Tuesday, May 9, 2023

GT World Challenge America: NOLA, Race 1 Part 2

Welcome back to NOLA Motorsports Park, everybody.  The race is now expected to resume at 5:20 P.M. Eastern Time, locally, here in New Orleans.  The rain has stopped and we aee ready to get back underway in about five minutes.  Manny Franco was sweeping the pit box to keep his mind alert.  Once this track dries up and the wet tires find the dry pavement, the drivers and teams will have to go to slick tires.  Eric Filgueiras and the Porsche have scrubbed tires from Thursday Free Practice.  The weather situation here is still quite unpredictable indeed.  These are lightly scrubbed rain tires to get the sheen off.  But with the abrasive surface on this track, it will not matter.  They have a heat cycle in them.  Are you going to get to the pit window before these wets begin to overheat?  Conquest Racing and the Ferrari of Manny Franco and Alessandro Balzan have elected to go with sticker tires.

This is a new element of strategy in Fanatec GT World Challenge America.  There is a ten minute pit window for tires, fuel, and a driver change.  If the wets cannot make it to the pit window that won't count as the mandatory pit stop except for that time but the tires might be knackered before the window opens.  We'll have to see what happens making two stops for tires and then for a driver change.  This is race one and so the Pro-Am lineups have the Am drivers starting the race.  You have names at the top of the shop on this grid like Eric Filgueiras and Manny Franco, Scott Smithson and Adam Adelson.  Smithson is the only one of these four drivers who has any experience in the wet in a race in a GT3 car.  

NOLA is not a nightmare track in the wet save for if there's puddling like we saw earlier.  It won't be so bad.  The engines have fired and we are ready to get back to action.  The track is flat and the fact that we are two feet below sea level, puddling can be a bear.  Just make sure there is no standing water.  Everyone is getting a feel for if there is deep water on the road.  The drivers are getting a firsthand look at track conditions.  This is where the experience levels begin to come into play with the teams.  This is manna from heaven for teams who did not qualify well.  The European drivers like Valentin Hasse Clot, Adam Carroll, and Ryan Dalziel, who are so used to racing in the rain.  Mario Farnbacher, and Jan Heylen are examples too.

If the track dries halfway through things will be completely different.  We have to scheduled formation laps or starting behind the safety car.  Because of the aerodynamics the GT3 cars do a great job clearing out the standing water.  There will still be a lot of spray.  There will be two formation laps and a single file start from behind the safety car.  The stewards are willing to let the horses run.  Some drivers love the challenge of the rain.  Hopefully the visibility will be good for the drivers.  Safety car lights off.  OK.  It is time.  Let's go racing in The Big Easy!  Boogity, boogity, boogity!  Away we go!

Filgueiras leads and the spray is gooing to make a mess of this deep in the pack.  Chandler Hull aboard the #94 Bimmerworld Racing BMW M4 GT3.  Pedro Torres in the #16 ACI Motorsports Porsche is already giving Ashton Harrison in the #93 Racer's Edge Motorsports Acura a tough run for her money as well, look.  Harrison fighting back hard.  Everyone is tentative but the cars have the grip as George Kurtz passes Chandler Hull for an overall spot.  Kurtz and Colin Braun won overall in race two at Sonoma last time we saw SRO GTWC America in competition.  Franco is feeling it into the chicane against Filgueiras.

Filgueiras is going to defend.  Two drivers with a combined five GT3 starts are pushing hard.  Watch the painted curbs on the exit because those will be like ice and here comes Adam Adelson trying to make his move.  He is feeling it too, sharing alongside Elliott Skeer.  You know something, the track is drying out far quicker than we thought it would and I agree with Calvin Fish in the broadcast booth because I just don't think these rain tires are going to last with this track drying so fast.  They will be totally useless in just a wee while.  Strategy is key and now, Pedro Torres makes a move around Scott Smithson.  George Kurtz is beginning to push as well.  He is closing on Ashton Harrison.  

No one is slipping and sliding which shows there is good grip in the track surface here at NOLA.  Ashton Harrison bouncing back from an incident at Long Beach in another championship.  The battle is well and truly on for eighth spot between Chandler Hull in the #94 BMW M4 GT3 for Bimmerworld and Seth Lucas in the #53 MDK Motorsports Porsche sharing that car with Trenton Estep.  Harrison is beginning to reel in Scott Smithson.  Charlie Luck wants to rebound and Jan Heylen has also had great pace.  Luck and Heylen had bad luck in the races here at NOLA last year.  

