FOURTH PLACE FINISH FOR ESM DURING TUDOR CHAMPIONSHIP IN AUSTIN
Extreme Speed Motorsports (ESM) finished fourth in the Lone Star Le Mans on Saturday afternoon at Circuit of the Americas (COTA). In what would be their final TUDOR United SportsCar Championship race of the season, Ed Brown and Johannes van Overbeek, co-drivers of the No. 2 Tequila Patrón Honda Performance Development ARX-03b (HPD) were one spot shy of a podium finish today.
Brown started the race from the fifth position. It took two attempts for a green flag start. At the scheduled race start, the leaders jumped the starter cue and series officials restarted the race. As the field settled into a steady pace, Brown maintained a fifth-place run.
Brown battled the competition and fought hard for his track position during his 33-minute stint. He pitted under green based on the team’s race strategy for a driver change, fuel and tires. When co-driver van Overbeek climbed into the Honda prototype for his stint, he was ranked seventh in the Prototype class.
In typical van Overbeek fashion, he set his focus to the front of the field and began to gain positions. In 71 minutes, approximately 12 laps, van Overbeek reached a race-high of third in class. He maintained a top-five run for the majority of his stint, more than an hour of the race.
In the closing 45 minutes, van Overbeek was hit by at GT-Daytona (GTD) competitor car which caused aerodynamic and body work damage to the back of the No. 2 Tequila Patrón Honda preventing it from running at optimal performance.
Brown and the entire ESM team now changes its focus to the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) and the 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas. Brown will co-drive the No. 30 Tequila Patrón HPD with Scott Sharp and Ryan Dalziel for the six-hour endurance event.
On Saturday morning, Extreme Speed Motorsports announced its entry into the FIA WEC 6 Hours of Shanghai. The Florida-based team entered both its Tequila Patrón-sponsored HPD prototypes in the LMP2 class for the Nov. 2 race at China’s Shanghai International Circuit. In order to prepare both Tequila Patrón-sponsored HPDs to meet FIA WEC regulations, ESM will not compete in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship’s season finale – Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in October.
ED BROWN
“It was a good day, given everything that happened. I thought the ESM Tequila Patrón team did a great job. The Honda was pretty good; I had a good stint and really drove the car hard.
“This race sets us up for tonight and it’s confidence-building for me. Fourth place against these guys is a pretty good finish.”
JOHANNES VAN OVERBEEK
“I’m glad I had an open-top car today because it was so hot on-track. Ed did an awesome job, it’s the best drive he’s had this year. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the pace. We were there but we didn’t have anything extra. I drove as hard as I knew how.
“One of the GTD cars was far off the pace and it seemed as though I was passing it every two laps. I passed it on the back straightaway and as I turned in, he went flying across the back of me. We were literally inches from getting destroyed, so luck was on our side. At that point, the cars ahead of us were in a different league. We did what we could.
“We’re satisfied with fourth but not thrilled. We really wanted to finish on the podium in our last race in the TUDOR series this year.”
Source. Extreme Speed Motorsports
HEARTBREAK FOR GB AUTOSPORT AT COTA
In a race that saw GB Autosport run in podium contention for most of the 2.75-hour duration and never drop outside of the top-10 in class, a ninth place finish for the No. 81 Tully’s Porsche 911 GT America came as a big disappointment for the determined race team.
In both of their stints, Ben Barker and Damien Faulkner found themselves fighting for the lead in the prestigious Lone Star Le Mans event, but contact from the No. 300 BMW had the final say in their finishing position. To make matters worse, IMSA failed to penalize the BMW, effectively handing the BMW team the GTD Championship.
Ben Barker opened the race from a season-high position of sixth on the grid and immediately made the most of the positive starting spot by navigating up two spots in the opening lap. In short order he gained another position, putting himself in podium contention just over 10 minutes into the race.
By the time the race hit the 40-minute mark, Barker had advanced even further and was sitting in second challenging for the lead with an obviously fast Porsche underneath him as he consistently set laptimes faster than the leader to close the gap.
While Barker fought for the lead of the race, he ultimately opted to back off and save the tires before pitting at the one-hour mark to hand the car over to Damien Faulkner.
“The car was feeling really good,” said Barker after the race. “I didn’t start out on a brand new set of tires, they were Damien’s qualifying tires, so they had a few laps on them, but they felt good and consistent. I was just hoping they wouldn’t go off towards the end of my one-hour stint and they stayed quite well. I had to battle my way through from sixth to second and then once I got there I was chasing down the Turner BMW and we were racing pretty closely and we had a massive gap behind us.
“But the main thing was that I wanted to bring it in to the pits on the BMW’s bumper if not in front, and I didn’t want to risk too much to get in front just for that small advantage. I was really happy with my stint overall because the car felt really good and consistent, the guys did an absolutely amazing job and Mario (Prezel, head engineer) worked so hard and made massive improvements. Unfortunately Damien got hit by that BMW I was battling with earlier and it ruined our race. It was an obvious hit but nothing got done about it so we are all pretty shattered about that and to then get a flat tire due to that damage just added insult to injury. In the end we had the most competitive car we’ve had all year and the whole team has done so well all season long, so we live to fight another day.”
Following a quick pit stop by the Tully’s crew, Faulkner cycled back out into fourth position and quickly got the No. 81 up to speed as he rocketed back up to second place within 10 minutes of rejoining the race. Faulkner continued to run strong in second position as he consistently posted laps faster than the leader before pitting with just an hour remaining for fuel and four fresh tires.
