United Sports Car Championship Racing Recap; Brickyard Grand Prix
All four classes took part to make up a field of nearly 50 cars for the Brickyard Grand Prix this weekend. The action started early as everyone fought for position going into the first turn. Contact sent the No. 42 OAK Racing LMP into the grass. The OAK Racing Nissan/Morgan recovered but was never really a factor in the race, possibly due to damage incurred in the first turn mayhem.
The No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP was damaged when the car was forced into the wall during the chaotic start. The Taylor brothers continued and managed a fourth place finish. Pit strategy was a major factor as some teams were able to gain track position by driving conservatively to save on fuel and tires in order to avoid a late race pit stop.
In the Prototype class, it was Joao Barbosa and Christen Fittipaldi, and the entire No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP team that kissed the bricks after the race. Barbosa and Fittipaldi had a good race get even better thanks to the No. 01 Ganassi Racing Riley-Ford DP of Scott Pruett and newcomer Sage Karam pitting late in the race.
Karam covered for Memo Rojas, who injured his back last weekend in a crash. The No. 90 of Richard Westbrook and Michael Valiante managed to finish third. The win for the No. 5 moves Barbosa and Fittipaldi back into the points lead over Wayne Taylor Racing’s Jordan and Ricky Taylor.
Rocket Sports Racing took the Prototype Challenge win with a 1-2 finish in the all ORECA FLM09 class. Chris Cumming and Jack Hawksworth in the No. 08 RSR entry beat their teammates Duncan Ende and Bruno Junqueira in the No. 09 by only 1.422 seconds. The No. 54 CORE Autosport entry of Jon Bennett and Colin Braun hung on for third but still remain in the points lead.
In GTLM, it was Jonathan Bomarito and Kuno Wittmer in the No. 93 SRT Motorsports Viper GTS-R taking the win over the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 458 Italia of Pierre Kaffer and Giancarlo Fisichella. Third place went to Patrick Long and Michael Christensen in the No. 912 Porsche of America 911 RSR. The Corvettes finished an unfamiliar fourth and fifth, yet the No. 3 of Jan Magnussen and Anthony Garcia maintain the championship lead.
The No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia of Alessandro Balzan and Jeff Westphal took the GTD class win by finishing a full lap ahead of the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Audi R8 LMS driven by Christopher Hasse and Bryce Miller. In third place was the No. 33 riley Motorsports Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R of Jeroen Bleekemolen and Ben Keating. A fourth place finish by Townsend Bell and Bill Sweedler was enough to keep the No. 555 AIM Autosport Ferrari teammates in the championship points lead.
The next round for the TUDOR United Sports Car Championship will again see all four classes do battle around the 4 mile long Road America circuit in Elkhart Lake Wisconsin for the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase August 8-10.
The race will be broadcast on FOX Sports 1 on 8/10 at 6:30 P.M. EDT.