The final race of the weekend is upon us here at VIR. Race two, twisting and turning around Virginia International Raceway, is the racing equivalent of a rollercoaster ride and we are set for the second event for SRO GT World Challenge America. Outside polesitter, the #6 US Racetronics Mercedes AMG GT3 of Steven Agakhani and Loris Spinelli. Turner Motorsports and K-PAX Racing are in the fight. Who will break through? We have seen K-PAX be perfect so far this season. You know Loris Spinelli wants to push. Three cars had a huge crash yesterday and we will not see ST Racing, Racer's Edge Motorsports, or AF Corse in the motor race this afternoon. Some heavy hitters not racing. Samantha Tan and Nick Wittmer, Ashton Harrison and Mario Farnbacher, and Conrad Grunewald and Jean Claude Saada are the cars that won't race today.
Race two, round six of Fanatec GTWC America powered by AWS. Racer's Edge went to Charlotte, North Carolina, to Rick Ware Racing, another Acura team in a different championship, who has been racing for Acura. Drivers, start your engines! We wait to see if one car will miss the race. Two formation laps coming up. ST Racing, AF Corse, will not start. Two will not be able to answer the bell. Nick Wittmer had the fastest qualifying time on Friday. Mario Farnbacher and Ashtyn Harrison, they will start and Ryan Dalziel at Triarsi Competizione with their two-car Ferrari team, and they are ready to go in the Am division.
Justin Wetherill and Ryan Dalziel put the puzzle together yesterday. We are going to watch Andrea Caldarelli starting the race in sixth. Michele Beretta, co-driver, will have to bring the #1 K-PAX Racing Lamborghini back to the winner's circle. Loris Spinelli and US Racetronics want a clean race. They have had the pace and they've dropped down the order but we don't know why. Maybe the stewards penalized them. A five position grid penalty for #6 and #3, the second K-PAX Lambo of Jordan Pepper and Misha Goikhberg. Wow. This will put the cat among the pigeons. Both teams slammed with five place grid penalties.
Pro-Am front row with Ryan Dalziel and Mario Farnbacher. Andrea Caldarelli too of the shpop in Pro. Robby Foley and Jordan Pepper are there. Dirk Mueller all alone in ow five. Onofrio Triarsi pole man in Am. 18 starters in this motor race. It's time to go racing. Mario Farnbacher leads the field. A good looking car is a fast one. Alright. Green flag! Away we go! It's blastoff time. Farnbacher has the jump and here's Dalziel. Spienlli wants it. Three wide as Loris Spinelli forces the issue on Andrea Caldarelli. Dalziel loses out as Colin Braun moves up, too. Two wide further back.
Turner and K-PAX hammer and tongs as Michael Cooper goes off the road in the #43 RealTime Racing Acura. Madison Snow in the Zelus Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3. Farnbacher in a wounded car is eking out a lead. Spinelli has snatched the Pro class lead away from Caldarelli. Loris Spinelli wants it and the #91 Lamborghini for Zelus Motorsports, Corey Lewis off in the grass, sharing with Jeff Burton who ran well in GT America until getting a drive through penalty. In replay, we see that he had a problem, locking the brakes. Did the ABS go away?
Mario Farnbacher, "Super Mario", out front with the fastest lap of the motor race. Farnbacher, a wheel man. Leading overall and in the Pro-Am class. He takes it deep into the turn. We saw Corey Lewis having a braking issue. Nail the ABS, but if you lose it, you lock the tires. Andrea Caldarelli will want to get back in the game. Dalziel ahead along with Spinelli, Braun, and Farnbacher. Spinelli third on the road and leading in the Pro class. Pro-Am cars are at the top of the shop I believe. Not an easy track to pass on here at VIR. Use the braking zones to your advantage. Jordan Pepper in fourth spot right now in the #3 K-PAX Racing Lamborghini. He is at the back of the queue in the Pro class. Pepper, partnered with Misha Goikhberg.
Robby Foley in the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 ahead along with Giacomo Altoe in the #9 TR3 Racing Lamborghini as well. Racer's Edge Motorsports are off to a good start after a disapponting motor race yesterday. Harrison explains she was hit by the BMW, one of them, and the team fell back. Someone dropped a wheel and everyone hit the brakes. There was cosmetic damage to the Racer's Edge car and Rick Ware Racing lent the team a spare carbon fiber bonnet. Again, we wish all the dad's out there, Happy Father's Day. Winning is the only objective, embedded with Wayne Taylor Racing.