The green flag stop saw the Tully’s machine cycle back out into ninth position with just under an hour to race, but again Faulkner showcased his skill behind the wheel of the No. 81 Porsche and highlighted the hard work of team as he flew around the 3.4-mile track and worked his way back up into third position with just 56 minutes remaining.
Unfortunately, although it finally seemed that all of the pieces were ready to come together for the podium-focused team, contact in the final 50 minutes of the race by the BMW ultimately put them out of podium contention. Although the damage to the car was minimal enough to allow Faulkner to remain on track, it cost the team valuable position and ultimately, the damage to the rear end caused a flat rear-left tire, robbing the team of their podium finish and forcing them to settle for a ninth place result.
“I’m absolutely gutted for the whole team and for Michael Avenatti,” said a disappointed Faulkner after the race. “We had one of the strongest cars out there today and to get taken out like this is just so frustrating, especially because it isn’t the first time something like this has happened. The team did an excellent job and gave me such a strong car for qualifying yesterday and the race today and I know we had a podium in the cards, so it is disappointing to not actually get that.”
“I am very disappointed that the series still has not figured out a way to properly call a race at this level,” said Michael Avenatti. “This isn’t club racing. Teams are spending millions of dollars a year and the series still can’t seem to figure it out. In a third of the races, we have been hit and yet there have been no penalties. For the series to not penalize the BMW in this race after it drilled Damien in turn one is completely unacceptable. The series effectively just handed the GTD championship to the BMW. As a Team Owner and series sponsor, I really have to question the future of this series and what exactly is going on here.”
“There are enough ways to lose a race without taking into account contact from another team,” supplied Team Manager Cole Scrogham. “We came here confident and ready and showed both in practice and qualifications that we had a strong car. Even in the beginning of the race before the contact both Ben and Damien were running consistently as fast or faster than the leaders, so that was excellent. But it is just frustrating and unacceptable to us that something like this can happen – and more than once – and go without penalty or repercussion.”
The team looks to finish their season on a high note in just two weeks in the season-finale race at Road Atlanta.
Source. Sunday Group
BMW TEAM RLL FINISHES 6th AND 7th AT COTA
BMW Team RLL finished sixth and seventh in today’s 2.75-hour Lone Star Le Mans race at Circuit of the Americas, in Austin, Texas, the penultimate round of the 2014 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.
Bill Auberlen and Andy Priaulx finished sixth in the No. 55 BMW Z4, completing 75 laps of the 3.4-mile, 20-turn circuit at the checkered flag. John Edwards and Dirk Müller finished seventh in the No. 56 BMW Z4.
The cars qualified sixth and seventh, but Edwards started the race from fifth and Priaulx from sixth after the GTLM class polesitter was disqualified following technical inspection.
Edwards brought out the race’s only yellow flag on lap 21, some 47 minutes into the race, after running wide in turn 19. Contact with waves of rolled Astroturf that line the outer edge of the circuit caught the underside of the car, leaving the car’s rear fascia on the track.
Both BMWs made their first pitstops as the green flag waved with Auberlen replacing Priaulx and Müller taking over for Edwards. At the one hour mark, Müller held the fourth position with Auberlen in eighth. They made their second stop at the 1:45 hour mark with 46 laps complete. Müller continued in the No. 56 machine and Priaulx got back behind the wheel of the No. 55 car. At the 2.00 hour mark, Müller held the sixth position. Priaulx was two spots back in eighth, but passed his teammate with two laps remaining to take the checkered flag in sixth, with Müller seventh.
Separately, in the GTD class, the Turner Motorsport BMW Z4 GTD, driven by Dane Cameron and Markus Palttala, racing in the team’s 300 professional race with BMW, finished third.
“It was definitely a difficult fight here in Austin,” said Gordon McDonnell, BMWNA Motorsport Manager. “I think the weekend proved a little bit harder than we thought it would be as, given the balance of performance changes, we knew we would be behind a little bit. We did the best we could and fought hard for this result. Congratulations to Turner Motorsport on scoring a podium finish in its 300th race with BMW.”
“This was the race we expected and I was afraid might happen,” said Bobby Rahal, Team Principal. “The Porsches were almost two seconds a lap faster on the fastest laps, the Vipers not much worse. We just cannot maintain the pace with the way the rules are. I hope things are better at Petit Le Mans as they are very unfair right now. There is no balance of performance.”
Bill Auberlen, driver No. 55 Z4 GTLM – (6th) – “I had just a tough little run there in the middle. That is why you have a second guy you can rely on. When it was a struggle for me they put Andy in, they put him on a different tire than I had run and he did a fantastic job, exactly what you would expect from a world champion. You lean back and you just let him do it. The crew got us out of the pits over and over in front of other cars all day long. The two BMWs raced to the end and we finished pretty much nose to tail. We need a little bit of help to get to the front. The series has let it get out of hand with the Balance of Performance as we are nowhere and they need to fix this before the last race.”
Andy Priaulx, driver No. 55 Z4 GTLM – (6th) – “It has been a tough weekend, but we knew it was going to be really hard. Bill and I had two really tough first stints. The tire we chose clearly wasn’t right for the conditions. Bill was up to speed nicely and brought the car back in a really good position. He helped the team with feed back to give me the right tire for the last run, and that’s what made the difference.”
