39 cars are set to go for playing a supporting role here at Road America, as Michelin Pilot Challenge enters its second and final 4-hour race of the 2022 season, as part of the IMSA Sports Car Weekend. tHE KOHR Motorsports #60 Ford Mustang GT4 was put on pole for the first time by 16-year-old driver Luca Mars, sharing the car with Nate Stacy. Alfa Romeo on TCR pole with the #5 KMW TMR team of Roy Block and Tim Lewis. Last time we raced at Lime Rock Park, the shortest track, now, the longest. 4 miles. Yours truly is still looking at the Lime Rock event. So, you will hear more about that race next week and then we will be able to catch up.
Brian Till and Calvin Fish in the booth. Hannah Newhouse and Matt Yocum reporting from the pit lane. But today, we'll focus on Road America, and the car that did win last time out is in trouble. They won a race in 2019 here. DePew has a flat tire on the formation lap! Oh man! The championship fight is 310 points between Alan Brynjolfsson and Trent Hindman as well as Eric Foss and Kenton Koch. Stay on the attack. That is what the #56 team has to do. Trent Hindman knows that Volt Racing needs to execute with no mistakes and be smart. In TCR, the points situation is alos very tight. Michael Lewis and Taylor Hagler have an 80 point margin over Roy Block and Tim Lewis Jr.
The Lewis/Hagler team have not won a race yet this year. The #5 Alfa Romeo team won their first race here last year. Qualifying did not go to plan in TCR for the #1 Hyundai. Push it in hour four while moving through the field in the first portion of the race, the first 75%. Here we go. We are going to get a green flag as Frank DePew is sitting in the pit lane and needs to move to the rear. OK. Climbing the hill, we are green and it's go! Luca Mars gets a massive jump and Kenton Koch, he ismlosing spots. Side by side through turn one for the first time. Billy Johnson elbows his way to second as the TCR start sees Tim Lewis in the Alfa leading. Smoke from one of the cars in TCR.
Contact between Victor Gonzalez and Steve Eich and there is a BMW off the road in turn five alread. There will be a double driver change in this race. Cut the pie a few different ways. Kenny Murillo in the second copper colored Mercedes for Murillo Motorsports, he is the cork in the bottle right now as they scream through The Kink on cold tires! Dillon Machavern in the #95 BMW M4 GT4 for Turner Motorsports has Alan Brynjolfsson in the Aston Martin right on his six. For the lead in TCR, Tyler Gonzalez makes a move on Tim Lewis Jr. through Canada Corner.
Gonzalez is motoring away already! Jeepers creepers! Lewis Jr. wants it and they had weight added to that motorcar a few races back. The Hyundai Elantra has had a ride height adjustment for some reason. Oh dear. Matt Travis off the road in the #47 Nolasport Porsche Cayman GT4 and he tagged Machavern, missed the braking zone, and went off the road. Radiators in the front of the Porsche, and damage, with steam spewing out. So for Travis and Jason Hart, it could be game over. KOHR Motorsports now 1-2 with Luca Mars and Billy Johnson followed by Andrew Davis and Kenton Koch.
Andrew Davis in the #8 McCann Racing Porsche Cayman. The bonnet of Billy Johnson's #59 KOHR Motorsports Mustang is flapping around. Racer's tape needed at the first pit stop. Now then, the Porsche and the Mercedes are racing each other with a wide entry to turn three. Koch is applying the blowtorch to Andrew Davis through turn seven, as Hugh Plumb, Kenny Murillo, Trevor Andrusko, and Alan Brynjolfsson all in a line. Tire degradation will be big because of the abrasive pavement on this circuit. Davis' Porsche is wriggling around already.
This track will be resurfaced for next year. Meanwhile, the Mercedes cars are pushing. Mercedes has the advantage on corner entry, but the Porsche has better corner exit and straight line speed. Is it aerodynamics? Is it outright power? So many brands in this championship. 11 brands and ten have won already. Trust me, tune in next week for the Lime Rock recap. Yours truly wants to bring it to you. Have had a boatload of sports car racing to cover these last few weeks. That tire for Rebel Rock Racing in the Camaro was totally shredded. Frank DePew is being told what lap times he has to cut to stay in the game.
This is a very exciting race so far and so much more is yet to come. Tge TCR fight is hot and heavy as Gavin Ernstone is turning it on in the #61 Road Shagger Racing Audi RS3 LMS TCR. Chad Gilsinger in the Honda is in the lane. This is the Honda America Racing Team run by Honda engineers who build the road cars in Marysville, Ohio. The TCR cars are amazingly quick and can stay with the GS cars, the GT4 entries. Something ain't working on the right front suspension, or so it seems. He is wiggling the tire to see if there is some issue behind the wheel, both in and out of the car. Check the suspension. So, Chad Gilsinger, Steve Eich, and third driver, Ryan Eversley, they are on the back foot. We hear it could be a lower control arm or the steering rack, the tie rod.
The TCR cars are front wheel drive. The drivers of the #89 are engineers for Honda as we talked about. So, they have not found anything yet. Gilsinger is known as "The Gunslinger" when he drove a couple years back with Michael Valiante. Once a suspension piece is bent, it is fatigued. Don't fold the suspension, or then you'll be in a major pickle. You have to be so careful and know where your speed is. If something breaks, you know you have gone way too fast. Try staying on the lead lap as Eric Rockwell is in pursuit of his competition, checking to make sure the brake pedal is up and has the pressure. Don't let the brake pedal go to the floor.
Out of The Carousel, where can I roll into the throttle without lifting? I want to carry speed through The Kink and into Canada Corner. Robert Wickens and Michael Johnson, two drivers with disabilities who will be using hand controls. Mark Wilkins is Wickens' co-driver. Don't worry about going a lap down because of the length of the track here at Road America being so long. Great scrap here with a few of the GS Mustang's and a Porsche Cayman. Four stints for a four hour race. James Pesek in the #40 PF Racing Ford Mustang, with co-driver Joey Hand.
The #22 Porsche Cayman is next followed by Sheena Monk. Joey Hand replaces Chad McCumbee in the #40 Mustang. Joey Hand has been running NASCAR road courses for Rick Ware Racing with the new next gen Cup car. Sheena Monk is now ahead of Sean McAllister in the #22 Hardpoint Racing Porsche Cayman. Monk sharing with Kyle Marcelli and McAllister sharing with John Dubets and Nick Galante. You have to have a combination of drivers who can step up to the plate and cut the mustard as they say.
