California's central coast is a destination for racers and race fans alike. After a two month break in the action, IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge returns for round three of the 2023 championship today at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. On the pole in the Grand Sport class for GT4 we have the specially liveried #19 "Trashboy" Aston Martin Vantage GT4 for van der Steur racing to be driven by Austin McCusker and Rory van der Steur. The TCR pole has gone the way of the brand new FL5 spec Honda Civic TCR in the hands of Mat Pombo and Ryan Eversley for LA Honda World Racing. Battles in both Grand Sport and TCR classes today at Laguna Seca, a legendary track first opened in 1957, right here on the Monterey Peninsula in Salinas, California, should be hot and heavy without a doubt.
It is a gorgeous afternoon with clear skies and barely a wisp of wind with temperatures in the low 70's as we join Dave Burns and Calvin Fish in the broadcast booth. The Grand Sport championship is wide open and BMW rebounded after a tought Daytona race with a 1-2 at Sebring for Turner Motorsports. Aston Martin and Volt Racing won this race last year vaulting Volt to a title and of course, Volt Racing are now in the WeatherTech Championship. The points spread is only 40 between the top five in Grand Sport. Watch out for the #27 Lone Star Racing Mercedes of Scott Andrews and Anton Dias Perera. After qualifying they were penalized for checking tire pressures after impounding the car.
In TCR it is a dead heat between Mark Wilkins and Mason Filippi and William Tally and Mike LaMarra, Honda vs. Hyundai. Michael Lewis and Taylor Hagler are climbing back out of a deep hole. They are going to really have to go for it. Eighth on the grid and eighth in the points. Ryan Eversley and Mat Pombo, again, on TCR pole. The new boss is the same as the old boss. But the rough, old pavement here at Laguna Seca is going to be a bear. But this is a fabulous track with lots of elevation change. Just shy of two and a quarter miles in length with 11 corners.
Watch out for tire degradation. Climb the hill and plunge down through the Andreti hairpin. Turn six up the Rahal straightaway to set up for The Corkscrew, 160 feet down into turn 11, the slowest turn on the track along the frontstretch. 180 feet of elevation change here at this legendary race track. Here comes the field to turn 11 and we're looking for a green flag. Two hours of racing, starts now! Green flag! Austin McCusker leads the motor race and Jenson Alzman in one of the Ford Mustang's is going for it immediately. We see the start for TCR. Mat Pombo takes the lead in the Honda. McCusker being harried by Eric Filgueiras as Kenny Murillo is right with Cameron Lawrence. Mercedes AMG GT4 vs. BMW M4 GT4.
Some new asphalt along the runoff area and now into The Corkscrww for the first time. Cameron Lawrence and co-driver Robert Megennis will be pushing hard immediately and here comes Jenson Altzman in the Ford Mustang GT4 trying to thread the needle. Lawrence sees Altzman trying to make the pass and Lawrence says "no you don't, sunbeam." The tires are pressuring and gripping up. Alfredo Najri in the #14 Riley Motorsports Toyota Supra GT4 is also beginning to ake his move harrying Sean McAllister up and down again through The Corkscrew. Toyota Supra on Porsche Cayman. A real melting pot of cars in GT4 and poor old Hugh Plumb has thudded into a Michelin billboard.
Plumb has to hit the brakes and that is not good news after he has crunched into the billboard and that radiator will be boiling. Plumb sharing the Team TGM Aston Martin with his brother Matt Plumb. Oh dear. Spinning the wheels in the pit lane is not good. Don't do that. Mat Pombo in the FL5 Honda has a gap over Harry Gottsacker in the Hyundai Elantra. Pombo did not drive this car until yesterday, went out in qualifying and uncorked a pole position time! Plumb knew the tire was going down and had no idea he had hit the sign. What a bear. More than just the billboard. Terrible luck early doors for TGM. Eirc Filgueiras is trying his best to get inside Austin McCusker's head.
So far, McCusker is taking the heat. He won the IMSA Prototype Challenge championship in 2019 in an LMP3 car and it is his first time racing at Laguna Seca, so he is drinking from a fire hose this weekend. Bryan Ortiz has their #91 Hyundai Elantra TCR in the race. Ortiz sharing with Tyler Maxson. Drive through penalty for the #46 TGM Aaston Martin. That is a no, no. Mat Pombo in the new Honda being harried by Harry Gottsacker, look. This is a tight scrap in the TCR category early doors. A couple of hatchback sedan type cars racing here in TCR with their 2 liter turbocharged 4 cylinder engines of course.