John Edwards, driver No. 56 Z4 GTLM – (7th) –“We expected a hard day at the office, and it really was. It is really tough to keep pushing in such hot conditions when you are sweating like crazy and you don’t have the pace, but that is what we have to do. By the time Dirk got in there was very little rear downforce and that made it pretty tough to drive on cold tires.”
Dirk Müller, driver No. 56 Z4 GTLM – (7th) – “That was an exciting drive doing a double stint with no rear bumper. I had lost all the downforce at the rear of the car and had to drive like a rally driver. I was fighting like crazy. I knew Andy’s car he was coming hard at the end. It reminded me of the good old touring car times. We raced clean and I think that is how you should make it between team mates.”
Source. BMW
TUDOR GT LE MANS CLASS MANUFACTURER CHAMPIONSHIP TIED LEAVING TEXAS
Not only were the eyes of Texas upon the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) today, the entire sports car racing world witnessed a GT Le Mans (GTLM) class battle that will see the inaugural TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Manufacturer title fight go to the last race of the season. A third place finish by the No. 912 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR helped the German marque retain the point lead in the class for road car-based racecars. However, with Dodge’s Viper taking the Lone Star Le Mans race victory, the fight for manufacturer honors in the mostly factory-entered category will go to the final race, the 17th annual Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta on October 4. Porsche won the 1,000-mile event in 2013 and has won two of the three endurance races held thus far in North America this year.
Porsche 911 RSR
The No. 912 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR led the way for the three factory-entered cars based on the iconic rear-engine sports car. Started in third-position, Michael Christensen (Denmark) drove the first one-hour and 45-minutes of the race. The Dane turned the wheel over to Patrick Long (Playa del Rey, California) for the final hour. The United States’ only Porsche factory driver fought through the hot and humid conditions of the Austin, Texas summer to finish third following the tandem of Dodge Viper SRT across the finish line.
Having entered the penultimate round of the TUDOR Championship with a narrow two-point lead in the title chase, the podium finish allowed Porsche to remain in contention with the lead now split with Dodge, 308 points apiece, entering the last of the 12-race season.
Finishing fifth was the No. 910 shared by Frenchmen Frédéric Makowiecki and Patrick Pilet. The lead Porsche 911 RSR, entered for the final two rounds as a show of support to IMSA and the TUDOR Championship, had possibly the most dramatic race of the day in the GTLM class. Having had their fastest qualifying lap disallowed at technical inspection for missing a roof camera pod, Makowiecki started last in the field. He did much with his series’ debut charging past nearly half the multi-class field in the first stint of the race. A “drive through” penalty for making contact with another car at mid-race would slow the newest 911 RSR entry’s fight to the front. However, a mistake-free effort in the second-half of the race would give Porsche North America two cars in the top-five.
The No. 911 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR of Nick Tandy (Great Britain) and Jörg Bergmeister (Germany) looked like the most likely class winner for the day. However, having led for much race, the Rolex 24 At Daytona winner was retired with 30-minutes remaining in the race having lost drive.
The fourth Porsche 911 RSR, the No. 17 Team Falken Tire entry driven by Wolf Henzler (Germany) and Bryan Sellers (Braselton, Georgia), finished eighth in the GTLM class.
Pilet, Makowiecki, Tandy and Bergmeister followed the Tudor Championship event with the six-hour FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) race. The quartet of drivers are entered in the factory Porsche Team Manthey 911 RSR cars in the GTE-Pro class of the World Championship.
Porsche 911 GT America
Five drivers were tied for the GT Daytona (GTD) class points lead entering today’s Lone Star Le Mans. At the conclusion of the two-hour and 45-minute race, the battle remains hotly contested entering the last race of the year, Petit Le Mans, in two weeks at Road Atlanta. The two Porsche drivers in the middle of the championship fight, Leh Keen (Atlanta, Georgia) and Cooper MacNeil (Hinsdale, Illinois), battled back from starting at the back of the grid – the veteran team qualified 16th but changed tires before the start relegating them to the back of the field – to finish fifth in the No. 22 WeatherTech Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT America. With one of the contenders finishing third, and the other finishing behind the Porsche, Keen and MacNeil are now only four points out of first-place going to the finale.
As a result of the second-place finish, the No. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT America of drivers John Potter (Salt Lake City, Utah) and Andy Lally (Dacula, Georgia) is still in the GTD point chase. The No. 23 Team Seattle Alex Job Racing Porsche driven by Mario Farnbacher (Germany) and Ian James (Phoenix, Arizona) held the lead in class during the middle of the race, but fell out of contention when the car hit the barrier, damaging the radiator.
Jan Heylen (Tampa, Florida) and Madison Snow (Lehi, Utah) also resided in the top three for much of the event, finishing fourth in the No. 58 Snow Racing Porsche 911 GT America.
Owen Hayes, Director of Operations, Porsche Motorsport North America: “We absolutely had the pace today. We were happy with the way things were going until, obviously, the last half-hour when we lost drive with the number 911. We ended up with a podium finish with the [number] 912 so that is really good. What that means is that we are tied with Viper going into the last race. I think that is going to be good for all the fans. We’ll bring it down to the wire and that is what it is all about. GTLM is one of the closest racing classes in the world and at the pinnacle of GT racing. It is good that we see this fight through to the end of the year.”
Patrick Long, No. 912 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR: “We had a very clean pit stop and I put my head down and tried to close the gap to the Viper. After the issues for the [number] 911 we took a safe approach to get to the finish. This came down to the manufacturer’s championship and we have to be there at the end. We were able to salvage some good points today.”
