Saturday, March 9, 2024

VP Sports Car Challenge: St. Petersburg, Race 1

Hello, everyone, and welcome to sunny St. Petersburg, Florida, and the street course here, for two support races to tomorrow's IndyCar season opener, for the IMSA VP Sports Car Challenge.  Both of the races for the LMP3 and GSX classes, are set to take place today.  We have seen other sports car racing championships support IndyCar here in St. Pete in years past, primarily for production sports cars.  But this is the first time we will see the VP Sports Car Challenge run the support races for the opening IndyCar race of the season which is the featured event of the weekend, tomorrow.  

This is race one, and race two, will happen, later this afternoon, and we will be here to tell you all about it.  This of course, is a massive contrast, to what we saw last Saturday with the World Endurance Championship, and what we will see next weekend with the 72nd running of the 12 Hours of Sebring, because, ladies and gentlemen, these are sprint races.  40 minutes of hard driving, with single drivers in each car, heading for the checkered flag.  Decisive moves will be being made early in both LMP3 and in GSX which of course uses GT4 based production sports cars while the LMP3 cars are the entry level prototype class with their 5.6-liter atmospheric Nissan V8 motors, based off of a pickup truck engine.

We have a grand total of 24 cars.  Eight LMP3's and 16 GSX cars on the grid.  I think, we might have some additional cars on the entry list that have been added, that we have not seen.  So, please excuse me if I am slightly confused if there are cars and new numbers that I have not seen just yet.  One name to keep an eye out for is Jagger Jones, who I believe is the fastest qualifier.  He is the son of IMSA racer P.J. Jones and the grandson of 1963 Indianapolis 500 winner, SCCA Trans Am champion, and off-road truck racing champion, Parnelli Jones.  He proved racing is in his blood, sweeping both VP Challenge races last fall in the inaugural season finale at Road Atlanta, and now, he is back to take another shot at it.  Jones is driving car #87, the FastMD Racing with Remstar Management, Duqueine M30-D08 Nissan LMP3 car. 

On the pole is GSX, (Grand Sport X, again, for GT4 cars), it is the #69 MIA (Motorsports In Action) McLaren Artura GT4 in the hands of Jesse Lazare, who scored the top spot on the grid.  Lazare will no doubt face a major challenge from the Czabok Simpson Racing Porsche Cayman in the hands of Jackson Lee, and the KohR Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4 with Luca Mars at the wheel of it.  Once again, this is the first race in a Saturday doubleheader.  So, you will hear more about the VP Challenge cars and drivers later this afternoon, once this race is complete.

We are ready for rounds three and four of the championship.  Why not stay in Florida, when the north is chilly?  The sunshine and the party is here around the streets of St. Petersburg around the ocean and the airport.  1.8 miles, 13 corners, both high and low speed.  All these turns are unforgiving.  What a gorgeous vista we have for this doubleheader at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.  There has been a Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, here on Florida's west coast, since 1985.  So, this is a longstanding event of nearly 40 years.  St. Petersburg and Tampa Bay love their racing and have many fans.  

We are racing on a weekend showcasing the season opener of the IndyCar Series, the premier North American open wheel racing championship.  We have prototypes and GT cars in the race today.  LMP3 cars look similar to a GTP or LMP2 car but with less horsepower and the GSX cars are GT4, the same cars we see in the Michelin Pilot Challenge series.  We have a 45-minute race coming up, and another later in the afternoon for a single driver in each car as we mentioned already.  I cannot emphasize the format enough, though, because it provides for some fabulous motor racing.  

It is very simple.  Go for it for 45 minutes to take victory.  We can see and will see class overlap and that will be a major challenge as the cars head out behind the Cadillac safety car.  One pace lap only before we go green.  We are here with Brian Till and Jeremy Shaw calling the action.  The concrete walls here at St. Petersburg are very unforgiving.  Todd Coleman had a massive crash during qualifying and the good news is he will be able to start the races today because otherwise he would not have been able to start.  Coleman at the wheel of the #22 Archangel Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT4.  This is the car Coleman is also scheduled to race this coming Friday at Sebring International Raceway in the Michelin Pilot Challenge race there.  We will, incidentally, cover that race for you, too, right here on the blog.

