Today, Watkins Glen hosts round seven of GT World Challenge America and we are looking to see if K-PAX Racing, from pole, can continue their winning streak. Watkins Glen, an iconic circuit in American motor racing. This race will be hot in more ways than one. High energy, tons of grip. GT3 cars fly through the turns with an hour and a half race and a pit stop at halfway. Here's our onboard track lap with Michael Cooper. Turn one, look for the 200 board. Back on power, third gear, into the esses. Back to the left. To the Bus Stop. Look for the 300 board. Back to The Carousel. Fourth gear. On power. Down the hill to turn six. Set the car up for the exit. Back to power, down the hil and uphill into turn seven. Second gear, brake, turn. Lots of uphill and down dale here at WGIR. Throw the car into turn eight, back on power. Get up over the crest in turn nine. Catch the car and run to the wall.
Turn ten, use all the road through the left hander, and then quick entry to turn 11 and right up to the wall on corner exit. Michael Cooper, a native New Yorker. Erin Vogel, his co-driver will start the race. They had a penalty after qualifying starting caboose on the grid in 17th. Bad luck for Ian Lacy Racing and a fuel cell issue has forced the Aston Martin of Frank Gannett and Drew Staveley to withdraw from the motor race. Winward Racing are back in the championship. They were last here in Sonoma and they have had big hits in multiple championships. But they are back in SRO America, focusing forward. Russell Ward qualified very well on the outside of the front row alongside Michele Beretta in the #1 K-PAX Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3.
Andrea Caldarelli will start ninth in race two tomorrow and they have had a lot of straight line speed issues on the car, and strategist Thomas Blom is having to see what to do. Perfect execution is a must. The K-PAX boys are unbeaten going back to last year's race here at Watkins Glen. George Kurtz has had two poles in this championship and in GT America where he won. Beretta and Ward on the front row. AF Corse could not answer the bell after their massive acccident at VIR last time out. Triarsi is the only Am team this weekend. Watch the #6 US Racetronics Mercedes of Steven Agakhani and Loris Spinelli.
Agakhani has strep throat this weekend and is going to have to tough through his illness and the heat. Loris Spinelli and Andrea Caldarelli, will be the rival of the Italian superstars today. It is time for a start. Am drivers start. Pro's take over. The field is formed up. Green flag! We're underway! Flagman Tom Hansing waves the green and Agakhani is pushing. Breertta leads. Misha Goikhberg pokes his nose in and here comes Michael Dinan in the BMW M4 GT3. he is pushing and gets past Agakhani! Wow! He has the confidence to push from the start. Russell Ward got dropped down the order fast into The Boot, the toe of The Boot.
Chandler Hull will have to watch out for tire wear. Jeff Burton spins off the road and had a crash in qualifying. A frustrating day for Jeff Burton and so they have to use their GT America chassis in GT America and in this race. Full Course Yellow. Burton was a lucky chap to not hit the wall. Safety car on the road as Burton is back in the race. Michael Dinan has this race falling right into his lap so far. Chandler Hull at Bimmerworld is first in class and sixth overall in the Pro-Am class and George Kurtz has dropped down the order as has Russell Ward. Kurtz coming off a win in GT America just an hour or so ago.
Kurtz racing here this weekend and then going to Belgium for the 24 Hours of Spa next weekend for Intercontinental GT Challenge and GT World Challenge Europe. 65 cars entered for the race and nine drivers from SRO America are going over to Belgium. K-PAX and Heart of Racing are going over to Belgium. K-PAX have been to Spa Francorchamps before. Bentley brought Thomas Blom to Belgium to call strategy on their factory cars. Michael Dinan is ready to pounce. Green flag. Punch it. Beretta knows he is vulnerable and here comes Agakhani as well. Breertta seems to have a gap but Dinan is monstering the Lambo. Can he time the run?
