DPi: hit MSR in the final
Tom Blomqvist / Oliver Jarvis had to finish ahead of Ricky Taylor / Filipe Albuquerque to win the DPi championship and they did it great.
Together with their teammate Helio Castroneves they achieved success in the race and the drivers ‘title, giving Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian the one reserved for teams, thanks to a quick pit stop made 45’ from the end that brought the Acura ARX- 05 # 60 ahead of # 10 of Wayne Taylor Racing’s rivals, who were in the crew with Brendon Hartley.
Albuquerque tried to chase Blomqvist, but a quarter of an hour from the corner 2 wing ended up touching Philip Ellis’ dubbed Mercedes. The contact damaged the rear suspension of the # 10 Acura, putting an end to dreams of glory.
The pit stop proved to be the winning move for # 60, given that with 51 ‘remaining the Cadillacs of Renger Van Der Zande and Earl Bamber had an accident at turn 1. The neutralization gave way to Albuquerque and Blomqvist of make the stop, with the latter exiting the pit lane first.
Also on the podium are the Cadillacs of Pla / Derani / Conway (# 31 Action Express Racing) and Kobayashi / Rockenfeller / Johnson (# 48 Ally Racing), mocking that of CGR entrusted to Van Der Zande / Bourdais / Dixon.
# 60 Meyer Shank Racing W / Curb-Agajanian Acura DPi: Oliver Jarvis, Tom Blomqvist, Helio Castroneves
Photo by: Phillip Abbott / Motorsport Images
LMP2: Tower wins victory and title
John Farano and Tower Motorsport win the LMP2 Class for the third consecutive year, winning the drivers and team championships in the class.
Together with Louis Delétraz and Rui Pinto de Andrade, the Oreca 07 # 8 led 59 of the 66 laps, beating the Oreca # 81 of DragonSpeed USA (S.Montoya / JP.Montoya / Hedman) and the # 11 of PR1 Mathiasen (Thomas / Pierson / Nunez).
The # 52 of their teammates Keating / Jensen / Huffaker is the Endurance Cup Champion, even though Keating was involved in an accident when there were 3 hours to go.
# 8 Tower Motorsport Oreca LMP2 07: John Farano, Louis Deletraz, Rui Pinto de Andrade
Photo by: Phillip Abbott / Motorsport Images
LMP3: Core and Andretti uncork the champagne
Another great battle in LMP3 that saw the Ligier JS P320 # 54 of Core Autosport driven by Colin Braun, Jon Bennett and George Kurtz recover after a spin and win the drivers’ championship with the first two and that team.
The pair defeated Riley Motorsports # 74 rivals Robinson / Fraga / Van Berlo despite a 3h25 ‘off track with Kurtz at the wheel, who then returned to the pits for repairs and returned to the race closing fifth behind # 74 and therefore winning the title.
In the meantime, Andretti / Chaves / Burdon achieved success in the race with the Ligier # 36 of Andretti Autosport.
Also on the podium are the # 30 of JR III Racing (Balogh / Grist / Siegel) and the # 33 of Sean Creech Motorsport (Robinson / Fraga / Van Berlo).
# 54 CORE Autosport Ligier JS P320: Jon Bennett, Colin Braun, George Kurtz
Photo by: Phillip Abbott / Motorsport Images
GTD PRO: party for Lexus and Porsche, Ferrari title
Vasser Sullivan finally takes an endurance victory in GTD PRO, although it looked like it might vanish at some point. After leading most of the 10-hour race, Jack Hawksworth was involved in a brawl with the # 62 Ferrari of Risi Competizione.
The 488 crossed the line first, but was relegated to the back of the grid for a penalty due to Daniel Serra’s excess driving time for hours.
The sanction brought Hawksworth, Ben Barnicoat and Kyle Kirkwood to the top of the group with the Lexus # 14 ahead of the BMW # 25 of De Phillippi / Edwards / Krohn (Team RLL) and the Porsche # 9 of Jaminet / Campbell / Nasr, which with great joy of Pfaff Motorsports wins the championship.
However, there is also a party in Ferrari because with the points taken over 10 hours, Serra himself and Davide Rigon are crowned Endurance Cup Champions.
# 9 PFAFF Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R: Matt Campbell, Mathieu Jaminet, Felipe Nasr
Photo by: Gavin Baker / Motorsport Images
GTD: Acura victory, great Inception
Gradient Racing completes the great Acura day by winning the GTD Class with Kyffin Simpson, Till Bechtolsheimer and Mario Farnbacher, who with the NSX GT3 # 66 got the better of the McLaren 720S # 70 of Inception Racing (Iribe / Pepper / Priaulx) in a final fight lasting 30 ‘.
The Gradient drivers started from the rear of the GTD grid, after a problem with the turbo wastegate prevented them from completing a qualifying lap. After the start they reached the top positions, and then took the lead during a pit stop just under an hour from the end.
Subsequently there was the eighth of the nine Safety Car entrances and in the following 22 laps under the green flag, the GTD leaders Farnbacher and Pepper were 1 “behind. With 24 minutes left in the race, the two recorded lap times of less than one thousandth of a second, but Pepper never got close enough to attempt an attack and was denied one last chance when the race ended under FCY.
The second final place nevertheless earned the McLaren # 70 of Inception the Endurance title of the season reserved for teams, while a comeback from the rear by Roman De Angelis / Maxime Martin / Ian James with the Aston Martin Vantage # 27 of Heart of Racing until in seventh place was enough to give the drivers title to De Angelis.
A difficult race that also saw them run into an electrical problem that required the replacement of the steering wheel at mid-race and an exit from the track at the end after a collision with the Porsche # 16 of Wright Motorsports (Heylen / Hardwick / Robichon) which he was fighting with De Angelis, who had the best in the run-up to the crown by 23 points over Heylen / Hardwick.
Finally, the BMW # 96 of Turner Motorsport (Foley / Auberlen / Dinan) climbs on the podium ahead of the Porsche-Wright and BMW # 1 of Paul Miller Racing (Sellers / Snow / Johansson).
The Ferraris take home an eighth and tenth place in their category, respectively with AF Corse (# 21 Mann / Perez Companc / Vilander) and Cetilar Racing (# 47 Lacorte / Sernagiotto / De Pauw), among them the Lamborghini # 42 of NTE / SSR (Conwright / Holzer / Yount).
# 66 Gradient Racing, Acura NSX GT3, GTD: Kyffin Simpson, Till Bechtolsheimer, Mario Farnbacher
Photo by: Art Fleischmann
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