In the meantime, there is a battle brewing between two Mercedes AMG GT3's with Ziad Ghandour for TR3 and Anthony Bartone for RealTime Racing with the skull and cross bones livery on the car.  These drivers know where the grip is.  Meanwhile, Will Hardeman for Esses Racing based out of Texas in another Mercedes and wow, Lucas is off in the grass getting on the standing water!  He used the ninja hands technique to get out of a spin.  The BMW M4 GT3 is sliding around underneath Chandler Hull.  A battle for tenth is also underway as Charlie Luck in the #45 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R is harrying the #007 TRG-AMR Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3.

DeBoer and the TRG Aston Martin has pace.  DeBoer has to keep things clean and he knows it for sure.  Lucas still trying to move in to pass Hull.  Ashton Harrison running a solid race.  The Acura NSX GT3 has always been a solid platform in the rain.  Manny Franco has been putting things on the line but Eric Filgueiras is consistently in a rhythm at 1:48.7.  Manny Franco is doing his best to stay on the road.  Find standing water to cool the tires as far as tire management and we will see the mandatory stop.  It is not dry, but drying.  Adam Adelson leading the Pro-Am class in the 991.II generation Porsche 911 and we do have handful of the 992 models as well.

Pedro Torres is also driving a 991 generation Porsche 911 GT3R sharing with Spencer Pumpelly.  George Kurtz backing into the clutches of Chandler Hull and Seth Lucas, both.  Chandler Hull won a title in the Asian Le Mans Series and he will be racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in another month or so.  Kurtz chasing Smithson and Harrison chasing Torres.  She is drawing a bead on Pedro Torres at the present time.  Everyone is keeping it on the road in these conditions.  The track is drying out and some places we see fewer rooster tails and other places it is fairly wet.

The trouble is trying to pass in the wet on a slick tire.  We have been racing now for ten minutes and there will be that ten minute window for making mandatory pit stops.  Don't get caught out with tires having to make a second stop.  Good battle between Jeff Burton, Samantha Tan, and Justin Wetherill in 15th, 16th, and 17th.  Mercedes AMG GT3 vs. BMW M4 GT3 and Ferrari 296 GT3.  Tan sharing the #38 car with BMW factory driver John Edwards.  Samantha Tan is coached and mentored by veteran Swedish driver Niclas Jonsson.  Seth Lucas is reeling in George Kurtz who had daylight put between himself and Chandler Hull ahead.

The race at New Orleans is going far better for Charlie Luck this year than last year.  The Porsche looks good in these conditions we are currently experiencing.  Grab the curbs and hit the apexes.  There is a big bump in this next turn before heading onto the frontstretch.  Harrison makes the pass on Adelson.  She did not overcommit and ran a tad wide but is still in the hunt.  She will turn over to Mario Farnbacher in the second stint.  Pedro Torres has dropped down the order after being pinged by Race Control for a jumped start.

He had to wait and he didn't with the single file start.  Poor old Torres has flown Plummet Airways down to 14th place.  Filgueiras is the quickest car on the road presently while Franco is about half a second off the pace.  Harrison is marginally quicker than Franco.  Chandler Hull's BMW is beginning to come alive and his lap times are similar to the leaders as Eric Filgueiras is beginning to push and those scrubbed wet Pirelli P Zero tires are working well.  However, Filgueiras is telling the team there is far more water on the road than anticipated and there is no sun to help dry to track.

They might gamble and go to slicks.  Does anyone go out and try to pull a blinder?  George Kurtz runs wide at turn 13 and has to give a place back.  He ran through the cutoff at turn 13.  He may have gained time over Charlie Luck just then.  The track surface is not drying out and the cloud cover might keep the wet tires alive with an hour and ten minutes on the board yet.  Can the mid pack runners take a gamble?  We'll have to find out.  Rolling the dice might be a wise idea.  Charlie Luck is keeping the pressure on George Kurtz and here comes Derek DeBoer as well.  Luck has a head of steam but he is given the place and DeBoer is the one with a head of steam but Kurtz slams the door in his face.

This is eighth, ninth, and tenth on the road and in another 19 minutes the pit window shall open.  There are dry parts of the road but other places that are still puddled with water.  Kurtz runs wide and now, DeBoer sees a chance to have a bite of the cherry.  DeBoer planted through turn 16.  Down the straightaway they come to complete another lap and DeBoer is a scrapper.  He is not giving up but Kurtz has the measure of the blue Aston Martin.  DeBoer might be able to cut the apex tighter but right now is gaining nothing on the Mercedes as Ashton Harrison drops down into the 1:46 range in her scrap with Manny Franco.