Oh dear! Tyler Gonzalez is off the road with a cut down tire on the right front through Billy Mitchell corner! Right side tires do not take a hammering here at Road America. Usually, it is the other side. He is doing some damage. Slow it down, mate. Oh dear. He plows straight off the road. Oh no! Frank DePew and Robin Liddell are out! DePew has had a massive accident! #19 gets to the lane and gets the tire taken care of. Driver's left at the exit of turn 13 is where Frank DePew went off the road. We need a replay. What happened here? This is a really high speed corner.
Frank DePew is fine. But it is game over for a previous race winner in this championship. Looking ahead, he dropped wheels to the right in the dirt. You have to hit your marks. With the tunnel, and the omission of the bridge, your reference points change. This Camaro has had amazing speed over the last few races in Michelin Pilot Challenge. Not to be, today. These cars have a lot of downforce even the American muscle cars like the Mustang and the Camaro. James Pesek is now 11th and he can catch up as the pack compresses.
Joey Hand of course, will take over the car and drive a few stints as well. Pesek will do a double stint. He should stay cool. Brake issues have been a major deal here at Road America. If your brakes ain't workin', you have to be so careful! Pit stop time now for some of the GS cars. #59 for KOHR Motorsport pits and splits their strategy. A driver change as Billy Johnson hands the car to Bob Michaelian. 40 minutes, the minimum drive time. Easy to do with a two driver team. With a three driver team, it might also be easy to do. Bear bond tape going onto the Mercedes.
It is the stickiest stuff on earth. Multilayers of this stuff could stick to anything as we see Javier Quiros, the Costa Rican driver in the #14 Toyota Supra for Riley Motorsports. A couple fiddly issues for the Toyota. They have the pace. But the Supra has a smaller performance window within it. So, this motor race is now nearly a half hour old. TRD, and manager Steve Hallam, have good manufacturer support for their customers. Any brand that comes to the track, needs to have support. Riley Motorsports and team boss Bill Riley do everything they can to get the best out of the car. His father, Bob Riley, was the same way.
Hyundai with their racing success, they too, have activation for their fans, and they have a customer viewing area to watch the race. Pretty cool. Pits now open for the TCR cars. Darn near everyone is in the lane now. KMW TMR Alfa Romeo won their first ever race here at Road America. Alfa Romeo had to learn how to get the reliability out of the car and they stuck with it and have been getting results. No tires yet for the Alfa team and they are the lone soldier for the Italian team. Well, the American team with an Italian car. A single car is a curse because you don't get the information. But it is a blessing too because there is just one car to get data from by the IMSA technical staff.
No tire change on the #5 Alfa while the Hyundai's got new tires. a 25 second fuel load out of a possible 52 seconds. We are at "The National Park of Speed" and this track is fast. in turn one, it is terminal velocity before braking. Through the Moraine sweep into turn five. Watch for the gravel trap. Turn eight, get the exit speed into The Carousel. Then, into Canada Corner, it is bumpy. It is majestic and high speed. We are ready to go back to green flag racing here. Luca Mars continues to lead as one of the Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT4's heads for the lane.
Luca Mars up front now. That is the Turner Motorsports #95 BMW in the lane as Michael McCann is now in the #8 Porsche Cayman. They are topping the #95 BMW up with fuel, but the trouble is a mec mechanical issue. Oh dear! One of the TGM Porsche's is shoved way wide! That's a bear! Argy bargy too between Monk and Pesek in the Mustang's at the outside of turn seven! Holy cow! Pesek is nudged out of the way by Alan Brynjolfsson and Sheena Monk goes through! Kenton Koch has the lead now as Luca Mars has junk on his tires or went off the road or something. He got the jimp at the start of the motor race.
Mars is going to lose a place. Frank DePew says that he burned the front tires off after the blown tire, and getting through slower traffic, he got in too hot in turn 13, and went off the road, spinning the car. Wow. Racing drivers are human and make honest mistakes. He says there must have been something in the paddock, and saving the tires, the tire went pop. Goodness! Alan Brynjolfsson, meanwhile, he goes off the road to try making a pass in The Kink! Wow! Oh dear! We have a massive hit in The Kink, and that is the #9 Porsche Cayman, in a blind turn. Sam Owen at the wheel of it. Use extreme caution and there's dust everywhere! You can't see anything.
Gavin Ernstone in the #61 Road Shagger Racing Audi is off the road. Full Course Yellow. Full Course Yellow. Maybe there is a third car in this shemozzle, someplace. #9, the Hardpoint Porsche Cayman for Sam Owen, Sean Gibbons, and Derek DeBoer. No luck this year for Jon Morley and Gavin Ernstone in the #61 Audi in 2022 either. The Kink is so high speed, it was a massive shunt! We have look at a replay. Big damage for the first of two Hardpoint Porsche's. Owen ran wide and slammed the wall on dirty tires. Ernstone runs up on another TCR car, and... ker runch! Falling dominos, nowhere to go. It is odd he would get sideways in The Kink without an assist.
Downshift, brake, stay slow. Where do I go? There's debris everywhere as the safety crews and marshals get the track cleaned up. Pit stop time fr the #2 Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Elantra N TCR for tires and fuel. This is the Ryan Norman and A.J. Muss driven entry. The wreckage is still beng cleaned up here at Road America and we remain under yellow. You haven't missed anything if you have gone to the fridge for a bite to eat or a beverage. Single file, liner stern, behind the safety car. This is a gorgeous track and a bucket list one for yours truly. Sidebar. I really wish to return to Daytona International Speedway, and the other two U.S. tracks where IMSA will race in the future are here at Road America, and at the Indianpolis Motor Speedway.
The top ten in GS is Koch, McCann, Plumb, Brynjolfsson, Mars, Collingwood, Murillo, Quiros, Monk, and Pesek. So there are many brands. Mercedes, Porsche, Aston Martin, Ford Mustang, Mercedes, and Toyota. In TCR, let's see if we can find out how things stand. Seems Peacock is showing the GS running order now. Gonzalez, Wilkins, Lewis Jr., Chase, Hagler, Filippi, Tyler Gonzalez, and Michael Johnson. So, you have Hyundai's in there, the Alfa Romeo, and so far that seems to be it. The Alfa Romeo is hanging in there. But with the demise of the #61, that puts one of the Audi's out of the motor race. I think there are one or two others pounding around.