Mason Filippi, Chris Miller, Victor Gonzalez, the top five followed by Taylor Hagler, Bryan Ortiz, Nick Looijmans, William Tally, and Jacob Deilly. So you have a mix of Honda's, Hyundai's, and Audi's with the Audi RS3 being the oldest platform in TCR racing at least in this championship. Ortiz is passing Hagler as we speak. This is hot and heavy action but now the #99 VGRT Honda is in the pit lane and so is one of the Audi's. This is the #10 Rockwell Autosport Development Audi RS3 opting to get their derriver change done early it looks like or are they having trouble?
Meantime in GS, Alfredo Najri in the #14 Toyota Supra is chasing down Jenson Altzman in the #13 Ford Mustang GT4 for McCumbee McAleer Racing with Aerosport. Altzman and Chad McCumbee sharing the car. All of these cars of course on Michelin Pilot tires, hence the sponsorship and name of the series. McCusker has Eric Filgueiras right on his six and poor old Hugh Plumb tries to defend and realizes discretion is the better part of valor but TGM Racing have swallowed a sour lemon. Stevan McAleer and Eric Filgueiras have been pressing hard in SRO competition as well as you have read about here just recently.
Filgueiras started in karting and he has definitely gotten a great opportunity driving GT3 and GT4 Porsche's. Harry Gottsacker is now leading TCR and we see up the Rahl straightaway, Mat Pombo did not defend vigorously and Pombo is definitely looking after his tires because of the front wheel drive layout of these TCR machines. Robert Wickens will take over the #33 Hyundai in the second stint today. Filgueiras and Kenny Murillo in the #72 Murillo Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT4 is right there. Murillo sharing with Christian Szymczak.
These are the last races this weekend for this surface at Laguna Seca because after these events are done, on Tuesday of next week, the track will be repaved. Frank DePew in the #71 Rebel Rock Racing Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R lets the TCR boys go by, sharing that car with Robin Liddell. Trouble for Victor Gonzalez in the #99 VGRT Honda. The tire was pressured up and is still having handling woes. The #10 Audi is going behind the wall with a fuel pump issue. Power steering woes too for the #5 Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR. Roy Block and Tim Lewis Jr. in trouble. This car is very potent. They got the win at Sebring in March.
McCusker, Filgueiras, Murillo, Aston Martin, Porsche, Mercedes at the top of the shop. 40 minutes minimum drive time and 50 minute fuel stints. Fuel saving a key thing that can be done at Laguna Seca Raceway here in Salinas, California. Filgueiras probing trying to find his way around McCusker as we stay with the lead battle in Grand Sport. Three different cars with different strengths and weaknesses around the circuit. This is extraordinary to watch as they come up to put another lap on the beleaguered TGM Aston Martin for the Plumb brothers.
Your top ten in terms of brands is Aston, Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, Toyota, Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, Toyota, Porsche, Ford Mustang, another Ford Mustang, and a Mercedes. fThat is Grand Sport. In TCR, it is Hyundai, Hyundai, Honda, Audi, Hyuundai, Huyundai, Audi, Huundai, Honda, Hyundai. Filgueiras is really beginning to feel the heat from Murillo. Quite the scrap and we are only 25 minutes into this two-hour race. 34 cars in total in this race. Austin McCusker is still your leader. Filgueiras has been pushing hard and he's not giving McCusker the chrome horn.
Murillo knows the Mercedes is good on it's tires. Makes your rivals use up their tires. That is what Kenny Murillo is trying to do. McCusker leading and Rory van der Steur tells us that he likes what he sees. Yesterday, the team was focusing on their long run pace and so they are reaping the rewards but we'll see how things turn out in another hour and a half. Teasboy is an apparel company designed by founder Courtney Reynolds and her kids who draw the pictures for the clothing company. Very cool. Two sisters and a brother, doing the drawings for the clothing. Ryan Eversley says that the new FL5 model Honda Civic is going very well. Direct airflow from the turbo, and they are going for the center of gravity and a more usable package from Honda and JAS Motorsports.
Looking forward to the repave on this track but is has great character. Now, we are seeing traffic ahead with the older Honda. Trying to catch the number on that one. I think Kenny Murillo has lost a wee bit of time to the leaders. Austin McCusker went all four wheels off at turn five and you have to have some part of the car touching the curbs and he is ll the way on the asphalt. The stewards won't like that I don't think but so far they have not seen anything wrong in Race Control. McCusker is being savvy but Filgueiras can get the entry speed into these turns.
