Wednesday, May 10, 2023

GT World Challenge America: NOLA, Race 2

Welcome back to New Orleans, for day two of racing on Sunday in far better weather conditions than we had in The Big Easy, yesterday.  We will have a 150 mile per hour parade and SRO GT World Challenge's own Battle of New Orleans coming up.  This is the fourth race of the 2023 season at NOLA Motorsports Park.   Again, 17 GT3 cars are ready to start again.  What a gorgeous day on this Sunday after we got soaked yesterday.  The weather is so much better today.  New faces in new places in this championship but the veterans are still in the fight.  Bryan Sellers, Corey Lewis, Colin Braun, John Edwards, Jan Heylen, are the veteran names.  The polesitters are the Aston Martin duo of Derek DeBoer and Valentin Hasse-Clot racing with TRG and Archangel Motorsports.  

We are getting set for the command to start engines.  We have Ryan Myrehn, Calvin Fish, and Amanda Busick as our commentators again today.  A topsy turvy grid for this Sunday race.  The teams at the back of the grid are going to have to fight for it and most of this track is a follow the leader kind of deal.  John Edwards was a star yesterday getting the hammer down as the track dried out.  ST Racing have been working on car balance.  Edwards was just a few tenths off the pole time in qualifying yesterday.  Valentin Hasse Clot is going to be tough and so is Jan Heylen after being forced to retire yesterday with big damage from a punctured tire.

Alessandro Balzan and Manny Franco are looking to go for the win in the #21 Ferrari 296 GT3 for Conquest Racing.  The top Pro class car is Mario Farnbacher in seventh place aboard the #93 Racer's Edge Acura NSX GT3 sharing with Ashton Harrison.  A great and talented field with the Pro's starting the race in the Pro/Am cars.  Be circumspect about the start.  Here we go.  Into the VP Acceleration Zone.  Green flag!  Away we go!  John Edwards has a head of steam and goes for second ad Colin Braun is also right there.  Great start for John Edwards into second and here comes Mario Farnbacher.  Jan Heylen battling with Colin Braun and cars scattering all over the place through the hairpin.

Bill Auberlen down the order after a podium run yesterday.  Mario Farnbacher is mired deep in the pack being harried by Elliott Skeer in yesterday's Pro-Am class winning Porsche 911 GT3R.  Hard braking and don't let the drivetrain lock up.  Valentin Hasse Clot got the nickname "Frenchy" from his late teammate Paul Terry, who is greatly missed in the SRO America paddock.  Hasse Clot and Terry teamed up in Pirelli GT4 America a few years ago as we see Edwards keeping Hasse Clot in his sites.  Get the power down early in the hairpin without spinning up the wheels.  Valentin Hasse Clot was excited to see an alligator for the first time.

Derek DeBoer is the full-season driver at TRG Aston Martin and he will have either Ross Gunn or Valentin Hasse Clot as his co-driver as the season progresses.  Jan Heylen showing great pace and getting settled into this one.  Edwards got the jump on him.  Heylen sharing with father-in-law Charlie Luck.  Stevan McAleer ninth overall is the Pro leader.  Second in Pro and tenth overall is Trenton Estep in the #53 MDK Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R sharing with Mark Kvamme.  Mario Farnbacher is still down the order so he maybe got swamped at the start.  Stevan McAleer starting this race in the #28 RS1 Community Beer Works Porsche 911 GT3R sharing with Eric Filgueiras.

He is deep in the feild chasing after Ryan Dalziel in the Ferrari.  Community Beer Works is a partner of co-driver Eric Filgueiras.  CBW owner Tom Kopchinski is a huge supporter of motor racing.  VHC had a ton of understeer on the car in yesterday's race on a full tank of fuel changing the balance and the downforce.  John Edwards is doing very well, and has impeccable credentials.  He drove for the BMW factory and could have been an IndyCar star but slipped through the net and then he ended up racing for BMW in GT cars.  NOLA Motorsports Park is rough.  It is not smooth by any means.