Ashton Harrison came through the HPD GT3 Academy through team owner John Mirachi. They have two younger drivers with big career aspirations and two gentleman drivers. HPD in the business of selling these customer GT3 Acura NSX's. Pro drivers will have a gentleman driver as a co-driver at some stage. This program has been around for three or so years. Colin Braun second overall and in class in the #04 Crowdstrike, Riley Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3. We are getting ready for the restart. Green flag.
Running 1-2-3-4, two wide further back as Giacomo Altoe pressing Andrea Caldarelli. Two Lamborghini factory drivers. Robby Foley chasing. So, the Lamborghini is now in Robby Foley's sites. Through the climbing esses at 150 miles an hour and then the Oak Tree corner, and down Madison Avenue that goes uphill, to the Rollercoaster. Giacomo Altoe has the opportunity to push his fellow Lamborghini factory driver. The Lamborghini team has shuffled their drivers around. Advantage to Altoe. Caldarelli chasing.
Farnbacher continues to lead the motor race. Loris Spinelli still leading in Pro. Mario Farnbacher will have to report to the Race Director post-race. No bandage for Steven Aghakhani. Loris Spinelli now third in the overall I believe. Ups and downs always in sports and racing is one of them. Once again, we wish all the dad's out there, Happy Father's Day. Agakhani burned his hand after touching a tire oven by mistake and has a bandage on his hand. Agakhani will take over from Spinelli later in the motor race. Farnbacher leading the way at the 20 minute mark of the motor race. Farnbacher sets fastest lap.
All but two cars still on track are setting their personal best lap times. Onofrio Triarsi leading the Am class in the Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 488 GT3, car #23. This is the lone Am class car in the field. This is the family run team, and Onofrio Triarsi at the controls. J.C. Saada and Conrad Grunewald had heavy damage from yesterday's wreck at AF Corse. They could not answer the bell today. Ryan Dalziel racing the Pro-Am entry. Full Course Yellow for the second time as Michael Cooper and Madison Snow, into The Rollercoaster say, "hello, tires!" They've found the tire barriers. Not a good thing. Hello, tires. How do you do? Madison Snow and Michael Cooper walk to the medical car. Game over for both of them.
No drives today for co-drivers Erin Vogel or Jason Harward. High consequences, big commitment, here at VIR. It's a knife edge. Argy bargy through the braking zone brings trouble with a capital T. Farnbacher, Spinelli, Triarsi, the three class leaders. All GT3 cars, with classes determined by driver ranking. Mario Farnbacher leads Colin Braun and Braun resets fastest lap at 1:44.443. The pit stop window occurs between 40-50 minutes into the motor race. The Pro-Am drivers who are next into the cars will use scrubbed Pirelli P Zero tires and not totally fresh skins. K-PAX might have an advantage because Michele Beretta, Caldarelli's co-driver is blindingly quick.
Snow, Cooper, and Lewis, game over for these three cars. We will have 15-16 cars left in the field. Mario Farnbacher continues leading the motor race behind the safety car. Ashton Harrison will take the car over as we get closer to the pit window. Madison Snow says on the radio he was hit. Michael Cooper told co-driver Erin Vogel, that he had no brakes. Michael Cooper told the team he is alright and it is unfortunate for RealTime to end the race. Erin Vogel won the race in class last year, a historic accomplishment for women drivers in the SRO.
Disappointing to come back to a weekend you'd rather forget. Vogel and Michael Cooper won in class last year in SRO in a GT3 car, matched again by Ashton Harrison. One hour to go. Cooper was shaken up without brakes and had to be scared witless. He probably went over to Madison Snow and say "mate, I lost braking force." The incident we are looking at is indeed under review by the stewards. Under an hour left to race. The pit window is coming fast. The pro drivers will run as deep into the pit window as possible.
The ones mired in traffic might get a strategic shot. The higher graded driver starts the race and then come the Silver rated drivers. Most cars will go deep into the window before coming to the pit lane. Jordan Pepper has the #3 K-PAX Lamborghini fourth in the overall. We have not seen dropoff on these Pirelli P Zero tires through this race. The sweetness in the tires is still there. The drivers have not rubbed the goody out of them yet. But worn tires become like snowballs if they get hunks of rolled up rubber, hunks of clag, sticking to them. There is still some crash barrier repairs going on and the pit window may be delayed. The window will not open until the green flag waves again.
The safety workers have been busy, but the equipment has done it's job. Steven Agakhani has been quick but so is Spinelli. Track position will be crucial. Charlie Luck in his home race at Wright Motorsports in the #45 Porsche, with son-in-law and co-driver Jan Heylen set to go for the next stint. Ryan Dalziel and Jason Wetherill, they are third in Pro-Am in one of the Triarsi Competizione Ferrari's. Overall top speeds between 165-166 miles an hour and Pepper has fastest speed at 166.5. Cooper, Auberlen, Caldarelli, and Muller are also in that fast speed order.
