. K-PAX have been practicing pit stops over and over again and their strategist, Thomas Blam has to be one of the best race tacticians out there. We see a replay of Baptista's shunt from Saturday's race which was heavy contact with the tire barriers. The Bentley's have the driver on the opposite side of the car since they are right hand drive. Pit lane is crucial on entry in that case and Soucek bumped the fueler when he dove out of the car.
Anthony Imperato chases George Kurtz in the Am class. He is in hot pursuit of David Askew. Bret Curtis is running really well as Martin Barkey spins out of the exit of Hog Pen onto the front straight. That was a driver error. A slight wiggle onto the curb, and... screech! He spins out. No harm no foul. He's back after it. No margin for error here at VIR though. We have less than 15 minutes to go now. Caesar Bacarella continues to lead in Am, putting a pass on Kevin Milstein in the K2R Porsche 911 GT3R #38. Bacarella will lap the #19 Ferrari. Bacarella/Fuentes, these two have dominated Am class competition at VIR.
Brian Kaminskey is fighting hard but has to give it up. TR3 runs Squadra Cosra Garage Italia. Meanwhile, Bret Curtis has been running extremely well today in the #43 Acura NSX GT3, staying close to the #24 Alegra Motorsports Porsche in the hands of Wolf Henzler. Watch the outside of the circuit as the grip is just not there. Just over ten minutes to go now. Anthony Imperato is off the road another time, and gets back on course after being in the grass. Watch out for running wide over the curbs, and that's echactly what he did. He slammed the curbs, going to the throttle and spun out, fortunately not hitting anything.
Till Bechtolsheimer has run very well in the Gradient Acura. He is a historic racer in Europe and he's surely a wheel man. A scrap for fifth, as Miguel Molina is closing on Daniel Morad. Morad and Molina get caught in lapped traffic and Molina nearly gets chopped by Kaminsky! Yikes! R. Ferri needs any points they can get after the delaminated tire earlier in this race. Molina is nearly on the rev limiter. They sweep out of Oak Tree and down the back straightaway. When the rev limiter kicks in, it has to do so gently, and cuts the power, affecting the balance of the car. Molina is chasing Morad who hangs onto the spot. Molina is really applying the blowtorch.
Bret Curtis is third followed by Morad and Molina. Molina has a run on Morad, and tries inside but no dice. Vilander made a move like that on Marcelli on Saturday. Under five minutes left in round four of Blancpain GT World Challenge America. Bret Curtis just has to let Morad and Molina go. Curtis is looking for a win in Pro Am as we've talked about, with George Kurtz 22 seconds behind. Curtis goes way to the inside and Molina goes with him, chasing the Porsche. Morad is foruth and Molina is now fifth. Molina has a run on Daniel Morad, and Morad in the Porsche protects the line,m look.
Molina wants to press his nose into this scrap and try to pass Daniel Morad. The Canadian continues holding off the Spaniard. Daniel Morad is staying with it, not cracking under pressure. Two years ago here at VIR, Morad had Jeroen Bleekemolen all over him. Meanwhile, Bret Curtis still leads Pro Am. You haven't missed anything there. Patrick Long will rebound after nil points on Saturday buit the #3 Bentley's lead has ballooned outwards once again. The #3 Bentley will continue to be in play for the championship. Rodrigo Baptista on his final lap around VIR. Time has now elapsed and Baptista is up through Oak Tree for the last time as Bechtolsheimer runs off the road. David Askew in the Mercedes has pulled off.
But, no worries for Baptista into the Rollercoaster one more time. He weaves down through the final turns, throuhgh Hog Pen, and it's a Bentley sweep at VIR for each car, earning a win! K-PAX can celebrate! Congratulations to Rodrigo Baptista and Maxime Soulet, who have now gone back-to-back in successive wins at VIR! Dane Cameron and Bret Curtis win Pro Am, and Caesar Bacarella and Martin Fuentes win Am.
Overall/Pro: #3 Baptista/Soulet K-PAX Racing Bentley Continental GT3
Pro Am: #43 Cameron/Curtis RealTime Racing Acura NSX GT3
Am: #7 Bacarella/Fuentes Squadra Corsa Garage Italia Ferrari 488 GT3
The next event on the Blancpain World Challenge America schedule is north of the border in Canada at the legendary Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (Mosport Park), in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada, in three weeks.
Lots of power and massive downforce in GT3 cars as we know and it's demanding here on a track like Virginia International Raceway. The Oak Tree corner is a major part of the course. The oak tree it was named for may be gone, but the corner itself is still very daunting. Don't burn the tires off too early. There is a secondary pit lane but it won't be anything but a second grandstand today. We are set for round four of the 2019 Blancpain GT World Challenge America championship. The field is set. The safety car eases toward pit lane. Andy Soucek and Toni Vilander on the front row. Drop the hammer! It's go time! Green flag! Round four underway!
Vilander tires for the lead, look, but Soucek goes for it almost immediately and here comes Ryan Dalziel and Scott Hargrove flies into the race lead still on cold tires. Vilander has dropped like a stone already. Through the esses for the first time climbing uphill. Tire pressures are not up just yet. Scott Hargrove leads the motor race. Down the backstretch they go for the first time. Track position is critrical after nil points on Saturday. Acura leads Pro Am, Dane Cameron at the wheel of it. Recall on Saturday, Bret Curtis was penalized by the stewards after contact with Martin Barkey in the Racer's Edge Acura. Now, Toni Vilander is pressing hard. Points are scored based on overall finishing positions, and not the position in class.
Vilander will be fighting. Both these blokes are experienced and they are fighters. Now, Andy Soucek is working to reel in the Porsche. R. Ferri does not have an overall win at VIR. They want a win here, as the other tracks on the schedule, they've won at. The reason there is no longer a tree at the Oak Tree corner, is because it was felled several years ago during a major storm. The throttle is matted on the back straight and Ryan Dalziel is definitely on form as we watch ahead from the onboard camera in the Ferrari, down the Rollercoaster, and through Hog Pen. Like the Oak Tree corner, there used to be a farm and a pigpen off to the side of the road. Vilander is pressing hard. Oh man, they almost touch, look!
Vilander tries the undercut. Last year, Mike Skeen passed Daniel Morad in this same turn. Maxime Soulet has passed Colin Braun as well. Kyle Marcelli is looking racy in the #80 Racer's Edge Acura NSX GT3 as well. It's settling down at the sharp end now. Maxime Soulet is also a very competitive driver. Rodrigo Baptista, the Brazilian, is his co-driver. Baptista and Soulet as a Pro Am pairing, won race one at VIR last year. Colin Braun and Kyle Marcelli are chasing and so is Matt Plumb. Matt Campbell is in the #91 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R. Campbell, the Aussie, is a hot shoe as well and you know that if you follow worldwide GT3 racing.
The R. Ferri team's strategy with the tires seem to work really well. Maxime Soulet continues harrying Ryan Dalziel, look. Rain on Friday made it harder for Bentley's rivals to catch them. Vilander is clear of Dalziel. Soulet is putting daylight between himself and Colin Braun. RealTime Racing, legends of World Challenge competition, are back in the 1990s. Dane Cameron's uncle, Steve Cameron, was an Acura driver in the 1990s. Scott Hargrove has a 1.4 second lead over Andy Soucek as we watch Toni Vilander pushing, pushing, pushing.
Scott Hargrove makes a move around the outside. Soucek and Vilander may have brushed each other buit it is hard to say. Vilander is in hot pursuit of Dane Cameron. Scott Hargrove had a very knackered race car, and a couple crew members were able to send parts from Black Swan Racing to help their fellow Porsche team who had to drive 400 miles south to Savannah, Georgia. Scott Hargrove has the ability and confidence to drive a race car. That's for sure. The Canadian is becoming quite the driver. His margin has blossomed a little bit, over the Bentley. Hargrove had to be dreaming about how this race was going to work out while asleep the night before. Track limits are hard to figure out at a track like this.
More room had to be given, according to Race Director Alain Adam. Cameron is feeling the pressure from Vilander and he botches the turn in to Oak Tree but continues. Mega move at the end of the straight as Maxime Soulet swoops past Ryan Dalziel. Dalziel has trouble with the Mercedes. He must have a Pirelli tire going down and has to make an unscheduled pit stop just 15 minutes into the motor race. Can Dane Cameron hang on over Toni Vilander? That's the question. RealTime missed the season opening event at Circuit of the Americas. Cameron gets some space over Vilander. Scott Hargrove has had a two second lead but Andy Soucek is coming in a hurry.
Turn one is an increasing radius corner. We saw Martin Barkey fly off the road on Saturday. This is the Sunday race of course, being reported on, on a Monday. Toni Vilander made that mega move on Kyle Marcelli in the Saturday race of course and he is very decisive in his overtaking. Decisive and capable, is Vilander. Vilander will score points if indeed he makes his way past Cameron. Maxime Soulet has turned on the afterburners breaking into the 1:44 bracket. Colin Braun shares the CrowdStrike/Amazon Web Services Mercedes AMG GT3 with George Kurtz, and Kyle Marcelli is sharing the Racer's Edge Acura with Martin Barkey.
Matt Plumb is running really well, too with Matt Campbell behind him. Campbell is a global Porsche factory driver. Marco Holzer is next in the #24 Alegra Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R. Racer's Edge and team boss John Morachi, are running extremely well at this time. RealTime Racing boss Peter Cunningham is a legend of World Challenge and he is confident that the Cameron/Curtis team, his drivers, can run extremely well. They are focused on the Pro Am victory. Peter Cunningham is also on the World Challenge America Board of Directors with the SRO. Dane Cameron is hanging on ahead of Vilander and Soulet, and Vilander slides wide into Oak Tree. Maxime Soulet has fastest lap of the motor race thus far.
Colin Braun is hanging on again in sixth place over Kyle Marcelli and Matt Plumb, followed by Matt Campbell. In the Am class, Martin Fuentes leads in the Squadra Corsa Garage Italia Ferrari 488 GT3 with sponsorship from Hublot watches. Next up is the #19 Ferrari of Chris Cagnazzi driving for One11 Competition sharing with Brian Kaminsky. They are in line for the Kavana Cup at the end of the year. Fuentes with co-driver Cesar Bacarella, are really improving. Scott Hargrove leads, heading down through the bottom of The Rollercoaster. Andy Soucek has set his fastest lap of the day in the Bentley at 1:45.1. Pit stop time is near. Through The Snake, they go, turns five and six. Then, the blast back uphill through the esses.
Toni Vilander is all over Dane Cameron like the proverbial el cheapo suito here, look. GT3 cars are so aerodynamically sensitive. You need the power and the aero grip to work together. High speed corners through the esses. This is a stout scrap between Dane Cameron, Toni Vilander, and Maxime Soulet. GT3 racing is so, so competitive. Just incredible. Vilander and Molina are defending champions in this series which was titled Pirelli World Challenge GT last year. Dane Cameron is giving Vilander a tow, much like the DRS unit in Formula 1. Soulet is right up on Vilander. K-PAX has had a much better start to 2019 than they did to the '18 campaign, going through chassis' like we go through cookies, just eating them up.
But, the 2019 campaign for these boys has gone very well so far. Maxime Soulet is closing in on the Ferrari and the Acura, and you can hear a harmonic between the different engines. V8, V6, flat six. That's why we love sports car racing. Deary me! There's a big off course moment as Andy Soucek has spun the sister Bentley, fortunately not hitting anything, and parking nicely on the grass. No time for parking, sunshine. This is a raceway, not a car park. Try to start it and get back into the race. Maybe he's beached it. Oh, well, it looks like he can get going, but the Spaniard has been under real pressure to perform. He didn't have a good race at the Bathurst 12 Hours to open the Intercontinental GT Challenge, and was benched by Bentley for the California 8 Hours in favor of another driver. So, he needs to prove himself.
He's headed for the lane, look. He's got no left rear tire! Apologies to Andy, with a tech issue that has caused him to fly off the road. No tire on the left rear, look. Quite the bugaboo, and he was way off the road rarly into the corner and was jolly lucky to not hit the guardrail or run smack into a tree. Where was the damage created on the Pirelli tire? More tire engineers from Pirelli are on site to study it. Scott Hargrove has a tremendous amount of daylight over Dane Cameron right now. K-PAX team boss Darren Law is not sure why the tire blew on the Bentley. The sister car is still running and so is Soucek who is 16th overall. He needs a yellow to get back in the game. Hargrove, Cameron, Vilander, and Soulet are your top four so far.
Scott Hargrove still has a buffer but he ran a bad last lap. His lead has shrunk a little bit. Maxime Soulet will have to watch out for the curbs as this race continues. Five or so minutes from now, we will see the pit window open at 50 minutes to go. By the time 40 minutes appears, you should be in the lane, or, have already made a pit stop. 60 seconds is the delta time you must meet. You have to wonder if Toni Vilander is being annoyed by the Acura orange and white livery. Toni Vilander doesn't mince words. He tells it like it is. Maxime Soulet has probably backed it down and is running at 8/10ths or 9/10ths instead of 10/10ths.
The margin between Hargrove and Cameron is still shrinking. Cameron is closing up and is under pressure from Vilander as we go for a ride with Toni Vilander around VIR. Pictures show the car racing around the track, but with the scream of the Ferrari V8 in the background. We are not riding directly with Toni, from the onboard camera. Vilander is catching the Porsche, and well, so is Dane Cameron. Cameron will extend his run before pitting and turning the car over to Bret Curtis. Cameron lays down his fastest lap of the motor race, his personal best. Pit stop time coming for Hargrove. 60 seconds minimum time in the lane. K-PAX and Wright were on the button, and other teams were 10-15 seconds over that pit margin.
Now, it is game on for Hargrove vs. Cameron. The pit window is open. Here comes Cameron, looking into the corner, and Hargrove slams the door in his face. Pit window open. Here he goes. Hargrove in the lane. Cameron into the lead with Vilander now second. Great stint for Hargrove. Her will hand the car over to Patrick Long. 60.6 seconds in the lane. Good stop! Michael de Quesada brings the #22 Alegra Motorsports Porsche to the pit lane, handing the car over to Daniel Morad. Ryan Eversley hands over to Till Bechtelsheimer. They are long on their stop, too. Keep the fast guy in the car until the last possible moment as Vilander and Soulet are catching Cameron hand over fist!
How hard does Toni Vilander push as Patrick Long will have fresh tires? Daniel Morad had a 71.8 second stop. They were slow! Dear me! That's not good. The Gradient Acura, car #5 had a 75 second stop! That's the Bechtelsheimer/Eversley duo. Vilander in the lane, to hand over to Miguel Molina, as they want to leapfrog Patrick Long. Enrico Deanno, team manager is also the lollipop man. Now, Molina will have to push just as hard as Vilander did. That stop may have took longer than they wanted. 62.1 seconds. They should have dropped the car off the air jacks just a tad earlier. Now, Patrick Long is right on Molina's six, and Molina tries slamming the door in his face, but will Long have it? Hot tires for Molina, and the Spaniard isn't just going to roll over and play dead.