The turn 13 braking zone is very bumpy and it is not far off from what we see at Sebring International Raceway where SRO America will visit later in the fall.  Adam Adelson making the jump to GT3 with friend, mentor, and co-driver Elliott Skeer.  Elliott Skeer is looking to rebound.  Ditto for Mario Farnbacher.  TRG, The Racer's Group, Kevin Buckler's squad, who won the Rolex 24 at Daytona 20 years ago in a GT class Porsche over prototypes.  Buckler is now full-time in the GT3 ranks in SRO America with Aston Martin.  Jan Heylen has fallen like a stone to 17th and last after a violation of restart procedure.

He crossed over the columns on the start.  NOLA has not been a happy hunting ground for the Wright Motorsports team.  Trenton Estep drops a wheel into the grass on the frontstretch!  That was a close one!  Alessandro Balzan being very circumspect although he was frustrated after qualifying and rightfully so.  He is probably thinking "what is this guy doing?"  Estep's handling in the Porsche is troubling.  That car is squirming all over the road.  The lead has ballooned to 1.2 seconds as the Aston Martin factory driver Valentin Hasse Clot of France is leading American BMW factory driver John Edwards.

TRG Aston Martin vs. ST Racing BMW M4 GT3.  This team gave the first global victory last year to the BMW M4 GT3 in a Creventic 24 Hour Series event.  Edwards is reeling in Hasse Clot hand over fist.  Trenton Estep in running wide got passed at least by Adam Adelson.  Is the handling on the Aston Martin going away?  VHC is having some trouble with the handling.  There might have been an adjustment on that car, settling the weight down.  They'd adjusted it but maybe went too far loosening it up in the turns.  Elliott Skeer has moved up six places from his starting position as Mario Farnbacher is another driver falling like a stone.

He is right behind Stevan McAleer and these two were going at it hammer and tongs yesterday before Farnbcher went off the road.  McAleer and Farnbacher scrapping for the Pro class lead.  At the top of the shop, Edwards, in the Starry Night, Van Gogh liveried BMW, is pressing Hasse Clot for everything he's got.  Samantha Tan looking on.  She is a newly named brand representative for BMW.  She is focused on a good result in today's race two here at NOLA.  It is better in a doubleheader; it is not a long time to wait before redeeming yourself instead of stewing about what might have been for weeks on end.  

John Edwards, a Louisville, Kentucky native who is an avid pilot and a champion in 2008 in the Formula Mazda championship and in 2009 in the Atlantic open wheel series.  He has raced a lot in Europe over the year scoring such class wins at races like the 24 Hours of Daytona and the Petit Le Mans.  The pit window comes five minutes either side of the halfway mark in the race.  We'll see how cars perform as we get deeper into the stint as tire wear becomes evident.  Colin Braun now, is entering the picture in the #04 Crowdstrike Mercedes AMG GT3.  He is catching John Edwards hand over fist.  He knows he has to pile the pressure on Hasse Clot in the Aston Martin.  

Edwards and Braun are friends who live close to each other in Charlotte, North Carolina, and both their wives expecting babies soon.  The gap between them is 1.7 seconds.  Spencer Pumpelly biffed Mario Farnbacher in the right side door as we see in replay.  The lead battle is heating up like crazy.  Valentin Hasse Clot leads John Edwards.  Aston Martin vs. BMW.  This is as close as the BMW has been since the start of the race.  Hasse Clot defending from Edwards and Colin Braun will close up.  Edwards gives Hasse Clot just enough room and you know that Braun smells blood in the water.  Edwards to the inside before the esses and now, Braun is right on Edwards' six!

This is evolving in a major way.  Wow.  Okie dokie then.  Aston Martin vs. BMW vs. Mercedes.  Daniel Morad fourth in another Mercedes from TR3 Racing.  Corey Lewis and Bryan Sellers next in line also driving Mercedes AMG GT3's.  Then you have the Ferrari 296 GT3 in the hands of Ryan Dalziel in this close fight for position.  Stevan McAleer and Mario Farnbacher continue their Pro class battle.  Edwards' pace is being stymied by the Aston Martin slightly.  Hasse Clot is managing the lead gap.  He is a multiple GT4 champion for Aston Martin winning championships in French GT4 and in SRO GT4 Europe.  Hasse Clot leads by a half a second and has the measure over Edwards.