We get ever closer to the one hour completed mark in this race. Still behind the safety car with Kenton Koch leading Michael McCann. Pit stop and driver change time for the GS cars. Turner Motorsports, Steven Cameron Racing, KOHR, Murillo, and others electing to hit the lane and undergo service and driver changes. Routine stuff. Nothing to worry about at the present time. TCR cars should be in next time 'round. One hour now in the bag here at Road America as the race continues. Like Daytona, this race is an endurance test for the GT4 and TCR entries.
Fans camped out on the hillsides here at Road America, enjoying themselves. Turner Motorsports expected in the lane now for a driver change for the #95. So, Bill Auberlen should be taking over as now we see TCR cars in the lane. Alfa Romeo going for driver change, fuel, and tires as are everyone else at the Hyundai teams. A top up on petrol for #2 and still others are in and out with efficient pit work. Alfa Romeo, right now, doing their driver change as well, look. Everything seems peachy in TCR for the time being. No dramas. At the top end of town, Kenton Koch remains in the lead of the motor race over Mike McCann. No change there.
So, we return you to your regularly scheduled program right here on The Sarcasm Channel. Uh um. As you were ladies and gentlemen. Again, what a lovely setting this track at Road America is in, and it has been here since 1955. What a place! The field is forming up sngle file behind the afety car, weaving to clean and heat the tires. More heat in the tires means more traction for these Michelin Pilot slicks everyone is using. Ah. Hyundai #2 back in the lane for some adjustments and another tire change? Maybe this is a driver change? No. I wonder why the extra pit stop.
Okie dokie then. Both Sam Owen and Gavin Ernstone have been taken to the medical center for a checkover. Green flag. Punch it! Mercedes in the lead and here comes the Porsche! Koch runs wide and Davis is flying. Alan Brynjolfsson wants it! Gently, boys! Yellows breed yellows as Davis runs wide. I wonder if he has clag on his tires. Luca Mars, on a previous restart had tire woes too. It's all that junk, like a pencil eraser and another wreck! Murillo gets tipped and spun around, locking horns with Andrew Davis! Holy moly Martha! What on earth? Andrew Davis tried finding a hole to get to the leader. He has damage on the #72. Game over for Murillo and company, for the race and the series championship. We stay green.
How did Kenny Murillo get jostled around? Davis looking to the inside, and a cut down tire. Hugh Plumb in the #46 TGM Porsche Cayman has a massive head of steam! Two races in a row now where a Team TGM Porsche has had a shemozzle with a Murillo Racing Mercedes! Jeez! Audi #84 in the lane with trouble. This is another Belgard Audi. Alex Rockwell, Preston Brown, and Kyle Rainieri sharing that car. Andrew Davis had a cut down tire and is in the lane getting it changed. Keep working the strategy. This is a four-hour race on a four-mile track. We are an hour and 13 minutes into it by now. BMW #95 has had a radio issue. Dillon Machavern cannot hear the team over the radio and that was the problem.
Turner Motorsports has an old school pit board with the radio not working. Dillon Machavern says it was really tough. He is thinking of the boys who got into that massive crash we saw earlier. Predicting pass arounds and whatnot is really tough. There is a backup radio, but the backup radio went dead as well! Criminy! That ain't right. Oh no! ANother accident and the #59 KOHR Mustang is destroyed in the front! Bob Michaelian at the wheel of it after Billy Johnson's stint. Jeepers creepers! Full Course Yellow again. Let's hope Bob Michaelian is OK after hitting the buttment of the Speedville bridge. Hard to tell where those tire marks came from.
Come on, boys and girls. Give each other some racing room. This will be a short yellow with a closed pit lane. Looking at the board, we have a three-stint strategy to run to the end. Let's see if we can find the answers to this one. That #59 KOHR Mustang went from a perfectly good GT4 racing car to a worthless pile of junk, in seconds! Not much to talk about as we continue under the safety car. As I said in an update on the WeatherTech race tomorrow, the food at Road America is supposed to be very delicious. Maybe the best track food anyplace. Bratwurst, ice cream, and much, much more apparently. Meanwhile, as we look at that replay of the accident, I hope you've swallowed your lunch because, that impact was a lump in the throat moment! Ouch!
We can see the safety crews still attending to Bob Michaelian and the #59 Mustang. Bob probably walked away under his own steam. But that was a massive impact! Just vicious. Ker-runch! Right into the concreete retaining wall, and back across the track! Enough force to open the boot of the car, the trunk, where the fuel cell is. A cut down tire for the much beleaguered #2 Hyundai Elantra! Deary me. A.J. Muss and Ryan Norman will be really frustrated. You can hear it flopping around. Whack, whack, whack, whack, whack.
I stand corrected. They seem fine now. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I was hearing things. Did not mean to give anyone a scare there. We review this incident as Bob Michaelian looked to the insideof Vinny Barletta and Barletta, turns the Mustang, smash!, right into the wall! Ouch! The #11 Capstone Mercedes also involved spinning in avoidance. Bob Michaelian walked away from the incident. He's fine. Thank God! Green flag again. So, Kenton Koch now has Hugh Plumb right on his gearbox. Koch has to go defensive. Alan Brynjolfsson ahs Trevor Andrusko going for it and James Pesek too, is moving up.
Through turn five, Sheena Monk is moving up and Brynjolfsson defensive as well. Poor old Luca Mars has gotten the rough end of the pineapple and is on the back foot now. Plumb right behind Koch. Mars trying to keep it clean and has the Toyota pushing him as well. Alfredo Najri now in the #14 Toyota Supra and Owen Trinkler has made the pass in the #64 TGM Porsche Cayman. off the road for Najri with a cut tire and thankfully is headed to the lane to fix it. It happened just at the right spot. Left front tire, gone. In replay, he is slowing down and gets clipped. The tire just gave up the ghost into 14.