Alessandro Balzan will take over the car later.  Adam Adelson and Scott Smithson are both turning it on as well, look.  Adelson being reeled in by Smithson and now, Chandler Hull is sneaking up on Smithson as well.  Hull passes and Smithson gives it up, staying clean, staying smart.  Hand the car to Bryan Sellers in decent shape for the second half of the race.  Kurtz wide through the esses.  DeBoer is going for it again as Kurtz sends it again.  Derek DeBoer from Oregon.  He is just off the podium and readying for Valentin Hasse-Clot coming up for the next stint.  Ross Gunn is on Formula 1 simulator duties at Mercedes.

We'll just call Valentin Hasse-Clot VHC.  That'll work.  Telemetry on these cars I think only measures pressure of the tire and not surface temperature.  We'll have to see.  I don't know the answer but I don't think there are temperature sensors.  The top three cars are running in the high 1:46 and low 1:47 range.  At DXDT, they do have temperature readings and Smithson's Pirelli tires are running at 158 degrees Fahrenheit.  Control the symptom of the tires overheating.  Especially with the wet weather tires.  They are much softer than slick tires are and will fade quickly.  The temperature is from the left front tire through these long duration right hand turns.

The pit window shall open in ten minutes.  Pro-Am lineups hit the lane early to do the driver change.  The overall leader shall not get first dibs necessarily, though.  That means anyone can pit even if they are down the order.  Just under an hour to go as Anthony Bartone is chasing George Kurtz.  TR3 Racing are set to get Daniel Morad into their #9 Mercedes ASAP and going with Pirelli P Zero slick tires.  For Ziad Ghandour, what kind of lap times on wet tires is he achieving on a drying track?  Filgueiras cuts a 1:46.6.  Harrison at 1:47 dead.  She is reeling in Manny Franco but still must make up six seconds.  Bartone in the one and only Am class entry this weekend.

The two Porsche's of Seth Lucas and Charlie Luck are running liner stern.  The competition affects how the decisions are made by these teams.  I think Racer's Edge Motorsports and team boss Jon Mirachi are seeing an idea to keep Ashton Harrison in the car deeper into the stint because her performance is extremely consistent right now rather than ducking to the lane and doing a driver change to hand the car over to Mario Farnbacher.  Eventually that will have to be done.  However, they are biding their time with the decision.  This is a strategy race indeed.

Adelson leads Pro-Am being chased down by fourth place Pro runner Chandler Hull.  How hard will Adam Adelson fight?  He is pretty savvy and circumspect looking for the damp patches to cool the tires.  The BMW though is coming alive as the track dries out and Bill Auberlen will step into that car later on.  We did not anticipate this rain and the forecast, well, I wonder if the teams are on a wet weather hybrid setup, or, if they are running a car that is set for dry weather settings.  We might see more rain in 20 minutes.  Well, I guess I'll have to toss the pencil and paper out the window and rip the other paper I was writing on to shreds.

55 mintes to go now.  Filgueiras cuts a new Crowdstrike Fastest Lap at 1:46.2 surpassing Ashton Harrison's previous benchmark as Manny Franco is falling off the pace.  I wonder if his tires are fading on the Ferrari?  Stevan McAleer wants the race to stay green when he takes over the #28 RS1 Porsche 911 GT3R.  There could be a power outage somewhere as Chandler Hull almost runs off into the grass!  A lot of the monitors for the data are down on the pit boxes.  Oh dear.  I told you before.  Pencil and paper.  Charlie Luck, seventh in the overall, fourth in Pro-Am, and so, he is running just four some odd seconds behind the Pro-Am leader.

Adelson vs. Smithson are the top two in Pro Am with Hull and Luck back there as well.  Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, Porsche.  Smithson douses the Mercedes in rainwater running through a puddle.  The sun is breaking through the cloud cover as we are almost ready for the pit window to open at the 50 minutes to go mark.  This track has dried enough for the slick tires and the lap times have plateaued. Charlie Luck sends it down the inside of Chandler Hull!  Wow!  You know he is getting his elbows out.  We have time on the board before we get to putting the money on the table here, boys.  