Word from Race Control, pit window delayed by five minutes. So it will open at 45 minutes to 35 minutes. We're ready for a restart. This will be a sprint to the finish as we have been under Full Course Yellow for 18 minutes. Green flag flies again. It is time to go again. A ten minute sprint for the Pro drivers. Through Hog Pen and now, back to green. Watch Colin Braun being monstered by Loris Spinelli. Two Mercedes AMG GT3's. Caldarelli behind Altoe. Spinelli pressuring Colin Braun as Jordan Pepper is harrying Colin Braun as well, look. Through the dust.
Loris Spinelli is pushing trying to move past Braun looking for a buffer to Andrea Caldarelli up through the esses into turn 11 and down Madison Avenue again, look. Ryan Dalziel being eaten up by Altoe. Three-wide into The Rllercoaster and Altoe knws discretion the better part of valor there. Dalziel in the Ferrari hangs on. Robby Foley is pushing and so is Jordan Pepper as we see Dirk Muller also pressing on against Jan Heylen. DXDT Racing vs. Wright Motorsports as Jordan Pepper chases through Left Hook and into The Snake. Ride the curbs. Compliance over the curbs. Flat out. Harry Flatters into the braking zone and undulating through these endless corners.
This is an incredible track as they go through Oak Tree, with the giant oak tree standing there for years. Down Madison Avenue and into The Roller Coaster, diving down. Robby Foley tapping the brakes. You need the brake pressure into the corner. Getting close to halfway. 47 minutes left, getting set for pit stop time. No change at the top of the shop. Farnbacher 7/10ths ahead and now, Loris Spinelli is continuing to chase Colin Braun. The leaders are not going to be inside 45 minutes to hit pit lane. Who will jump for the lane earlier? Mario Farnbacher wants track position when he hands over to Ashton Harrison. Andrea Caldarelli should be doing the undercut.
If we do get a yellow it will backfire if you stay out. Car #1 may roll the dice. They are undefeated on the season thus far. One more lap to go before the pit lane opens. Jan Heylen won championships last year and the global Porsche Cup for privateers, not factory drivers. Heylen won the Pro-Am GT3 championship, and GT4 honors in IMSA, in the Michelin Pilot Challenge series. US Racetronics and Loris Spinelli are in the lane and now Jordan Pepper will turn #3 over to Misha Goikhberg to the end of the motor race. Could US Racetronics and K-PAX be in the pound seats?
So far so good for K-PAX. #6 is down and away. Steven Agakhani now in the car. 66 seconds pit lane delta. Goikhberg stalls the Lambo. Agakhani, the young man from Los Angeles, they use their joker. Bish, bash, bosh. Perfect stop. Agakhani has to go for the lap time as Mario Farnbacher stays out. Caldarelli in the lane to hand K-PAX #1 Lamborghini to Michele Beretta. Drivers on the road now have to cut qualifying laps. 1:44.327 for Ryan Dalziel. Push, push, push. Put in the banker lap. It is hammer time, now.
K-PAX use the joker and are now in the lead of the motor race, in front of the #6 US Racetronics Mercedes. Can Agakhani match the in lap? Not really. These two cars and teams are on equal footing. K-PAX, US Racetronics, K-PAX. Only three pit takers so far. Ryan Dalziel has caught Colin Braun. Dalziel won yesterday's race in Pro-Am. 1:44.318 fastest lap for Dalziel. You know Dalziel wants to pass by George Kurtz. Giacomo Altoe, Dirk Muller, and more are matching lap times. Turner Motorsports on a different strategy, Robby Foley with clear road. But they are the last ones to hit the pit lane. No delay on the in lap. Two more takers as Bryan Sellers hands the #08 DXDT Mercedes to Scott Smithson.
Bill Auberlen brings the Bummerworld BMW M4 GT3 in and hands #94 to Chandler Hull. They beat DXDT off pit lane. Lap times in the 1:44 bracket. Roll the dice. Come to the lane now. Did Dalziel stay out? Yes. He won't make it back. You need to be in the lane before the window closes. No mistakes. He has to make ti to the lane and will by the skin of his teeth. Farnbacher in the lane handing over to Harrison. She is now ahead of George Kurtz who has officially taken over the #04 Riley Motorsports Crowdstrike Mercedes. Will Dalziel make it back. Side by side racing between Foley and Agakhani. Excuse me, Michael Dinan. Pit window closed. The Triarsi Ferrari did not make it!