Putting your tires through the wringer is just not the best laid plan at this stage of the race. McCusker is using car positioning on the road to his advantage. It is a true chess game as we are looking at possible driver changes. It is a tight battle, a tight formation at the top of the shop. More TCR traffic ahead for these boys. They fly Plummet Airways through The Corkscrew again. Two ways to look at that. Positive and negative and we are looking at it positively at least currently. The other way, well, it is not worth mentioning. Jeepers creepers! Filgueiras looking again to the outside as a TCR car is the cork in the bottle for McCusker currently.
Murillo in the meantime forces his way by Filgueiras in The Corkscrew. Now Murillo means business is and is alongside McCusker for the lead! Check this out! Folks, this is the real race beginning right now! Murillo to the lead of the motor race! Wow! That TCR car could open the door but the TCR driver, Jacob Deilly is being a good sport about all of this. So, Kenny Murillo is your leader. He and co-driver Christian Szymczak will go for it. Kenny Murillo's father Ken Murillo gave up his racing career to run a race team. Ken Murillo Sr. was an accomplished Super Vee single seater racer. Murillo was being smart and not using up his stuff too quick early doors.
There are ten drivers in this field from California at their home race. Oh no. Trouble for Bob Michaelian in the #59 Ford Mstang GT4 which is belching smoke out the tailpipe. That Coyote V8 is sick in a bad way. Bob Michaelian and co-driver Luca Mars are in real trouble currently. I don't think he can find a safe haven. It is revving roughly which tells me the clutch is busted or it lost a gear or a transmission. Maybe the rear end went out. Harry Gottsacker and Mason Filippi in the two Hyundai Elantra's for Bryan Herta Autosport, the factory cars, they are moving in on Vinnie Barletta in the #96 Turnrr Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 sharing with Robby Foley.
The #59 Mustang is in the lane for a tire change but something is wrong with the driveline on that #59 KOHR Motorsports entry. For Bryan Herta Autosport, four of their drivers are headed to the Nurburgring for the big 24 Hours of the Nurburgring next weekend. We will be covering that race in some form for you, next weekend. That place is amazing. Taylor Hagler, Michael Lewis, Harry Gottsacker, and Mason Filippi will be in the race with a Hyundai Elantra. Filippi is catching Gottsacker hand over fist. Keep things fresh and keep the motivation high. That is the intent of Bryan Herta Autosport.
Alfredo Najri passes for third, the #19 Aston Martin of McCusker. A saucy move by Alfredo! Wait. That didn't work. Alfredo sauce? I prefer marinara sauce, thank you. Hardy har har. Kenny Murillo remains in the lead of this motor race as Rebel Rock Racing are pitting and Frank DePew will hand the #71 Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R to Robin Liddell. Pit stop time too for the #83 Porsche Cayman for BGB Motorsports driven by Thomas Collingwood and Spencer Pumpelly as we continue to watch the lead TCR battle between Harry Gottsacker and Mason Filippi. This has been bubbling and simmering for a wee while now.
Murillo leads overall over Filgueiras by 2.2 seconds. Mat Pombo in the new Honda Civic is a good way behind these two proven Hyundai's as we see the #91 Elantra now in the lane for regular service. Bryan Ortiz should hand over to Tyler Maxson. Alfredo Najri has now passed by Austin McCusker. The Toyota Supra is on the podium. Will they stay there? Sean Quinlan and Todd Coleman have made it to the top ten in GS. Quinlan sharing with Greg Liefooghe in the Steven Cameron Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 and Todd Coleman in the #88 Aston Martin Vantage GT4 with Patrick Lindsey for Archangel Motorsports.
So, the battle for the lead in TCR between the Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai's continues. They were teammates in 2019 in the TCR class. Yours truly was not covering the Pilot Challenge back in 2019. I wish I would have been. Robert Wickens will be next into the #33 and Mark Wilkins next into the #98. Wilkins and Wickens were co-drivers last year. AMG Mercedes, Porsche, Toyota, AMG Mercedes, BMW, Ford, Porsche, BMW, Aston Martin, the top ten in GS. In TCR, Hyundai, Hyuundai, Honda, Audi, Hyundai, Honda.