He is within striking didtance as Hull moves to the outside and they splash through the puddle again!  It is so sketchy through these conditions!  Hull sideways and now Lucas slides past and Chandler Hull will not give up trying to get the draft on Lucas but Seth Lucas slams the door in his face.  Next time around the leaders will pit as the window is opening right now.  Too tight.  Can't do it yet.  Pit window open.  Teams are getting ready with scrubbed tires.  Someone is coming soon.  Hull and Lucas are still going at it and Chandler Hull moves back to fourth in class but he has wasted a ton of track position with that scrap with Lucas.

Luck now to the inside of Smithson and he makes it stick!  The leader is in the lane now.  Stevan McAleer will take over the RS1 Porsche.  Someone could make a mistake going back on track on slick Pirelli tires.  Someone could slide off the road which could put the cat among the pigeons.  Ducking to the lane we see Smthson, Adelson, and Hull in the lane.  Luck, Franco, and Harrison stay on track with clear track and Seth Lucas is behind.  These four are doing the overcut and staying out.  What can McAleer do on slicks?  Driver change at the #120 team to his best pal, Elliott Skeer.

What can McAleer do on the slick tires?  That's the big question everyone will be asking.  Franco brings the Ferrari into the pit lane to hand off to Alessandro Balzan.  Not sure if Balzan can usurp McAleer.  The minimum pit lane delta from entry to exit including service is 79 seconds.  Wetherill, Luck, and Lucas all dive to the pits as well.  Balzan getting heind the wheel of the Ferrari.  Make sure the windscreen is clean.  John Edwards is unlapping himself past Stevan McAleer.  We are still waiting for a couple cars to leave their pit boxes and yes, they are down and away.  Racer's Edge and Conquest are done pitting and now Wright Motorsports are out of the lane.

Balzan and Farnbacher are going for it now.  The track is drying out quickly as the pit window is going to be open for another five minutes.  RS1 did well on their stops and how much of an advantage will McAleer have on Balzan?  Balzan I think will have the overcut advantage.  This is going to tell as he has run a 1:41.5 as Anthony Bartone pits to hand off to Andy Pilgrim and Balzan's Ferrari is squirming on the tires with Mario Farnbacher steaming up behind him.  The times are tumbling with the Pro drivers in the cars and the fresh slick tires.  

Farnbacher is right on Balzan's six and Stevan McAleer has 20 seconds in hand.  That is as pretty as a picture.  This is a similar position to the one the team found themselves in last year when they dominated Pirelli GT4 America proceedings throughout 2022.  Be careful offline.  They are using the painted curbs now that it is drying out becauxse the paint gets treacherously slick in the wet.  Bill Auberlen makes his move on Bryan Sellers for fifth place in the overall.  Sellers is second in Pro-Am.  The Heylen/Luck #45 Porsche have dropped down the order and Jan Heylen is about 12 seconds down on Sellers.  Colin Braun is giving chase in the #04 CrowdStrike Mercedes.  

Braun is lapping quicker I think, than Heylen is.  Balzan and Farnbacher racing each other.  Balzan had a couple of iffy laps at the start of his stint but he is now settling in.  Balzan is a clean, respectable racer.  ooh!  Left rear puncture for Heylen on the #45 Porsche!  Dear me!  Charlie Luck had such a great stint!  Into turn one, Braun behind Heylen.  Heylen on the defensive and they rub a little bit and the dive plane hit the sidewall and punctured the tire and Heylen has bodywork flying all over the place and is in limp home mode.  I would park it and prevent any more damage.  Game over.

The destructive power of a cut down tire is enormous.  He is off on an escape road and part of the track that does not get used for the SRO America cars.  Full Course Yellow.  Valentin Hasse-Clot will be grinning like a Cheshire cat.  Balzan, Farnbacher, and more can make inroads.  Daniel Morad, too, will get right back into the picture.  McAleer's fastest lap is half a second off of Balzan.  Third overall and third in the Pro class.  Balzan has fastest lap at 1:36.7 and Corey Lewis is doing identical times.  How much was McAleer pushing with the big lead?  McAleer knows how to see the big picture and does not let any ego get in the way.

Tough luck for Charlie Luck.  Ugh.  Walked right into that one.  No pun intended.  Sheesh.  We started late of course because of all the rain before this race went green and there was puddling all over the road.  Great job by the SRO staff and the safety and grounds keeping crews here at NOLA Motorsports Park.  The dry line is expanding and the safety car has bunched everyone up.  We will go green with 30 minutes of racing to go.  Daniel Morad has been quick all weekend here at NOLA and was bang on the money at Sonoma as well last time out.  This will be a reset for some drivers and it will be time to get the elbows out.