Ashton Harrison moves past Chandler Hull in Pro-Am. BMW M4 GT3 vs. Acura NSX GT3. Bimmerworld vs. Racer's Edge Motorsports. Harrison sharing with Mario Farnbacher. Chandler Hull goes wide and has to run defense into the heel of The Boot. Harrison dives to the inside and makes the move and George Kurtz too, smelling blood in the water and here comes Charlie Luck in the #45 Wright Motorsports Porsche sharing with Jan Heylen. The BMW of Hull loses the rear decklid and a tire going down for the #3 K-PAX Lambo of Misha Goikhberg!
Hull is hanging on but losing downforce hand over fist. Luck makes the pass. Beretta leads Dinan, Agakhani, and Ward. The heat is intense. He will be drinking fluids. A bottle of Pedialyte. Pedialyte, Gatorade, hydration packets in water. Use whatever you can to stay hydrated in the heat. Ellis says he and Ward did not have the greatest of starts but they hope to get into the picture. Safety car out on track we believe for the ailing Lamborghini with Misha Goikhberg at the wheel of it. The car was squirming around but all four Pirelli tires are up.
They have a power issue in the 5.2 liter V10 motor. The right bank of cylinders seems to be the trouble spot. Pepper was quicker than Caldarelli for tomorrow's race. Separate qualifying sessions for GT3 not based on fastest lap like we have for touring cars or GT4. Poor old Goikhberg slows right down with a lot of heat soak on the car. Green flag is back on, and now, Michael Dinan is going to push, push, push. Poor old Chandler Hull in the lane for unscheduled service to fix the broken decklid. Beretta and Dinan are pushing and here comes Ashton Harrison on Russell Ward. Ashton Harrison leads Pro-Am. Steven Agakhani wants by Michael Dinan.
No love lost between Turner Motorsports and US Racetronics and here comes Russell Ward, too! No quarter asked or given between these two blokes. Ward recovers one place. Agakhani takes the lunge into turn one. Ashton Harrison, the leader in Pro-Am. Racer's Edge Motorsports, from Florida under team boss John Mirachi. At K-PAX Racing, they are working feverishly on the #3 Lamborghini which was misfiring and losing power. They are power cycling the car looking at data on the computer. The #1 Lamborghini has not been able to find top speed here at Watkins Glen. They are chasing a speed issue but it has been clean and green for Michele Beretta who also has fastest lap of the motor race so far.
Michael Dinan in the BMW M4 GT3, he is falling into the clutches of Russell Ward in the Mercedes AMG GT3. Damage limitation will be critical for the Turner Motorsports team and for Winward too probably. Chandler Hull back on track but the duct tape has not held that trunk lid down. Oh dear. That boot lid is way out in the air there, look. Something very strange went awry with the trunk. Ashton Harrison in Pro-Am, leading, being monstered by George Kurtz. Kurtz has won the GT America race already that you have read about. He too will head over to the 24 Hours of Spa and then race a doubleheader for GT America on the streets of Nashville, Tennessee.
Some of these cars have stout air conditioning systems, that robs horsepower and an ice chest for the coolsuit also adds weight. Ashton Harrison has done very well, running the 12 Hours of Sebring earlier in the year with Racer's Edge Motorsports and Wayne Taylor Racing. She is the real deal indeed. A true professional driver. Harrison, a student of the HPD GT3 Racing Academy with coaching from Honda affiliated drivers. Dinan is settling into a rhythm and Russell Ward is losing time to Dinan. Massive battle, look, between Erin Vogel in the Acura and David Askew in the Mercedes. Askew won't give it up and her cmes Scott Smithson. She is racing her former team at DXDT Racing.
She is the meat in a Mercedes sandwich. RealTime Racing tested the car inbetween this race and having that massive wreck last time out at VIR. Erin Vogel won in class at VIR in 2021. Erin Vogel is enjoying being a part of RealTime Racing, with one car on the team. Co-driver Michael Copper and team manager Nathan Bonneau, looking on. Smithson and Askew pushing. Vogel pushing Askew, owner/driver at DXDT. I thought I heard squealing tires and Jeff Burton has had another massive shunt in the spare car and that car is used up! Game over. This will be another Full Course Yellow.