Molina runs wide into the grass! Long is pressing hard through The Snake and the esses. Jeepers creepers! Long needs the setup through Oak Tree. The Roller Coaster is crucial. This is hot and heavy stuff, chaps. How close do you like it? Pit stop time for the #3 Bentley as Maxime Soulet hands over to Rodrigo Baptista. They have a good stop, and they had a 60.2 second stop! That was close! Baptista has a margin. Dane Cameron leads the motor race extending the run. The pit window will close soon. Cameron has to hurry. Patrick Long has settled down just a bit. He still has cold tires.
Bret Curtis is waiting to take over the Acura and he will have veteran drivers breathing dsown his neck. Bad stop for Cameron/Curtis and RealTime! Dear me! Baptista makes a pass and RealTime loses the overall lead but might still have the lead in Pro Am. Andy Soucek is in the lane, and we have a fire in the Bentley pit! This is a race team's worst nightmare. Fire in the pit lane. Andy Soucek dove out of the car. The fuel spilled and ignited out of the hose. The fire is extinguished. There was a major fireball, but the situation is resolved. Fire is the worst enemy of a racing driver. However, the sister K-PAX Bentley #3 of Rodrigo Baptista has the lead of this motor race with less than 40 minutes to go.
Baptista is catching David Askew in the #63 DXDT Mercedes AMG GT3 Pro Am car. Askew is going to block Baptista. Baptista is the minnow. Molina is the shark. He's coming in a hurry. Rodrigo clears the David Askew Mercedes. Molina is still in attack mode. But he too, gets balked by the Mercedes. Baptista, Molina, Askew, Long. Once again, these are the four drivers in the battle for position. Kevin Milstein for K2R Motorsports in the Porsche 911 GT3R and here comes Anthony Imperato in the #91 Porsche 911 GT3R, the Pro Am entry for Wright Motorsports, who spins the car he shares with Matt Campbell and keeps on trucking.
Anthony Imperato picks up a place after his spin. He has been passed by George Kurtz and Bret Curtis still leads Pro Am. The #80 Racer's Edge Acura NSX GT3 had a terribly long stop when Martin Barkey took over the car. Barkey will have pull the rabbit out of the hat to get back into contention, after winning Pro Am in the Saturday race and finishing fourth in the overall. Kyle Marcelli is also the real deal. He is a great driver. Stefan Johansson is Marcelli's manager, and so, with the backing of a great like Johansson, you know you are going places as a racing driver. Martin Barkey lets Miguel Molina go past. Patrick Long will also try clearing Barkey.
No worries for Pro Am. They are scored as they finish, not in the overall running order. The lead trio has some clear track so we can start seeing their pace again. Long has an idea of how his co-driver Hargrove did, and well, Patrick Long is recovering after tire degradation got in Hargrove's way, as Rodrigo Baptista continues to lead the motor race, and Miguel Molina and Patrick Long are still giving chase. The championship points will reshuffle after this race as Baptista is pressing hard into turn ten. Cesar Bacarella opened the door, but Baptista nearly went off the road. Patrick Long also passes Cesar Bacarella, leader in the Am category. Again, half an hour to go.
Molina is running really smoothly as he climbs through the esses again. Rodrigo Baptista has 1.4 seconds in hand over the Ferrari, but Molina is running quicker. Patrick Long is catching up as well. The car is running real well, and they had qualifying tires on the car of course, before their pit stop. As you come into the weekend, a team is allotted only so many new Pirelli tires. You have to decide how to manage them. Wet tires don't factor into the tire allocation necessarily. The qualifying session was wet though. Nothing in it in terms of the speed of the top three as we watch Daniel Morad being chased by George Kurtz. Morad, like Hargrove, is a Canadian driver. Kurtz is sharing the Mercedes with Colin Braun of course.
Morad had his breakout race here at Virginia International Raceway. Morad, headed for Hog Pen, the pit stop exchange for him and Michael de Quesada, went long, and they are trying hard to push and catch up. Another stop, too, for David Askew in the DXDT Mercedes. Drive through penalty for #63 and maybe it was an equipment infraction. Miguel Molina is now in the lane for a completely unscheduled pit stop! Oh dear. What's going on? Maybe there is a tire issue. Ah yes. The left rear Pirelli is being changd. These blokes were running real well, but this has perhaps ruined their race with just over 20 minutes remaining. Molina works his way back through The Snake and the esses. The sensors on the car save you from catastrophe, but this is not according to the R. Ferri team's plans.
Molina is now applying the pressure again to Daniel Morad before this race ends. Rodrigo Baptista still leads, with a margin that has ballooned to four seconds. But, what about the pit fire? Everyone is OK according to Darren Law. The fuel probe spilled and lit off the red hot headers. K-PAX have been practicing pit stops over and over again and their strategist, Thomas Blam has to be one of the best race tacticians out there. We see a replay of Baptista's shunt from Saturday's race which was heavy contact with the tire barriers. The Bentley's have the driver on the opposite side of the car since they are right hand drive. Pit lane is crucial on entry in that case and Soucek bumped the fueler when he dove out of the car.
Anthony Imperato chases George Kurtz in the Am class. He is in hot pursuit of David Askew. Bret Curtis is running really well as Martin Barkey spins out of the exit of Hog Pen onto the front straight. That was a driver error. A slight wiggle onto the curb, and... screech! He spins out. No harm no foul. He's back after it. No margin for error here at VIR though. We have less than 15 minutes to go now. Caesar Bacarella continues to lead in Am, putting a pass on Kevin Milstein in the K2R Porsche 911 GT3R #38. Bacarella will lap the #19 Ferrari. Bacarella/Fuentes, these two have dominated Am class competition at VIR.
Brian Kaminskey is fighting hard but has to give it up. TR3 runs Squadra Cosra Garage Italia. Meanwhile, Bret Curtis has been running extremely well today in the #43 Acura NSX GT3, staying close to the #24 Alegra Motorsports Porsche in the hands of Wolf Henzler. Watch the outside of the circuit as the grip is just not there. Just over ten minutes to go now. Anthony Imperato is off the road another time, and gets back on course after being in the grass. Watch out for running wide over the curbs, and that's echactly what he did. He slammed the curbs, going to the throttle and spun out, fortunately not hitting anything.
Till Bechtolsheimer has run very well in the Gradient Acura. He is a historic racer in Europe and he's surely a wheel man. A scrap for fifth, as Miguel Molina is closing on Daniel Morad. Morad and Molina get caught in lapped traffic and Molina nearly gets chopped by Kaminsky! Yikes! R. Ferri needs any points they can get after the delaminated tire earlier in this race. Molina is nearly on the rev limiter. They sweep out of Oak Tree and down the back straightaway. When the rev limiter kicks in, it has to do so gently, and cuts the power, affecting the balance of the car. Molina is chasing Morad who hangs onto the spot. Molina is really applying the blowtorch.
Bret Curtis is third followed by Morad and Molina. Molina has a run on Morad, and tries inside but no dice. Vilander made a move like that on Marcelli on Saturday. Under five minutes left in round four of Blancpain GT World Challenge America. Bret Curtis just has to let Morad and Molina go. Curtis is looking for a win in Pro Am as we've talked about, with George Kurtz 22 seconds behind. Curtis goes way to the inside and Molina goes with him, chasing the Porsche. Morad is foruth and Molina is now fifth. Molina has a run on Daniel Morad, and Morad in the Porsche protects the line,m look.
Molina wants to press his nose into this scrap and try to pass Daniel Morad. The Canadian continues holding off the Spaniard. Daniel Morad is staying with it, not cracking under pressure. Two years ago here at VIR, Morad had Jeroen Bleekemolen all over him. Meanwhile, Bret Curtis still leads Pro Am. You haven't missed anything there. Patrick Long will rebound after nil points on Saturday buit the #3 Bentley's lead has ballooned outwards once again. The #3 Bentley will continue to be in play for the championship. Rodrigo Baptista on his final lap around VIR. Time has now elapsed and Baptista is up through Oak Tree for the last time as Bechtolsheimer runs off the road. David Askew in the Mercedes has pulled off.
But, no worries for Baptista into the Rollercoaster one more time. He weaves down through the final turns, throuhgh Hog Pen, and it's a Bentley sweep at VIR for each car, earning a win! K-PAX can celebrate! Congratulations to Rodrigo Baptista and Maxime Soulet, who have now gone back-to-back in successive wins at VIR! Dane Cameron and Bret Curtis win Pro Am, and Caesar Bacarella and Martin Fuentes win Am.
Overall/Pro: #3 Baptista/Soulet K-PAX Racing Bentley Continental GT3
Pro Am: #43 Cameron/Curtis RealTime Racing Acura NSX GT3
Am: #7 Bacarella/Fuentes Squadra Corsa Garage Italia Ferrari 488 GT3
The next event on the Blancpain World Challenge America schedule is north of the border in Canada at the legendary Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (Mosport Park), in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada, in three weeks.
Sunday, April 28, 2019
Sunday VIR Blancpain World Challenge action
Folks, yours truly will have full coverage of the Sunday races from Blancpain GT World Challenge, soon. Hoped to cover them today, but was out seeing a play. Therefore, this week, there will be coverage of the races, a little delayed. Look for a full report on Blancpain GT America, and a summary of GT4 action, tomorrow, and then, reports on touring cars and more, later this week, plus news leading up to a massive weekend of sports car racing, next weekend, that yours truly does hope to cover, even though, areas of life outside of motorsport are becoming busy once again.
Saturday, April 27, 2019
K-PAX Dominates Saturday at VIR
You’ve read the race report, but here is the abbreviated summary of K-PAX’s dominance at VIR in race one with the Bentley’s today.
Parente, Soucek Give K-PAX Bentley Pole Sweep
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt-america/parente-soucek-give-k-pax-bentley-pole-sweep/
Parente, Soucek Dominate Race 1 at VIR
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt-america/parente-soucek-dominate-race-1-at-vir/
Parente, Soucek Give K-PAX Bentley Pole Sweep
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt-america/parente-soucek-give-k-pax-bentley-pole-sweep/
Parente, Soucek Dominate Race 1 at VIR
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt-america/parente-soucek-dominate-race-1-at-vir/
GT4 Sprint & GT4 SprintX Saturday VIR recap
Recapping lots of action from VIR in GT4 for both Sprint and SprintX. More racing for both classes tomorrow, on Sunday.
Pumpelly Takes Third Straight GT4 Sprint Pole
https://sportscar365.com/sro/gt4-america/pumpelly-takes-third-straight-gt4-sprint-pole/
McLaren GT4s Get Mid-Event BoP Break
https://sportscar365.com/sro/gt4-america/mclaren-gt4s-get-mid-event-bop-break/
Your GT4 SprintX polesitters.
Wilson, Hindman Claim GT4 SprintX Poles at VIR
https://sportscar365.com/sro/gt4-america/wilson-hindman-take-gt4-sprintx-poles-at-vir/
Here are your race winners.
Fassnacht Wins GT4 Sprint Race 1; Dramas For Pumpelly. James
https://sportscar365.com/sro/gt4-america/fassnacht-wins-gt4-sprint-race-1-dramas-for-pumpelly-james/
McAleer, Raphael Take GT4 SprintX Race 1 Win
https://sportscar365.com/sro/gt4-america/mcaleer-raphael-take-gt4-sprintx-race-1-win/
More GT4 action coming up tomorrow.
Pumpelly Takes Third Straight GT4 Sprint Pole
https://sportscar365.com/sro/gt4-america/pumpelly-takes-third-straight-gt4-sprint-pole/
McLaren GT4s Get Mid-Event BoP Break
https://sportscar365.com/sro/gt4-america/mclaren-gt4s-get-mid-event-bop-break/
Your GT4 SprintX polesitters.
Wilson, Hindman Claim GT4 SprintX Poles at VIR
https://sportscar365.com/sro/gt4-america/wilson-hindman-take-gt4-sprintx-poles-at-vir/
Here are your race winners.
Fassnacht Wins GT4 Sprint Race 1; Dramas For Pumpelly. James
https://sportscar365.com/sro/gt4-america/fassnacht-wins-gt4-sprint-race-1-dramas-for-pumpelly-james/
McAleer, Raphael Take GT4 SprintX Race 1 Win
https://sportscar365.com/sro/gt4-america/mcaleer-raphael-take-gt4-sprintx-race-1-win/
More GT4 action coming up tomorrow.
Blancpain GT World Challenge America: VIR, Race 1
Virginia International Raceway is a classic old race track. Its very special, and significant to sports car racing fans, and we are ready for Blancpain GT World Challenge America, race one!
Six drivers within a point in the championship.
Green flag! We're underway! Miguel Molina tries making a move and Alvaro Parente will lead this race. Miguel Molina is probing Parente with Daniel Morad in the Porsche, and Anthony Imperato passes Wolf Henzler. The battle is on, now. Flat out through The Snake, and then, into turn ten for the first time and into Oak Tree. Parente slides wide and Patrick Long is pushing hard. Problems for Anthony Imperato, look. He has a cut tire after running wide over the curbs. Into the Rollercoaster for the first time. Parente defends but has no place to go. Till Bechtelsheimer leads Pro Am over David Asakew and Morad squeezes Molina on the inside, look. Wow. Action hot and heavy early in this race.
Rodrigo Baptista is closing up on the leaders. Bret Curtis in the RealTime Racing Acura NSX GT3 is running well as Baptista is sideways through Oak Tree. Yikes! Someone else is off the road. David Askew in the #63 Mercedes AMG GT3 it looks like. Down through the Rollercoaster again and through Hog Pen. The Bentley is a big silhouette and being in the aero wash of that car is going to be a bear. Martin Barkey in the Racer's Edge car is in this action, the Acura. Off the road, we see the #19 Ferrari. Cesar Bacarella and Brian Kaminsky bothoff the road and poor old Kaminsky is in the wars early as he continues on in the race. Daniel Morad runs fastest lap of the race at 1:46 dead. Patrick Long is doing his best to catch Alvaro Parente and here comes Rodrigo Baptista, too.
Incident between car #7 and #19 under review according to Race Director, Alain Adam. Daniel Morad is now within striking distance of Baptista as Patrick Long continues reeling in Alvaro Parente, look. No further action on the incident we just saw between Kaminsky and Bacarella. Baptista is sharing the Bentley with Maxime Soulet who won a race here at VIR last year. Through the Snake and into the esses. Flat out. Driving a GT3 car around VIR is very tough according to Ryan Dalziel. Cesar Bacarella is giving the Ferrari 488 GT3 a good run in the Am Cup class. There is a bonus in this class for the Kavana Cup. Poor old Anthony Imperato, it's game over.
Martin Fuentes is Cesar Bacarella's co-driver. Who will blink first on pit stops as we start the process? This is a sweet battle as we watch Parente and Long, being followed by Baptista, Morad, Molina, and Wolf Henzler. Patrick Long is gaining on the Bentley. Wolf Henzler in the sister Alegra Motorsports Porsche is flying as well. Bret Curtis is flying in the RealTime Racing Acura, being hotly pursued by Martin Barkey in a similar car but for a different squad. Bret Curtis had some wins here with Turner Motorsports and won with Jens Klingman in a BMW in a different series. George Kurtz is having a solid run in the DXDT Mercedes AMG GT3.