Michael Christensen, No. 912 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR: “We had a good car. Track conditions were changing from the start to the finish of my stint. This made it quite tricky. We did our best to finish on the podium and I think that is good.”
Patrick Pilet, No. 910 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR: “Fred did a great job at the beginning. He started last and came up to fifth. The car was running very well. We were the quickest on track. When I overtook the BMW in Turn 15, I was surprised by the car in front, a GTD car, and I touched it on the rear. I was not able to avoid the contact. I bent the front of the car a little bit. I tried to push and come back and we finished fifth. I am sad for the guys because they did a very good job. The car was really competitive but that’s racing.”
Frédéric Makowiecki, No. 910 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR: “It is not easy to start from the back. The first two laps I tried to quickly overtake the GTD cars and the back of the GTLM class. The car was really quick. I think we had what we needed to win the race if we did not start from the back.”
Nick Tandy, No. 911 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR: “We pitted at the first opportunity and it couldn’t have worked out any better. The yellow came out before anyone else could pit. That gave us an edge and we were able to keep the lead. In the last 30-minutes, I was coming out of Turn 14 and lost drive. I knew immediately that we had a problem. I was able to make it into pit lane and we confirmed our day was done.”
Andy Lally, No. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT America: “It was great to feel like we’re back again. Everyone on this team has been working so hard through the summer to get us back on track. Between some recent testing and the new Adjustments of Performance changes, we’re a lot closer to where we wanted to be. It started with John’s stint, which was excellent, and then followed up with perfect pit stops by the guys. This second place finish was the sort of effort that once again showed the quality of Magnus Racing, and we’re all very excited about the final race.”
John Potter, No. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT America: “We’re all very happy to be back to our old form. This result was well deserved for the crew. We all know how important teamwork is in this sport, and today was once again proof of that. It’s great to see IMSA and Porsche’s efforts for Balance of Performance helped with some improvements, and the car was excellent all day. We obviously would have loved to deliver a win during such a big weekend for Porsche, but second still feels like a great accomplishment, and we’re all walking away satisfied.”
Jan Heylen, No. 58 Snow Racing Porsche 911 GT America: “Madison did a good job in his opening stint. I felt good when I got in the car, but the Porsche started to feel loose as it was near time for our tire change pit stop. We probably should have pitted earlier as the last couple of laps really wore me out. Near the end of the race, I was just hanging on. In the end, a fourth-place finish was good for us.”
Madison Snow, No. 58 Snow Racing Porsche 911 GT America: “I spent a bunch of laps behind two cars that I was faster than, but not fast enough to get by. Near the end of my stint, I finally got by them and the Porsche ran great when it found clean air.”
Cooper MacNeil, No. 22 Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT America: “We turned a tough qualifying run into a top five finish today. We are second in the championship, just four points back. We are going to Petit with the thought that we have to win the race. The goal has been for the last quarter of the season, get to Petit in sight of the championship. Alex Job Racing always does a great job with the endurance races and now it is in our hands to go and perform.”
Leh Keen, No. 22 Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT America: “We have another top five, which has been the secret to our season. To come from dead last on the grid because we put on new tires, to finishing fifth is a pretty good day. We also had a good points day. A few back from the BMW and put the [number] 555 Ferrari behind us heading to Petit. We didn’t expect to beat the BMW here at COTA. We wanted to get the championship to Petit and beat them there in two weeks. The improvements we made on the car helped today. Cooper had a good start and gave me the car in excellent position.”
A two-hour highlight show of today’s Lone Star Le Mans will be broadcast on the FOX Network Sunday, September 21. Check local listings for times.
The final round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship will take place on October 4 at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia.
GT Le Mans Results
1.No. 93 Jonathan Bomarito (USA)/Kuno Wittmer (Canada), Dodge Viper SRT – 76 laps
2. No. 91 Marc Goossens (Belgium)/Dominik Farnbacher (Germany), Dodge Viper SRT – 76 laps
3. No. 912 Patrick Long (USA)/Michael Christensen (Denmark), Porsche 911 RSR – 76 laps
4. No. 62 Pierre Kaffer (Germany)/Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy), Ferrari 458 Italia – 75 laps
5. No. 910 Patrick Pilet (France)/Frederic Makowiecki (France), Porsche 911 RSR – 75 laps
6. No. 55 Bill Auberlin (USA)/Andy Priaulx (Normandy/France) – 75 laps
8. No. 17 Wolf Henzler (Germany)/Bryan Sellers (USA), Porsche 911 RSR – 75 laps
11. No. 911 Nick Tandy (Great Britain)/Michael Christensen (Denmark), Porsche 911 RSR – 66 laps
GT Daytona Results
1.No. 33 Jeroen Bleekemolen (Monaco)/Ben Keating (USA) Dodge Viper SRT – 73 laps
2. No. 44 John Potter (USA)/Andy Lally (USA), Porsche 911 GT America – 72 laps
3. No. 300 Dane Cameron (USA)/Markus Palttala (Finland) BMW Z4 – 72 laps
4. No. 58 Jan Heylen (USA)/Madison Snow (USA), Porsche 911 GT America – 72 laps
5. No. 22 Cooper MacNeil (USA)/Leh Keen (USA), Porsche 911 GT America – 72 laps
6. No. 48 Chistopher Haase (Germany)/Bryce Miller (USA) Audi RS LMS – 72 laps
9. No. 81 Damien Faulkner (Ireland)/Ben Barker (UK), Porsche 911 GT America – 72 laps
10. No. 73 Patrick Lindsey (USA)/Norbert Siedler (Austria), Porsche 911 GT America – 72 laps
12. No. 30 Henrique Cisneros (USA)/Kuba Giermaziak (Poland), Porsche 911 GT America – 71 laps
14. No. 27 Patrick Dempsey (USA.)/Andrew Davis (USA) Porsche 911 GT America – 70 laps
15. No. 19 Mark Klenen (USA)/Alec Udell (USA), Porsche 911 GT America – 69 laps
16. No. 18 Khaled Al Kubaisi (UAE)/Larry Pegram (USA), Porsche 911 GT America – 67 laps
17. No. 71 Mike Vess (USA)/Mike Skeen (USA), Porsche 911 GT America – 62 laps
18. No. 23 Ian James (USA), Mario Farnbacher (Germany), Porsche 911 GT America – 58 laps
Source. Porsche
CORE WRANGLES PODIUM AND DRIVER TITLES IN TEXAS
CORE autosport brought its best game to Circuit of the Americas for a Prototype Challenge showdown at the Lone Star Le Mans. The team emerged with a second-place finish, clinching the PC Driver’s Championship in the inaugural season of the TUDOR United SportsCar Series.