TRG vs. ST Racing vs. Riley Motorsports.  Aston Martin vs. BMW vs. Mercedes.  Tire management is key.  They will get a fresh set of boots at pit stop time.  Daniel Morad sharing the #9 TR3 Mercedes AMG GT3 with Ziad Ghandour.  McAleer is still the Pro class leader.  All cars are GT3.  In ninth, Justin Wetherill and Ryan Dalziel are going for it.  Dalziel pushing and chasing down a team he used to drive for, DXDT Racing with their Mercedes AMG GT3 currently with Bryan Sellers at the controls.  These are professional drivers who are paid to deliver.  Friendships go out the window when they are behind the wheel with their firesuits and helmets on.

Bill Auberlen on the rebound passing Alessandro Balzan and now chasing Trenton Estep and Balzan wants it.  Three wide!  Squeeze play!  Ugh!  I don't think Auberlen will give it to him and Estep wants a bite of the cherry.  You cannot put three cars where there's only room for two.  Adam Carroll in the #19 Esses Racing Mercedes is poking his nose into the fight too.  Bill Auberlen is still pushing hard as Balzan slides through turn 15, dirt tracking the Ferrari!  Balzan might have to give it up and let Manny Franco make up the difference during his stint.  Now though, we see the battle heating up again, look, in the Pro class as Mario Farnbacher shoots to the inside of McAleer.

McAleer in yesterday's race survived many sallies and did not relent.  Now he has to give it up to Farnbacher for a wee while.  Farnbacher looking for redemption.  In the meantime, Edwards is close to Hasse Clot but not as close as he could be.  George Kurtz looking on to see what his co-driver can do.  CrowdStrike Racing and Riley Motorsports are looking to rebound after having a win at Sonoma Raceway in California at the start of the year.  Edwards' tires are beginning to wriggle around a bit.  Just over an hour of racing remains.  We are closing in, and fast, on the pit window.

John Edwards using the curbs for all they are worth and setting the BMW M4 GT3 right on top of the curbs.  The bumps are unreal.  He is using the curbs to rotate the car hooking it around the corner while Valentin Hasse Clot has a tiny bit of understeer.  Could George Kurtz have the edge over Samantha Tan and Derek DeBoer?  The pro's might take it deep into the pit window.  By regulation, the pro drivers start in race two of the weekend hence the reason they go deep into the pit window.  It is not an all Pro lineup as it is in most instances.  One driver must be Silver rated or below. 

There can be a greater delta between driver levels than say GT World Challenge Europe.  Manny Franco readies for his chance behind the wheel.  Alessandro Balzan is stuck in 13th place having been passed by Adam Carroll and Trenton Estep is still fighting the MDK Porsche #53.  Alessandro Balzan in 13th place has passed Estep but has fallen behind Adam Carroll, the British driver.  It could be that Balzan started on the qualifying tires, the specific set of Pirelli P Zero's for qualifying where he was also struggling to find speed and those tires have perhaps given up the ghost yet again.

Typically these Pirelli tires are consistent set to set.  That is odd.  Franco and the team at Conquest Racing would like a yellow while Ryan Dalziel is harrying Bryan Sellers and the Triarsi Competizione Ferrari seems to be handling far better than the Conquest entry.  The amateur driver has the weight of responsibility to bring this thing home.  There is a gap between the Pro and the Pro-Am drivers.  The tire degradation is massive.  Can the amateur driver do the undercut on fresh Pirelli tires?  These lap times are still within a few seconds of what we have seen today and the tire degradation is not as bad as it was during Free Practice sessions on Thursday and Friday.  A safety car scramble during the pit window could throw a curveball.