Meanwhile, IMSA stewards gave the team special dispensation to race the car.  Jagger Jones on pole.  As mentioned, he put on a masterclass last fall in the doubleheader finale for VP Challenge at Road Altanta last October.  He has been magic here, too.  Jagger Jones has raced here twice in the U.S. Formula 2000 open wheel championship and in the Indy Next championship.  Jones was tagged by another car in qualifying but came back out and uncorked a flyer to earn the pole.   Track knowledge is critical as GSX drivers also have experiene on this circuit.  We are ready to race now.  Race Director Todd Snyder said "I want only a few rows between the classes for the split start."

The safety car waits to the last possible moment to dive for the pit lane.  Remember, stay in order until you cross the control line.  Do not pop out of column formation.  Green flag!  Away we go here at St. Pete!  Turn one is always calamity corner here at St. Petersburg.  Let's see who gets through cleanly.  Jagger Jones assumes the lead with the #38 car of Jonathan Woolridge running in second spot.  Woolridge was caught napping and is down the order.  I think Miguel Villagomez is moving up.  Villagomez aboard the #23 Escuderia ABRO Ligier JS P320 Nissan.  

So, a good start for the Ecuadorian driver.  Now we move to have a Captain Cook at the GSX class and their race has begun cleanly.  17 GSX entries in the field today for both races in the doubleheader as Jesse Lazare has made a clean start from pole position in the #21 Motorsports in Action McLaren Artura GT4.  Lazare has also been successful in open wheel cars in U.S. Formula 2000, here at St. Petersburg.  That was around eight years ago in 2016.  Luca Mars in the #59 KOHR Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4 has also made his move to second and this leaves Jackson Lee in third place.  

Patrick Wilmot and Jason Bell complete the top five in the GSX class, I think.  The scoring pylon on the left side of the screen as I watch this motor race on Peacock while describing the action, tells a slightly different story.  Maybe it is not updated yet.  The LMP3 prototypes will be quicker than the GSX GT4 production cars.  If this race stays green, I hear our lead commentator Brian Till predicting a 35-37 lap race in total.  Villagomez, look, is breaking the draft down the frontstretch trying to keep his rivals at bay including Steve Agakhani in third place.  

The McLaren of Jesse Lazare leads GSX, and that McLaren Artura is a very small, svelte car compared to the bigger cars with their engines in the front such as the new Ford Mustang GT4, the Aston Martin Vantage GT4, and the BMW M4 GT4.  Jackson Lee is back to third after qualifying second.  He is at the wheel of the #82 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4.  He has been fast all weekend and has experience on the streets of St. Petersburg.  He knew the racetrack here at St. Petersburg but did not the car.  We saw him in the opening doubleheader of the season at Daytona International Speedway in a Porsche Cayman.  

This could very well be the final weekend of racing for Jackson Lee in VP Sports Car Challenge, as he is fully focused and committed to racing in the Michelin Pilot Challenge for the entire season.  Again, a programming note, there will be coverage on the blog of Michelin Pilot Challenge this Friday as the support event for the 12 Hours of Sebring.  You'll want to check out the blog and also catch that race on either Peacock or on IMSA Radio.  Jackson Lee likes being a part of the van der Steur Racing team and if these races today work out, we could see him back.