Starting second on the grid, Jon Bennett maintained a solid run and a spot in the top five throughout his stint, despite a harried start. Bennett did a good job anticipating the green flag, but unfortunately race officials did not approve of the formation of the Prototype front row and waved off the start. The race was finally underway after a second start attempt, but it was not as kind to Bennett, who experienced contact with another PC competitor in the opening laps.
Bennett was running fifth in class when the only full-course caution of the two-hour and 45-minute race came for debris at Turn 19. The pits remained closed during the full-course caution, forcing the team to pit as soon as the green flag re-emerged. Bennett handed the car off to Braun in fourth place.
Braun was making progress through the field when a GTD car made contact with the No. 54 ORECA FLM09. The hit briefly slowed Braun who fell to third. He quickly recovered from the incident and moved into the PC class lead.
Shortly thereafter, while defending his lead in Turn 1, Braun made contact with the No. 25 8STAR car driven by Sean Rayhall. Race officials deemed Braun to be at fault for the incident and issued the No. 54 a drive-through penalty. After serving the penalty, Braun returned to track in in fourth place.
The remaining race brought a fierce shootout between the PC top three with No. 25 in first, No. 54 in second and No. 08 in third. All three teams completed full service pits stops at the same time and re-emerged in the same order.
Braun remained quick all the way to the end, capturing a runner-up finish. The podium spot gave Bennett and Braun the points needed to clinch the PC Driver’s Championship a round early. It is the first Driver’s Championship for both.
“The race was pretty eventful and pretty uneventful. Jon did a great job, and we were lucky enough early on to make the minimum drive time, like everybody else. Jon came in, in a good spot, and we were able to get back out in a good spot. I got clipped by a [GTD] Porsche in traffic and then [Sean] Rayhall got by me. Then going out of Turn 1, Rayhall seemed to get pretty sideways and I tried to avoid him, which we ended up getting a penalty for. I don’t think I touched him, but they obviously wanted me to do that penalty, so that was that. We had to serve a drive-through and had a pretty big deficit, but we were able to make it up.
“With the drivers championship on the line, we had to finish first or second, so once we got into second we were pretty conservative in terms of saving fuel to make sure we made it to the end. We would’ve hated to run out and give up the championship. We got really close there at the end, but I’m really proud of the guys who made up a huge deficit. We certainly had a fast car and a job well done. Goals were accomplished by winning the championship today, and now we can focus on winning the race at Petit.
“It’s great to be able to deliver a driver championship for Jon. We’ve been co-drivers for the past couple years and have certainly been close. I’m really proud of the effort he’s done and that the guys have done, and I’m happy to be able to deliver this for everybody. It’s been a long time coming.”
– COLIN BRAUN
“We have a pretty solid process about how to approach a race weekend. We all know our jobs, and we don’t get overly focused on the results. We all just try to do a good job at what we’re doing and see where the results fall. It’s a formula that’s worked all season for us.
“Always at the start there’s a certain amount of anticipation of being both aggressive and also being careful and keeping in mind what our overall goal is for the day. There was a little bit of contact and a little bit of risk management. At the end, my goal is always to hand Colin a straight car in striking distance of the lead. I was able to do that. It was really going according to plan until some bad fortune struck Colin with a little bit of a questionable call. Deciding who’s at fault is a difficult task. It all worked out in the end though, and I’m happy we were able to capture the Driver’s Championship. I’m sure we’ll have a successful Petit Le Mans and will be celebrating in October.”
– JON BENNETT
Source. Core Autosport
WEATHERTECH RACING FIFTH AT COTA, ON TO PETIT
WeatherTech Racing drivers Cooper MacNeil and Leh Keen finished today’s running of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Lone Star Le Mans race at Circuit of the America’s (COTA) in fifth place in GTD.
With one race left, Keen (Charleston, S.C.) and MacNeil (Hinsdale, Ill.) have put themselves in a position to garner the team a third championship in as many years. The team will have to win Petit Le Mans in two weeks to secure the GTD championship.