Thud! He had a massive hit with the #64 Porsche Cayman into Canada Corner. Trinkler sharing with Ted Giovanis. More than a cut tire for the Toyota boys. That's suspension damage. Game over! Najri, Javier Quiros, and Thiago Camilo, good night. Buenos Noches. We'll see you boys at VIR next time. We have an hour and a half on the board and in about half an hour we shall reach halfway in this one. Sheena Monk being chased and poor old Alan Brynjolfsson runs wide onto the clag in turn five and he'll have junk on his tires. Sheena Monk has won here at Road America in MPC racing. Owen Trinkler is chasing. He is mowing this field down. He wants it. A man on a mission. That's for dead sure.
Into Canads Corner, Trinkler cannot get by. Race Director Beau Barfield and race control have reviewed the incidents. No action. Barfield clicks the radio and says "guys and gals, enough of this nonsense! Please use your heads!" Tyler Gonzalez now leads Victor Gonzalez and Mark Wilkins in TCR. No relation between Tyler and Victor Gonzalez I don't think. Game over now for the #40 PF Racing Mustang GT4 as well. James Pesek and Joey Hand, done for the day. The #2 Hyundai team at Bryan Herta Autosport in the lane, taking the splitter apart. We are checking off the Wacky Races checklist. Compact Pussycat? Creepy Coupe? Arkansas Chuggabug? Are you all out there? With all these damaged cars, Blubber Bear is right to be crying his eyes out.
Penalties ahoy, 54, pass under yellow. 89, stop and hold for running the red light at the end of the lane. 8, pit lane speeding, 14, drive through for extra team members over the wall. We are checking stuff off the crazy sheet. Break out the phony peanut brittle, the snake nut can. Boing! Or use the joy buzzer. The changed ride height might make the Hyundai a wee bit more top heavy and the aero drag more prevalent. The cornering issues will have an affect on the tire degradation. Oy! Wilkins and Wickens are going for the title. Now, they are split up. You have to help the team and help your team mate. It is like being a drafted in driver for the Rolex 24. Contact between Sheena Monk and Alan Brynjolfsson, and Monk is off the road and into the tires!
#877 is off the road and out of the race. Liefooghe, Braun, they have both passed. In replay, Brynjolfsson gets the door open, and they lock horns the Aston and the Mustang and Sheena Monk is speared into the wall! She is buried in the gravel trap. Full Course Yellow, again. He might lose the front end and he did. The car leaves the apex curb and side to side contact. The marshals will have to have a Captain Cook. hard to see anbout the damage to the Mustang. Rear diffuser looks square. Camber looks fine. Sheena Monk back in the race. The right front has a wobble wheel. PF Racing in the wars. Criminy! I'll say it again. Blubber Bear must be extremely sad right now.
Take it easy, everybody. You all are pushing it way too hard. The marshals shall make that decision. They have oodles more info than we do. The people in Race Control have had enough. Break out the heartburn pills. It's like a mom with four kids and three of the kids have been misbehaving and you know if you misbehave you are going to get worn out. Joey Hand has not raced in IMSA at the very end of 2020 with Meyer Shank Racing in GT Daytona. Hand was a driver coach and is back in the car. He is in the pit lane, I think they are taking a penalty of some kind. Hand is working on his driver ID system and now they are going to change tires as the field trundles 'round behind the safety car with Kenton Koch in the lead of the motor race.
#877 looks square. Trent Hindman will take over the #7 Volt Racing Aston Martin. Brynjolfsson said Sheena Monk did not leave any room and there might have been argy bargy between those two earlier. Brynjolfsson could have gotten on the curb under his own valition. Pit stop time again in Grand Sport. Incidental contact is OK. Consequential contact, you don't want that. Hugh Plumb in the lane and so is the #7. Do your driver change and get it over with. Trent Hindman now into the #7. Some drivers in the heat, they hydrate hugely earlier in the week. Use hydration packets in water. Flavored hydration packets.
So, who pitted? Two hours and 11 minutes left on the board. Robert Wickens getting set for his stint in the #33 Hyundai Elantra. A full course yellow. Wickens does have mobility in his lowe extremities. He can stand up but still needs assistance. He will need 52 seconds of fuel. Having a physical disability is different for different people if they deal with one. So, Robert Wickens can without doubt drive the wheels off the race car. He needs assistance to get in and out and that's it. So, the TCR cars are now in the lane. Mark Wilkins will hand over to Robert Wickens for the second half of the motor race.
Wickens' trainer carries him to the car and he slides into the car and gets belted in. Wickens won a race recently, and then, his son was born. Wow. How about it. He stood up and stepped into the car on his own. He uses hand controls in the car as Michael Johnson does as well. So many opportunities exist in racing for drivers with disabilities. Now then, Wickens is only 100 points out of the TCR points lead. Kyle Marcelli has now taken over the #877 Ford Mustang GT4 from Sheena Monk. Hot temperatures and hot tempers. Sheena Monk says it is indescribably hot!
It is one of the hottest races she has ever run. Her cool suit was boiling before it cooled down again. Sheena Monk says Colin Braun was inside and aid Brynjolfsson divebombed through the turn and she believes it was an intentional hit that is foolish to do, and from a champion racing driver. Brynjolfsson's side of the story, he says that he absolutely did nothing wrong and says she was holding him up. He was battling with Colin Braun. On initial contact, the Aston Martin snapped off the road. Just give me a little more room where you naturally drift on a high-speed turn. So, there you have, both sides of the story. Fair, balanced, unbiased coverage of the motor races. There are always two sides to the argument.
Joey Hand is having his first drive in a GT4 spec Ford Mustang as we go back to green. Owen Trinkler leads the motor race ahead of Robby Foley. The vast majority of drivers behind, have their finishing drivers at the controls. Side by side stuff in the moraine sweep. Foley decides discretion is the better part of valor. The Porsche has good corner exit and has good straight-line speed. Trinkler and Hugh Plumb won the Grand Sport championship for TGM back in 2018. #7, penalty for incident responsibility. Drive through penalty. Eric Foss inside the top ten. A penalty also called on the #40 Mustang, stop and go, for working on the car in a closed pit.
Colin Braun and Mike Skeen make contact. Kyle Marcelli drops a wheel. Trent Hindman takes his medicine serving the penalty and Joey Hand will do likewise as we are int the second half of the race. Side by side action between Matt Plumb and Colin Braun in the Mercedes AMG GT4. He is under attack from the BMW. The TCR battle is spicy as well as the GS battle. Owen Trinkler, Robby Foley, Tom Dyer, Greg Liefooghe, John Dubets, Mike Skeen, Colin Braun, Matt Plumb, Bill Auberlen, Spencer Pumpelly, Alec Udell and more. This is going to get spicy.