Henry Schmitt is also running very well in the Cameron Racing BMW M6 GT3. Colin Braun, Kyle Marcelli, and others will take over at pit stop time. George Kurtz went off the road at Oak Tree corner in qualifying, sharing with Colin Braun. Acura took pole at the California 8 Hours for the Intercontinental GT Challenge race you read about, oh, a month or so ago. Till Bechtelsheimer, leads an Acura trio in Pro Am at the moment. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Alvaro Parente still has the lead of this motor race as Daniel Morad fights to chase down the Brazilian Bentley racer.
Bret Curtis still has his hands full with Martin Barkey. He's trying a run down through turn one, and can't quite make it. He's got the inside line but he loses control and gos off the road. Barkey, the Canadian is back on track but could have easily broken something on the car. Yikes! Mike Skeen and Alvaro Parente had a similar dust up here in race one last year. The marshals are reviewing the incident. Daniel Morad is in the lane, with a problem on the Porsche. Not good news. Miguel Molina and Wolf Henzler are now promoted to fourth and fifth. Bret Curtis was hoping Martin Barkey would give it up, but at The Snake, Barkey goes off.
Parente is stretching his margin over Patrick Long. One of the curbs might be breaking up at the side of the road. A sharp edge of concrete could be at the critical point of tire loading on these Pirelli P Zero tires. Ooh! Rodrigo Baptista has binned it! He's in the fence with mega size damage to the Bentley, and Henry Schmitt is also off the track at a different spot in the BMW M6 GT3. Miguel Molina is finally up to third spot. Till Bechtolsheimer is an historic racer in Europe and he races 1950s sports cars like Allard's with very skinny tires, not bigger cars like Can Am or Group C. K-PAX has purchased a third Bentley if they need it. Poor old Baptista has crunched the Bentley as Schmitt's incident was a spin off into no man's land on the grass.
Henry Schmitt will pick up some ground and so will Daniel Morad who remains on the lead lap. This will be a long yellow for cleanup and we might see the pit stop window delayed by the safety car. We've had some safety cars in the touring car races as well, which you will see later. Rodrigo Baptista will take a hit in the points championship after this melee. Team manager Darren Law is just as unsure about what happened as the rest of us are. But, it's game over for the Saturday race for Baptista, and the crew will rebuild for the Sunday race tomorrow. Alvaro Parente will hand the sister car to Andy Soucek, soon.
There was no issue with a cut tire. We are approaching a half hour into this hour and a half timed race. There's very little runoff once you are committed to the corner in the part of the road where Baptista shunted. Small mistakes are punished. This is an old school circuit with gravel traps or paved runoff areas. This track will bite you if you aren't careful. You can't try to go outside track limits because there are none. Pit stops will be coming very soon. Giddy up and go. Cinch down the belts, get up on the wheel, and floor it. Last year, the leader could pit first. But at 40 minutes in, everyone has the opportunity to go for the undercut. Henry Schmitt is a lucky chap and he's recovered.
Daniel Morad has stayed on the lead lap. You are allowed a joker tire if one of the original tires is damaged. Go! We're back to green and Miguel Molina is trying to swallow up Patrick Long who i splaying defense against the Spaniard. Yikes! The tire degradation has equalized things for the Ferrari and he has to keep up with the leaders. 55 minutes to go. Drive through penalty assessed to the #43 car for causing a collision. Bret Curtis has to head through the lane to serve his penalty. Daniel Morad is slicing through the field, getting around Bret Curtis. Curtis is in the lane for the penalty. So, he will take his pit stop separately as Martin Barkey tries the outside of George Kurtz.
Cesar Bacarella, Am class leader is in this with a bird's eye view, too. David Askew spins the Mercedes AMG GT3, the #63 DXDT car. Parente is really struggling for grip between turns 11 and 12. Wolf Henzler is pushing, too, but he will also be penalized for overtaking before the start/finish line on the restart. Each championship will have different rules. You can't poke your nose out until the green flag waves. Till Bechtelsheimer is fifth in the overall at the moment. He is running really well. Morad has to duck for the lane. So, take your medicine, get it over, and strategize the rest of the race which has only 51 minutes left on the board.
Six minutes to go before the pit window opens. Patrick Long was able to stay with Alvaro Parente, but now, he is falling into the clutches of the Ferrari of Miguel Molina, sharing with Toni Vilander. The pit window is now open. Who blinks first? Parente extends his lead gap, but only by a smidgen. 60 seconds is the minimum pit stop time for the car to be stationary in the lane. Where do you come out of the lane in terms of traffic? You don't want to be the first bloke to bail if you are in the lead group. Acura #80 in the lane and Kyle Marcelli takes over the car from Martin Barkey. Bacarella, Schmitt, and Kurtz are also in the lane.
Some teams have had slow stops leaving 15-20 seconds on the table, which will ruin their races, possibly. Scott Hargrove takes over the Wright Motorsports Porsche from Patrick Long. Team mate Anthony Imperato is out. It was game over for Imperato after losing drive right at the start. Acura and RealTime are in the pit lane as well. They need to cut the stop close to the 60 second minimum as Dane Cameron takes over the car, an Acura factory driver. Till Bechtelsheimer hands his car to Ryan Eversley. Ryan Dalziel has taken over from David Askew and Dane Cameron takes over from Bret Curtis.
Alvaro Parente brings in the Bentley. Andy Soucek is now at thwe wheel, and the Spaniard will have his hands full with Scott Hargrove. Hargrove knows he must apply the blowtorch. Soucek has to fight. The second half of this race is well and truly on, and it's going to be a barn burner. Scott Hargrove makes the pass after Soucek gets caught behind traffic. We see Toni Vilander taking over the R. Ferri Ferrari from Miguel Molina, and it's a slow stop. This is bad news for the R. Ferri boys. Marco Holzer takes over for Wolf Henzler. Where was the initial delay for R. Ferri? Not good execution on their pit stop.
Daniel Morad also had issues when he turned the Alegra Porsche over to Michael de Quesada. Kyle Marcelli may be the Pro Am leader now. Vilander will be flying. He will be quite upset with the pit crew if they did make an error. Ryan Eversley also had a bad pit stop. Oh dear! More off course action for Andy Soucek and now, Scott Hargrove is reeling him in hand over fist! Andy Soucek had a bad time at the Bathurst 12 Hours and they benched him for the California 8 Hours. He can't be making mistakes in the sprint series here in the states either. Scott Hargrove is reeling in the Bentley. He's in good shape on the tires.
Tire degradation is something you have to be aware of. How much do you want to take out of the tires in order to attack? Attack, and then settle down. Attack, and then, settle down. Soucek kisses the curb through the Oak Tree corner. What happened to R. Ferri? Team manager Enrico Deanno says there was a delay with the driver change with the seat belts, the radio, and the HANS device. Toni Vilander just has to push, push, push. If he's ticked off, he's going to fly. Vilander is not an icy cool Finn here. He will be thrashing to catch up to Marco Holzer who has the final step on the podium, currently.
Andy Soucek has responded and put in some really quick laps, and the margin over Scott Hargrove has ballooned slightly. Rodrigo Baptista is OK. But, as we know, it is game over for him for Saturday anyway. The car can definitely be repaired for Sunday's race two. Folks, for race two, yours truly will have it covered. But, it is not clear when that will be. Stay tuned for race two, sometime tomorrow, maybe in the evening. Ryan Dalziel and Dane Cameron have both made their way past Martin Fuentes, but the gap is growing between the two aforementioned drivers, the Scotsman and the American, both who have plenty of experience battling each other in prototype cars as well as these GT3 machines.
Dalziel has taken the DXDT Mercedes over from David Askew. Dalziel is a great driver coach as well, for younger, up and coming drivers. Andy Soucek knocks down fastest lap of the motor race at 1:44.5, extending the gap on Scott Hargrove as Martin Fuentes leads the Am class and has to go for the Kavana Cup as well. Whoa! Fuentes went wide and fortunately kept it on the tarmac. Yikes! Hargrove is eating time out of Soucek's advantage. They got caught behind Greg Liefooghe in the BMW M6 GT3. Liefooghe is a quick driver, but he was surely a mobile chicane for a bit. It's on edge stuff through the Roller Coaster and through Hog Pen as well.
It is a sure rivalry between Patrick Long and Alvaro Parente. They are respectful but it is still a rivalry. The two of them raced for the same karting team in Italy a quarter century ago. How time flies. An American and a Portuguese, go karting together, in Italy. How about that. One drives a German car, and one, a British one. Left hand drive vs. right hand drive, and well, we could continue but the list would take forever. Scott Hargrove was quickly recognized, and he has made a name for himself competing against Porsche factory drivers. Hargrove still races with Pfaff Motorsports in a different championship. Chris Cagnazzi spins the #19 Ferrari and continues on his way.
Warning flag to the #19 car for driving standards infractions from the SRO stewards. Vilander has increased his gap over Holzer. Kyle Marcelli is only five seconds ahead of Ryan Eversley in a 1-2 for Acura in Pro Am at the moment. Marco Holzer is back after getting started earlier with Porsche, and falling off the radar, slightly. He's back now, teamed with Wolf Henzler. Hargrove is pushing Soucek as Soucek's tires might just be knackered by now. Just over 20 minutes to go in the race. K-PAX and Bentley had a solid test session here at VIR as Christopher Cagnazzi has taken another turn on the whirligig. Meantime, Andy Soucek is still being hounded by Hargrove. The Canadian is flying, chasing the Spaniard.
Michael de Quesada moves over to let the leaders by. Hargrove had to be telling de Quesada, "you are a Porsche driver, mate. Help me out here." Hargrove is slower than Soucek through the speed trap. Soucek might be able to catch this slower Ferrari. No worries. Marco Holzer is hanging in there, holding off Toni Vilander. Colin Braun is chipping away the margin over Ryan Eversley as well. Dalziel passes Plumb in Pro Am. Dane Cameron and Ryan Dalziel were battling with Matt Plumb. Scott Hargrove has gone off the road at Oak Tree corner! It's the same place on the road where Rodrigo Baptista had his issues. Speeds in, loses the tail, over the dirt, and... bang, into the wall!
The engine is still running but poor old Scott Hargrove can't select a gear. He can't get reverse and so, this could be game over. We will have a Full Course Yellow, and a reset with just twelve minutes left on the board. Racer's Edge team boss John Mirachi is still confident his team can score a good finish. Will this race restart? We are coming close to the end and maybe we'll end under yellow. I have a feeling we will see racing before the checkers. Toni Vilander, if his tires are not busted, he'll go after Marco Holzer. We might just have about a one lap shootout to the finish. Good job. Safety car in this lap. Kudos to the SRO. We're going to keep racing. Holzer is two cars behind Soucek. That's Michael de Quesada in the sister car.
Marco Holzer is going to have a tough old time trying to pass two cars and having Toni Vilander right on his six. From fourth on back, this will be fierce. Five minutes to go, blokes. Cinch down the belts and we are going to have ourselves a green flag and a one lap shootout. No games. Put the welly down and go. Yes! It's go time! VIR race one on the line. Don't pass until the stripe. Matty Plumb has gone around Ryan Dalziel who gets swamped. Kyle Marcelli has passed Toni Vilander! Wow! Poor old Toni Vilander will be seething inside his helmet. The ice has melted inside the Finn's psyche. This whole gaggle scrapping with each other has allowed Soucek to whistle off into the distance.
Two laps now remain. Ryan Eversley hanging tough in Pro Am with Toni Vilander all over him. Colin Braun has been shuffled down the order. Dalziel has put some daylight between himself and Eversley. Vilander ran wide on the restart and Marcelli took advantage. White flag out now, and poor old #19 is dinged with another driving standards penalty. Soucek leads Holzer by three seconds. Vilander is behind Eversley who is attacking Marcelli. Vilander is pressing Marcelli, hard. Colin Braun has dropped like a stone. Martin Fuentes has also made his way past Braun as Vilander charges past Marcelli!
Wow! Marcelli will still win Pro Am. Ryan Eversley is closing up. It'll be an Acura 1-2 in Pro Am, but Bentley win! K-PAX are race one winners! Alvaro Parente and Andy Soucek! In Pro Am, it is the #80 Racer's Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 of Martin Barkey and Kyle Marcelli taking the victory, and in the Am class, the #7 Squadra Corsa Garage Italia Ferrari 488 GT3 in the hands of Cesar Bacarella and Martin Fuentes.
Overall/Pro: #9 Parente/Soucek K-PAX Racing Bentley Continental GT3
Pro Am: #80 Barkey/Marcelli Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3
Am: #7 Bacarella/Fuentes Squadra Corsa Garage Italia Ferrari 488 GT3
Matt Plumb gets a 30 second time penalty. Race two takes place here at VIR tomorrow. So, stay tuned for that. Yours truly will have a race report, hopefully tomorrow evening, telling all about race two.
Six drivers within a point in the championship.
Green flag! We're underway! Miguel Molina tries making a move and Alvaro Parente will lead this race. Miguel Molina is probing Parente with Daniel Morad in the Porsche, and Anthony Imperato passes Wolf Henzler. The battle is on, now. Flat out through The Snake, and then, into turn ten for the first time and into Oak Tree. Parente slides wide and Patrick Long is pushing hard. Problems for Anthony Imperato, look. He has a cut tire after running wide over the curbs. Into the Rollercoaster for the first time. Parente defends but has no place to go. Till Bechtelsheimer leads Pro Am over David Asakew and Morad squeezes Molina on the inside, look. Wow. Action hot and heavy early in this race.
Rodrigo Baptista is closing up on the leaders. Bret Curtis in the RealTime Racing Acura NSX GT3 is running well as Baptista is sideways through Oak Tree. Yikes! Someone else is off the road. David Askew in the #63 Mercedes AMG GT3 it looks like. Down through the Rollercoaster again and through Hog Pen. The Bentley is a big silhouette and being in the aero wash of that car is going to be a bear. Martin Barkey in the Racer's Edge car is in this action, the Acura. Off the road, we see the #19 Ferrari. Cesar Bacarella and Brian Kaminsky bothoff the road and poor old Kaminsky is in the wars early as he continues on in the race. Daniel Morad runs fastest lap of the race at 1:46 dead. Patrick Long is doing his best to catch Alvaro Parente and here comes Rodrigo Baptista, too.
Incident between car #7 and #19 under review according to Race Director, Alain Adam. Daniel Morad is now within striking distance of Baptista as Patrick Long continues reeling in Alvaro Parente, look. No further action on the incident we just saw between Kaminsky and Bacarella. Baptista is sharing the Bentley with Maxime Soulet who won a race here at VIR last year. Through the Snake and into the esses. Flat out. Driving a GT3 car around VIR is very tough according to Ryan Dalziel. Cesar Bacarella is giving the Ferrari 488 GT3 a good run in the Am Cup class. There is a bonus in this class for the Kavana Cup. Poor old Anthony Imperato, it's game over.
Martin Fuentes is Cesar Bacarella's co-driver. Who will blink first on pit stops as we start the process? This is a sweet battle as we watch Parente and Long, being followed by Baptista, Morad, Molina, and Wolf Henzler. Patrick Long is gaining on the Bentley. Wolf Henzler in the sister Alegra Motorsports Porsche is flying as well. Bret Curtis is flying in the RealTime Racing Acura, being hotly pursued by Martin Barkey in a similar car but for a different squad. Bret Curtis had some wins here with Turner Motorsports and won with Jens Klingman in a BMW in a different series. George Kurtz is having a solid run in the DXDT Mercedes AMG GT3.