Kenny Murillo has escaped Eric Filgueiras' clutches by three and a half seconds. The fuel situation is computing well with great mileage. Everything seems peachy as we are getting closer to the halfway mark in the race. Laguna Seca Raceway built in 1957 eventually had names for most of the turns. Jenson Altzman very close in fighting the TCR cars. He has been a stalwart in Mazda MX5 racing and is now in a higher horsepower, bigger race car, a Ford Mustang GT4 being pursued hotly by the #47 Nolasport Porsche Cayman with Adam Adelson at the wheel of it sharing with Elliott Skeer. These two share a GT3 Porsche in SRO competition in SRO America of course.
Spencer Pumpelly has taken over the #83 BGB Motorsports Porsche Cayman from Tom Collingwood, and now, it is a battle ebtween Gottsacker and Filippi in TCR! Hyundai on Hyundai! Not this time, sunshine. But now someone is going for it. Give your teammate more room. Filippi has it and now the #56 is in the lane and so, Kenny Murillo hands car #72 to Christian Szymczak. Porsche #28 being taken over by Stevan McAleer. He was hanging on by a thread with ratty tires. Fuel, tires, and a driver change. We have seen green flag racing all the way so far. Almost at the halfway mark.
Watch out so you do not wash out into the dust on pit exit. Alfredo Najri in the pit lane for the Toyota Supra team, sliding through the pit box, almost. He came in hot. Thiago Camillo will take over the Toyota Supra as Jenson Altzman is in the lane in the McCumbee McAleer Mustang and Chad McCumbee will take over the car. Five off, five on with the lug nuts, not a single lug nut system like the WeatherTech Championship cars or event the Gen 7 NASCAR Cup cars. Hyundai to the lane with Harry Gottsacker and Robert Wickens will take the car to the finish.
Before this stop, the Hyundai's dashboard lap timer was out. But now it seems to be working fine again. Just flip a switch and Wickens can use the hand controls for the brakes and the throttle as he is not able to use his legs after his IndyCar crash at Pocono five years ago. Taylor Hagler brings the #1 Hyundai Elantra in at BHA and Michael Lewis will take over. Fuel, tires, and a driver change. We're now into the second half of this race. A massive overcut for Filippi as Jacob Deily brings his Hyundai to the pit lane as well.
Timing and scoring shows Mason Filippi as the leader and he is diving for the lane doing the overcut. Mat Pombo is still on track, too. We have a slow TCR car and the left front tire is flat for Jordan Wisely on his Hyundai Elantra, sharing with James Vance. There oculd be a jack issue on that #98 Hyundai which is now in the hands of Mark Wilkins. Robert Wickens is now up to speed and will be chasing his old teammate from years past. Front tires are usually changed on the TCR cars, not all four. Wickens is going to go for it. You know he wants to win races;. Jeff Westphal has taken the overall lead in Grand Sport aboard the #39 Porsche Cayman for CarBahn with Peregrine Racing.
Westphal I believe has indeed taken over from Sean McAlister. Westphal taking the Porsche right to the edge of the road on the frontstretch. He leads Christian Szymczak by three and a ahlf seconds as the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 is in the lane with Robby Foley at the wheel and I think he is serving a penalty. That is what it looks like. Yes. It is definitely a pit lane penalty for something. No tires or fuel at all. We'll have to follow up on that if we can. Foley, nabbed by the marshals. Mark Wilkins now leads Robert Wickens in TCR in the battle of the Hyundai's by two and a half seconds.
Ryan Eversley in the new Honda is still hard at work chasing down the Hyundai's. Many questions need answers. The pit stop timing especially in Grand Sport leave us scratching our heads about whether the boys need a splash and a dash. Many drivers will be on massive fuel save. Westphal just went for it and pulled everything out that he had in the locker. He is going to need half a fuel load when he hits the lane again and now, Szymczak is the villain of the peace here. He is going to leapfrog Westphal. Caution free so far, touch wood. But the engineers and strategists are pulling their hair out.
Stevan McAleer is fine on fuel but RS1 and their team are more worried about tires. Mat Pombo has handed the new Honda Civic TCR to Ryan Eversley. Szymczak and McAleer are going to be shy on fuel and Westphal is a long way shy of making it. He has three WeatherTech Championship class wins. Steve Dinan leads the Porsche team at Carbahn. He ran and tuned on BMW's for years. We'd like to think these brilliant race engineers can manufacture fuel in the tank. You can save it but cannot make it. Automatic fuel dispenser. Push this button. Impossible. Instant jet fuel? Not on your life. What are these blokes eating for breakfast? Energy bars!