Maybe Conquest Racing could use that to their advantage.  We'll have to see.  Elliott Skeer is pressing hard, a dynamic duo with Adam Adelson in both Pirelli GT4 America and here in Fanatec GT World Challenge America.  But they have shedloads of work to do today if they want to replicate yesterday's victory.  We are indeed setting up for the scheduled driver changes.  The conditions on this Sunday afternoon are so different compared to the wet from yesterday.  Drivers like Seth Lucas, Samantha Tan, and Scott Smithson all said the car was so hard to drive towards the end of their stint when the track was drying out.  It overheated the tread blocks on the Pirelli rain tires.

Drivers cannot suss out how the car feels if they are in that condition.  Hasse Clot opening a margin while the battle for second is brewing nicely, percolating like a good cup of coffee.  VHC (Valentin Hasse Clot) continues to lead the motor race by 1.3 seconds over John Edwards who is being monstered by Colin Braun, and Edwards is struggling on old tires.  The balance is beginning to be unsettled.  ST Racing wants to keep Edwards out as long as possible but the co-driver will be suited and booted and the tires in the heating ovens as close as possible to the pit window.  Edwards and Braun are great friends off track.  However, they have not raced against each other in the same types of cars, typically running different cars in different classes for other sports car races.  

Therefore, they might not know each other's tendencies behind the wheel.  It is the same deal with Ricky and Jordan Taylor who are brothers but who race for different teams.  Put your relationships and friendships to one side and focus on the job at hand.  50 minutes left on the board.  The overall leader does not get first crack.  Whoever is there when the window opens can dive in.  The pit window is about to open here at NOLA Motorsports Park.  VHC for TRG in the lead of the motor race.  The Frenchman about to turn the Aston over to Derek DeBoer.  They did not stay out.  They ducked to the lane first.  TRG rolling the dice.  Was it team boss Kevin Buckler or team manager Mike Johnson who called it?  We don't know.  But it is pit stop time in Aston Martin land.

New Pirelli tires just might be the ticket with Derek DeBoer getting into the car.  DeBoer will have the grip from the green tires as someone loses the wheel nut.  79 seconds is the pit lane delta including service.  That is very aggressive.  RS1 in the lane too, McAleer handing off to Eric Filgueiras.  That was a clean stop.  No jokers of course this year.  Eric Filgueiras is ready.  Pedro Torres replacing Spencer Pumpelly.  #38 in the lane with Edwards handing off to Samantha Tan.  No buildup lap on the tires like you might see coming out of the pits in other sports car championships.  Samantha Tan on new tires is down and away.

Derek DeBoer in the car that was the erstwhile leader, trying to find his rhythm.  Here's the overcut.  Edwards in lap faster than DeBoer's out lap.  DeBoer wriggling around and he has to push.  Target acquired.  Keep an eye on the TRG Aston Martin.  Braun, Morad, Lewis, and Sellers all stay on track for the time being.  The vast majority of the teams have not pitted just yet.  Will #007 lose more track position after the pit stops?  Colin Braun to the lead with clear track.  It is hammer time for Colin Braun.  Team boss Bill Riley gets on the horn and says to Braun, "go get 'em, sunbeam."  Braun only 4/10ths off his best lap of the day!  Saving the tires is the deal.

This sould be enough for them to wriggle to the top of the shop.  Eric Filgueiras ahead has pace and he could compromise Braun.  Adjust on the fly and swap the strategy if the traffic stymies the situation.  Bill Auberlen now into the #94 Bimmerworld BMW M4 GT3 after a slight shemozzle earlier.  Fuel in the tank and new Pirelli P Zero tires.  We shall be watching the Bimmerworld M4 GT3.  Chandler Hull has driven well too.  Braun stays out maximizing the stint.  This is his last lap before he hits the lane.  Things could change if the safety car is scrambled.  You could squeak out two more laps but the pit window will only stay open for two more minutes.