Morad said Ziad Ghandour loved being on the podium so much that he is individually incentivizing about being on a podium.  They will have little phone conversations.  Morad and Ghandour have ebullient personalities.  Mario Farnbacher is taking his tire scrubbing really seriously.  Farnbacher wriggling all over the road.  The steering angle in full scrub mode using massive steering input going forward.  Wow.  We will see a far more favorable forecast for tomorrow's race.  Oh crud.  I just jinxed us.  Well, hopefully we can dodge a bullet.  Bill Auberlen will want to pass Elliott Skeer ASAP.  Auberlen will then be unleashed to go after Mario Farnbacher.  Bryan Sellers and Colin Braun will be in the fight but did Colin Braun's Mercedes get damage from the argy bargy with Jan Heylen?  We don't know yet.

Keep your eyes peeled for VHC, Valentin Hasse-Clot, too.  He is in the fight.  Andy Pilgrim in the lapped Mercedes is between a couple of the leaders, the Bartone Brothers Racing Mercedes.  Pilgrim and Dalziel the only other cars not on the lead lap.  Trenton Estep had been turning some fast laps before we went to yellow.  Cory Lewis now in the #91 Mercedes AMG GT3.  They are still working on their setups trying to come to the front.  Ashton Harrison having something to eat and she says that the race has been tricky with the delay and so on.

The track was changing every single lap and maybe being too aggressive is a bad way to go.  Mario Farnbacher now has time to go on the attack.  A tortilla for lunch or dinner?  Yes.  Sounds delicious.  Meanwhile, Ashton Harrison is definitely motivated and she and the Racer's Edge team have the confidence to be able to go for it.  Every weekend for Harrison as a driver, is new.  That was a wild scrap between Ashton Harrison and Manny Franco at Sonoma last time out.  Cleanup still continuing especially for debris.  

All kinds of parts and pieces and carbon fiber shards all over the shop.  Don't go to the refrigerator yet, folks.  When this race restarts it is going to be a barn burner!  Safety car lights out.  How will Andy Pilgrim handle this restart?  Stevan McAleer punches it and we are green.  Farnbacher to the inside of Balzan into turn one.  Perfectly timed run by Farnbacher using Andy Pilgrim as a pick.  Bill Auberlen inside Elliott Skeer.  Sellers around the outside and is checked up by Bill Auberlen in the BMW!  Wow!  This is for the Pro-Am class lead.  Skeer has the lead and Sellers wants it.  This is a motor race, folks.  Wow.  Skeer first in Pro-Am with Bryan Sellers and Colin Braun doing the chasing.M

Mario Farnbacher, target acquired on Stevan McAleer!  McAleer has his hands full and you know Farnbacher wants back to back wins in Pro but wants their first overall victory of 2023.  Remember the track here at NOLA is still damp.  Farnbacher wants by McAleer and back to back wins with a first overall win.  Back to back n Pro I should say.  Farnbacher is going to send it here at some point for sure.  Auberlen caught Balzan and now, Farnbacher spins off!  He is stuck in the gravel!  Can he get out?  He's beached it!  Oh no!  He gets out wide into the puddle and completely loses it, beaching the car in the gravel trap!

Full Course Yellow.  Safety Car on track.  Holy smokes!  Farnbacher was throwing caution to the wind.  There are a bunch of smashed water bottles on the road.  How did those get there?  That's weird.  Something for the track crew to clean up.  Maybe a safety vehicle had a container of water bottles on the back that went for a ride when they were dispatched to rescue Farnbacher's car.  Put that one on the endurance racing bingo card.  Balzan maybe had some clag on his tires on the previous restart.  I think the Andy Pilgrim Mercedes was a pick.  All respect to Andy Pilgrim who was trying to get out of the way.  Valentin Hasse Clot is now third in Pro-Am with one car between him and the top two.

Give a call to ACI Motorsports as well and Pedro Torres sharing with Spencer Pumpelly who is now fifth in class with a 1:37.1 to his name with John Edwards right behind and Corey Lewis next in the serial.  These chaps are beginning to motor as we wait and see how long this cleanup will take with just 15 minutes of racing remaining.  Alessandro Balzan has heaps of experience to help teach Manny Franco how to be a great racing driver.  What does Bill Auberlen have up his sleeve?  With the leader up in front of Bill Auberlen, that is like hanging a piece of meat out for a hungry wolf.  You know he is going to charge.