Henry Schmitt is also running very well in the Cameron Racing BMW M6 GT3. Colin Braun, Kyle Marcelli, and others will take over at pit stop time. George Kurtz went off the road at Oak Tree corner in qualifying, sharing with Colin Braun. Acura took pole at the California 8 Hours for the Intercontinental GT Challenge race you read about, oh, a month or so ago. Till Bechtelsheimer, leads an Acura trio in Pro Am at the moment. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Alvaro Parente still has the lead of this motor race as Daniel Morad fights to chase down the Brazilian Bentley racer.
Bret Curtis still has his hands full with Martin Barkey. He's trying a run down through turn one, and can't quite make it. He's got the inside line but he loses control and gos off the road. Barkey, the Canadian is back on track but could have easily broken something on the car. Yikes! Mike Skeen and Alvaro Parente had a similar dust up here in race one last year. The marshals are reviewing the incident. Daniel Morad is in the lane, with a problem on the Porsche. Not good news. Miguel Molina and Wolf Henzler are now promoted to fourth and fifth. Bret Curtis was hoping Martin Barkey would give it up, but at The Snake, Barkey goes off.
Parente is stretching his margin over Patrick Long. One of the curbs might be breaking up at the side of the road. A sharp edge of concrete could be at the critical point of tire loading on these Pirelli P Zero tires. Ooh! Rodrigo Baptista has binned it! He's in the fence with mega size damage to the Bentley, and Henry Schmitt is also off the track at a different spot in the BMW M6 GT3. Miguel Molina is finally up to third spot. Till Bechtolsheimer is an historic racer in Europe and he races 1950s sports cars like Allard's with very skinny tires, not bigger cars like Can Am or Group C. K-PAX has purchased a third Bentley if they need it. Poor old Baptista has crunched the Bentley as Schmitt's incident was a spin off into no man's land on the grass.
Henry Schmitt will pick up some ground and so will Daniel Morad who remains on the lead lap. This will be a long yellow for cleanup and we might see the pit stop window delayed by the safety car. We've had some safety cars in the touring car races as well, which you will see later. Rodrigo Baptista will take a hit in the points championship after this melee. Team manager Darren Law is just as unsure about what happened as the rest of us are. But, it's game over for the Saturday race for Baptista, and the crew will rebuild for the Sunday race tomorrow. Alvaro Parente will hand the sister car to Andy Soucek, soon.
There was no issue with a cut tire. We are approaching a half hour into this hour and a half timed race. There's very little runoff once you are committed to the corner in the part of the road where Baptista shunted. Small mistakes are punished. This is an old school circuit with gravel traps or paved runoff areas. This track will bite you if you aren't careful. You can't try to go outside track limits because there are none. Pit stops will be coming very soon. Giddy up and go. Cinch down the belts, get up on the wheel, and floor it. Last year, the leader could pit first. But at 40 minutes in, everyone has the opportunity to go for the undercut. Henry Schmitt is a lucky chap and he's recovered.
Daniel Morad has stayed on the lead lap. You are allowed a joker tire if one of the original tires is damaged. Go! We're back to green and Miguel Molina is trying to swallow up Patrick Long who i splaying defense against the Spaniard. Yikes! The tire degradation has equalized things for the Ferrari and he has to keep up with the leaders. 55 minutes to go. Drive through penalty assessed to the #43 car for causing a collision. Bret Curtis has to head through the lane to serve his penalty. Daniel Morad is slicing through the field, getting around Bret Curtis. Curtis is in the lane for the penalty. So, he will take his pit stop separately as Martin Barkey tries the outside of George Kurtz.
Cesar Bacarella, Am class leader is in this with a bird's eye view, too. David Askew spins the Mercedes AMG GT3, the #63 DXDT car. Parente is really struggling for grip between turns 11 and 12. Wolf Henzler is pushing, too, but he will also be penalized for overtaking before the start/finish line on the restart. Each championship will have different rules. You can't poke your nose out until the green flag waves. Till Bechtelsheimer is fifth in the overall at the moment. He is running really well. Morad has to duck for the lane. So, take your medicine, get it over, and strategize the rest of the race which has only 51 minutes left on the board.
Six minutes to go before the pit window opens. Patrick Long was able to stay with Alvaro Parente, but now, he is falling into the clutches of the Ferrari of Miguel Molina, sharing with Toni Vilander. The pit window is now open. Who blinks first? Parente extends his lead gap, but only by a smidgen. 60 seconds is the minimum pit stop time for the car to be stationary in the lane. Where do you come out of the lane in terms of traffic? You don't want to be the first bloke to bail if you are in the lead group. Acura #80 in the lane and Kyle Marcelli takes over the car from Martin Barkey. Bacarella, Schmitt, and Kurtz are also in the lane.
Some teams have had slow stops leaving 15-20 seconds on the table, which will ruin their races, possibly. Scott Hargrove takes over the Wright Motorsports Porsche from Patrick Long. Team mate Anthony Imperato is out. It was game over for Imperato after losing drive right at the start. Acura and RealTime are in the pit lane as well. They need to cut the stop close to the 60 second minimum as Dane Cameron takes over the car, an Acura factory driver. Till Bechtelsheimer hands his car to Ryan Eversley. Ryan Dalziel has taken over from David Askew and Dane Cameron takes over from Bret Curtis.
Alvaro Parente brings in the Bentley. Andy Soucek is now at thwe wheel, and the Spaniard will have his hands full with Scott Hargrove. Hargrove knows he must apply the blowtorch. Soucek has to fight. The second half of this race is well and truly on, and it's going to be a barn burner. Scott Hargrove makes the pass after Soucek gets caught behind traffic. We see Toni Vilander taking over the R. Ferri Ferrari from Miguel Molina, and it's a slow stop. This is bad news for the R. Ferri boys. Marco Holzer takes over for Wolf Henzler. Where was the initial delay for R. Ferri? Not good execution on their pit stop.
Daniel Morad also had issues when he turned the Alegra Porsche over to Michael de Quesada. Kyle Marcelli may be the Pro Am leader now. Vilander will be flying. He will be quite upset with the pit crew if they did make an error. Ryan Eversley also had a bad pit stop. Oh dear! More off course action for Andy Soucek and now, Scott Hargrove is reeling him in hand over fist! Andy Soucek had a bad time at the Bathurst 12 Hours and they benched him for the California 8 Hours. He can't be making mistakes in the sprint series here in the states either. Scott Hargrove is reeling in the Bentley. He's in good shape on the tires.
Tire degradation is something you have to be aware of. How much do you want to take out of the tires in order to attack? Attack, and then settle down. Attack, and then, settle down. Soucek kisses the curb through the Oak Tree corner. What happened to R. Ferri? Team manager Enrico Deanno says there was a delay with the driver change with the seat belts, the radio, and the HANS device. Toni Vilander just has to push, push, push. If he's ticked off, he's going to fly. Vilander is not an icy cool Finn here. He will be thrashing to catch up to Marco Holzer who has the final step on the podium, currently.
Andy Soucek has responded and put in some really quick laps, and the margin over Scott Hargrove has ballooned slightly. Rodrigo Baptista is OK. But, as we know, it is game over for him for Saturday anyway. The car can definitely be repaired for Sunday's race two. Folks, for race two, yours truly will have it covered. But, it is not clear when that will be. Stay tuned for race two, sometime tomorrow, maybe in the evening. Ryan Dalziel and Dane Cameron have both made their way past Martin Fuentes, but the gap is growing between the two aforementioned drivers, the Scotsman and the American, both who have plenty of experience battling each other in prototype cars as well as these GT3 machines.
Dalziel has taken the DXDT Mercedes over from David Askew. Dalziel is a great driver coach as well, for younger, up and coming drivers. Andy Soucek knocks down fastest lap of the motor race at 1:44.5, extending the gap on Scott Hargrove as Martin Fuentes leads the Am class and has to go for the Kavana Cup as well. Whoa! Fuentes went wide and fortunately kept it on the tarmac. Yikes! Hargrove is eating time out of Soucek's advantage. They got caught behind Greg Liefooghe in the BMW M6 GT3. Liefooghe is a quick driver, but he was surely a mobile chicane for a bit. It's on edge stuff through the Roller Coaster and through Hog Pen as well.
It is a sure rivalry between Patrick Long and Alvaro Parente. They are respectful but it is still a rivalry. The two of them raced for the same karting team in Italy a quarter century ago. How time flies. An American and a Portuguese, go karting together, in Italy. How about that. One drives a German car, and one, a British one. Left hand drive vs. right hand drive, and well, we could continue but the list would take forever. Scott Hargrove was quickly recognized, and he has made a name for himself competing against Porsche factory drivers. Hargrove still races with Pfaff Motorsports in a different championship. Chris Cagnazzi spins the #19 Ferrari and continues on his way.
Warning flag to the #19 car for driving standards infractions from the SRO stewards. Vilander has increased his gap over Holzer. Kyle Marcelli is only five seconds ahead of Ryan Eversley in a 1-2 for Acura in Pro Am at the moment. Marco Holzer is back after getting started earlier with Porsche, and falling off the radar, slightly. He's back now, teamed with Wolf Henzler. Hargrove is pushing Soucek as Soucek's tires might just be knackered by now. Just over 20 minutes to go in the race. K-PAX and Bentley had a solid test session here at VIR as Christopher Cagnazzi has taken another turn on the whirligig. Meantime, Andy Soucek is still being hounded by Hargrove. The Canadian is flying, chasing the Spaniard.
Michael de Quesada moves over to let the leaders by. Hargrove had to be telling de Quesada, "you are a Porsche driver, mate. Help me out here." Hargrove is slower than Soucek through the speed trap. Soucek might be able to catch this slower Ferrari. No worries. Marco Holzer is hanging in there, holding off Toni Vilander. Colin Braun is chipping away the margin over Ryan Eversley as well. Dalziel passes Plumb in Pro Am. Dane Cameron and Ryan Dalziel were battling with Matt Plumb. Scott Hargrove has gone off the road at Oak Tree corner! It's the same place on the road where Rodrigo Baptista had his issues. Speeds in, loses the tail, over the dirt, and... bang, into the wall!
The engine is still running but poor old Scott Hargrove can't select a gear. He can't get reverse and so, this could be game over. We will have a Full Course Yellow, and a reset with just twelve minutes left on the board. Racer's Edge team boss John Mirachi is still confident his team can score a good finish. Will this race restart? We are coming close to the end and maybe we'll end under yellow. I have a feeling we will see racing before the checkers. Toni Vilander, if his tires are not busted, he'll go after Marco Holzer. We might just have about a one lap shootout to the finish. Good job. Safety car in this lap. Kudos to the SRO. We're going to keep racing. Holzer is two cars behind Soucek. That's Michael de Quesada in the sister car.
Marco Holzer is going to have a tough old time trying to pass two cars and having Toni Vilander right on his six. From fourth on back, this will be fierce. Five minutes to go, blokes. Cinch down the belts and we are going to have ourselves a green flag and a one lap shootout. No games. Put the welly down and go. Yes! It's go time! VIR race one on the line. Don't pass until the stripe. Matty Plumb has gone around Ryan Dalziel who gets swamped. Kyle Marcelli has passed Toni Vilander! Wow! Poor old Toni Vilander will be seething inside his helmet. The ice has melted inside the Finn's psyche. This whole gaggle scrapping with each other has allowed Soucek to whistle off into the distance.
Two laps now remain. Ryan Eversley hanging tough in Pro Am with Toni Vilander all over him. Colin Braun has been shuffled down the order. Dalziel has put some daylight between himself and Eversley. Vilander ran wide on the restart and Marcelli took advantage. White flag out now, and poor old #19 is dinged with another driving standards penalty. Soucek leads Holzer by three seconds. Vilander is behind Eversley who is attacking Marcelli. Vilander is pressing Marcelli, hard. Colin Braun has dropped like a stone. Martin Fuentes has also made his way past Braun as Vilander charges past Marcelli!
Wow! Marcelli will still win Pro Am. Ryan Eversley is closing up. It'll be an Acura 1-2 in Pro Am, but Bentley win! K-PAX are race one winners! Alvaro Parente and Andy Soucek! In Pro Am, it is the #80 Racer's Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 of Martin Barkey and Kyle Marcelli taking the victory, and in the Am class, the #7 Squadra Corsa Garage Italia Ferrari 488 GT3 in the hands of Cesar Bacarella and Martin Fuentes.
Overall/Pro: #9 Parente/Soucek K-PAX Racing Bentley Continental GT3
Pro Am: #80 Barkey/Marcelli Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3
Am: #7 Bacarella/Fuentes Squadra Corsa Garage Italia Ferrari 488 GT3
Matt Plumb gets a 30 second time penalty. Race two takes place here at VIR tomorrow. So, stay tuned for that. Yours truly will have a race report, hopefully tomorrow evening, telling all about race two.
Pirelli GT4 America news from VIR
News headed for the Pirelli GT4 America races at Virginia International Raceway.
Hindman Tops Opening GT4 Practice at VIR
https://sportscar365.com/sro/gt4-america/hindman-tops-opening-gt4-practice-at-vir/
Fassnacht Quickest in Wet Session 2 at VIR
https://sportscar365.com/sro/gt4-america/fassnacht-quickest-in-wet-session-2-at-vir/
Pumpelly Takes Third Straight GT4 Sprint Pole
https://sportscar365.com/sro/gt4-america/pumpelly-takes-third-straight-gt4-sprint-pole/
McLaren GT4's Get Mid-Event BoP Break
https://sportscar365.com/sro/gt4-america/mclaren-gt4s-get-mid-event-bop-break/
Wilson, Hindman Claim GT4 SprintX Poles at VIR
https://sportscar365.com/sro/gt4-america/wilson-hindman-take-gt4-sprintx-poles-at-vir/
Hindman Tops Opening GT4 Practice at VIR
https://sportscar365.com/sro/gt4-america/hindman-tops-opening-gt4-practice-at-vir/
Fassnacht Quickest in Wet Session 2 at VIR
https://sportscar365.com/sro/gt4-america/fassnacht-quickest-in-wet-session-2-at-vir/
Pumpelly Takes Third Straight GT4 Sprint Pole
https://sportscar365.com/sro/gt4-america/pumpelly-takes-third-straight-gt4-sprint-pole/
McLaren GT4's Get Mid-Event BoP Break
https://sportscar365.com/sro/gt4-america/mclaren-gt4s-get-mid-event-bop-break/
Wilson, Hindman Claim GT4 SprintX Poles at VIR
https://sportscar365.com/sro/gt4-america/wilson-hindman-take-gt4-sprintx-poles-at-vir/
Friday, April 26, 2019
Blancpain GT America News from VIR
The race weekend is here for Blancpain GT World Challenge America at the picturesque Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia, and here is the latest news headed for the races on both Saturday and Sunday.