Oof! That's terrible news! Steven Agakhani moves past Michael Dinan. Ashton Harrison leads Pro-Am after her massive wreck yesterday. Frank Gannett in the #12 Ian Lacy Racing Aston Martin Vantage has Misha Goikhberg going late on the brakes and gets that done but Scott Smithson is stymied behind the Aston. Ian Lacy Racing had Roman De Angelis assist them with setting up and testing the car. Harrison, Kurtz, Beretta, Agakhani, Dinan, Luck. The top six. Time in the pit lane anywhere from a minute to a minute and 45 seconds. Caldarelli and company are on track for their sixth overall win this year and 11th going back into 2021.
Agakhani held up by Dinan and he passes. George Kurtz being harried by Beretta, but not for class position. Overall, the Lambo is the fly in the ointment for Agakhani and he barges past Kurtz. Agakhani is now flying, chasing after the Darth Vader-esque Lambo for K-PAX, Michele Beretta, who in turn is flying to catch Ashton Harrison and the Racer's Edge Acura. Half hour to go. Hood fluttering in the breeze on the Mercedes. The undercut went wrong for Misha Goikhberg in the #3 K-PAX Lambo. The undercut went pear shaped. Yesterday's Pro-Am winners will not get another win. Both Triarsi cars got snookered on the pit window. Terrible deal. Just terrible.
Then again, Dalziel says "that's the gamble and we went for it but didn't make it." They did win yesterday in class. Ryan will debrief with Justin Wetherill after the race. Drive through penalties for the Triarsi Ferrari's for missing the pit window. Close but no cigar. Ashton Harrison has now dropped behind Beretta and Agakhani. Agakhani is monstering Beretta. 1-2 for Pro class cars. Game on before the end of the motor race. Michele Beretta is a champion in GT Open and in GT in the European Le Mans Series. He has also won in the Italian GT Championship.
Steven Agakhani will push hard as well. Agakhani off the road, pushing too hard to the edge of the road through the apex of the corner at Hog Pen. 25 minutes left on the board. Agakhani now down two and a half seconds to where Beretta is. Agakhani has to regroup and push hard. Will Agakhani go for it? Will he consolidate? He's going to go for it. But Beretta now leads by four seconds. He will have no risks to worry about. Ashton Harrison still leading in Pro-Am. Harrison is a real scrapper. Good scrap for the podium in Pro-Am between George Kurtz and Charlie Luck. Wright Motorsports Porsche vs. Riley Motorsports Mercedes.
Wright Motorsports won the title last year with Jan Heylen sharing with Fred Poordad. George Kurtz and Colin Braun have been on form. He swept GT America as well. Ziad Ghandour has a 53.4 mile an hour top speed at Oak Tree. Steven Agakhani might be overheating with the Mecedes. He has greass in the radiators and he'll have to hit the lane to clean the car. Snakebitten again at US Racetronics! Goodness! It will come. That's a 180 mile an hour lawnmower. We have not seen rain since Thursday afternoon here at VIR. K-PAX in control just like we have seen them all year. Inside the final 20 minutes. Beretta's lead has burgeoned to six seconds. Michael Dinan third overall and second in Pro as George Kurtz is still chased by Charlie Luck.
Charlie Luck is in his second racing career, having raced in the NASCAR Busch Series in the 1980s and was a single make Porsche champion as well as an SRO3 champ in GT America last year. Kurtz and Luck are up on Harrison by 7/10ths. Poor old Michael Dinan is the meat in the sadwich and we see Kurtz get loose! That was an arms and elbows moment! Yikes! Through the Rollercoaster they go running down Dinan for the class lead. 15 minutes remaining. Ashton Harrison continues leading Pro-Am while these two chaps have Michael Dinan in the way. They've lost ground to Ashton Harrison but she is super consistent, head down.
That car was a jigsaw puzzle after it crashed at the start of race one yesterday. They had to go to North Carolina to pick up spare parts and then come back to the track and put it together. Racer's Edge and Ashton Harrison, she is responding to the challenge indeed. Kurtz and Luck are falling away from Harrison in Pro-Am. Turn four is becoming a legitimate passing zone. Luck spins off through the grass on the downhill! So can he get out of the grass? He just lost it in the corner and spun through the grass all the way. Goodness me! That's championship implications.
Luck is now down to fifth in class. David Askew and Chandler Hull pass by. Ziad Ghandour and Scott Smithson scrapping for sixth in Pro-Am. Smithson sharing with Bryan Sellers. Smithson got snookered in the early race shemozzle yesterday in race one. Ghandour in full defensive mode filling the gap between he and the apex. Just over ten minutes of racing to go. Agakhani must be steaming with frustration. Agakhani forces the issue and now, Smithson can pass Ghadour. Smithson settles in and does not make the move.