Lookat the fluid as the steam pours out of the radiator and steam pouring out of Jeff Burton's ears! He cannot believe it. He's probably thinking, "a second crash today! This isn't fair!" Burton did pass P.J. Hyett. Chandler Hull has made another visit to the pit lane to try and fix the decklid under Full Course Yellow. So, Bimmerworld are dodging the bullet and keeping their heads in the game. Jeff Burton, out of the race. Jason Harward had mechanical woes for one of the cars. Zelus Motorsports are a young team who are working very hard. A hard pill to swallow. Will they be able to repair the car for the races tomorrow? Corey Lewis will not be able to race today with the car being out.
Steven Agakhani fourth right on Russell Ward's six. Steven Agakhani had strep throat and a high fever. He has been taking electrolytes and has been totally exhausted. But he is still going for it. K-PAX replaced the throttlebody of the #3 Lamborghini with Misha Goikhberg at the controls. He has to score points doing 70% of the winner's distance covered. Under an hour to go, approaching the pit window. Racing when you are feeling sick, adrenaline kicks in and the pain goes away. Even if he is not feeling 100%, he will get a chance to rest once he hands over to Loris Spinelli.
Race Vision overall top speeds sees Ashton Harrison and Michael Dinan both running 164 miles an hour even with Vogel, Kurtz, and Hull tied for the next positions at 163.4 miles an hour. Could US Racetronics pull through for the win today? Jordan Pepper got stymied in qualifying in the #3 Lambo. Loris Spinelli uncorked a massive lap in qualifying this morning. The co-drivers are top notch, and we will see them soon as we come to the halfway mark in the race. No AF Corse here at Watkins Glen this weekend. Overall top speeds have Ward fastest at 106.8 miles an hour, 105 for Agakhani, 103.7 for Bretta, 101.9 for Dinan, and 101.2 for Kurtz through The Bus Stop, the Inner Loop.
The Mercedes AMG GT3 is good as an overall package. It delivers and has a good sweet spot and is less sensitive than some of the other cars like the BMW, the Ferrari, the Porsche, the Lambo, or the Acura. Green flag. Ryan Dalziel says he has had a good race but the primary car of their team at Triarsi Competizione, he has done well. Michael Dinan runs Michele Beretta wide and Russell Ward now leads ther motor race! Wow! He has been in the wars and is leading the motor race after Michael Dinan went off the road and has dropped like a stone. Steve Agakhani has his hands full pushing the K-PAX Lamborghini of Michele Beretta who is exposed.
Pit window now open. Agakhani may be under the weather but driving well. Get the car to the lane and put Loris Spinelli in the car. Don't allow Ward and Beretta to get away. RealTime Racing up a place as Erin Vogel passes David Askew. Pit window open. K-PAX and US Racetronics both dive for the lane. Time for a driver change as well as fuel and a tire change. Everyone is in the lane now. 71 seconds the minimum pit lane delta. Stop and hold one minute for car #1, incident responsibility. But he did not hold for a minute by any means.
Bimmerworld in for tires and a driver change having removed the decklid from the back of the M4 GT3. Bill Auberlen checking into the car after Chandler Hull's stint. Ward and Dinan stay out to uncork fast laps. Beretta did a drive through, not a stop and hold. Russell Ward in the lane from the lead. Dinan in the lane. Triarsi in the lane with Justin Wetherill handing over to Ryan Dalziel. Use the overcut. Winward and Philip Ellis will try hanging on. Loris Spinelli now in the #6 Mercedes and troubles with the rattle gun for Winward! Oh dear. Loris Spinelli takes the race lead. Michele Beretta into the #1 Lamborghini for K-PAX Racing.
US Racetronics have nailed this pit stop. Can they win? Turner Motorsports has a quick stop changing over from Michael Dinan to Robby Foley. Michele Beretta now fourth. The Team Hardpoint Porsche of P.J. Hyett needs to come in but he is leading aboard the #00 Team Hardpoint Porsche 911 GT3R. PJ Hyett from Chicago and also in Silicon Valley, co-founding a software development and web hosting company. Hyett also ran in GT America. They only collaborated 12 days ago. Rob Ferriol and Gunnar Jeanette were looking for a spares package and got the car to the shop. But the car would not run properly with a dud fuel pump.