Retro Livery for RealTime Acura in Team’s GT3 Return
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt-america/retro-livery-for-realtime-acura/
Braun, Dalziel Replace P1 Drivers in World Challenge Roster
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt-america/braun-dalziel-replace-p1-drivers-in-world-challenge-roster/
Cameron: RealTime Acura Deal “Ticked All of The Boxes”
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt-america/cameron-realtime-acura-program-ticked-all-boxes/
VIR Thursday Notebook
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt-america/vir-thursday-notebook-5/
K-PAX Bentleys Lead Practice 1 at VIR
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt-america/k-pax-bentleys-top-practice-1-at-vir/
VIR Track Walk With K-PAX’s Darren Law
https://sportscar365.com/features/videos/vir-track-walk-with-k-paxs-darren-law/
Bechtolsheimer Quickest in Mixed-Condition Practice 2
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt-america/bechtolsheimer-quickest-in-mixed-condition-practice-2/
VIR Friday Notebook
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt-america/vir-friday-notebook-7/
Retro Livery for RealTime Acura in Team’s GT3 Return
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt-america/retro-livery-for-realtime-acura/
Braun, Dalziel Replace P1 Drivers in World Challenge Roster
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt-america/braun-dalziel-replace-p1-drivers-in-world-challenge-roster/
Cameron: RealTime Acura Deal “Ticked All of The Boxes”
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt-america/cameron-realtime-acura-program-ticked-all-boxes/
VIR Thursday Notebook
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt-america/vir-thursday-notebook-5/
K-PAX Bentleys Lead Practice 1 at VIR
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt-america/k-pax-bentleys-top-practice-1-at-vir/
VIR Track Walk With K-PAX’s Darren Law
https://sportscar365.com/features/videos/vir-track-walk-with-k-paxs-darren-law/
Bechtolsheimer Quickest in Mixed-Condition Practice 2
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt-america/bechtolsheimer-quickest-in-mixed-condition-practice-2/
VIR Friday Notebook
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt-america/vir-friday-notebook-7/
Pirelli GT4 America news from VIR
Plenty of news to look at heading into this weekend’s racing for Pirelli GT4 America at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia.
Michael Cooper’s latest column.
COOPER: Punching Sbovd Our Pace in Long Beach
https://sportscar365.com/features/commentary/cooper-punching-above-our-pace-in-long-beach/
GT4 SprintX, Sprint Set for First Doubleheader Weekend
https://sportscar365.com/sro/gt4-america/gt4-sprintx-sprint-set-for-first-doubleheader-weekend/
Hindman Tops Opening GT4 Practice at VIR
https://sportscar365.com/sro/gt4-america/hindman-tops-opening-gt4-practice-at-vir/
Fassnacht Quickest in Wet Session 2 at VIR
https://sportscar365.com/sro/gt4-america/fassnacht-quickest-in-wet-session-2-at-vir/
Qualifying for the first and second races of the weekend takes place tomorrow morning, and then, we race. Stay tuned for an update on the race itself as well.
Michael Cooper’s latest column.
COOPER: Punching Sbovd Our Pace in Long Beach
https://sportscar365.com/features/commentary/cooper-punching-above-our-pace-in-long-beach/
GT4 SprintX, Sprint Set for First Doubleheader Weekend
https://sportscar365.com/sro/gt4-america/gt4-sprintx-sprint-set-for-first-doubleheader-weekend/
Hindman Tops Opening GT4 Practice at VIR
https://sportscar365.com/sro/gt4-america/hindman-tops-opening-gt4-practice-at-vir/
Fassnacht Quickest in Wet Session 2 at VIR
https://sportscar365.com/sro/gt4-america/fassnacht-quickest-in-wet-session-2-at-vir/
Qualifying for the first and second races of the weekend takes place tomorrow morning, and then, we race. Stay tuned for an update on the race itself as well.
Thursday, April 25, 2019
Blancpain GT Europe News After Monza
Sorry, everyone. Forgot to post an entry on post-race news after the Blancpain. Endurance opener at Monza.
Dinamic Porsche Wins at Monza on Blancpain GT Debut
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt/dinamic-porsche-wins-at-monza-on-blancpain-gt-debut/
Rain Strategy Pays Off For Dinamic to Win on Debut
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt/rain-strategy-pays-off-for-dinamic-to-win-on-debut/
Monza Post-Race Notebook
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt/monza-post-race-notebook/
Aleshin: Bad Luck Preventing Wins Despite “Great Potential”
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt/aleshin-bad-luck-preventing-wins-despite-great-potential/
World Challenge Europe Driver Nominations Revealed
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt/blancpain-gt-world-challenge-europe-driver-nominations-revealed/
Dinamic Porsche Wins at Monza on Blancpain GT Debut
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt/dinamic-porsche-wins-at-monza-on-blancpain-gt-debut/
Rain Strategy Pays Off For Dinamic to Win on Debut
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt/rain-strategy-pays-off-for-dinamic-to-win-on-debut/
Monza Post-Race Notebook
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt/monza-post-race-notebook/
Aleshin: Bad Luck Preventing Wins Despite “Great Potential”
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt/aleshin-bad-luck-preventing-wins-despite-great-potential/
World Challenge Europe Driver Nominations Revealed
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt/blancpain-gt-world-challenge-europe-driver-nominations-revealed/
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
IMSA & WEC news
A mishmash of headlines from both IMSA, and the FIA WEC.
Chase Confirmed For Remainder of Season at Starworks
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/chase-confirmed-for-remainder-of-season-at-starworks/
Nielsen Confirmed in MSR Acura for Mid-Ohio
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/nielsen-confirmed-in-msr-acura-for-mid-ohio/
Vandoorne Replaces Button in SMP Racing Lineup
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/vandoorne-replaces-button-in-smp-racing-lineup/
Rushbrook: Ford Could Go “Either Way” in DPi Explorations
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/rushbrook-ford-could-go-either-way-in-dpi-explorations/
Chase Confirmed For Remainder of Season at Starworks
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/chase-confirmed-for-remainder-of-season-at-starworks/
Nielsen Confirmed in MSR Acura for Mid-Ohio
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/nielsen-confirmed-in-msr-acura-for-mid-ohio/
Vandoorne Replaces Button in SMP Racing Lineup
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/vandoorne-replaces-button-in-smp-racing-lineup/
Rushbrook: Ford Could Go “Either Way” in DPi Explorations
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/rushbrook-ford-could-go-either-way-in-dpi-explorations/
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
Double Stint: News Recap; Kyle Marcelli Interview (4-23-19)
A news recap, and an interview with Kyle Marcelli, are the highlights of the Double Stint Podcast this week.
https://sportscar365.com/podcasts/double-stint/double-stint-news-recap-kyle-marcelli-interview/
https://sportscar365.com/podcasts/double-stint/double-stint-news-recap-kyle-marcelli-interview/
Monday, April 22, 2019
17 GT3 Entries for VIR
Blancpain GT World Challenge America returns to action this weekend in Virginia...
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt-america/17-gt3-entries-for-vir/
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt-america/17-gt3-entries-for-vir/
Sunday, April 21, 2019
more IMSA news after Long Beach
A brief bit of IMSA news to cover.
In case you missed it, the replay of the race from Long Beach.
Long Beach Race Replay
https://sportscar365.com/features/videos/long-beach-race-replay-2/
Long Beach Sights & Sounds
https://sportscar365.com/features/videos/long-beach-sights-sounds-2/
Reiterating a story that was shared a few days back, but Ford will be ending their factory GT program next year, and handing the cars over to customer teams.
Ford Confirms End of Factory GT Program
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/ford-confirms-end-of-factory-gt-program/
Owen: Long Beach Run a “Turning Point” for Juncos
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/owen-long-beach-a-turning-point-for-juncos-after-tough-start/
McLaren Confirms Multi-Year Deal With IMSA
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/mclaren-confirms-multi-year-deal-with-imsa/
In case you missed it, the replay of the race from Long Beach.
Long Beach Race Replay
https://sportscar365.com/features/videos/long-beach-race-replay-2/
Long Beach Sights & Sounds
https://sportscar365.com/features/videos/long-beach-sights-sounds-2/
Reiterating a story that was shared a few days back, but Ford will be ending their factory GT program next year, and handing the cars over to customer teams.
Ford Confirms End of Factory GT Program
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/ford-confirms-end-of-factory-gt-program/
Owen: Long Beach Run a “Turning Point” for Juncos
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/owen-long-beach-a-turning-point-for-juncos-after-tough-start/
McLaren Confirms Multi-Year Deal With IMSA
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/mclaren-confirms-multi-year-deal-with-imsa/
Saturday, April 20, 2019
Blancpain GT Sports Club, Monza
Watch the two races for Blancpain GT Sports Club from Monza, right here, right now.
Scuderia Praha Narrowly Beats Herberth to 12H Spa Win
Scuderia Praha passes Herberth to take second consecutive 24H Series win in 12H Spa...
https://sportscar365.com/other-series/24hseries/scuderia-praha-narrowly-beats-herberth-to-12h-spa-win/
https://sportscar365.com/other-series/24hseries/scuderia-praha-narrowly-beats-herberth-to-12h-spa-win/
Recapping the Long Beach IMSA race from last weekend
A recap of all the action from last Saturday's Bubba Burger Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach, via motorsport.com.
Practice
Long Beach IMSA: Nasr beats the Acura's in first practice
https://www.motorsport.com/imsa/news/long-beach-practice-nasr-cadillac/4369119/
Long Beach IMSA: Acura edges Cadillac in final practice
https://www.motorsport.com/imsa/news/acura-edges-cadillac-IMSA-practice/4369384/?nrt=207
Qualifying
Long Beach IMSA: Castrnoeves and Tandy win pole positions
https://www.motorsport.com/imsa/news/long-beach-castroneves-tandy-fastest/4369407/?nrt=207
Race
Long Beach IMSA: Action Express Cadillac beats the Acuras
https://www.motorsport.com/imsa/news/long-beach-action-express-wins/4370243/?nrt=207
Post-Race
Van der Zande: "No one to blame but me" for terminal crash
https://www.motorsport.com/imsa/news/long-beach-vanderzande-crash-taylor/4370831/?nrt=207
Practice
Long Beach IMSA: Nasr beats the Acura's in first practice
https://www.motorsport.com/imsa/news/long-beach-practice-nasr-cadillac/4369119/
Long Beach IMSA: Acura edges Cadillac in final practice
https://www.motorsport.com/imsa/news/acura-edges-cadillac-IMSA-practice/4369384/?nrt=207
Qualifying
Long Beach IMSA: Castrnoeves and Tandy win pole positions
https://www.motorsport.com/imsa/news/long-beach-castroneves-tandy-fastest/4369407/?nrt=207
Race
Long Beach IMSA: Action Express Cadillac beats the Acuras
https://www.motorsport.com/imsa/news/long-beach-action-express-wins/4370243/?nrt=207
Post-Race
Van der Zande: "No one to blame but me" for terminal crash
https://www.motorsport.com/imsa/news/long-beach-vanderzande-crash-taylor/4370831/?nrt=207
Friday, April 19, 2019
more news from the FIA WEC
More stories from the FIA World Endurance Championship, as we close in on the penultimate event of the “Super Season”, the 6 Hours of Spa Francorchsmps in just a few short weeks, before the conclusion at the 87th renewal of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, for which, as you may have read by now, there will be two additional entries allocated because of an increase in size to the pit lane at Circuit de la Sartre.
Jarvis, Gounon Completes Risi Lineup
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/jarvis-gounon-complete-risi-lineup/
Ferrier: New Pit Rules Could Lead To Tire Change “Arms Race”
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/new-pit-rules-could-lead-to-tire-change-arms-race/
Corvette Drivers Reflect on ‘Super Sebring’ Double
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/corvette-drivers-reflect-on-super-sebring-double/
ACO Appoints New General Manager
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/aco-appoints-new-general-manager/
United, High Class Added to Le Mans; 62 Cars Now Confirmed
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/united-high-class-added-to-le-mans-62-cars-now-confirmed/
McLaren Pushing for Production-Based Only Hypercar Regs
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/mclaren-pushing-for-full-production-based-hypercar-regs/
Vilander, Smith Join MacNeil in WeatherTech Ferrari
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/vilander-smith-join-macneil-in-weathertech-ferrari/
Ricky Taylor Completes DC Racing Lineup
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/ricky-taylor-completes-dc-racing-lineup/
ByKolles Adds Ruberti to Spa LMP1 Lineup
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/bykolles-adds-gt-veteran-ruberti-to-spa-lmp1-lineup/
Abril Set for Le Mans Debut in Proton Porsche
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/abril-set-for-le-mans-debut-in-proton-porsche/
Dean: United’s Extra Le Mans Entry “What We Hoped For”
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/dean-united-autosports-extra-le-mans-entry-what-we-hoped-for/
‘GTE Plus’ Concept Resurfaces; Possible Hypercar Replacement?
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/gte-plus-concept-resurfaces-possible-hypercar-replacement/
Hartley Tipped to Replace Alonso at Toyota
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/hartley-tipped-to-replace-alonso-at-toyota/
At the end of this year, there will no longer be a factory Ford GT operation, with customer teams set to take over the cars.
Ford Confirms End of Factory GT Program
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/ford-confirms-end-of-factory-gt-program/
Jarvis, Gounon Completes Risi Lineup
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/jarvis-gounon-complete-risi-lineup/
Ferrier: New Pit Rules Could Lead To Tire Change “Arms Race”
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/new-pit-rules-could-lead-to-tire-change-arms-race/
Corvette Drivers Reflect on ‘Super Sebring’ Double
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/corvette-drivers-reflect-on-super-sebring-double/
ACO Appoints New General Manager
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/aco-appoints-new-general-manager/
United, High Class Added to Le Mans; 62 Cars Now Confirmed
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/united-high-class-added-to-le-mans-62-cars-now-confirmed/
McLaren Pushing for Production-Based Only Hypercar Regs
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/mclaren-pushing-for-full-production-based-hypercar-regs/
Vilander, Smith Join MacNeil in WeatherTech Ferrari
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/vilander-smith-join-macneil-in-weathertech-ferrari/
Ricky Taylor Completes DC Racing Lineup
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/ricky-taylor-completes-dc-racing-lineup/
ByKolles Adds Ruberti to Spa LMP1 Lineup
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/bykolles-adds-gt-veteran-ruberti-to-spa-lmp1-lineup/
Abril Set for Le Mans Debut in Proton Porsche
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/abril-set-for-le-mans-debut-in-proton-porsche/
Dean: United’s Extra Le Mans Entry “What We Hoped For”
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/dean-united-autosports-extra-le-mans-entry-what-we-hoped-for/
‘GTE Plus’ Concept Resurfaces; Possible Hypercar Replacement?
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/gte-plus-concept-resurfaces-possible-hypercar-replacement/
Hartley Tipped to Replace Alonso at Toyota
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/hartley-tipped-to-replace-alonso-at-toyota/
At the end of this year, there will no longer be a factory Ford GT operation, with customer teams set to take over the cars.