No Road Shagger Racing and their Audi this weekend. I wonder if they will be back later in the season. We'll have to see. Laguna Seca is Jon Morley's home track. Morley extended the olive branch but there were no takers. He is an ace driver. The two of them would love to be out there. Thiago Camillo is pushing hard trying to stay ahead of Rory van der Steur. Supra vs. Vantage. Ah yes. The "trashboy" car is in the lane again for tires and fuel at the very least. Just 42 minutes of racing left on the board here this evening.
Crunch! Two cars have locked horns and dragged themselves into the gravel trap! That's the Toyota Supra of Thiago Camillo all torn up! Pit stop time for the #13 Mustang of Chad McCumbee. Good grief. The Toyota Supra is now being rescued but the car is massively damaged at the front end, and we are under Full Course Yellow now with 40 minutes left. In replay, in turn 11, Camilo ran into the back of Eric Foss in the #56 Murillo Racing Mercedes! Did he lose the brakes? He had to just lose the brakes. That is what it looks like. No brakes on that Toyota. The pedal went right to the floor.
This is a bizarre incident indeed. We were green all the way until now. Pit stop time for the #39 Porsche. Mat Pombo is optimistic in TCR but the team has teething pains, still, in the first live pit stop with this new Honda and a wee bit of trouble with the air jacks. Half an hour to go as the field is compressed behind the safety car as other leading cars in GS are not going to pit. But with an extended yellow they could get fuel save and stretch the margins to the finish. The field continues to circulate behind the safety car for the time being.
Pit stop time now too for the #71 Rebel Rock Racing Camaro among other cars making their final stops as we are less than half an hour away from the finish of Michelin Pilot Challenge action here at Laguna Seca Raceway on the Monterey Peninsula. We watch the #64 Team TGM Aston Martin motoring around, the Ted Giovannis and Owen Trinkler entry. Ted Giovannis has given back to the field of cancer research. They have created a cancer institute ast Johns Hopkins University for metastasis which is a mutant cancer cell that breaks off and attacks another part of the body. This is at the basic biology level and it is very similar to how setting up a race car works. How do cells metastasize? God Bless Ted and Jane Giovanis.
Great battle here between Robert Megennis and Scott Andrews. Daniel Morad is also in the picture in the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes AMG GT4 he shares with Bryce Ward. Christian Szymczak and Stevan McAleer are both good on fuel and maybe Elliott Skeer and Robert Megennis, each of them could still have something to say as Andrews flies past Morad! Holy smokes! Try to solve this puzzle and no, this is not Wheel of Fortune. This is, steering wheel. Morad balks the BMW who takes it in deep and now Andrews is trying but he can't quite make it.
Some argy bargy there between Megennis and Andrews! Andrews knows it is go time as Morad is going to be whistling off into the distance. Megennis is in fifth and here comes Andrews and he keeps it clean through The Corkscrew and down into Rainey Curve. Watch out for Elliott Skeer in the Nolasport Porsche Cayman. Nolasport and RS1 are two of the best Porsche prep shops in the business. A huge GS shemozzle here, look, and Rory van der Steur trying to escape while Pumpelly and McCumbee are playing dodge 'em cars. A ton of fighters here. Jeff Westphal charging with a bundle of cars ahead. By criminy! This is massive!
Robin Liddell is on fire, carving his way through the field like a hot knife through butter in the Chevrolet Camaro. Chad McCumbee, look out, as he has a clatter there with the BMW of Greg Liefooghe! He and Sean Quinlan in the #43 BMW M4 GT4 in an all-California team. Szymczak being monstered by both McAleer and Skeer. 20 minutes to go. A high tire degradation circuit here at Laguna Seca. A tire rub it looks like on the #71 Camaro of Liddell! Oh dear! Liddell has some contact with Robby Foley in the BMW. Liddell's fender is pushed onto the tire and now Westphal is chasing van der Steur for the top ten but time is not on his side.
However, Westphal takes no prisoners and barges through! This car is alive, the Porsche Cayman #39, with fresh Michelin Pilot tires. McAleer reeling in Szymczak. Mark Wilkins leading by two plus seconds over Hyundai teammate Robert Wickens at Bryan Herta Autosport. Ryan Eversley is lurking in third place in the new Honda Civic as well. Michael Lewis, Dennis Dupont, Mikey Taylor, and Tyler Maxson next up. Seven cars on the lead lap in TCR while others are a lap or more down. One Full Course Yellow which took out a Toyota and the sister Murillo Racing Mercedes to the leader.