A new motor and new wiring harness did the trick. Philip Ellis chasing down Loris Spinelli as we see the K-PAX Lamborghini in the lane for service. That win streak is over for K-PAX. They put qualifying tires on the car saving the good stuff for tomorrow's race. K-PAX ran in GT World Challenge Europe with a Bentley in 2021. They are down fourth and fifth in class and 14th and 16th overall. An unusual circumstance for that team indeed. Jan Heylen now in the #45 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R as P.J. Hyett pits and Loris Spinelli takes the lead by 2.1 seconds over Philip Ellis as Mario Farnbacher runs third followed by Robby Foley and the aforementioned Jan Heylen with Colin Braun next up.
Pit window closed. Take it to the end now. Phil Ellis has uncorked fastest lap fo the motor race. 1:45.1 for Ellis compared to 1:45.4 for Spinelli. Warnings for track limits from Race Control to Jan Heylen and Colin Braun. Bill Auberlen passes Dirk Mueller. Foley, Heylen, and Braun will be scrapping for overall position soon with just 37 minutes t0 go. With the decklid gone on the #94 BMW M4 GT3 of Auberlen, how is the balance of the car? Never can tell if it helps or hurts. But don't tell that to an engineer because they just won't buy it. Heylen marginally quicker than both Braun and Foley. Foley is an amazing driver and so is the Pro-Am class leader, Mario Farnbacher. For track limits, you have to have one part of the tire only, on the curb.
If you repeatedly offend track imits, we will ding you with a drive through penalty. At K-PAX Racing Michele Beretta says that he has to look at the incident between he and Michael Dinan and believes it was a bad move. Dinan pushes Beretta and then he was overtaken by the Mercedes. Spinelli continues to lead overall and in class. It was a tight squeeze between Dinan and Beretta. They might call the straightaway move instead of the one into the corner. The leaders are like heavyweight boxers trading the fastest lap back and forth. Spinelli vs. Ellis. Can Philip Ellis reel him back in? The fuel load burns off while the tires are still good, with a half an hour to go.
US Racetronics have had frustration in SRO and then Winward have had issues in another championship we have seen them compete in this year. Winward and US Racetronics both climbing the ladders and Winward are racing multiple championships in GT3 worldwide. Robby Foley has to stay ahead to catch up but he has the battle between Colin Braun and Jan Heylen and Foley lets both of them go. Braun sideways through the turn. Keep a solid podium run going and don't fight it. Team manager Jay O'Connell on the radio to Robby Foley.
Everyone around the world learning the BMW M4 GT3. 3 liter straight six turbocharged engine in the BMW. Very cool looking race car, too. The steering wheel is made along with Fanatec and the wheel you see in the car you can plug the Fanatec wheel into the simulator. Wow. Michael Cooper is quicker and he is ahead of Bill Auberlen. Auberlen doing this with a wounded car with no bootlid on the back of it. Trouble for Madison Snow and Jason Harward in the sister Zelus Motorsports Lamborghini as Auberlen closes on Cooper who has won SRO titles in touring cars, GT4, and GT3. Auberlen makes the pass on Cooper.
Loris Spinelli now leads by four and a half seconds. Who will be able to manage their tires? Left rear tire down for the Pro-Am leader! Mario Farnbacher in trouble in the #93 Racer's Edge Acura NSX GT3 Evo! He is going to have to be in limp home mode for another mile. New fastest lap at 1:44.787 for Ellis. He is 1.2 seconds down on Spinelli. This is going to be very close. Spinelli is seeing red, and he knows he has to push. Ellis is coming in a hurry. Ellis grew up in Switzerland born to a British mother and a German father, racing under a Swiss license. Ellis and Spinelli under a thousandth of a second apart. This is a battle between the two AMG Mercedes cars. As the fuel burns off, and gets lighter, how does the balance come out?