MacNeil had the wheel of the No. 22 WeatherTech Porsche for the start of the two-hour-and-forty-five-minute race today. Starting from the 16th position on the GTD grid, the University of Colorado at Boulder college student drove the 22 Porsche to tenth position when he handed over to Keen on lap 26. Keen proceeded to move the white and black Porsche to the front of the GTD field as the primary competition for the championship, the No. 300 Turner BMW, began to lose ground and eventually finished third. Keen crossed the finish line in fifth, giving the WeatherTech Racing team a four point deficit heading to Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta Oct. 4.
“We turned a tough qualifying run into a top five finish today,” MacNeil said. “We are second in the championship, just four back. We are going to Petit with the thought that we have to win the race. The WeatherTech Porsche was handling pretty good during my stint. I was able to move up six or seven positons. Leh did a great job to improve a few more spots and bring it home fifth. That has been the goal the last quarter of the season, get to Petit in sight of the championship. Alex Job Racing does a great job with the endurance races and now it is in our hands to go and perform.”
“We have another top five, which has been the secret to our season,” Keen said. “To come from dead last on the grid because we put on new tires to finishing fifth is a pretty good day. We also had a good points day. A few back from the BMW and put the 555 Ferrari behind us heading to Petit. We didn’t expect to beat the BMW here at COTA. We wanted to take the championship fight to Petit and beat them there in two weeks. The improvements we made on the car helped today. Cooper had a good start and gave me the car in excellent position.”
Team owner Alex Job has the team heading to Petit in a position to win a third championship.
“We had a pretty good day with the WeatherTech car,” Job said. “We rebounded nicely from qualifying and improved the car. Cooper had a nice start to the race and Leh did a nice job to close it out. We are heading to Road Atlanta with one goal, win the race.”
The TUDOR United SportsCar Championship will close its season at Road Atlanta’s Petit Le Mans on Oct. 4.
Source. Kyle Chura/WeatherTech Racing
TEAM SEATTLE HAD A POSITIVE DAY
Team Seattle-The Heart of Racing drivers Mario Farnbacher and Ian James had a positive run in today’s TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of the America’s (COTA).
The team strategist, Mike Johnson, employed a race scheme that had Farnbacher (Ansbach, Germany) and James (Phoenix, Ariz.) in a position win with one hour to go in the race. Double stinting young Farnbacher, the German was able to gap the GTD field by 30 seconds by the time he handed the blue 23 Porsche over to James on lap 46. James set out to complete the strategy. Just a few laps later he began to have brake issues and on lap 54 he had contact with an LMPC car in Turn 20 resulting in a broken front right radiator on the Porsche. The team repaired the 23 and returned it to action some five laps down. Then, adding insult to injury, the brake issue further manifested itself and put James into the Turn 15 gravel trap ending the day early.
“The team had a great race plan and it was working out,” James said. “Mario had a great couple stints and got us out into the lead. I started to have some braking problems. I locked up the brakes and got into the back of a PC car and then the brakes went altogether. The positive is we are knocking on the door for that win. On to Petit.”
Farnbacher had an incredible drive to take the Team Seattle-Heart of Racing Porsche from 12th position on the grid to the lead. He led 28 laps on the day.
“I had a good double stint,” Farnbacher said. “I had some under steer on power down out of the turns. We had a good strategy and it looked like we were in a good position. It is too bad that Ian had the brake issues. We showed we could run upfront and it was nice to have the Team Seattle-Heart of Racing out in the lead today.”
Alex Job, team owner, had the team in a positon to win.
“We took a little different approach today by running Mario for a double stint,” Job said.
“Mario had a good lead when he handed over to Ian. Ian was having brake issues early into his run and had a lock up and then the contact with the PC car. We fixed the car and then we had another brake issue. It was a good team effort. We led most of the race, so all positives heading to Petit in two weeks.”
Source. Kyle Chura/Team Seattle
TOP FIVE FINISH FOR MICHAEL SHANK RACING
In racing, a moment can change the entire outcome of a race and that was exactly the case for Michael Shank Racing with Curb/Agajanian in the penultimate round of the IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship at Circuit of the Americas on Saturday. Both John Pew and Ozz Negri showed themselves strong in the No. 60 Ford EcoBoost Riley before tallying a fifth place finish at the checkers of the Lone Star Le Mans event.
After a series of practice and qualifying sessions on Thursday and Friday, Pew took the green flag for the 2.75-hour race from seventh on the grid. Following an aborted first start, Pew raced hard in the No. 60 for the first hour and ran as high as second place before pitting to hand the car over to Negri to finish out the race.
Unfortunately, just as the team was preparing to pit, the first and only caution period of the race fell and closed the pit lane, leaving Pew out on track with a quickly waning fuel load.
“It was too bad the first start was called off because I had a good start and got around the No. 2 car but on the second attempt I was unable to get around him,” said Pew of the start. “There was a lot of debris in the last two corners for quite a while and you have to drive off line to miss it. Finally at the very end of my stint, they were just about to call me in for the stop and then came the yellow. Because the pits were closed, I had to really work hard to save enough fuel to make it until we could get in for the stop.”
When the race returned to green, the team added fuel, bolted on fresh Continental Tires and Negri slid behind the wheel. As Negri rejoined the field, he quickly showed himself up to speed with the leaders of the race, but the off-sequence pit stop combined with a lack of caution periods meant that the team was unable to challenge for a podium finish.