Ford Confirms End of Factory GT Program
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/ford-confirms-end-of-factory-gt-program/
BUBBA Burger Sports Car Grand Prix Race Broadcast
The race broadcast of the Bubba Burger Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach with anchoring by the IMSA Radio crew with John Hindhaugh, Jeremy Shaw, and Shea Adam.
https://imsatv.imsa.com/video/042019/2019-bubba-burger-sports-car-grand-prix-long-beach-race-broadcast
https://imsatv.imsa.com/video/042019/2019-bubba-burger-sports-car-grand-prix-long-beach-race-broadcast
2019 Le Mans 24 Hours Set To Expand To 62-Car Entry
New temporary garages allow High Class Racing and second United Autosports LMP2s onto the full grid.
http://www.dailysportscar.com/2019/04/16/2019-le-mans-24-hours-set-to-expand-to-62-car-entry.html?fbclid=IwAR19u-Fu0vToUMkl2BU56fx6_5_YZGKm0RwFqGxedZ4G_gqAejSpe_FCEps
http://www.dailysportscar.com/2019/04/16/2019-le-mans-24-hours-set-to-expand-to-62-car-entry.html?fbclid=IwAR19u-Fu0vToUMkl2BU56fx6_5_YZGKm0RwFqGxedZ4G_gqAejSpe_FCEps
Thursday, April 18, 2019
IMSA Grand Prix at Long Beach 2019 | EXTENDED HIGHLIGHTS | 4/13/19 | NBC Sports
Look back at all the best moments from Filipe Albuquerque's win in the 2019 Grand Prix at Long Beach. #NBCSports #IMSA #GrandPrixatLongBeach
Leigh Diffey, Calvin Fish, and A.J. Allmendinger have the play-by-play for this one.
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
2019 WeatherTech Data Analysis - Long Beach
Analyzing the data from Long Beach via the Facebook page for North American Race Car.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/north-american-racecar/2019-weathertech-data-analysis-long-beach/2122357481217192/
https://www.facebook.com/notes/north-american-racecar/2019-weathertech-data-analysis-long-beach/2122357481217192/
Lamborghini Still "Looking With Interest" at GT2
Lamborghini still interested in GT2 with car based on Super Trofeo platform...
https://sportscar365.com/industry/lamborghini-still-looking-with-interest-at-gt2/
https://sportscar365.com/industry/lamborghini-still-looking-with-interest-at-gt2/
post-race news after Long Beach
Now that the smoke has cleared from a wild weekend of racing at Long Beach, we can dissect what happened during Saturday’s race, and here are the post-race stories after the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship’s Long Beach street fight.
Bamber, Vanthoor Take GTLM Win at Long Beach
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/bamber-holds-on-for-gtlm-win-at-long-beach/
Albuquerque Holds Off Taylor for Long Beach Win
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/albuquerque-holds-off-taylor-for-long-beach-win/
Mueller Comes Up Short on Fuel in Hard-Fought GTLM Battle
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/mueller-comes-up-short-on-fuel-in-hard-fought-gtlm-battle/
Taylor Was on “Attack Mode” in Closing Laps
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/taylor-was-on-attack-mode-in-closing-laps/
Bamber: Broken Diffuser a “Nerve-Racking” Experience
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/bamber-broken-diffuser-a-nerve-racking-experience/
HPD Trackside: Long Beach Recap
https://sportscar365.com/features/videos/hpd-trackside-long-beach-recap/
Derani, Nasr “Lucky on A Very Unlucky Day” in Long Beach
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/derani-nasr-lucky-on-a-very-unlucky-day-in-long-beach/
Long Beach Post-Race Notebook
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/long-beach-post-race-notebook/
...and, the latest Double Stint Podcast, recapping the Long Beach race, and featuring an interview with Spencer Pumpelly.
Double Stint: Long Beach Recap; Spencer Pumpelly Interview (4-16-19)
https://sportscar365.com/podcasts/double-stint/double-stint-long-beach-recap-spencer-pumpelly-interview/
Thomson: McLaren 720S GT3 an “Incredible Piece of Kit”
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/thomson-mclaren-720s-gt3-an-incredible-piece-of-kit/
Bamber, Vanthoor Take GTLM Win at Long Beach
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/bamber-holds-on-for-gtlm-win-at-long-beach/
Albuquerque Holds Off Taylor for Long Beach Win
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/albuquerque-holds-off-taylor-for-long-beach-win/
Mueller Comes Up Short on Fuel in Hard-Fought GTLM Battle
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/mueller-comes-up-short-on-fuel-in-hard-fought-gtlm-battle/
Taylor Was on “Attack Mode” in Closing Laps
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/taylor-was-on-attack-mode-in-closing-laps/
Bamber: Broken Diffuser a “Nerve-Racking” Experience
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/bamber-broken-diffuser-a-nerve-racking-experience/
HPD Trackside: Long Beach Recap
https://sportscar365.com/features/videos/hpd-trackside-long-beach-recap/
Derani, Nasr “Lucky on A Very Unlucky Day” in Long Beach
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/derani-nasr-lucky-on-a-very-unlucky-day-in-long-beach/
Long Beach Post-Race Notebook
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/long-beach-post-race-notebook/
...and, the latest Double Stint Podcast, recapping the Long Beach race, and featuring an interview with Spencer Pumpelly.
Double Stint: Long Beach Recap; Spencer Pumpelly Interview (4-16-19)
https://sportscar365.com/podcasts/double-stint/double-stint-long-beach-recap-spencer-pumpelly-interview/
Thomson: McLaren 720S GT3 an “Incredible Piece of Kit”
https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/thomson-mclaren-720s-gt3-an-incredible-piece-of-kit/
Tuesday, April 16, 2019
Blancpain GT Europe, Round 1: Monza, Italy
It is the season opener of the Blancpain GT Endurance championship for 2019 at the legendary Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Monza, Italy. This is round one of the endurance championship, of five, combined with the World Challenge series which is it's own championship, featuring sprint races, combined with the endurance championship. We join the commentary team of David Addison and five-time Formula 1 race winner, John Watson, with all the action.
Spoiler alert:
The race winners at Monza are a true underdog. The Italian Dinamic Motorsport team, with their #54 Porsche 911 GT3R in the hands of Zaid Ashkanani of Kuwait, Klaus Bachler of Austria, and Andrea Rizzoli of Italy. In the Silver class, the winners are the #90 AKKA ASP Mercedes AMG GT3 driven by Nico Bastian of Germany, Timur Boguslavskiy of Russia, and Brazil's Felipe Fraga. British team Tempesta Racing with their Ferrari 488 GT3 win the Pro Am class, with British drivers Chris Buncombe and Chris Froggatt, and Jonathan Hui of Hong Kong. In the Am division, your winners are Barwell Motorsports, with the #77 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 in the hands of Adrian Amstutz from Switzerland, Leo Machitski of Russia, and Miguel Ramos of Portugal.
Overall/Pro: #54 Ashkanani/Bachler/Rizzoli Dinamic Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3R
Pro Am: #90 Bastian/Boguslaviskiy/Fraga AKKA ASP Team Mercedes AMG GT3
Silver: #93 Buncombe/Froggatt/Hui Tempesta Racing Ferrari 488 GT3
Am: #77 Amstutz/Machitski/Ramos Barwell Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan GT3
We look ahead to the next endurance race, at another famous circuit, Silverstone, in Northamptonshire, England, set to take place in less than a month, on May 12th.
Monday, April 15, 2019
Blancpain GT Europe: Monza, Qualifying
We join the SRO commentary team of David Addison and John Watson, five-time Formula 1 Grand Prix winner, for qualifying action for the opening event of the Blancpain GT Europe 2019 campaign from the world renown Autodromo Nationale di Monza in Monza, Italy, for qualifications for the season opener. Stay tuned, as coverage of the race itself will follow in due course, and there will be lots more action from Monza, as this week continues. Some wonderful racing happened, and you don’t want to miss it.
Sunday, April 14, 2019
Winner & highlights of the IMSA Bubba Burger Sports Car Grand Prix of Long Beach
It is time, for a street fight for IMSA, in their first sprint race of the year. Race Control is going to let the boys and girls go for it today. No GT Daytona or LMP2 cars here. Only Dpi and GTLM. Jonathan Bomarito in the #55 Mazda crashed and will have to start from the back of the grid. Mazda Motorsports program manager John Doonan, got food for the crew to have sustenance while they repaired the car. Now, the cars are headed onto the track. Acura Team Penske, wants their first win of the year after Helio Castroneves put the Acura on pole. Sebastien Bourdais, will fill in for the ill Joey Hand in the #66 Ford GT. Jordan Taylor went through an appendectomy earlier in the week. He trained and prepared to be comfortable for the race.
Jordan Taylor will only feel pain getting out of the car. Just incredible. This is an hour and 40 minute sprint event. The driver change today, is the most important one of the season, because of the short race duration. Track position for these ladies and gentlemen, is critical. Nail it from the start. It will be go time. No room for error on this day. Cadillac, and the battle between Action Express racing and Wayne Taylor racing, will be the talking point, because those two teams, have won the opening enduros.
Pipo Derani has the pole. Again, no room for mistakes. Yours truly, can't emphasize that enough. Felipe Nasr and Pipo Derani, are so quick. They are going to be contenders. In GT Le Mans, Corvette Racing is going for the hat trick of wins here at Long Beach. They've triumphed, but they've also had nightmares in recent years, dealing with wrecks. Corvette came through, last year. Watch for Porsche, too. Porsche has the traction off the corners. Corvette has the spare parts if they get into some argy bargy.
It's a gorgeous day at Long Beach. It's a party atmosphere here at Long Beach. This race, many years ago, was the home of one of two Formula 1 Grand Prix races in the U.S.A. back in the 1970s. Acura Team Penske, wants a win. They've won in NASCAR, IndyCar, and Australian Supercars already. It is a perfect day for racing. It's time for a 100 meter dash. Go for it. Take chances. Be aggressive. This will be a great race as we get opening ceremonies underway. The Star Spangled Banner, has been sung, and now, we are ready to see cars speeding through the streets of Long Beach, and not getting speeding tickets.
19 cars are set to race. Drivers, start your engines! The engines have fired, and we're ready. Drama is a part of this race. On pole, Helio Castroneves for Acura in Dpi, and Nick Tandy, in a battle between the Porsche factory cars. it's a Porsche front row sweep in GT Le Mans. Porsche has had an incredible start to the season. Acura is the title sponsor of this and the IndyCar race tomorrow. 100 minutes to go. Two pit lane closures within 15 minutes after the start and 30 minutes before the end. Jonathan Bomarito clipped the barrier, and made a mistake. Tom Blomqvist will start the #25 BMW M8 GT, and Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen as well as Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner, have the Corvettes.
Nick Tandy and Patrick Pilet are ready. Mazda #55 has a new monocoque. also, watch out for Jon Bennett and Colin Braun in the #54 Nissan as well as the Cadillac #10. Are you ready? It's go time! Green flag! Let's go! Two Brazilians lead and here comes juan Pablo Monotya, as it's three wide into the braking zone. Montoya has to give up a spot to Tristan Nunez in the Mazda. Castroneves leads as Felipe Nasr gets loose. Cold tires. Be careful for the first few minutes, and poor old Jon Bennett, he's smashed the tire barrier in turn six! This is the spot where Jonathan Bomarito went in yesterday.
Felipe Nasr is flying, trying to catch and pass Helio Castroneves. Tristan Nunez in the Mazda will be monstering that Cadillac, soon. Bomarito spins in turn eight! Yikes! Nick Tandy very nearly slams into the Mazda! Full Course Yellow! Jeepers creepers! Toe in damage on the Nissan, look. Juan Pablo Montoya's reaction to that shemozzle had to be like the line from the movie "The Hangover". "What's happening?!" We said it would be elbows out, and by gosh, it has been. Bennett clipped both walls. There's a disagreement now between Juan Pablo Montoya, and Jordan Taylor.
This is the 45th running of the Long Beach Grand Prix. It is 20 minutes or so, outside L.A. Now, this is a typical, tight street course. 160-175 miles an hour at the fastest portions. Some of the braking zones do give you a good opportunity for passing. At the hairpin, that's crawling speed, before a burst of acceleration down Shoreline Drive. Lights out on the safety car, ready to resume. This long yellow may open a one stop window for diving to pit lane. Green flag again, and Felipe Nasr can't keep up with Helio. Acura leads Cadillac leads Mazda. Bomarito and Taylor had some real argy bargy before. Jordan Taylor is fighting, post surgery after his emergency appendectomy. His left side hurts most.
Felipe Nasr moves to the lead and Tristan Nunez is flying at the moment. He's all over Nasr like el cheapo suito there. Trouble for Helio Castroneves for some reason as the Cadillac's of Simon Trummer and Misha Goikhberg are battling. Jordan Taylor gets a drive through penalty from the stewards for passing under a local yellow. That was a mistake. Helio Castroneves may have accidentally hit the pit lane speed limiter and that's what slowed him down. In replay, Jon Bennett had spun, and Jordan Taylor ignored the yellow flag.
In GTLM, Porsche runs 1-2 with Nick Tandy leading Laurens Vanthoor. How far on fuel will the GTLM cars go? 55 minutes for Corvette... and the two BMW's might be able to leapfrog their competition. You don't want to go down a lap from a pit stop as Jordan Taylor takes his penalty. IMSA marshals did not explain the penalty to the team, right behind Ryan Briscoe at the tail of GTLM in the #67 Ford GT. Close racing in GTLM as they round the fountain turn another time. Pit action for Mazda as well. #55 is in the lane.
Felipe Nasr, the Brazilian, has rocketed away from everyone else, 2.5 seconds to the good over the Mazda. Jonathan Bomarito now at the wheel, after his scheduled pit stop. The monocoque and the steering rack, were cracked after the accident. Nick Tandy and Laurens Vanthoor are pressing on but Vanthoor is having vibration issues on the car as they have returned to their traditional red, white, and black livery. They have a fast driver change time of 11-12 seconds down. The Ford GT boys have a slower driver change time.
The height of the roof and the amount of space a door can swing open, will affect how the driver changes work. Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner are looking for three wins in a row. Sebastien Bourdais is a last minute substitute. Joey Hand and his son, Chase, have both been sick. So, he could not race in his local event. The worst feeling for a driver is seeing someone else, sitting in your seat. Harry Tincknell has taken the Mazda over from Jonathan Bomarito. Mazda has 300 people watching this race, as their U.S. headquarters is in Irvine, California, not too far away. Oliver Jarvis and John Doonan, visited the Gurney family, presenting a painting of their car and the Gurney Toyota Eagle, to Dan Gurney's widow, Evy.
Castroneves is closing in on Nunez, look. He's closing in hand over fist. Nasr has a four second cushion over everyone else in the top five. Nick Tandy and Laurens Vanthoor, still have control in GTLM for Porsche. Ford into the pit lane for service. Time for the all important driver change. It is an efficient, and quick stop. Cadillac has been chasing, and has passed one of the Corvette's. Trouble again for Mazda #55 with Harry Tincknell at the wheel of it, before the yellow flag came out. Sebastien Bourdais got out of the car and handed the car to Dirk Mueller. Mueller will move ahead of his competition. Bourdais just finished IndyCar qualifying, and jumped right into the Ford. The braking is easier on a sports car than it is on an IndyCar.
Pits are open now, for the Prototypes, before the GTLM cars come in. The crews are going to earn their money, now. All kinds of pressure. Everyone in pit lane at the same time. Oliver Jarvis will change into the #77 Mazda. Ricky Taylor changes into the #7, and Pipo Derani in the #31 Cadillac. Trouble for the right front wheel! There was a loose right front tire. They have to come back to the lane, and now, he has three wheels on his wagon. Oh no! You picked a fine time to leave me, loose wheel. Execution, execution. He will be dragging the splitter on the street, and that's going to be a bear for them. Oliver Jarvis in the #77 Mazda, is now in the pound seats.