Don't abuse the tires. Keep them in good nick. 20 minutes left. A GT3 car is very reliant on aerodynamics. 20 years ago it was not the same way with equally exotic machinery. 1:45 flat for Ellis and 1:44.9 for Spinelli. One hundredth of a second on the nose. Corner speeds at The Carousel and Onofrio Triarsi fastest at 111.2 miles an hour along with Michele Beretta. That is hauling rhe mail. Ryan Dalziel catching up to Bryan Sellers and Dirk Muller and Charlie Scardina has taken over the #23 Am class Ferrari who has taken over from Onofrio Triarsi. The gap is under one second between Spinelli and Ellis.
Russell Ward says he is not concerned about tires. Philip Ellis is going for it but overtaking will be difficult in the last 16 minutes. Ellis runs wide over the curbs and that is an area Race Control are looking at for track limits. Spinelli, 1:44.6, uncorks fastest lap. Ellis at 1:44.7. 96 thousandths of a second! Holy smokes! Jan Heylen laying down fastest laps with Colin Braun matching him. Everyone is pushing hard as this race is coming to it's conclusion. Elliss in trouble! A blown left front tire! Winward cannot believe it! Ellis was pushing the car with everything it had and now, he has a left front tire down. In replay, the tire lets go and this puts the cat among the pigeons. Thank God that did not happen in a corner or a braking zone.
The tire is changed and the car is back out. Loris Spinelli now leads Jan Heylen by 21 seconds and Robby Foley by 27 seconds. US Racetronics have found ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. But today, they have been perfectly clean so far with 12 minutes to go. I will be stunned if Spinelli doesn't back it down a wee bit. You have a massive lead. Don't make mistakes and don't overdrive the car. Jan Heylen and Colin Braun will be fighting for the Pro-Am lead and for second overall.
Bill Auberlen and Chandler Hull have now been promoted to a podium place ahead of Dirk Muller and Bryan Sellers in both DXDT Mercedes cars. Wright Motorsports swept the races at Sonoma and then the wheels started falling off the wagon at NOLA and started clawing back at VIR. Heylen and Luck are father and son in-law. Oh dear. Trouble for Bill Auberlen as Bimmerworld were in a podium place! Goodness gracious! Left front tire down. So they had to change a tire and Erin Vogel and Michael Cooper will get on the podium in Pro-Am after starting 17th, stone last. No pressure from behind.
Still eight minutes to go. Charlie Luck and Jan Heylen have a pair of wins but that was at Sonoma Raceway at the beginning of the year as we said. Charlie Luck says the Mercedes has a stronger motor than the Porsche does. They have not had tire trouble, but Watkins Glen shreds tires and the pickup, the clag, is the bad part. Jan Heylen may have tire degradation but it has not at all been discussed. Spinelli off the road! He might have a cut down tire! Is he OK? Left front tire down! Another race ruined by a flat tire! Oh man! US Racetronics snakebit again! We could see a Pro-Am car win. Jan Heylen leads the motor race now.
Robby Foley now leads the Pro class in third place. Will Turner is keeping an eye on left front tire pressure. Don't count your chickens until they hatch. Mercedes and BMW have both had left front tire trouble. Spinelli is still second in Pro. Don't write the headline yet. Heylen leads Braun by half a second. Braun right on Heylen's six. White flag this time by? Laps cut in the 1:45 range. White flag this time by. Good news for Jan Heylen bad news for Colin Braun. Final lap. Jan Heylen leads by just half a second for the overall lead.
Heylen made it to IndyCar and has now found a home in sports car racing. Colin Braun is chasing down Heylen. Here comes Colin Braun. Up the hill to the final sector of the track. Nothing in it. Is Cling Braun close enough in the heel of The Boot? No. Heylen gets a launch. Into turn ten. one corner to go. Jun Heylen is going to win! Wright Motorsports wins it!
Overall/Pro Am: #45 Heylen/Luck Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R
Pro: #96 Foley/Dinan Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3
Am: #23 Scardina/Triarsi Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020
Phil Ellis at 1:44.472 scores fastest lap. Michael Cooper and Erin Vogel get on the podium. Tomorrow will be another race and US Racetronics will start from pole tomorrow. These 90 minute races are long but very, very exciting. See you tomorrow for race two.
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