After completing their final pit stop with just over an hour left to race, and without the benefit of any further caution periods, Negri ultimately had to play the fuel conservation game and drove home to a solid fifth place finish.
“It was an interesting race,” commented Negri after the race. “We got a little bit unlucky on that yellow. Ganassi pitted right before it went yellow. It’s tough coming from behind, going through the pack. The team did a great job coaching me through pace and saving fuel. It’s so frustrating because you want to go fast but at the same time, you have to save enough fuel to finish. I was looking at the dash and I couldn’t see any more lights on the fuel display and I thought I was out of fuel but the team said I had three more laps to go. I kept doing what I was doing and trying to keep up the pace as well. I tried to get to the No. 2 car but he was just a little too far ahead. We were able to gap the No. 90 – we started off about 11 seconds ahead of them and were able to stretch that out to about 20 seconds. The changes that we made for the race definitely made the car better. The hardest part is disciplining yourself not to go 10/10ths when the team is asking you to save fuel. You are lifting and braking earlier and short-shifting but we did what we had to do to finish P5. I thought we had the pace to be up there with the leaders if we had had track position.”
Team Owner Mike Shank was ultimately happy with the consistent result after a season of highs and lows for the determined team.
“We got a really bad break on the yellow and that’s really what cost us track position,” explained Shank. “Ganassi got the lucky break, they got in to pit on that yellow, but we couldn’t make it in time before the pits were closed. I’m actually happy with this result though. The car was a lot better than it was in qualifying and I know that if we could have had the track position, we could have been a top three finisher. Good for them and good for Ford Eco Boost, and all the guys at Roush Yates and Ford Racing. Congrats to all of them for a great win today.”
Michael Shank Racing now looks forward to finishing the season strongly in the IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship finale at Road Atlanta in just two weeks’ time.
Source. Sunday Group
OAK RACING CAPTURES A SECOND PLACE FINISH IN THE LONE STAR LE MANS
OAK Racing took to the 3.427-mile circuit at Circuit of the Americas for the second-to-last round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. They finished second, after starting on the pole position. Joining Gustavo Yacaman in the No. 42 machine once again was British driver Alex Brundle.
The French team entered a Ligier JS P2 powered by Honda for the two hour and 45 minute race, which is the closed LM P2 sport-prototype that Onroak Automotive unveiled this spring. Brundle is a veteran to the Ligier JS P2, as he has been a development driver for the new car, however this was Yacaman’s first outing.
“Today’s race was very exciting,” said Philippe Dumas, Team Principal. “P1 is always the goal, but it is a great achievement to have got the pole position and earned the fastest time during the race. It was a big weekend for Onroak Auto-motive, the Ligier JS P2 and our Honda engine. We have some work to do before Petit Le Mans, but we will continue to push. With just one race remaining, we want to win. The team had a fantastic drive from both Yacaman and Brundle. We put Gustavo (Yacaman) at the start of the race and there is a lot of pressure to perform well, it is not so easy. Alex (Brundle) was brilliant the whole weekend, especially at the end of the race.”
Gustavo Yacaman started the race in the Onroak Automotive machine and stayed behind the wheel for a double stint. On the first lap, he had contact with the No. 01 Ford EcoBoost Riley of Memo Rojas and the No. 10 Corvette DP of Ricky Taylor, but was able to maintain the first position. One hour into the race, while Yacaman was still in the car, there was light rain on the circuit. Just ten minutes later, Yacaman was spun by the No. 90 Corvette DP, which dropped him to fifth. He battled back to third before coming in for his driver change.
“I am very happy with today’s result,” said Yacaman. “I am proud of Onroak Automotive engineering and OAK Racing for coming to Austin, their first time in America with the new Ligier JS P2. It is great to have got pole position and lead some of the race. It was a shame to have got spun in the middle of the race after a restart, but we could only try to recover from there and we did so. Alex (Brundle) had an impressive drive into second place. I am very proud of both he and the team. Some races you win, some you don’t and this one was not our chance to win, but I am still happy with the result. I believe we have a very good package for Petit Le Mans, so we will push flat out because we want to win that race for sure.”
Alex Brundle took over for the remaining time of the Lone Star Le Mans. With just six minutes to go, he was able to pass Barbosa in the No. 5 Corvette DP for the second position. Brundle also set the fastest lap time of the race at 1:59.337.
“I think we have to be really happy with how the weekend went,” said Brundle. “We have to remember that at the start of the weekend, we didn’t have any clue how this was going to go with the new car and engine. We put the car on pole and finished P2 with the pace to win. Despite getting turned around during the race, we still managed to get on the podium. It’s a bit disappointing to not win, but our finish was still not bad. Overall, I am happy with our performance and how it went. ”
The winners of today’s race were Pruett/Rojas in the No. 01 Ford Ecoboost/Riley.
The final race remaining for OAK Racing in the 2014 IMSA season is Petit Le Mans, which will take place at Road America from October 2-4
Source. Oak Racing
VISIT FLORIDA RACING SIXTH AT COTA
After getting off to a quick start at Circuit of the Americas early in the weekend, Visit Florida Racing did not have the race they had been hoping for in the Lone Star Le Mans event Saturday afternoon. The team took home a disappointing sixth place finish in the No. 90 VISIT FLORIDA Corvette Daytona Prototype despite having run in podium contention.