The fast lap times seem to be working as Alessandro Balzan pits to hand off to Manny Franco.  Scott Smithson will take over the #08 DXDT Mercedes from Bryan Sellers.  Daniel Morad in the lane at TR3 too handing off to Ziad Ghandour.  Colin Braun seems to be in good shape.  Corey Lewis will hand off to Jeff Burton.  Elliott Skeer will hand off to Adam Adelson likewise.  Quick, efficient pit stop.  Stay calm.  Don't panic.  Colin Braun is being balked by traffic.  Samantha Tan is quicker than Derek DeBoer while Ziad Ghandour stalls the #9 Mercedes out of the lane.  Ghandour is coming out and will be caught by the BMW and the Aston.  Braun to the lane with a handful of seconds to spare.

Ghandour now ahead of Tan and DeBoer.  George Kurtz could very well inherit the lead of this motor race.  Great strategy by Bill Riley and company.  Kurtz goes back on track.  Is he close to TR3?  Ghandour is a way's back.  Kurtz leads with Ghandour, Tan, and DeBoer next up.  The strategy of staying out long chancing a Full Course Yellow is the ticket this afternoon in The Big Easy.  Samantha Tan now reeling in Ziad Ghandour hand over fist.  Kurtz and Braun won overall at Sonoma and Kurtz is now 13.6 seconds ahead of second spot.  No pressure.  Hit your marks and stay clean.  The Pro class lead fight is between Harrison and Filgueiras as Samantha Tan is now reeling in Ziad Ghandour.

Edwards, Tan's co-driver has been a big help, and she is also being mentored by Swedish sports car racing veteran Niclas Jonsson.  Samantha Tan is in the slipstream closing in on Gahndour.  Ghandour fights right back on the inside!  Ghandour didn't fight it but waiting for an oppirtunity.  Derek DeBoer closing in a big hurry.  36 minutes to go.  George Kurtz leads Ziad Ghandour by 9.8 seconds while the battle for second through fourth is steaming right along.  George Kurtz continues to lead the motor race as we watch Tan right on Ghandour's six.  She has to be disciplined, understand her pace advantage, and pick er moments, and she makes the move on Ghandour well before the braking zone.

Derek DeBoer is the next driver to give Ghandour a hard time.  Can DeBoer get back to podium potential as he did yesterday?  Valentin Hasse Clot likes the VHC nickname but he is clearly not sure the pit plan was what the team wanted.  He had the fuel alarm on inside the car.  That makes sense so they started the car aggressive on their fuel load.  They were running out of fuel and needed to pack more in during the stop.  Kurtz, Tan, Ghandour, DeBoer, the top four.  We talked about the fact Valentin Hasse Clot was driving a car that's not the best when it is on full tanks.  

The position of the fuel cell brings the rear down and lifts the front up so the front doesn't want to turn.  DeBoer is closing, closing on Ghandour.  Slowly, slowly, catchy monkey.  This battle between Ghandour and DeBoer are being deprived of lap time and are being backed into by the others.  DXDT coming in a hurry.  Jeff Burton in a group with Scott Smithson his teammate and with Ashton Harrison as well.  DeBoer makes the pass for third in Pro-Am and he will have to run hard as the DXDT cars are flying.  Chandler Hull too just uncorked a 1:37 dead.  The fastest car on track.  He can get to the podium in Pro but is not fare from the top two and now, Harrison is being chased by Filgueiras.  

The Mercedes is out of class, up ahead.  Focus on exit speed.  Harrison won in Pro in race two at Sonoma of course.  Jeff Burton and Ziad Ghandour scrapping and now, Scott Smithson is in the fight as well.  Three Mercedes AMG's scrapping hard.  Smithson on Burton, the two teammates.  Gently, boys.  Ashton Harrison going for it and Filgueiras tips Harrison into the gravel again!  She'll be buried!  Just like McAleer and Farnbacher from yesterday!  The stewards will be unhappy about that one.  Safety Car scramble.  Wow.  That is heartbreaking for Racer's Edge Motorsports with 28 minutes left.  Holy smokes!  

Trenton Estep shows us the new 992 generation Porsche 911 at MDK Motorsports.  The rear engine powerplant with the 4.2 liter flat six gives more power.  Six speed sequential gearbox and adjustable traction control and adjustable antilock brakes plus a brand new rear diffuser that is longer.  Porsche has done a wonderful job with the new 992 GT3R with more aero in the high speed turns.  MDK Motorsports are confident of success.  They debuted well at Sonoma in fourth and third.  NOLA this weekend has not gone to plan as they wanted, but they will improve as the season goes on.  