Talking of a good performance, Jagger Jones is gone, whistling off into the distance.  He is doing very much what his dad P.J. racing for Dan Gurney's All American Racers in the Toyota Eagle GTP car in the 1990s and his grandfather Parnelli in the Bud Moore Ford Mustang Boss 302 in Trans Am, did, and checking out on the rest of the field on the way to a possible victory.  But, as they say, never count your chickens until they hatch.  We have a long way to go in the race here in St. Petersburg, the first of two today.  Miguel Villagomez has moved to second spot and Steven Agakhani is also making a bid, in third spot.  Jonathan Woolridge is now sixth.  He's over five seconds behind the leaders, at the wheel of the #38 Performance Tech Motorsports Ligier JS P320 Nissan.

Agakhani won the first two races of the season at Daytona in January.  It is very difficult to pass on this track and as they get into traffic it will get worse.  It is not so hot early in the day.  But yesterday was pretty warm.  It is breezy and a little cooler.  Be mindful of tire degradation with different surfaces on the track.  Remember, too, the front straightaway here, is a runway at the St. Petersburg Airport.  There is a great variety of corners, and the track has a great rhythm.  But the concrete walls like all street courses, are very unforgiving.  

We also see a great drive, so far, for the #77 car in the hands of Brian Thienes.  He is one of the older drivers in the field, at age 61, but he is still extremely competitive.  Older racing drivers have been successful.  Look at greats like the late, great Paul Newman and the late, great Sir Stirling Moss.  They raced well into their 80s and 90s in Moss' case.  So, some drivers, as they age, remain competitive.  Thienes is holding station ahead of Jonathan Woolridge and now, we csee Cody Ware coming into the picture in seventh place.  

Ware in the #51 Rick Ware Racing with Ave Motorsports Ligier JS P320 Nissan.  We saw Cody Ware racing very aggressively at Daytona.  That aggression cost him.  Will he temper it on the streets of St. Petersburg today?  Or will he go for it?  One of the Stephen Cameron Racing BMW M4 GT4's comes to the pit lane.  That is the #19 car in the hands of Gregory Liefooghe.  Jagger Jones uncorks a lap at 1:12.422 which is not far off of his qualifying time that earned him pole for this race.  He is being smart, and wants to win, but is in no rush.  He has a cushion because of his rivals getting poor starts and not having the pace.

Jackson Lee makes an inside move, look, on Luca Mars.  Yesterday was Luca Mars' birthday, but he did not give himself a good birthday gift by clobbering the wall in Free Practice 1 yesterday.  Behind Luca Mars, it is the #88 Split Decision Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 of Patrick Wilmot.  Wilmot qualified ahead of Gregory Liefooghe.  Both of them are fast BMW drivers.  Great respect on the part of the LMP3 drivers as they scrap with each other.  Brian Thienes has fifth place and in sixth and seventh right behind, both Jonathan Wooldridge and Cody Ware are looking to take it away.  Each of them wants a bite of the cherry.

Woolridge knows where his competitors are and is driving smart.  There are battles all over the track here as we have been racing for just eight minutes.  The sun is out, bathing the entire track.  So, the temperatures are coming up and there is a crosswind blowing through turn one.  Brian Thienes is racing very well.  His last street course race was at Long Beach, California, in 2008.  Thienes has his mirrors full of Jonathan Woolridge.  Can Woolridge get a head of steam?  Or does Thienes have the power?  Some argy bargy into turn 13, look, and that's Brian Thienes clattering with Jonathan Woolridge.  Cody Ware could see an opportunity to pass.

Does Brian Thienes have a problem?  Ryan Phinny in the #61 car is also in this scrap.  Does he have a problem?  Maybe he has a puncture from the contact.  The front splitter on the LMP3 cars drag against the tires on the front.  The LMP3 cars are lapping GSX traffic already.  Yikes!  In this replay, there was definite contact between the left front splitter on #38 to the right rear tire of #77.  So, Brian Thienes has a right rear puncture.  A racing incident, but Thienes got the bad end of that deal.  There are no long braking zones here at St. Petersburg.  