Udell and co-driver David Brule are motoring right now. Brule said they wanted to stay on the lead lap. This is the #21 Riley Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT4. Marcelli's Mustang is back on the button again so that will alleviate some of the frustration for Sheena Monk. #21 is one of the few teams in Michelin Pilot to use three drivers. Anton Dias Perera, Colin Braun, and Scott Andrews. They have called a couple audibles. If you elect to run three drivers, you have to do minimum drive time with all three. The team does not have a handle on the Mercedes right now and they are dropping like a stone. Kyle Marcelli is moving forward.
It is hot and heavy as we have an hour and 55 minutes of this motor race remaining. Braun still sinking like a stone. He is having issues with the Mercedes and the straightaway speed might be troubling. You have an adjustable rear wing, but the front end is finicky. Trinkler on worn tires is hanging on for dear life. Foley doing all he can to hang on with Dyer and Liefooghe coming in a hurry. Trinkler's tires might be rooted. Road America eats tires especially in this heat. It is like a cheese grater. Especially in the long duration right hand corners, and the left side tires are going to get thrashed. Bill Auberlen slicing and dicing through the traffic as we watch the TCR battle. Auberlen is a couple seconds quicker.
Stephen Simpson gets dusted by the Alfa Romeo of Roy Block as Rory van der Steur is the leader in TCR. The Alfa Romeo is more aerodynamically efficient than is the Hyundai. Tim Lewis Jr. through turn three. Simpson waves Tim Lewis by? Wait a minute. Maybe he is on a fuel save and says, yes, you can play through, mate. Maybe he knew the Alfa was going to blow his doors off. Now then, Owen Trinkler on those used Michelin tires is still holding off Robby Foley. They are definitely back timing the race and Victor Gonzalez loses the wheel on the #99 VCMG Honda Civic. The tire has found his long lost family members. Left front. Gone. You picked a fine time to leave me, loose wheel.
Hopefully the studs on the Honda are OK. They can do one more regular stop but need a new tire. A new wheel. Can Owen Trinkler stay within striking distance in the top three? That is the key. You can never count on more yellows and it is so hard to save fuel at this place. It is only nine feet difference in uphill between here and Laguna Seca Raceway in California, and the long straights burn the fuel off as well as the sweeps, the moraine sweep and Canada Corner for instance. Mike Skeen and Spencer Pumpelly are pushing. Ditto for Bill Auberlen and Eric Foss along with Kyle Marcelli. Into turn five, Foss slams the door in Auberlen's face. Will Turner says the BMW's need fresh air and so they have to pull out to cool the radiators. A turbocharged car in 90 degree heat is a hard car to drive.
Bill Auberlen is in the same situatioon just as Robby Foley is. The radio works on the striahgtaway but not the corners. Hopefully ye olde pit board works out. In the old days, all you had was a straightaway and you couldn't get the radio in Canada corner. When radios go bad, cool suits go bad, modern tech does not work. Times are a changin', tech is improving, but it is still a bear. Where are my temperature readings? These are basically road going cars homologated for racing. So, if they get too hot, they go into limp home mode. Greg Liefooghe also having radiator woes. Greg Liefooghe ducking to the outside. The exhaust of the Porsche, is like two hairdryers blowing into the BMW radiators.
Tom Dyer and Greg Liefooghe, both underrated and super competitive drivers. Alan Brunjolfsson and Sheena Monk are having a discussion about the accident. The body language is calm. Agree to disagree. Hey, this is how I saw it. You need to have the conversation and then walk away. The team at Wright Motorsports are hoping for a landscape of peace. Meanwhile, poor old Liefooghe is in dirty air and there's a massive battle in Mercedes land between Mike Skeen and Eric Foss. Pumpelly to the outside of Foss. In 16th place, it is Trent Hindman, after his drive through penalty in the #7 Aston Martin.
Eric Foss needs the rest of this motor race to be under green. Anything can happen. Pumpelly went to the right and had to give it up going up into turn 14! Yikes! Marcelli is pushing. It's never over until it's over. You have your gunslingers in the car now. Plumb, Marcelli, Pumpelly, Liefooghe, John Dubets and so on. The finishing drivers are the hired guns, the higher rated drivers. They are a tad more measured and experienced. Robby Foley just siitting there. Pumpelly is a demon on the brakes and pushes past Foss! Wow! They are buddies. I wonder. Robby Foley trying to not get too flustered. There are spots where you have to stay in line, like The Carousel and The Kink.
Foley is just looking for cool air and does not want to throw it away and toss that car into the weeds. Owen Trinkler makes a pit stop. The penultimate stop for TGM as called by team manager and former driver, Joe Varde. Poor old Foley lost a heap of time to Liefooghe while wrestling with Owen Trinlkler and the pit lane is unbearably long here at Road America. Owen Trinkler's team is impressed how he held on with those busted tires. Pumpelly was bobbing and darting. You can't move in response to someone else's move. That won't cut the mustard. It won't fly. Trinkler needs two full fuel loads to get to the end of the motor race.
If we stay green, he has his work cut out for him for sure. Now then, Pumpelly's car is an evil handling motorcar right now. That Cayman is a bugaboo to drive. Spencer Pumpelly has won in Michelin Pilot before when it was called a different name. It's spicy now with an hour and half to go, but in the final ten minutes we could be using the whole bottle of Cajun pepper sauce. Matty Plumb outbrakes himself out of turn five and Mike Skeen in the #55 Mercedes is pushing, pushing, pushing. Matt Plumb keeps the track position. Skeen is lurking back there as well. Kyle Marcelli, too, in the #877 Mustang and JCD is off. John Capestro Dubets, off the road and back on and now he has ratty tires with junk on them.
Into Canada Corner, Eric Fodss is going to the outside of Kyle Marcelli. He has to tuck back in! Good gravy! JCD, what a rodeo ride! Eric Foss on the outside into turn three and Pumpelly wants by Plumb. Skeen will be rubbing his hands together and wants to go for it. These blokes know how to race clean. We need more than one TV screen to see this. What a great race. Drivers, teams, brands, it is all here in Michelin Pilot Challenge. Pumpelly wants the pass but can't quite make it past Dyer. Dyer was running in lockstep with Greg Liefooghe who has moved up closer to our leader, Robby Foley. You know the tires are going to go to you know where, eventually, but get in a sweet spot early and save them as much as you can.