It is a steep learning curve for Smithson to change over from a touring car into a GT3 car. It's test time. What can he do with Ghandour? Into NASCAR Bend, the Mercedes has the torque. This is for tenth and 11th overall. The car Ziad Ghandour is driving, set the fastest lap of the motor race with Giacomo Altoe at the wheel. Charlie Luck off course again in Oak Tree. Michael Dinan in the Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 is losing pace. The team tells him to focus on a runner up finish. He has a gap to Misha Goikhberg in the #3, the second K-PAX Lamborghini. Just seven and a half minutes of the race left as Scott Smithson passes Ziad Ghandour.
Justin Wetherill passes Frank Gannett as well. Michele Beretta leads Ashton Harrison by 15 seconds. Ashton Harrison is off the road at Hog Pen! George Kurtz goes through for the Pro-Am lead! Harrison stuck. Dangerous part of the road. John Mirachi cannot believe it! Mario Farnbacher has to be crushed. A terrible break as Charlie Luck, Ziad Ghandour, and Scott Smithson all pass. Riley Motorsports, George Kurtz and Colin Braun lead Pro-Am and are second in the overall behind the K-PAX Lambo. Ashton Harrison now in recovery mode.
Harrison has dropped six places. She touches the inside curb and gets loose, absolutely sliding through Hog Pen. Lee Niffenegger and Mario Farnbacher, very disappointed. Ziad Ghandour now being harried by Ashton Harrison. Stay cool. Don't do anything rash. Michael Dinan has slowed with steering trouble, potentially, for the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3. Misha Goikhberg is closing up on Dinan. Chandler Hull, second in Pro-Am after Harrison's off. Misha Goikhberg is trying to keep the blowtorch on Michael Dinan. Two and a half minutes to go. Buimmerworld, Bill Auberlen, and Chandler Hull, will get a great finish today.
K-PAX telling Misha Goikhberg to keep pushing, to find a way around Chandler Hull. Goikhberg is stymied behind Hull. Dinan, in spite of steering woes, is still cutting decent lap times. Goikhberg into the esses, taking a look, but thinks better of it. White flag. One more lap to go. Michele Beretta, Andrea Caldarelli, starting fourth based on penalties for two cars ahead, and now, they will continue their win streak which dates back to the last few races last year. Ziad Ghandour slamming the door in Ashton's Harrison's face. Final lap. Ghandour from Los Angeles, California, known as "Z Hog" while driving rally cars. One lap to go. Into the Horseshoe, Harrison may take a lunge. Final time through The Rollercoaster. This is it. Another win for Michele Beretta, Andrea Caldarelli, and K-PAX, sweeping the races. 11 on the bounce. Break out the broom, again.
In Pro-Am, George Kurtz, Colin Braun, Riley Motorsports, Crowdstrike, and Mercedes are the winners. In the Am class, we'll see. Harrison grabs the spot past Gahndour who gives her the chrome horn. The Lambo is overheating and now, Harrison is going acrosss the line. Justin Wetherill passes Ghandour right at the end of the motor race. Triarsi Competizione win Am with Onofrio Triarsi and Charlie Scardina. Ghandour like a teapot, steaming away at the end of the motor race with an exploded radiator.
Overall/Pro: #1 Caldarelli/Beretta K-PAX Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo
Pro-Am: #04 Kurtz/Braun CrowdStrike Racing by Riley Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3
Evo
Am: #23 Scardina/Triarsi Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020
A 28 second gap for K-PAX. They looked vulnerable through the race but with mistakes from rivals, it is another sweep for K-PAX here at VIR. A shame for Zelus and Realtime in their shemozzle. 1:44.232 fastest lap for Giacomo Altoe in the TR3 Lamborghini which Ziad Ghandour took it to the flag. Ten wins for Caldarelli now. K-PAX remain perfect with car #1. Six straight wins, half a dozen, for the #1 team. They are in fine form in a new season. George Kurtz wins another one alongside Colin Braun in Pro-Am. They worked on tire degradation and long runs. Team effort in the heat here at VIR.
Triarsi will keep pushing, four Am class wins in succession. Charlie Scardina qualified fourth overall in race one. He is for real indeed. The next race in GTWC America, begins the season's second half at the gorgeous Watkins Glen International Raceway in Watkins Glen, New York, in the Finger Lakes. Another legendary circuit indeed, and that event will be next month at the end of July, or the next to last weekend in July. Great racing at VIR. We'll see you at The Glen next month. So long, for now, everybody. Take care.
No comments:
Post a Comment