Woolridge trying to pop into the hole, but he knew Brian Thienes was not going to see him.  Race Control will look at that.  Jesse Lazare is building a lead with Jackson Lee closing.  The balance of the Aston Martin on long runs is a great asset when it comes to tire wear.  Lee believes he can chase down the McLaren.  Lazare and Lee are trading fast lap times with Lazare going purple in sector two, fastest of all in a given sector.  Nine laps now on the board in GSX with 1.9 seconds between the two drivers with just over half an hour to go.  Luca Mars is sliding backwards after his 18th birthday yesterday.  Jagger Jones, overall leader and leader in LMP3 has built a lead and has held onto the lead and still does by 7.2 seconds.  

But he is not getting greedy.  He was prepared to go through the GSX traffic. Be patient.  Be willing to sacrifice time out of your lap time.  It can take as much as six seconds out of your lap time.  Jones works his way past two of the BMW M4 GT4 GSX cars.  Sean Quinlan in the #43 Stephen Cameron Racing BMW M4 GT4 and the similar car #12 of Michael Dayton driving for Swish Motorsports.  Yikes!  Alex Kirby in second in LMP3, overcooks it under braking into the first turn.  Miguel Villagomez, through traffic, he has lost places to both Steven Agakhani and Alex Kirby who we saw lock the brakes into the turn.  Kirby in the #7 Performance Tech Motorsports Ligier.  

Half an hour of racing to go, so we have completed 1/3rd of the first race as Todd Coleman goes off the road in the #22 Aston Martin on the exit of turn 12 before turn 13 onto the front straightaway.  Todd Coleman, not having the race he wanted thus far, at the wheel of the #22 Archangel Motosports entry, the Aston Martin Vantage GT4.  Kirby now has his rivals all over him.  Kirby threw the car over the runway markers paint and the paint fills in the aggregate and you lose grip.

So, he lost his braking, ran wide, and was passed.  Meanwhile, Alex Kirby is being harried by Miguel Villagomez.  That is car #23 in fourth place.  Just under half an hour to go with 1/3rd of the race done and 2/3rds to go.  Jagger Jones, grandson of Parnelli Jones and son of P.J. Jones, leads.  P.J. Jones won five IMSA races and I believe he won a championship as well but I need to check the stats to make sure that is correct.  Steve Agakhani remains in second place.  Jones is lapping the second place GSX car of Jackson Lee.  Meanwhile, Agakhani set fastest lap last time by at 1:12.251.  Jagger Jones has completed 15 laps so far.

Jesse Lazare at the wheel of the McLaren, he continues to lead the GSX class.  He has a three and a half second buffer over Jackson Lee presently.  Many different manufacturers in GSX.  In LMP3, all cars use the same Nissan V8 engine which we have spoken about.  There are a couple different chassis manufacturers.  Both of them are French.  The Ligier and the Duqueine.  If you have read our coverage about the European and Asian Le Mans Series and also, the FIA World Endurance Championship, you may be familiar with Gilles Duqueine as he is a constructor and also a team boss in Europe.  The Ligier of Stephen Agakhani has better mechanical grip than the Duqueine.  But the Duqueine is a good ne and Jagger Jones is putting on an exceptional drive.

He is picking up where he left off at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta last fall.  Marco Kasic drove this car in the opening races at Daytona International Speedway.  No disrespect to Marco Kasic, who may return to this team later in the year.  But the Remstar by FastMD team is the only one racing the Duqueine compared to all other LMP3 cars being the Ligier.  All the other teams are using that automobile.  In the meantime, not just Agakhani but Alex Kirby, just reset the fastest lap at 1:12.1.  He still must make up ground to Agakhani as this race continues and is close to the halfway mark at this moment.