Mike Skeen has ducked to the lane as the dominos begin falling for the penultimate stop. Dive to the lane and see if you can get sellar outlaps as Pumpelly finally makes a successful pass! Skeen running quicker than Foley and he will have fresh tires and could leapfrog the boys at the top of the tree. Kyle Marcelli wants by Tom Dyer while also having a mirror full of Eric Foss. Porsche vs. Mustang vs. Mercedes. The Mercedes might get more tire wear, and he must still have grip. But if you force it across the race surface going in the corner, then you are in a world of pain. Oh, my aching tires! Colin Braun sticking like glue to the rest of these blokes up ahead as #56 dives to the lane.
Auberlen is flying with fastest lap uncorked at 2:18.1. Murillo Racing needs to execute to gain points with an hour and a half to go. BMW #95 in the lane as well. Don Salama, team strategist might be very stressed, but Mitch Fuller, the man who changes the left front tire and who is also the pit board man. Hard to see the pit boards when you are driving at high speed through traffic. John Capestro Dubets trying to pass Bill Auberlen on stone cold tires and Auberlen runs in deep into turn five! JCD has had a breakout year.
He has been driving and driver coaching. He has done a lot this year and made the best of everything. Owen Trinkler behind Auberlen. The #21 Mercedes will see Scott Andrews step in for a stint after Colin Braun. Andrews should take the car to the flag in less than an hour and a half. Don't free the car up too much because of the tire degradation we are seeing. The car can wash away off the corner and push into the turn. Read the situation and then see about what adjustments the drivers want. Colin Braun and Scott Andrews have shared cars before, but it is a different thing. Rory van der Steur in the Hyundai Veloster leads TCR. A train of Hyundai's, but we have seen BoP adjustments on the ride height of the Elantra.
The Veloster leads the Alfa Romeo and then a chain of Elantra's. Stephen Simpson, Robert Wickens, Harry Gottsacker, Tyler Maxson, and Michael Lewis. The #93 CarBahn with Peregrine Racing Porsche Cayman is in the lane for service. We need a way to tell the Hyundai's apart because they all look so similar. We check the GS/GT4 top ten. Foley, Liefooghe, Pulumb, Pumpelly, Marcelli, Udell, Wilson, Probert, Hindman, McQuarrie. Scott Andrews drops the right rear wheel and now we can see that he is pinched to the side. Robby Foley in the lane now and he will need one more pit stop before the end of the race.
Put the fuel in the tank. How do you slice the pie before the end of the race? A wee spot of bother for Turner Motorsports. Greg Liefooghe, the erstwhile leader, who will also need to pit. He is 6.7 seconds ahead of Matty Plumb. Short fills of fuel have potential to really throw a wrench in your strategy in backtiming the motor race. No wonder the pit crews are sweating bullets. Eric Foss has done the undercut on fresher Michelin tires has allowed him to move around Robby Foley. The Grand Sport frontrunners have now pitted and now, the TCR field is catching up to the back of the crocodile. The TCR cars have downforce through the turns and are far lighter and more nimble than the GS cars are.
Steer the car in a TCR machine with the tail. Then make the front tires work. Mark Wilkins may have to come back and take over the #33 Hyundai as Robert Wickens has met his 40 minute drive time allotment. They seem to have a braking issue with the hand brake that Wickens uses. So, Mark Wilkins is back into the car and Wickens' trainer carries him back to the pit wall and he will watch his team mate take the car to the flag. For Mark Wilkins, he will have to test the brakes and see how they work with the foot brake compared to the hand braking system for Robert Wickens. Trouble in paradise for Robby Foley! That #96 BMW M4 GT4 may be overheating!
He is in limp mode. Is it game over? It appears so. A new car coming for next year, the new generation BMW M4 GT4. Robert Wickens did meet his minimum drive time. No penalty, but he has having issues operating the car. So, the #96 BMW is in limp home mode. He is in the lane now. Maybe the motor is cooked, or maybe it is stuck in a lower gear. The bonnet goes up. That is not a good sign. Good opening stint for Vinny Barletta. Scott Andrews is chasing down John Dubets. Colin Braun says the heat in the Mercedes is not bad, with the air conditioning. The GT4 cars are physical to drive but you are not wrestling them.
Riley Motorsports has been able to get the GT4 Mercedes bedded in and everyone can be fresh with the three driver team. Anton Dias Perera, Scott Andrews, and Colin Braun, with Bill Riley assisting. With the new Mercedes, they know the car, but it is brand new driving from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Wisconsin. Robert Wickens says that his hand controls need a pneumatic actuator to help with the braking. Something was burning and the pneumatic brake pump was smoking. Oh dear! If it happens in the snap of a finger, it is safe, but in turn one, it would be ugly. They needed luck under yellow.
Wickens was losing brake pressure plus having the smoke. No injuries. Everything is OK. Robert has to be frustrated by the problem and the championship picture won't move the needle unless they catch a break like another Full Course Yellow with an hour and ten minutes to go. They need fuel save to get back in the fight. Robby Foley is now back on track running at speed. Mark Willkins is moving up for sure. Harry Gottsacker's sister #98 Hyundai might be leaking fluid, overflow from fuel or something. The stuff gets under the tires in the #33.
The Alfa Romeo, the #5, is chasing the #19 Hyundai. Rory van der Steur vs. Tim Lewis Jr. Lewis Jr. wondered and his team said, "go for the pass." Maybe they are in fuel save mode as well. BMW #96 will have a penalty for too many men working on the car at once! Compounding the woes, rubbing salt into the wounds at Turner Motorsports as van der Steur wriggles all over dealing with the GS cars. That Hyundai Veloster has bodywork flapping and may not be steering correctly although it could also be an optical illusion. van der Steur to the lane. An hour and eight minutes left. #19 could be low on petrol.