Pit stop time now for GTLM teams. Driver changes are set to be executed. Dirk Mueller is now in the #66 Ford. Patrick Pilet, and Earl Bamber are taking over the two Porsche's. #911 beats the #912 and the #3 beats the #4. The BMW M8 pits and Pipo Derani now has a new wheel. They were in control, and there's a rear right tire issue now too, for the #24 BMW M8 GT! Pressure, causing multiple errors in this flat out sprint of a sports car race on the streets of Long Beach! Jesse Krohn was at the wheel of the BMW. Kyle Kaiser, on a different strategy in the #50 Juncos Cadillac leads, but not now.
Oliver Jarvis is all over Kaiser, going for the lead of this motor race. Dane Cameron tries Ricky Taylor through turn nine, and they nearly touch! Filipe Albuquerque sneaks past Stephen Simpson. The GTLM lead battle is hot and heavy. Ford vs. Porsche vs. Corvette. The #31 Cadillac is clawing his way back up, and Pipo Derani backs up the Porsche's as they nearly run into each other, and the Corvette's are bumping and boring, and this allows Dirk Mueller to open a gap, widening his margin. A drive through penalty for #31! Game over! When you come to the lane, you can't do anything but emergency service. They fueled the car, but they came in with the GTLM cars.
Trouble too for Renger van der Azande! He has slammed the wall. Game over! This week has been horrible for WTR! Both the championship leaders are having nightmare races! van der Zande, turn nine... smash! They dominated this race three years in a row, and now, they're out of it. He went super deep into the turn, and... boom! With the clag on the outside of the road, it is like hitting ice. He wheel hopped into the turn and slammed the wall. Game over. Kyle Kaiser, for Juncos, leads, but now, Oliver Jarvis in the Mazda, will assume the lead ahead of the Acura's and the JDC-Miller "banana boat" Cadillac.
Action Express, they will regroup for the next event. This race is a pressure cooker. Pipo Derani, though, has set fastest lap, and he could still be in with a shout, as Kyle Kaiser continues to lead in the #50 Juncos Racing Cadillac. The action continues hot and heavy in GTLM. This race has been fast and frantic the whole time. Ooh! Near miss there for the Ford! Some argy bargy between Dir Mueller and the Porsche! No love lost between Ford and Porsche, and now, Jan Magnussen and Tommy Milner are getting into this scrap, too. Ford is in the pound seats at the moment.
This is a mega street fight in GTLM at the moment. Mueller has moved ahead four places and Bamber is catching Mueller. An acceleration issue for the Ford as there was nearly contact between Patrick Pilet and Jan Magnussen. Yikes! This scrap hasn't quit by any stretch as we have just over 40 minutes to go as the pit window is open for Prototypes. Pipo Derani pitted and now, Filipe Albuquerques will, too. Juncos in the lane now. Kyle Kaiser, 2017 Indy Lights champion, has done extremely well. Will Owen will finish the race. Oliver Jarvis is in the danger zone, as he has two Penske Acura Dpi's bearing down on him. Dane Cameron is side by side with Helio Castroneves.
The cadillac has the grunt with the V8 over the 4 cylinder Mazda and the V6 Acura. Dane Cameron tags the back of his team mate and here comes Stephen Simpson in the #84 JDC-Miller Cadillac, the "banana boat". Stephen Simpson, and his wife had a baby, recently, who is now just a month old. Now, Will Owen is in a rhythm, and the #77 Mazda, they are looking at the clock, and they might just be in the window to make a splash and a dash before this race is over. Into the pit lane, #6 Acura, with Dane Cameron sharing with Juan Pablo Montoya.
Tires on the car. These two are still looking for their first win. Earl Bamber leads Dirk Mueller in GTLM right now. Left side tires only, for Dane Cameron. Two different tire scenarios for Penske as Jan Magnussen is all over Patrick Pilet. dane Cameron has warmer tires than Ricky Taylor. He can't get the power down without sliding the car. Taylor slams the door in his face. Oliver Jarvis pits and is back on track, again, on cold tires. This is going to be a nail biter! Ricky Taylor and Dane Cameron have passed the Mazda!
Just 34 minutes to go. Dane Cameron still has the advantage, but, actually, no. Filipe Albuquerque and Joao Barbosa, who won last year here at Long Beach, they might be in contention for another win as they are now leading this motor race. This is the first time for DPi cars, on the streets of Long Beach with the Michelin tires. Albuquerque's lead is trimmed to only 3.2 seconds. Albuquerque has the two Acura's and this race is not done yet. Porsche and Corvette continue their leading scrum in GTLM. Ah. Check that. That's the battle for third. Patrick Pilet vs. Jan Magnussen. Ricky Taylor is closing on Filipe Albuquerque. Only 2.4 seconds separate the two of them. It is Action Express vs. Team Penske.
It is less than a second separating the leaders as Jan Magnussen squeezes Patrick Pilet before Jan Magnussen gets into the back of the Porsche! No real damage. 4/10ths of a second now between Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor. Bamber and the Porsche have a flat tire! Oh dear! Dirk Mueller hit his pit lane speed limiter at turn eleven and there was some argy bargy as the diffuser is busted on the back of the Porsche! Dear me! Ricky Taylor is right on the Cadillac's gearbox. Albuquerque is going to have to push with 20 minutes to go!
Albuquerque had a deflating tire, and the corvette hits Ricky Taylor! That was a close shave! Wow! There has only ever been one race win for Acura, and that was Mid Ohio last year. Albuquerque and Barbosa have other plans. This is amazing. Tommy Milner is fighting with all he has to hold off Richard Westbrook. Top five for Stephen Simpson in the #85 JDC-Miller Cadillac. Taylor is all over the Mustang Sampling Cadillac. Out of the fountain turn again, and this race is still filled with drama.
Penske Acura are coming in a hurry! Both Acura's clear one of the Team RLL BMW M8's. The 1991 IMSA GTO season, and the Mazda RX7, won the driver's and makes championship in IMSA GTO with Pete Halsmer at the wheel. He won the title that year, with the screaming Mazda rotary engine in that car. Under 14 minutes to go now. Ricky Taylor is still 1 and 1/4 seconds behind the leader. Less than 13 minutes to go. Porsche is leading in GTLM right now, leapfrogging their team mate and Dirk Mueller in the #66 Ford GT.
Mueller will get a road going Ford GT to drive himself on the street. Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia have learned to compromise on the car setup. Again, Magnussen is pushing, pushing, pushing. The lead gap is closing, look. This will be a grandstand finish. Ricky Taylor is really pressing albuquerque now. It is now or never for Ricky Taylor. The tires are fading for Filipe Albuquerque. He is the shark. Albuquerque is the minnow. Stop, turn, and get off the corner. Taylor is closing. We've seen these two blokes race each other before.
Taylor wants it. It's the Acura sponsored race, and the Penske Acura has had a nearly one year drought. They have just one win to their credit. earl Bamber is hanging tough in GTLM. Ricky taylor cannot get close enough to the Cadillac. He tries into the braking zone. Oh no! Will Owen, nose first into the tire barrier! This could be a yellow. This is just like the Nissan shunt earlier with Jon Bennett. The car, is stuffed into the wall with a stalled motor. Derani moves on Owen, and... boom! He's into the tires, hard. But, he's moving again. The race is still on for the win.
Both cars have been told to save fuel. Slower is faster? Maybe. Can Ricky Taylor get the slingshot? The Cadillac is the perfect DPi car. They have won a lot of races here at Long Beach. Albuquerque's rear tires must be begging for mercy. No further action on the Will Owen kerfuffle. Now, taylor is diving inside as Albuquerque defends. We have about two or three laps to run. Will Ricky Taylor go for it? The BMW is blocking the Cadillac, but now, the BMW snookers Taylor just for a second. Connor De Philippi lets both of them go. Two laps to go. Taylor is going to push hard to try to gain ground.
Dane Cameron is also in this fight. Earl Bamber leads GTLM by 2.3 seconds. Ricky Taylor is all over Albuquerque. He has to pounce, now, with GTLM traffic ahead, Porsche and Ford. Taylor is trapped behind the Porsche. Albuquerque can stretch his lead. Final time on the backstretch. We can't give the race to anyone yet. Joao Barbosa and Filipe Albuquerque win at Long Beach!
Dirk Mueller is racing to the corvette. Who will win GTLM? Bamber is going, and Jan Magnussen taps Dirk Mueller, crunching the Ford GT! Magnussen's radiator is busted! Porsche wins! Earl Bamber and Nick Tandy! Its a Corvette Racing 2-3, and Dirk Mueller is spun, dazed, and the #67 Ford GT is parked!
Back to back wins for AXR at Long Beach! The Ford just stopped, and then, into the turn... crunch! He didn't accelerate! What a bear for the Ford boys. Barbosa and Albuquerque, are three points within striking distance of the lead in the championship!
Overall/DPi: #5 Barbosa/Albuquerque Cadillac Dpi-V.R
GT Le Mans: #911 Bamber/Tandy Porsche 911 RSR
What a street fight at Long Beach! The next event, is another sprint round, at the Mid Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, another legendary natural terrain road course, coming up in about three weeks. But, it is back to back wins for Felipe Albuquerque and Joao Barbosa! Cadillac, undefeated in 2019 so far! Wow! We'll see you, next time out, at Mid Ohio.
Jordan Taylor will only feel pain getting out of the car. Just incredible. This is an hour and 40 minute sprint event. The driver change today, is the most important one of the season, because of the short race duration. Track position for these ladies and gentlemen, is critical. Nail it from the start. It will be go time. No room for error on this day. Cadillac, and the battle between Action Express racing and Wayne Taylor racing, will be the talking point, because those two teams, have won the opening enduros.
Pipo Derani has the pole. Again, no room for mistakes. Yours truly, can't emphasize that enough. Felipe Nasr and Pipo Derani, are so quick. They are going to be contenders. In GT Le Mans, Corvette Racing is going for the hat trick of wins here at Long Beach. They've triumphed, but they've also had nightmares in recent years, dealing with wrecks. Corvette came through, last year. Watch for Porsche, too. Porsche has the traction off the corners. Corvette has the spare parts if they get into some argy bargy.
It's a gorgeous day at Long Beach. It's a party atmosphere here at Long Beach. This race, many years ago, was the home of one of two Formula 1 Grand Prix races in the U.S.A. back in the 1970s. Acura Team Penske, wants a win. They've won in NASCAR, IndyCar, and Australian Supercars already. It is a perfect day for racing. It's time for a 100 meter dash. Go for it. Take chances. Be aggressive. This will be a great race as we get opening ceremonies underway. The Star Spangled Banner, has been sung, and now, we are ready to see cars speeding through the streets of Long Beach, and not getting speeding tickets.
19 cars are set to race. Drivers, start your engines! The engines have fired, and we're ready. Drama is a part of this race. On pole, Helio Castroneves for Acura in Dpi, and Nick Tandy, in a battle between the Porsche factory cars. it's a Porsche front row sweep in GT Le Mans. Porsche has had an incredible start to the season. Acura is the title sponsor of this and the IndyCar race tomorrow. 100 minutes to go. Two pit lane closures within 15 minutes after the start and 30 minutes before the end. Jonathan Bomarito clipped the barrier, and made a mistake. Tom Blomqvist will start the #25 BMW M8 GT, and Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen as well as Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner, have the Corvettes.
Nick Tandy and Patrick Pilet are ready. Mazda #55 has a new monocoque. also, watch out for Jon Bennett and Colin Braun in the #54 Nissan as well as the Cadillac #10. Are you ready? It's go time! Green flag! Let's go! Two Brazilians lead and here comes juan Pablo Monotya, as it's three wide into the braking zone. Montoya has to give up a spot to Tristan Nunez in the Mazda. Castroneves leads as Felipe Nasr gets loose. Cold tires. Be careful for the first few minutes, and poor old Jon Bennett, he's smashed the tire barrier in turn six! This is the spot where Jonathan Bomarito went in yesterday.
Felipe Nasr is flying, trying to catch and pass Helio Castroneves. Tristan Nunez in the Mazda will be monstering that Cadillac, soon. Bomarito spins in turn eight! Yikes! Nick Tandy very nearly slams into the Mazda! Full Course Yellow! Jeepers creepers! Toe in damage on the Nissan, look. Juan Pablo Montoya's reaction to that shemozzle had to be like the line from the movie "The Hangover". "What's happening?!" We said it would be elbows out, and by gosh, it has been. Bennett clipped both walls. There's a disagreement now between Juan Pablo Montoya, and Jordan Taylor.
This is the 45th running of the Long Beach Grand Prix. It is 20 minutes or so, outside L.A. Now, this is a typical, tight street course. 160-175 miles an hour at the fastest portions. Some of the braking zones do give you a good opportunity for passing. At the hairpin, that's crawling speed, before a burst of acceleration down Shoreline Drive. Lights out on the safety car, ready to resume. This long yellow may open a one stop window for diving to pit lane. Green flag again, and Felipe Nasr can't keep up with Helio. Acura leads Cadillac leads Mazda. Bomarito and Taylor had some real argy bargy before. Jordan Taylor is fighting, post surgery after his emergency appendectomy. His left side hurts most.
Felipe Nasr moves to the lead and Tristan Nunez is flying at the moment. He's all over Nasr like el cheapo suito there. Trouble for Helio Castroneves for some reason as the Cadillac's of Simon Trummer and Misha Goikhberg are battling. Jordan Taylor gets a drive through penalty from the stewards for passing under a local yellow. That was a mistake. Helio Castroneves may have accidentally hit the pit lane speed limiter and that's what slowed him down. In replay, Jon Bennett had spun, and Jordan Taylor ignored the yellow flag.
In GTLM, Porsche runs 1-2 with Nick Tandy leading Laurens Vanthoor. How far on fuel will the GTLM cars go? 55 minutes for Corvette... and the two BMW's might be able to leapfrog their competition. You don't want to go down a lap from a pit stop as Jordan Taylor takes his penalty. IMSA marshals did not explain the penalty to the team, right behind Ryan Briscoe at the tail of GTLM in the #67 Ford GT. Close racing in GTLM as they round the fountain turn another time. Pit action for Mazda as well. #55 is in the lane.
Felipe Nasr, the Brazilian, has rocketed away from everyone else, 2.5 seconds to the good over the Mazda. Jonathan Bomarito now at the wheel, after his scheduled pit stop. The monocoque and the steering rack, were cracked after the accident. Nick Tandy and Laurens Vanthoor are pressing on but Vanthoor is having vibration issues on the car as they have returned to their traditional red, white, and black livery. They have a fast driver change time of 11-12 seconds down. The Ford GT boys have a slower driver change time.
The height of the roof and the amount of space a door can swing open, will affect how the driver changes work. Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner are looking for three wins in a row. Sebastien Bourdais is a last minute substitute. Joey Hand and his son, Chase, have both been sick. So, he could not race in his local event. The worst feeling for a driver is seeing someone else, sitting in your seat. Harry Tincknell has taken the Mazda over from Jonathan Bomarito. Mazda has 300 people watching this race, as their U.S. headquarters is in Irvine, California, not too far away. Oliver Jarvis and John Doonan, visited the Gurney family, presenting a painting of their car and the Gurney Toyota Eagle, to Dan Gurney's widow, Evy.