When the green flag flew for the Lone Star Le Mans, Michael Valiante opened the race from fourth on the grid but wasted no time in moving forward when he took advantage of two cars getting together in Turn 1 to move up to fourth in line. Making good decisions through slower GT traffic, Valiante got by the No. 01 DP – the eventual winner of the race – and took over third position.
Visit Florida Racing called the No. 90 Corvette DP to pit road for tires and fuel with 42 minutes completed in the race. Valiante returned to the track sixth in line only to be slowed by the first and only caution period of the race. He cycled up to third in the order under the yellow and took over the lead when the race went back to green.
Unfortunately, there was contact between the No. 90 and No. 42 prototype machines and IMSA deemed a drive through penalty on the Visit Florida machine. After pitting for the drive through, Valiante emerged fifth and 23 seconds behind the leader. Looking to make up the time lost, Valiante went to work and was up to third when he was called to pit lane for a driver change, fuel and tires.
“It was a tough weekend because we were good in the beginning and we kind of lost our way and found some things that we changed going into the race and weren’t really sure what kind of car we would have,” said Valiante. “Although we didn’t have the best car, we could still run with the leaders. I was able to get the lead on that restart when the No. 42 and I had contact. So I think in the end, had we not received that penalty from that, we had a top-three or top-four car. It’s a little disappointing but at the end of the day we just have to make the car better so that we are not fighting so hard to come from behind.”
Richard Westbrook took over with just over an hour to go in the race and returned the No. 90 VISIT FLORIDA Corvette to the track in sixth place. Unfortunately with no more yellows displayed in the race, too much time had been lost and despite setting quick and consistent lap times, there was simply too much time to make up without a caution.
“It was a very tough race for us, but the positive that we can take away from the whole weekend is that we are closer to second than we were before we came into this,” said Westbrook. “But that wasn’t our goal and we wanted to close the gap to the leader in the championship. We have been chasing the car and the track. The track conditions were really difficult out there and the track got really hot in the last stages of the race and there was just no grip out there.”
Visit Florida Racing now sits third in the championship just 23 points behind the leader and one point behind second place.
“It wasn’t the day we wanted for sure,” said Team Owner Troy Flis. “It’s tough. We know what to do and how to do it. We’ve just been getting caught out. We need to keep our heads up and keep battling through. Everybody gets in these predicaments sometimes and we just have to struggle through right now and keep digging. We’ve got great guys, we’ve got great product. We have to keep our heads down and keep trying. We had issues all weekend, little things, nothing major. But nothing we could put our finger on. I think we had a decent car in the race. We got a penalty that we didn’t really need; that put us back. We would have been a top three car if we didn’t have that. All in all, I’m going to ask my drivers to keep trying and digging as hard as they can every lap. We’ll take that and move on. We’ve got one more to go and we’ve got to make one or two points on the No. 10 car to get second and we’ve got to keep the gap we have to the No. 42. It looks like the No. 5 car did a great job, like they have all year. We’ll battle for second and we’ll look at 2015.”
Source. Sunday Group
8STAR RECOVERS SECOND CONSECUTIVE WIN FROM DRAMATIC TUDOR CHAMPIONSHIP RACE IN TEXAS
8Star Motorsports led from the front, sensationally converting pole position into victory in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Lone Star Le Mans feature race at Circuit of the Americas (20 September).
An incredible qualifying effort by Sean Rayhall was followed by a determined and resolute charge to victory lane for the second consecutive race by the Georgia-based racer and Mexican teammate Luis ‘Chapulin’ Diaz.
Saturday’s 20-minute morning warm-up was positive for the 8Star driver pairing, as they continued to lap the Austin circuit quickly to keep a tight grip on the top of the Prototype Challenge (PC) rankings, with a dominant one second advantage over the chasing pack.
A false start to the race was followed by a strong getaway for Chapulin, who stamped his authority by consistently improving his lap times to build a dominant lead.
Diaz, backed by Takis, stayed strong and led the PC class for the entirety of his stint, before handing the #25 entry to Rayhall with little under 1h40m to go.
Rayhall was quickly out of the pits and landed in second place behind CORE autosport’s #54 PC challenger in the hands of Colin Braun.
The pairing locked horns in the fight for the PC initiative and an attempt to pass at Turn 1 ended with the orange 8Star Motorsports machine spinning down to fourth position. Braun was penalized as a result and, from third, Rayhall began hunting down the top two in a determined bid to reclaim the lead.
With an hour to go, Rayhall was still in third place and pushing hard, but moved back to the top of the leaderboard when his rivals had problems entering the pit lane.
Following a remarkable recovery, the 18-year old concentrated on conserving his fuel to maintain first position during the run to the flag and clinch the second consecutive race win for the 8Star Motorsports team.
“What a day for 8Star Motorsports,” said Rayhall. “To get spun out and drop to fourth and get back to first position and finish there for the second time is amazing! I am thankful to be driving for this Takis 8Star Motorsports team and I really feel blessed to be one of Enzo Potolicchio’s drivers. Yves (Touron) and the crew did an excellent job, the car was amazing and we were able to get our second victory in a row.”
Diaz said: “I am extremely happy for the Takis 8Star Motorsports team, as the guys did an excellent job. Sean drove brilliantly to close the race, and the strategy worked out great for us. This is my last race with 8Star Motorsports and I can’t thank them enough for this amazing season. Being able to close it with two wins in a row and leaving the team in a position to battle for the championship at Petit Le Mans is just great.”
Source.8Star Motorsports