Safety Car lights off.  Colin Braun has reported the Riley Motorsports #04 Mercedes is fine.  Braun can still fight but he has dropped to 13th overall.  In the meantime, McAleer wants to ace the restart again and away they go!  Elliott Skeer is pushing and here comes Auberlen passing Balzan.  Now then, he is pressurizing McAleer.  Who has the grip?  Who ahs cleaner tires?  McAleer defends to the inside.  Auberlen can go and attack McAleer now.  Bryan Sellers in the fight with Elliott Skeer as well, look.  Still puddles all over the track here at NOLA.  11 minutes to go.  Auberlen is pressing hard, still.  Auberlen and Hull won at the Indianapolis 8 Hours.

They are seeking their first win in a traditional 90 minute race.  Now, Balzan has the Prancing Horse, quite literally, underneath him.  Skeer though is pressing Balzan.  1:37 and 1:38 the lap times.  Skeer is pressing hard indeed.  Bryan Sellers wants a piece of this action and so does Trenton Estep and the same is true for Valentin Hasse Clot as well.  Auberlen has found his rhythm again.  It is getting close and I mean really close.  McAleer doing all he can and he is really on top of his game.  Everything he has touched from prototypes to GT4 now to GT3, has turned to gold.

Auberlen has not lost anything.  He could be willing to send it here.  He is going to try.  McAleer defends, and is savvy to this situation, and the race track is beginning to come back into form now with just nine minutes to go.  We have had a heavily delayed race due to the rain and the standing water but this has been a stormer.  Auberlen is as close as ever.  Turn 16 is what this is all about.  The straightline speed from the BMW M4 might match Auberlen with McAleer in the Porsche 911.  Auberlen needs to move in but McAleer is smart knwoing where the vlulnerability spots are.

Auberlen is going to make a move for sure.  Three cars engaged in the lead battle for the win.  Porsche, BMW, Ferrari.  What's not to like?  Balzan reeling in Auberlen.  He is a calculating driver and is keeping it clean.  Auberlen is a scrapper as well and not easy to pass.  The beauty of GT3 is all these cars run the same lap time but each car does it in a different way.  Auberlen runs wide and here comes Balzan trying to go for the over/under.  Bobbing and weaving like a prize fighter.  Don't lose sight of the Pro-Am battle.  Skeer and Sellers are harrying each other, still.  

Hasse-Clot and DeBoer could be on the podium.  A couple more laps to go.  Down the front straight, the BMW pulls away from the Ferrari and inches towards the Porsche but the Porsche has the power it seems.  Auberlen right on McAleer's back bumper.  Balzan waiting for Auberlen to make a mistake.  The margins are finite.  The lap times are in the low 1:37 range.  It is nip and tuck between these three.  Under three minutes left.  McAleer knows Auberlen is right on his six.  Auberlen to the inside and is alongside but can't old it.  McAleer crosses him over and now Balzan will sweep by!

Total commitment for Auberlen but he overcooked it into the first turn!  Elliott Skeer gets stymied by the scrap between Auberlen and Balzan and now Bryan Sellers will be right on top of him.  Sellers is closer to Skeer.  The Mercedes is coming in a big hurry.  This will be the white flag lap I think RS1, Conquest, Bimmerworld.  White flag.  One more lap to go.  Auberlen closing on Balzan but he won't have the speed to catch Balzan I don't think.  McAleer is going to survive this onslaught, perhaps.  The cars are understeering like mad and now Balzan wants it as McAleer is in the damp!  

Balzan charging!  Just a handful of corners to go.  McAleer is in control as Balzan is pressing hard.  I don't think he is close enough to send it.  One corner remaining.  Stevan McAleer and Eric Filgueiras win race one at NOLA Motorsports Park!  Elliott Skeer wins Pro-Am over Bryan Sellers and Valentin Hasse-Clot and poor old Adam Carroll drops down the order.

Overall/Pro: #28 Filgueiras/McAleer     Rennsport1 - CBW Racing Porsche 911 GT3R (992)

             Pro-Am: #120 Adelson/Skeer    Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R

             Am: #43 Bartone/Pilgrim           Bartone Brothers Racing w/RealTime Racing Mercedes-AMG

                                                                GT3 Evo

Race one at NOLA is in the bag.  Finally!  It took a wee while with all the rain.  But, we made it.  See you all tomorrow for race two!  For now, take care, everybody.  Stay close.  Pirelli GT4 America action is coming up next.  Don't go anywhere.


No comments:

Post a Comment