Is the same true for the #5 Alfa Romeo? The Hyundai looks unstable. #5, Tim Lewis Jr., says "I've lost grip and handling like throwing an anchor out under the car." The GT4 and TCR cars all have aerodynamic widgets and those create turbulence. You need the aero devices through turns like The Carousel to plant the front end. No different than what we see in the WeatherTech Championship with the GT3 cars and the prototypes. Lewis leads Stephen Simpson by 3/10ths of a second and in GS, Eric Foss is leading Mike Skeen. Spencer Pumpelly has cut fastest lap at 1:18 dead. Hyundai Elantra #54 in the pit lane. Stephen Simpson at the controls.
Simpson will have to do massive fuel save and Tim Lewis might have more pace. Oh dear! Lewis has contact with the Porsche #46 and Michael Lewis passes Tim Lewis Jr. Tim Lewis Jr., fighting the wheel like a boxer throwing punches. Lewis runs in super deep in Canada Corner! So, Tim Lewis Jr. can catch Michael Lewis. Just over an hour to go. #5 drops the right rear tire and now has his hands full with the #46 GS class Porsche Cayman, the TGM car. Lewis pinched down on Plumb as now the #5 Alfa Romeo is in the lane and so is the Hyundai.
Simpson has a fresh set of tires as well. New tires, more fuel in the tank. They might have to come to the lane for a splash and a dash. Aerodynamic adjustments also being made. #5 back on track but behind the #1. Just over an hour left in the race now. The #1 needed less petrol than the #5 Alfa Romeo. With two rounds left after today, Lewis and Hagler want to win races. They lead the championship but have not won yet and have only two more races after today. Eric Foss also wants to make inroads. We are going to see shome shakeup. Foss leads Skeen at the top of the shop by 9.2 seconds. Poor old Spencer Pumpelly was slow as molasses on the road and something is wrong with the #83 Porsche Cayman, the BGB Motorsports car.
Brake issues, running over the curbs, can mess with the brake rotors. This race definitely has an endurance component to it. Within the final hour. Use the curbs a bit, to get lap time. However, you have to be conservative with it. The brake union on the caliper between the caliper and the disc has come loose making for loss of fluid and hence, brake pressure. Harry Gottsacker leads Mark Wilkins and Wilkins wants Gottsacker to step up the pace so he can follow his teammate because of fuel conservation and tire deg. Don't use up your stuff. This is not win it or bin it time yet.
Eric Foss is going after the gold cup, the Michelin Pilot Challenge championship. He leads on the road and has seen troubles for his rivals. Troubles for the #7 Aston Martin especially. Eric Foss leads the motor race as we are getting close to the end. #56 is the only two-time winning team and car in MPC in 2022. Pit winow in another five minutes. Wait longer on fresher tires, or just duck in and duck out and get it done. Poor old Trent Hindman is the cork in the bottle behind both TGM Porsche's of Owen Trinkler and Matty Plumb. Oh no. #19, smoking. Cut down tire, and broken suspension. The right rear suspension is toast. He is a shot duck. Slow it down and take it easy.
Tyler Gonzalez in major trouble, trying to hang on for dear life. This is the Hyundai Veloster, the older Hyundai TCR car. In turn one, Tyler Gonzalez wriggles under braking and has the car completely out of square. Boom. He hit the curb and the suspension was broken in turn five. Any way you slice it, not the day the #19 team wanted to have. This will take a few minutes to bolt on a hot suspension piece, with the car also being refueled. A rear upright has failed and they shall replace it right now. This is easily a ten minute fix.
This is a small, family run team from van der Steur Racing. Skeen, Dubets, Liefooghe, Auberlen, this quartet running behind Eric Foss who is nearly 14 seconds ahead. But they are within the fuel window. They want to do one more lap to be safe. Will a final pit stop take Eric Foss and Kenton Koch to the win? We'll see. How do you slice this? How much clean race track do you have to expand the lead? Traffic ahead as far as the #54 TCR Hyundai and the #40 Grand Sport Mustang for PF Racing. Foss is caught between a rock and a hard place with early tire stints. If you push the window deeper, the tires will be fresher.
But in a Full Course Yellow situation, with the fuel, he could get leapfrogged by rvals like Dubets and Liefooghe. Scott Andrews and Kyle Marcelli are going to be turning it on as well. Turning the wick up is what they are doing, running quicker lap times than the leaders. #22 and #95 in the lane. The dominos are falling. Murillo and #56 are in the pit lane inside their window. Kenton Koch is back into the car to take it home. Foss still nursing a broken foot in recent races. Koch back on the road. Bill Auberlen is making hay while the sun shines.
Andrews, Liefooghe, Hindman, Auberlen, many stayed in as Hugh Plumb spins through the first turn out of pit lane! How on earth? He just pushed too hard and took a turn on the whirligig. How is the tire? The car in the fast lane has to give it up. Did he make contact with the #22 Porsche Cayman? Hyundai #98, Harry Gottsacker pits for fuel and is back out. #98 undercut the #33. The #33 Elantra needs new tires and has a lot of understeer in the car. Kenton Koch and Kyle Marcelli are now back on track and boy oh boy, were they close!
Marcelli has the pace as we see the #33 Hyundai in the pit lane now as well. Bryan Herta Autosport says that they cannot make it even on another yellow before the end so they had to pit now. Stephen Cameron Racing and their BMW and the Volt Racing Aston Martin pit too. Gottsacker trying to do the undercut on Wilkins. Through The Kink they go. The Kink is a corner which can help fresh tires and hurt on old ones. Wilkins needs a yellow to get in the game for the victory. Stephen Simpson, Tim Lewis Jr., and Michael Lewis, the top three in TCR. Tim Lewis and Roy Block are going to slice into the championship lead for Michael Lewis and Taylor Hagler.
Simpson has to manage fuel. He pitted with 58 minutes to go. Now, Tim Lewis Jr. is in the pit lane to fuel the Alfa Romeo. I wonder if the car has a problem. Fuel only. Did they not get a full fuel load? That is odd. Maybe there was a fuel flow issue on the rig. That was a splash and a dash. Can you get a fuel save with a late Full Course Yellow? Flinching early is not always the best idea. They checked nothing else on the car. That is odd. Hmmm. Slight damage due to argy bargy. But still 38 minutes to go. #54 also stopped before. Now then, Alec Udell in the #66 Porsche Cayman is in the lead but they are off strategy. Udell sharing with David Brule in the Kelly Moss Porsche Cayman.