Christian Szymczak and Kenny Murillo have continued to lead as Stevan McAleer is stretching the margin, stretching out the rubber band, over Elliott Skeer. Spencer Pumpelly has looked good and is chasing down Scott Andrews. Dennis Dupont passes Michael Lewis and Mikey Taylor goes wide off in the dirt to make a pass! Yikes! TCR is a worldwide formula on many tracks around the world and the FL5 is the newest platform for the Honda Civic TCR. You sit further to the center of the car. This helps with weight distribution. Now, Dennis Dupont is right on Eversley's six! He finished runner-up here last year passing Tyler Gonzalez at the finish line. Maybe Eversley has been caught napping and Robert Wickens has opened a margin.
LA Honda World team owner and dealer owner Mario Biundo gave Eversley a new Honda Civic Type R road car. Wilkins and Wickens racing each other hard in TCR as we come to the end of this race with ten minutes to go. Christian Szymczak continues to lead overall and in Grand Sport for the GT4 cars. Tyler Maxson is reeling in Michael Lewis hand over fist in TCR for sixth place. Christian Szymczak now leads by a second and a half looking for his first ever Michelin Pilot Challenge victory. Daniel Morad running ahead of Scott Andrews. Andrews won LMP3 with 74 Ranch at the Rolex 24 and the Petit Le Mans in 2021. Andrews has been running in Europe and is roommates with Robby Foley in Miami, Florida.
Oh no! Dennis Dupont is sliwing with a cut down tire! Left front tire is gone! How frustrating after charging up through the pack! I wonder if he had some argy bargy and cut the sidewall of the tire. He is in limp home mode. Game over. What a shame! Robert Wickens made the call to be the closer in these Michelin Pilot Challenge races. He won with Mark Wilkins last year and is chasing Wilkins down now for a win. Rob Wickens is still trying to find his first win with him driving. Wilkins and Wickens did win together last year and the driver change for Robert Wickens has become easier. Wickens has his sights set on the WeatherTech Championship. That is for sure.
In five minutes, we will know if Christian Szymczak, Kenny Murillo, and Murillo Racing will hold on for a victory here at Laguna Seca. Christian Szymczak leads Stevan McAleer by 1.8 seconds. He has to hit his marks. For the final podium place, Daniel Morad is thundering up behind Elliott Skeer's Nolasport Porsche. The Winward Racing Mercedes has escaped the clutches of Scott Andrews in the Lone Star Racing Mercedes. Keep in mind, on Tuesday, Laguna Seca will undergo a repave. Morad makes contact with Skeer and they slam each other! Andrews pushes Skeer out of the way!
A little nudge for Skeer and Morad passes! I thought that was going to be a Bryan Herta and Alex Zanardi moment from the Champ Car race here in 1996! Yikes! Two laps to go. Maybe Morad is a wounded duck. Andrews is going to try Morad up the Rahal straightaway and into The Corkscrew. No dice. Andeews can't make it happen this time. He is trying to set up the corner entry and get back to power. Morad will be up for every trick Andrews will throw at him. Wilins, Wickens, Eversley, and Taylor, the top four in TCR. The TCR field has great parity between the Hyudai's, the Honda's, and the Audi's.
Good rebound for the #91 Hyundai Elantra of Bryan Ortiz and Tyler Maxson. Final alp of the race. Big entry speed by Morad and he has gapped Andrews. Christian Szymczak, meanwhile, takes Murillo Racing for a dozen wins for the team! First win for Murillo in 2023 and Szymczak gets the first win of his Michelin Pilot Challenge career! The TCR fight is going to be between the Hyundai's, Honda's, and Audi's. Will Mikey Taylor force the issue on Eversley? The Hyundai's of Wilkins and Wickens in the clear. I think Wilkins is going to be in good shape and he will win the race for Bryan Herta Autosport and Hyundai! Wilkins and Mason Filippi get the job done!
Overall/Grand Sport: #72 Murillo/Szymczak Murillo Racing Mercedes AMG GT4
TCR: #98 Wilkins.Filippi Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N
That is a wrap from Laguna Seca for Michelin Pilot Challenge. Their next event will be in three weeks, on a Saturday afternoon on the streets of downtown Detroit, Michgian, on a new circuit, being raced for the first time since Formula 1 raced there in the 1980s. The Belle Isle Park circuit is no more, and it will be a standalone Michelin Pilot Challenge event and only for the GT4 Grand Sport cars and not the TCR machines. So, join us for that street fight in a few weeks. For now, so long, everybody, from the Monterey Peninsula and Laguna Seca Raceway. See you tomorrow for the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship. Good evening. Take care.
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