This is our first safety car of the event with 26 minutes to go and George Kurtz leading the motor race over Samantha Tan, Derek DeBoer, Ziad Ghandour, Jeff Burton, and Scott Smithson, the top six.  Adam Adelson was the big winner clearing up the Pro class traffic.  Watch for Adam Adelson as we get towards money time.  Filgueiras leads in Pro but the incident that brought out the yellow is being reviewed by the stewards.  Have a Captain Cook at Chandler Hull as well.  He will be pressing hard.  Bimmerworld might be rebounding.  Rennsport1 - CBW Racing will be under review indeed after the shemozzle.

Track cleanup just about complete and we can get back underway for the final 20+ minutes.  We'll go at least one more lap behind the Toyota GR Supra safety car.  Racer's Edge have to be smarting and the same is true for CrowdStrike who's lead has evaporated.  Ziad Ghandour told Daniel Morad that if he makes the podium he will incentivize Daniel and they want to be the pog, the Player of The Game.  Ziad Ghandour wants to beat both Jeff Burton and Scott Smithson.  Single file restart next time by.  We await word from the stewards about the incident between Filgueiras and Harrison.  It was a halfhearted pass.  It really was.  There wasn't any commitment.

Filgueiras is learning from a master in Stevan McAleer.  Goerge Kurtz punches it as Scott Smithson heads for the pit lane with 20 minutes to go.  Ghandour on the defensive on Jeff Burton.  Level pegging off turn two and Ghandour holding on.  Adam Adelson is pushgin and gets to he door of Jeff Burton taking the spot away.  Derek DeBoer now pressing Samantha Tan!  He is chomping at the bit to go for it.  That car is squirrely!  Yikes!  George Kurtz has a perfect restart, but don't sleep on Adam Adelson.  Adelson is pressing hard on Ghandour.  Adelson running out of time.

George Kurtz leads Samantha Tan by 2.1 seconds.  Plenty of time left.  Scott Smithson had camber shims on the Mercedes come loose.  A few areas here at NOLA where you use bunches of curbs that force oscillations through the suspension and the chassis of the car.  The shim package are small plates to adjust the camber in the rear suspension, adjusting the lean of the Pirelli P Zero tire.  If they come loose they fall out of the suspension system.  Kurtz 2.2 seconds ahead of Tan and now, she has Derek DeBoer really pushing like mad.

DXDT snakebit again.  They are knocking on the door according to Bryan Sellers.  Lots of curbs, shaking things loose here at New Orleans.  The team has speed for sure.  Yesterday was a boost but today is a bitter pill to swallow for the team.  This hurts for the day and for the title chase.  Adelson, speaking of chasing, has run down Derek DeBoer and is closing in with 15 minutes to go.  Adam Adelson has been the man on the move and he is right on Derek DeBoer's back door.  He is sizing up the Aston Martin driver.  He could get on the podium if he can get by Derek DeBoer.  

Pro leaders working through the Pro-Am field.  The incident we just saw will be reviewed post-race.  That'll be tough as the stewards will be looking at video and there could be a time penalty for Ghandour and Chandler Hull does not know what to do.  He is going to have to find a way past Ghandour and take the fight to Eric Filgueiras in the Porsche as well.  Porsche, Mercedes, BMW.  George Kurtz leads Samantha Tan, Derek DeBoer, and Adam Adelson.  The Filgueiras and Harrison incident is the one in question.  It is not clear cut enough to decide during the race about what to do.

Burton and Luck battling and Charlie Luck wants by the #91 Mercedes ahead, in the #45 Wright Motorsports Porsche and Manny Franco, too, is right behind Will Hardemann in the #19 Esses Motorsports Mercedes with the Silver Arrows graphics on it.  Oh boy!  Charlie Luck going sideways and hooking the curb!  Ten minutes and change remaining.  Will Hardemann really pushing and now Manny Franco gets a bite of the cherry over Jeff Burton.  Burton goes for it and Franco spins and gets stuck in the gravel trap!  That's terrible!  The marbles on the outside of the road caught him.  Whatever is in the aggregate here at NOLA it chews up tires.  It is like a cheese grater.  Safety Car deployed so we will have a shootout at the OK Corral to end this thing.  A shootout on the bayou, folks.