We take a look at the top three places in each of the classes.  In LMP3 it is Jagger Jones followed by Steven Agakhani and Alex Kirby.  In the GSX division it is Jesse Lazare, Jackson Lee, and Frank Depew.  Three different brands represented in the top three of GSX.  VP Sports Car Challenge was created out of the ashes of the Prottype Challenge series.  People were scratching their heads, including yours truly, wondering if the LMP3 cars and the GT4 cars could be combined to race on track in a sprint format.  Clearly, as we are into the second season of the championship, all doubts have been cast aside and put to rest.  What it has attracted are young drivers who want to show team bosses in the IMSA paddock and in other championships, such as IndyCar who we are sharing the bill with at St. Petersburg this weekend, that they have the skill, the capabilty, the desire, to race.

People are trying to get extra experience.  MIA does very little testing and it is more cost effective for the Motorsports in Action team to race these short races, because many of the tracks being raced at during the year are also used by the Michelin Pilot Challenge series and also the WeatherTech Championship, during the course of the IMSA season.  In a replay on the screen, we cna see a BMW M4 GT4 where the driver is getting behind in his steering and he could be headed towards the barriers.  Ouch!  That was a wallop!  That is Vincent Barletta, the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 with new sponsorship colors this weekend, the silver and black of Olympia Moving and Storage.  

Barletta won along with Robby Foley, the 2023 Michelin Pilot Challenge championship.  Foley is his driver coach this weekend here at St. Petersburg.  He has stoutly clouted the barrier in turn four.  He was either being passed or trying to pass, got out in the gray dust, the tire debris and other junk on the outside of the circuit.  It is hard to get used to the new colors on the Turner Motorsports car, with the black and silver.  So used to seeing that car done up in the traditional yellow and blue of the Turner Motorsports team.  

Curious about the Turner Motorsports car having different livery.  In the meantime, Miguel Villagomez and Cody Ware are both closing in on Alex Kirby for third place.  This is third, fourth, and fifth, on the road as we have reached the halfway mark in this race.  We have a second race coming up as well, today.  So don't miss it.  Jagger Jones has had this race all to himself overall and in LMP3.  But, believe you me, this has been a great scrap for third, fourth, and fifth, the back half of the top five, between Kirby, Villagomez, and Ware.  A bungy cord has been tied between these three for the whole race.  

Alex Kirby has been up and down the order.  He is focusing forward but Miguel Villagomez is getting feisty, the Ecuadorian racer.  He has the faster car.  But what can he do with it?  Villagomez is doing well not just in the braking zones but also in the tighter spots on this track.  He has a head of steam off turn 13.  Now, can he move in on Kirby.  He does!  Villagomez keeps Kirby at bay.  Now, Cody Ware wants to take a chance to pass Alex Kirby.

Oh no!  Contact between Alex Kirby and Cody Ware!  Cody Ware is spinning to the outside of the circuit!  Screech!  Bang!  He clips the tire barriers and is caught up in the banding that keeps the tire barriers separated from the racing surface.  Kirby is not doing much better.  He is clattering along the concrete barrier and ripping the left side of his automobile to shreds.  Smoke, or steam, spewing from the left side of Kirby's car.  Things have gone from bad to worse for Cody Ware.  He's completely stuffed it into the tire barriers on the next corner from where he was having earlier trouble.  Sigh.  Oy yoy yoy!  The wheels are coming off a few of the wagons here. 

This is going to be a Full Course Yellow.  Everything has gone pear shaped for these two.  You want to take away the corner from the driver you are going by.  But this whole mess is a chain reaction, cars littered all over the road.  Cody Ware is fine, but the car cannot reverse.  Ware cannot find reverse and the front end is plowed into the barriers.  18 minutes of racing to go in race one.  I wonder if we will finsh this race under green with the time remaining on the clock.  So, here's this shemozzle again in slow motion.  Ware and Kirby both going for the same piece of road, and Ware slams into Kirby's right front corner.