Alec Udell has a mechanical engineering degree from Clemson University and has driven all kinds of cars all over the world. Much like John Dubets, these guys are uncredibly quick even though we don't see them in the IMSA paddock that often. Udell is indeed your leader. What a wild race we have seen so far. Full Course Yellow know as we have just seen the #65 Murillo Racing Mercedes AMG GT4 have a huge crunch into the wall! The front end of Tim Probert's Mercedes is destroyed. Game over for Probert and co-driver Brent Mosing. The strategists will be scrambling to find a way to get to the finsh. Tim Probert out of the car under his own steam, with half an hour to go.
Full Course Yellow and yet another trundle around this 4-mile ribbon of asphalt behind the safety car. As we mentioned, this whole track is going to get a repave in the fall so when we come back next year, it will be all new pavement. The field continues to circulate behind the safety car. Is Alec Udell pitting? The answer is... stay out and roll the dice. He will not win if he pits and loses bucketloads of track position. Staying out could be the right call with just over 20 minutes remaining. They've pushed their poker chips to the center of the table. All in. IMSA marshals said they need him to get closer to the safety car.
A race win on the line, everyone will get scrappy. Anything downhill, can you coast? Put your foot on the clutch pedal. Wow! Another car has spun! Scott Andrews has lost a left rear wheel! That is truly bizarre! Just 19 minutes left. No contact. The left rear wheel just sits there. He spins out after the wheel just falls off! IMSA had to permit Andrews, Braun, and the team to break the car in. Alec Udell is going to be in the pound seats now, mate. He is a lucky, lucky, lucky, luck boy! Alfa Romeo #5 in the lane for KMW TMR and they are back changing tires on the car and cooling the driver. I am hot and I need to get cooled down! The #54 Hyundai could also be in with a shout here. #54, #1, and #15 should be good to get to the end.
Alec Udell needs to save fuel and the team cannot say for sure based on their numbers how much gas is in the tank. If I'm Alec Udell, I'm nervous! Sounds like a Monty Python skit. I think I turned out the lights upstairs, or I think I set that coffee mug on the table, but I don't remember. Could Udell put the car in neutral to coast. Yes. But, he has no cruise control in the race car. Kenton Koch is going to do everything he can to get the #56 Mercedes to the front. They want to pass Liefooghe and Udell before the end of this race. We saw drama at Lime Rock Park and have seen it here. I apologize again as I have not yet had the chance to finish the Lime Rock race report. That will come to you, next week. I am sure of it.
Bill Auberlen and Dillon Machavern still have a heat issue. The radio is fine. Dillon Machavern explains the BMW is running great, but the heat is such a bear with the turbocharged motor. Just a shade over ten minutes left in his four-hour race. The temperature sensors will shut down the motor on these production based cars. Who has the clag cleaned off of their tires? The rubber caked onto the tires is like giant snowballs. That's how big they are. Okie dokie. Green flag! The #40 Mustang darts to the side and Greg Liefooghe got caught napping and now, Udell has a run and here comes Liefooghe! Udell has to roll the dice. Off the road is Kyle Marcelli, argy bargy with Bill Auberlen, look. Trent Hindman on it and here comes Liefooghe into turn five running to the outside and missing it.
Auberlen used up, pushed aside by Kenton Koch and here comes Trent Hindman! This is a full on war to the end of the race. Alec Udell under massive pressure. Oh man! Kenton Koch, dropping wheel,s gong for the win. He barges Greg Liefooghe out of the way. Koch slams the door in Kyle Marcelli's face. Here comes Mike Skeen, too. Hindman is a sitting duck, maybe. Skeen off and on. I told you this is a war. Half an hour of yellow since #66 was in the lane. He's going for it. Hindman in the grass trying to pass Skeen. Kenton Koch screams past Liefooghe! Kenton Koch has to push. He wants to get by Udell. Udell has fuel woes and his tires are more knackered than the rest of the field snarling up behind him.
Koch has a head of steam. Or does he? The pin has been pulled. Liefooghe comes back on Koch! Hindman is now pushing past Mike Skeen. Marcelli is right on Skeen's tail. Udell is playing it cool. He needs these other wolves to be fighting and he can be the rabbit romping away. Mike Skeen is really pushing and I don't have to tell you, hard. TCR, that scrap is all over and Kenton Koch slams Udell out of the way! Can he come back. Kenton Koch under braking with fresh tires just barges Udell right out of the way. Udell is now trying to move past Liefooghe. Can Hindman get to the podium? Less than four minutes remaining in an action packed four hour race!
Koch extending his lead. Liefooghe is pushing just as hard. The Alfa Romeo is speeding ahead trying to catch up to Stephen Simpson! He actually has to move past Michael Lewis in second place. That Alfa has prodigious straight line speed. Simpson will not give up the lead. Michael Lewis is really going for it. White flag lap now for Kenton Koch. Koch and Foss want their third win. Can Alec Udell make it home? Kyle Marcelli is still in this. He is right behind Trent Hindman. Several potential winners, but Kenton Koch is flooring it and giving it everything. Alec Udell blocking Hindman and here comes Marcelli.
White flag. Four miles to go. Marcelli way wide! The Alfa in TCR up to second. He has passed Michael Lewis. He is going to charge and go for Stephen Simpson who is one of the toughest blokes in the field to pass in TCR. Traffic ahead. Greg Liefooghe doing all he can to make the move on Eric Foss and now, Lewis makes a move on Simpson for the TCR lead! KMW TMR have bish bash boshed their strategy. Wow. Do you think? Well, well, well. Koch has a margin over Liefooghe. Two turns to go. This is it. This is the race. Can Udell make it? Kenton Koch though is home and hosed. Foss and Koch win their third race of 2022!
TCR honors going to Alfa Romeo for their second straight Road America win! Tim Lewis and Roy Block get the job done!
Overall/Grand Sport: #56 Foss/Koch Murillo Racing Mercedes AMG GT4
TCR: #5 Block/Lewis Jr. KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering Alfa Romeo
Giulietta Veloce TCR
What a motor race at Road America! Again, we still must find out the whole story from Lime Rock Park. So stay tuned for that one. After that, Michelin Pilot Challenge has just two races left. The penultimate event is the Virginia Is For Racing Lovers Grand Prix and the two hour MPC race there, coming up in a shade over three weeks. We will have a barn burner to the end of this season. Excited to bring it to you. So long for now, everybody, from Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Bye bye.
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