Cinch down those belts.  This is going to be hot as Cajun pepper sauce.  Tan and DeBoer as well as Adelson will be contenders.  Can they chase down George Kurtz?  Adelson could be up to P2 if he pulls the pin.  Don't sleep on Derek DeBoer either or Eric Filgueiras.  He nor Chandler Hull know if they will be pinged with a penalty by the stewards after the race.  Next up for the championship in mid-May is Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.  That race will actually be in about ten days.  It is a very long, bumpy track that has had the bumps taken out.

The marshals are doing their best to pull Manny Franco out of the gravel trap.  Safety Car lights still on as the sand slips through the hourglass.  We'll restart for a two lap shootout perhaps.  Adelson, Hull, and others have a chance to go after Kurtz and Tan.  Franco is freed from the gravel trap and there's gravel all under the car.  Bill Auberlen is frustrated with the Porsche dilemma.  Could this final push end in tears from both teams.  Auberlen and Hull are both clearly upset.  Bimmerworld have not won a 90-minute race in Fanatec GT World Challenge even though they have won the Indianapolis 8 Hours.  

This is the final stanza of the Battle of New Orleans eight miles southwest of the Big Easy.  Green flag.  George Kurtz leads with a cushion.  Tan under no pressure.  Hull is going for it in Pro.  He cannot get by Adelson but grabs the lead over Filgueiras.  Adelson poking his nose down the inside of Derek DeBoer and in deep it is DeBoer and Adelson!  Thankfully they didn't come together!  Yikes!  What does Hull do?  He needs a buffer and now Adelson is off the road spinning throught eh grass!  He was almost clobbered!  What happened there?  The grill is stuffed with mud and now Ghandour gets tipped by Charlie Luck!

Two laps to go to settle this.  White flag next time by as Kurtz leads by 1.6 seconds.  The abttle for second between Samantha Tan and Derek DeBoer.  DeBoer runs high in turn three making the lunge.  He is not doen but goes deep!  DeBoer has contact with Filgueiras and here comes Luck and Hardemann both!  Wow!  Have you ever?  No, I've never!  Chandler Hull gets a reprieve.  No pressure from behind.  Hull on the back of Samantha Tan, but not for class placings.  Just a few seconds to go.  One more lap.  Filgueiras has caught hull.  One lap to go.  Chandler Hull wants it trying to reel in Samantha Tan.

He tucks it to the inside and goes by.  Filgueiras makes a pass and we have a local yellow someplace.  The class overlap we see, now Tan has gone straight on and has a technical issue!  The BMW is stalled!  The strategy call is going to pay off for Riley Motorsports and Crowdstrike!  One corner to go.  George Kurtz and Colin Braun win race two in New Orleans!  In Pro, the win goes to Chandler Hull and Bill Auberlen, finally!  In the Am class, Anthony Bartone and Andy Pilgrim come home tenth overall as the lone Am entry.

Overall/Pro-Am: #04 Kurtz/Braun     CrowdStrike Racing by Riley Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo    

             Pro: #94 Auberlen/Hull           Bimmerworld BMW M4 GT3

             Am: #427 Pilgrim/Bartone      Bartone Bros. with RealTime Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo

The CrowdStrike Fastest Lap honors go to Valentin Hasse Clot with a 1:35 dead.  1:35.006.  What a motor race!  Next time we meet as we move on from Nouvelle Orleans, we move to Austin, Texas, and Circuit of the Americas.  What might have been though for teammate Derek DeBoer early on with the low fuel light before the pit stop window.  Next up for GT World Challenge America is Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.  We'll see you soon, in the Lone Star state!  Bye bye for now.  Au revoir, from The Big Easy.



No comments:

Post a Comment