Then, Kirby tags Ware who is pitched into the tire wall.  Kirby is around the corner.  We think he's home and hosed and that he will continue to race.  Not so fast, ladies and gentlemen.  Poor old Alex Kirby has a spot of bother of his own.  That was odd because the car skated to the outside of the road and it makes you think he already had left front damage before tearing the whole side off the car scraping along the concrete barrier.   The car wouldn't turn well.  The contact was on the right side.  The two of them were banging wheels through turn one and Villagomez went through.

Ware spun to the outside.  He was too far offline, Kirby was, and he got into the gray.  Cody Ware's car won't turn.  Does he have damage?  Does he have a flat spotted tire?  Both of these cars are out of this race and very much doubtful, when looking at the damage, that they will return for the second and final race of the weekend for VP Challenge, this afternoon, here at St. Petersburg, taking place after the qualifying session for the IndyCars.  It is being reported that Miguel Villgomez in the #23 car will have a ten second post-race penalty for a false start.  He could have served the penalty with a drive through but the team chose not to.  He will need to take his medicine, post-race.  

Now, let's rewind the tape on this chain of events that has led to this calamity we've been chuntering on about for a wee while.  Villagomez is diving past Kirby into the first turn.  Please, tell me you know what to do at the first turn!  Kirby cannot turn in and so, when he tries making the corner, Cody Ware is right in his way, and... ker-runch!  He makes contact with Ware's car sending him wide and into a spin, doing a tank slapper with the right rear corner into the barrier, into the signage on the outside.  Kirby moved right and then moved left.  They had been hanging wheels before that.  Was it deliberate?  Was it accidental?  

Both cars would have had dirt all over their tires.  Turn three, the ensuing turn, is a kink, but it is extremely fast.  On dirty tires, the car can understeer wide and that is what happened to Alex Kirby.  Not too sure what happened to Kirby but he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Let's reset the field with 13 minutes to go.  Jagger Jones has had a comfortable lead.  Inside ten minutes left on the board when we go green, some of the drivers will throw caution to the wind.  Will Jagger Jones have enough of a gap over Steven Agakhani.  Agakhani just recently reset the fast lap.  That is a weird deal for Kirby being out in no man's land out there.

Kirby was way, way offline.  Jagger Jones wants to reestablish the lead.  Steven Agakhani, he reset the fastest lap of the motor race a lap before we saw the Full Course Yellow.  Agakhani ran a 1:12.05.  Agakhani is charging, trying to reduce the deficit to Jagger Jones.  Eleven and a half minutes of racing remaining.  Miguel Villagomez, Ryan Phinny, and Jonathan Woolridge complete the top five positions in the LMP3 class.  Phinny is ahead of Woolridge.  Mirco Schultis originally from Germany, lives in Sarasota, Florida, on the other side of the St. Petersburg bridge.  Schultis is in sixth place aboard the #70 Mishumotors, Sabelt Ligier JS P320 Nissan.  Schultis originally from Wiesbaden, Germany.

He is much happier today than having what was thought to be the wrong setup earlier in the weekend.  Mirco Schultis is running well though.  Jesse Lazare has led the GSX class from the drop of the green flag, but don't sleep on Jackson Lee being a contender for a possible class victory in this first race of two that we have today.  He has moved back up to second, passing Luca Mars who is third and Jason Bell is in fourth.  McLaren, Aston Martin, Ford Mustang, Aston Martin.  Jason Bell should be aggressive, but he has not had the pace we thought he would. 

Luca Mars needs a good restart.  With Balance of Performance, the McLaren has had weight taken off of it.  The lighter weight, on a street course, should pay dividends.  Jackson Lee has been quickest in sector one but in the second and third sectors, Jesse Lazare has been very competitive.  Jackson Lee will be right on Jesse Lazare's six.  Jason Bell is leading the Bronze category of drivers.  Michael Dayton in the #12 Swish Motorsports BMW has been a contender as well this morning.  Sean Quinlan has run well in one of the two Stephen Cameron Racing BMW's.