Castroneves is closing in on Nunez, look. He's closing in hand over fist. Nasr has a four second cushion over everyone else in the top five. Nick Tandy and Laurens Vanthoor, still have control in GTLM for Porsche. Ford into the pit lane for service. Time for the all important driver change. It is an efficient, and quick stop. Cadillac has been chasing, and has passed one of the Corvette's. Trouble again for Mazda #55 with Harry Tincknell at the wheel of it, before the yellow flag came out. Sebastien Bourdais got out of the car and handed the car to Dirk Mueller. Mueller will move ahead of his competition. Bourdais just finished IndyCar qualifying, and jumped right into the Ford. The braking is easier on a sports car than it is on an IndyCar.
Pits are open now, for the Prototypes, before the GTLM cars come in. The crews are going to earn their money, now. All kinds of pressure. Everyone in pit lane at the same time. Oliver Jarvis will change into the #77 Mazda. Ricky Taylor changes into the #7, and Pipo Derani in the #31 Cadillac. Trouble for the right front wheel! There was a loose right front tire. They have to come back to the lane, and now, he has three wheels on his wagon. Oh no! You picked a fine time to leave me, loose wheel. Execution, execution. He will be dragging the splitter on the street, and that's going to be a bear for them. Oliver Jarvis in the #77 Mazda, is now in the pound seats.
Pit stop time now for GTLM teams. Driver changes are set to be executed. Dirk Mueller is now in the #66 Ford. Patrick Pilet, and Earl Bamber are taking over the two Porsche's. #911 beats the #912 and the #3 beats the #4. The BMW M8 pits and Pipo Derani now has a new wheel. They were in control, and there's a rear right tire issue now too, for the #24 BMW M8 GT! Pressure, causing multiple errors in this flat out sprint of a sports car race on the streets of Long Beach! Jesse Krohn was at the wheel of the BMW. Kyle Kaiser, on a different strategy in the #50 Juncos Cadillac leads, but not now.
Oliver Jarvis is all over Kaiser, going for the lead of this motor race. Dane Cameron tries Ricky Taylor through turn nine, and they nearly touch! Filipe Albuquerque sneaks past Stephen Simpson. The GTLM lead battle is hot and heavy. Ford vs. Porsche vs. Corvette. The #31 Cadillac is clawing his way back up, and Pipo Derani backs up the Porsche's as they nearly run into each other, and the Corvette's are bumping and boring, and this allows Dirk Mueller to open a gap, widening his margin. A drive through penalty for #31! Game over! When you come to the lane, you can't do anything but emergency service. They fueled the car, but they came in with the GTLM cars.
Trouble too for Renger van der Azande! He has slammed the wall. Game over! This week has been horrible for WTR! Both the championship leaders are having nightmare races! van der Zande, turn nine... smash! They dominated this race three years in a row, and now, they're out of it. He went super deep into the turn, and... boom! With the clag on the outside of the road, it is like hitting ice. He wheel hopped into the turn and slammed the wall. Game over. Kyle Kaiser, for Juncos, leads, but now, Oliver Jarvis in the Mazda, will assume the lead ahead of the Acura's and the JDC-Miller "banana boat" Cadillac.
Action Express, they will regroup for the next event. This race is a pressure cooker. Pipo Derani, though, has set fastest lap, and he could still be in with a shout, as Kyle Kaiser continues to lead in the #50 Juncos Racing Cadillac. The action continues hot and heavy in GTLM. This race has been fast and frantic the whole time. Ooh! Near miss there for the Ford! Some argy bargy between Dir Mueller and the Porsche! No love lost between Ford and Porsche, and now, Jan Magnussen and Tommy Milner are getting into this scrap, too. Ford is in the pound seats at the moment.
This is a mega street fight in GTLM at the moment. Mueller has moved ahead four places and Bamber is catching Mueller. An acceleration issue for the Ford as there was nearly contact between Patrick Pilet and Jan Magnussen. Yikes! This scrap hasn't quit by any stretch as we have just over 40 minutes to go as the pit window is open for Prototypes. Pipo Derani pitted and now, Filipe Albuquerques will, too. Juncos in the lane now. Kyle Kaiser, 2017 Indy Lights champion, has done extremely well. Will Owen will finish the race. Oliver Jarvis is in the danger zone, as he has two Penske Acura Dpi's bearing down on him. Dane Cameron is side by side with Helio Castroneves.
The cadillac has the grunt with the V8 over the 4 cylinder Mazda and the V6 Acura. Dane Cameron tags the back of his team mate and here comes Stephen Simpson in the #84 JDC-Miller Cadillac, the "banana boat". Stephen Simpson, and his wife had a baby, recently, who is now just a month old. Now, Will Owen is in a rhythm, and the #77 Mazda, they are looking at the clock, and they might just be in the window to make a splash and a dash before this race is over. Into the pit lane, #6 Acura, with Dane Cameron sharing with Juan Pablo Montoya.
Tires on the car. These two are still looking for their first win. Earl Bamber leads Dirk Mueller in GTLM right now. Left side tires only, for Dane Cameron. Two different tire scenarios for Penske as Jan Magnussen is all over Patrick Pilet. dane Cameron has warmer tires than Ricky Taylor. He can't get the power down without sliding the car. Taylor slams the door in his face. Oliver Jarvis pits and is back on track, again, on cold tires. This is going to be a nail biter! Ricky Taylor and Dane Cameron have passed the Mazda!
Just 34 minutes to go. Dane Cameron still has the advantage, but, actually, no. Filipe Albuquerque and Joao Barbosa, who won last year here at Long Beach, they might be in contention for another win as they are now leading this motor race. This is the first time for DPi cars, on the streets of Long Beach with the Michelin tires. Albuquerque's lead is trimmed to only 3.2 seconds. Albuquerque has the two Acura's and this race is not done yet. Porsche and Corvette continue their leading scrum in GTLM. Ah. Check that. That's the battle for third. Patrick Pilet vs. Jan Magnussen. Ricky Taylor is closing on Filipe Albuquerque. Only 2.4 seconds separate the two of them. It is Action Express vs. Team Penske.
It is less than a second separating the leaders as Jan Magnussen squeezes Patrick Pilet before Jan Magnussen gets into the back of the Porsche! No real damage. 4/10ths of a second now between Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor. Bamber and the Porsche have a flat tire! Oh dear! Dirk Mueller hit his pit lane speed limiter at turn eleven and there was some argy bargy as the diffuser is busted on the back of the Porsche! Dear me! Ricky Taylor is right on the Cadillac's gearbox. Albuquerque is going to have to push with 20 minutes to go!
Albuquerque had a deflating tire, and the corvette hits Ricky Taylor! That was a close shave! Wow! There has only ever been one race win for Acura, and that was Mid Ohio last year. Albuquerque and Barbosa have other plans. This is amazing. Tommy Milner is fighting with all he has to hold off Richard Westbrook. Top five for Stephen Simpson in the #85 JDC-Miller Cadillac. Taylor is all over the Mustang Sampling Cadillac. Out of the fountain turn again, and this race is still filled with drama.
Penske Acura are coming in a hurry! Both Acura's clear one of the Team RLL BMW M8's. The 1991 IMSA GTO season, and the Mazda RX7, won the driver's and makes championship in IMSA GTO with Pete Halsmer at the wheel. He won the title that year, with the screaming Mazda rotary engine in that car. Under 14 minutes to go now. Ricky Taylor is still 1 and 1/4 seconds behind the leader. Less than 13 minutes to go. Porsche is leading in GTLM right now, leapfrogging their team mate and Dirk Mueller in the #66 Ford GT.
Mueller will get a road going Ford GT to drive himself on the street. Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia have learned to compromise on the car setup. Again, Magnussen is pushing, pushing, pushing. The lead gap is closing, look. This will be a grandstand finish. Ricky Taylor is really pressing albuquerque now. It is now or never for Ricky Taylor. The tires are fading for Filipe Albuquerque. He is the shark. Albuquerque is the minnow. Stop, turn, and get off the corner. Taylor is closing. We've seen these two blokes race each other before.
Taylor wants it. It's the Acura sponsored race, and the Penske Acura has had a nearly one year drought. They have just one win to their credit. earl Bamber is hanging tough in GTLM. Ricky taylor cannot get close enough to the Cadillac. He tries into the braking zone. Oh no! Will Owen, nose first into the tire barrier! This could be a yellow. This is just like the Nissan shunt earlier with Jon Bennett. The car, is stuffed into the wall with a stalled motor. Derani moves on Owen, and... boom! He's into the tires, hard. But, he's moving again. The race is still on for the win.
Both cars have been told to save fuel. Slower is faster? Maybe. Can Ricky Taylor get the slingshot? The Cadillac is the perfect DPi car. They have won a lot of races here at Long Beach. Albuquerque's rear tires must be begging for mercy. No further action on the Will Owen kerfuffle. Now, taylor is diving inside as Albuquerque defends. We have about two or three laps to run. Will Ricky Taylor go for it? The BMW is blocking the Cadillac, but now, the BMW snookers Taylor just for a second. Connor De Philippi lets both of them go. Two laps to go. Taylor is going to push hard to try to gain ground.
Dane Cameron is also in this fight. Earl Bamber leads GTLM by 2.3 seconds. Ricky Taylor is all over Albuquerque. He has to pounce, now, with GTLM traffic ahead, Porsche and Ford. Taylor is trapped behind the Porsche. Albuquerque can stretch his lead. Final time on the backstretch. We can't give the race to anyone yet. Joao Barbosa and Filipe Albuquerque win at Long Beach!
Dirk Mueller is racing to the corvette. Who will win GTLM? Bamber is going, and Jan Magnussen taps Dirk Mueller, crunching the Ford GT! Magnussen's radiator is busted! Porsche wins! Earl Bamber and Nick Tandy! Its a Corvette Racing 2-3, and Dirk Mueller is spun, dazed, and the #67 Ford GT is parked!
Back to back wins for AXR at Long Beach! The Ford just stopped, and then, into the turn... crunch! He didn't accelerate! What a bear for the Ford boys. Barbosa and Albuquerque, are three points within striking distance of the lead in the championship!
Overall/DPi: #5 Barbosa/Albuquerque Cadillac Dpi-V.R
GT Le Mans: #911 Bamber/Tandy Porsche 911 RSR
What a street fight at Long Beach! The next event, is another sprint round, at the Mid Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, another legendary natural terrain road course, coming up in about three weeks. But, it is back to back wins for Felipe Albuquerque and Joao Barbosa! Cadillac, undefeated in 2019 so far! Wow! We'll see you, next time out, at Mid Ohio.
Pre-Race Headlines from Monza
Blancpain GT Europe from Monza, starts soon. Go to the GT World YouTube channel, or Motor Trend on Demand, for the live stream, and stay tuned later, for some sort of a race report. Here is the pre-race news.
Monza Weekend Notebook
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt/monza-weekend-notebook-2/
...and
Grasser Lamborghini Scores Pole in Incident-Filled Qualifying
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt/grasser-lamborghini-scores-pole-in-incident-filled-qualifying/
Monza Weekend Notebook
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt/monza-weekend-notebook-2/
...and
Grasser Lamborghini Scores Pole in Incident-Filled Qualifying
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt/grasser-lamborghini-scores-pole-in-incident-filled-qualifying/
Saturday, April 13, 2019
Blancpain GT Europe news from Monza
Pre-race news headed for the Blancpain GT Europe season opener at Autodromo Nazionale di Monza.
Winkelhock Puts Sainteloc Audi on Top in Free Practice
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt/winkelhock-puts-sainteloc-audi-on-top-in-free-practice/
You have seen the pre-qualifying highlights with Raffaele Marciello going quickest for Mercedes. David Addison and John Watson took you through all the action on the GT World YouTube stream. Qualifying will take place, tomorrow morning, and be followed by the race. Look for a highlights package of the race, here on Endurance... The Sports Car Racing Blog, soon.
Winkelhock Puts Sainteloc Audi on Top in Free Practice
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt/winkelhock-puts-sainteloc-audi-on-top-in-free-practice/
You have seen the pre-qualifying highlights with Raffaele Marciello going quickest for Mercedes. David Addison and John Watson took you through all the action on the GT World YouTube stream. Qualifying will take place, tomorrow morning, and be followed by the race. Look for a highlights package of the race, here on Endurance... The Sports Car Racing Blog, soon.
Monza pre-qualifying
Pre qualifying for tomorrow’s opener for Blancpain GT Europe at Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. Raffaele Marciello will be the fastest driver.
Marciello Fastest In Pre-Qualifying
https://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpain-gt/marciello-fastest-in-pre-qualifying/
Friday, April 12, 2019
Veterans Set the Pro Pace, Andretti Has Excellent Am Pace at Long Beach
From North American Racecar's Facebook page.
***
Veterans Set the Pro Pace, Andretti Has Excellent Am Pace at Long Beach
Veteran competitor James Sofronas set the fastest lap in practice at the Pirelli GT4 America Streets of Long Beach Presented by AWS. The former champion clicked off a 1:27.261 fast lap toward the end of Thursday's practice session to pace the Pro class in the #14 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT4.
Behind him, multi-class champion Michael Cooper managed a best effort of 1:27.835-seconds in the #10 Blackdog Speed Shop machine, a McLaren 570S GT4 - representing a new marque for Cooper and the team this season.
For Team Panoz, Ian James took the #50 Panoz Avezzano to a click slower than Cooper, stopping the clock at 1:27.882-seconds and closing out the top-three pro practice spots.
For the amateur-ranked drivers, it was Andretti Autosport namesake Jarett Andretti who earned the top spot as well as the second-overall position with the #18 McLaren 570S GT4. His time of 1:27.506-seconds was the top practice lap for quite some time before Sofronas' last effort near the end of the session.
Pirelli GT4 America drivers take to the track again on Friday, starting with the 10:00 am PDT Practice 2 session followed immediately by the official Qualifying session at 10:45 am. Live timing links for both sessions can be found at www.GT4-America.com. All results are provisional until posted Final.
***
Veterans Set the Pro Pace, Andretti Has Excellent Am Pace at Long Beach
Veteran competitor James Sofronas set the fastest lap in practice at the Pirelli GT4 America Streets of Long Beach Presented by AWS. The former champion clicked off a 1:27.261 fast lap toward the end of Thursday's practice session to pace the Pro class in the #14 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT4.
Behind him, multi-class champion Michael Cooper managed a best effort of 1:27.835-seconds in the #10 Blackdog Speed Shop machine, a McLaren 570S GT4 - representing a new marque for Cooper and the team this season.
For Team Panoz, Ian James took the #50 Panoz Avezzano to a click slower than Cooper, stopping the clock at 1:27.882-seconds and closing out the top-three pro practice spots.
For the amateur-ranked drivers, it was Andretti Autosport namesake Jarett Andretti who earned the top spot as well as the second-overall position with the #18 McLaren 570S GT4. His time of 1:27.506-seconds was the top practice lap for quite some time before Sofronas' last effort near the end of the session.
Pirelli GT4 America drivers take to the track again on Friday, starting with the 10:00 am PDT Practice 2 session followed immediately by the official Qualifying session at 10:45 am. Live timing links for both sessions can be found at www.GT4-America.com. All results are provisional until posted Final.
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