Sadly, it is game over for the second Stephen Cameron Racing BMW M4 GT4 of Greg Liefooghe.  Liefooghe has had brake issues all weekend and I have to wonder if he will even be back to start race two later today.  The antilock braking system has been playing up and only the factory engineers on these GT4 cars, can fix the antilock brakes.  You can turn the ABS off but that won't help.  Liefooghe has given up the ghost.  It seems like my yacht in the St. Petersburg harbor is looking pretty good.  After the races today I might have to go down there and relax for a bit.  The yacht in the harbor looks great!  I am only kidding!  I don't have a yacht!

This race, as we said, has been around since the 1980s.  I would be very happy if I had a yacht, or a large boat.  It is a wonderful seetting here with boats, airplanes, and cars.  It is a great thing to see even though it is breezy today.  Boats, race cars, and airplanes.  Pick your poison, or maybe you want all three.  I don't know if we are going to go back to green just yet and keep in mind, we have another race later this afternoon.  This will be a dash to the finish.  1:09 are the best lap times around here.  We'll have about three minutes to go, so, about three laps.  Stand back from the fences because this race is going to get spicy!  The restart zone is the right-hand sweeper, the carousel out of turn 13.  The GSX cars will be negotiating the penultimate corner.  Turn 13 is actually the slowest turn on the track for them, and 45 miles an hour for the prototypes.  Green flag!  Jagger Jones has some breathing space as Steven Agakhani, has a lapped car of Brian Thienes between himself and Jagger Jones.  

In GSX though, Jackson Lee is right on top of him.  Meanwhile, Miguel Villagomez tries making a move around Steven Aghakhani, and pays the price!  He shoots right into that dreaded tire barrier!  Nothing doing!  He continues in the race and is jolly lucky to get away with it!  Jagger Jones is gone, and Aghakhani is clear as a bell as well.  Brian Thienes has lost a few laps after changing flat spotted tires.  Jonathan Woolridge has also made a pass.  Poor old Villagomez is dropping like a stone.  He tried going around the outside of Agakhani.  He is off the road the car is smoking.

There is damage, as he broke the banding around the tires.  Now, the two leaders in GSX are turning it on as well, look.  Jackson Lee is right behind and nearly alongside Jesse Lazare!  Side by side into turn four.  Lee thinks better of it.  A slower LMP3 car is in the way.  The LMP3 car should be faster.  But the yellow and blue #70 Mishumotors entry of Mirco Schultis has been handling like an absolute pig all weekend and he is having trouble.  He is struggling to put the power down.  Luca Mars is lurking in third in the Ford Mustang GT4.  White flag.  One lap t go for Jagger Jones.

One of the races at Road Atlanta last year, Jagger Jones was robbed of victory due to a penalty.  Now, the big scrap we have here is for the win in GSX.  Lazare in the McLaren, Lee in the Aston Martin, and Mars in the Ford Mustang.  What does Jackson Lee have left in the locker?  Lee has hit the sweet spot in a couple of sectors on this track.  Although Jesse Lazare's McLaren Artura has speed, too.  No defensive line required for Lazare.  The GSX cars are closing up on the top five in LMP3.  I think the McLarne will have daylight.

Jagger Jones wins race one!  He takes the checkered flag!  Redemption for the races that did not go well at Road Atlanta last fall.  Jesse Lazare and McLaren win round one at St. Petersburg.  Jackson Lee in second and Luca Mars in third.  

Overall/LMP3: #87 Jagger Jones            FastMD Racing with Remstar Duqueine D08 Nissan

            GSX: #21 Jesse Lazare                Motorsports in Action McLaren Artura GT4

So, race one at St. Petersburg is done and dusted.  But if the teams are going to change setups on their cars there is little time to do it.  We will have race two of the weekend coming up for you, this afternoon.  So, make plans to be with us then, for 40 more minutes of hard fought VP Sports Car Challenge racing action here at St. Petersburg.  Bye for now.


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