<\/p>\n\n\n\n
GTP<\/strong> – Wayne Taylor Win After #60 Finds the Barriers And Estre\/Aitken Fight Ends In Tears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After a final hour filled with drama Wayne Taylor Racing’s #10 has taken its first win after one-and-a-half years of GTP competition, Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque taking their first IMSA victory as a pairing since joining Cadillac. Contact between the #6 Porsche of Kevin Estre and Jack Aitken’s #31 saw both cars out with just ten minutes to go, allowing Laurin Heinrich and Tijmen Van Der Helm to move up to second at the finish in his #5 JDC-Miller Porsche 963 with Louis Deletraz and Jordan Taylor securing a double podium for WTR in the #40 Cadillac. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Laurin Heinrich was installed in the #5 at the next pitstop of the JDC-Miller 963 as the #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 ended up in the gravel at turn 5 after contact with the #31 Cadillac, bringing out the race’s next full course yellow. It fell off the lead lap as a consequence, and upon emerging took emergency service every lap to slowly repair the car, ensuring it would lose a mimimal amount of time and risk dropping another lap, even if its shot at victory was spent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With the #7 now regaining one lap thanks to not pitting under the FCY, the BMW #25 Marco Wittman pitted to try and fix and apparent issue with its radiator, though it stayed on the lead lap. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And as the restart was shortlived, Dries Vanthoor stayed in the lead as the race was neutralised, and with 60sec stop and go penalties awarded to the #40 and the #7 for overdriving and almost hitting a course car during the previous full course yellow. The #25 and #7 also received penalties for working on the car while in the garage and jumping the previous restart. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But for the #24 the day was over, as after previously leading the race overall with radiator issues forcing an early retirement. Meanwhile the lead battle finally developed into a true battle as Kevin Estre battled Aitken’s #31 for second as they both reeled in Albuquerque. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With the recent penalties it was the #10 Cadillac of Filipe Albuquerque that led overall by mere carlengths from Jack Aitken’s #31 Action Express machine with Kevin Estre’s #6 in third and the best placed #93 Acura of Renger Van Der Zande in fourth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Further back at the Carousel the #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie had a huge spin but managed to keep it out of the wall, running sixth and just eighteen seconds off the leading Cadillac. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The #5 then was hit with a mechanical black flag seeing it drop further down from fourth where it had been running for some time, replacing the front nose and repairing the broken door while the #6 and #31 both pitted allowing Blomqvist to pass them, who would be pitting later in the final hour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Aitken and Estre meanwhile were on identical strategies and fought hard in a full-fat fight for second before Estre muscled past and the race’s next full course yellow was brought out just as Albuquerque exited the pits, allowing him to hold onto the lead. This also meant that Marco Wittman, Deletraz and Blomqvist – the only GTPs still needing a final pitstop – could take theirs under the yellow flag conditions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With racing back underway with 26 minutes to go Aitken and Estre resumed their battle for second with the big mover being Roman De Angelis in the #23 HoR Aston Martin Valkyrie, now up to fifth and chasing down Renger Van Der Zande’s #93 as the #10 stretched its lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With 17 minutes to go Tom Blomqvist was the next casualty of the race, as the #60 hit the barriers and suffered race-ending damage to the chassis. After a seven minute full course yellow the race would practiaclly implode, as having fought for second virtually for the entire last hour Jack Aitken and Kevin Estre came to blows in the first corner, colliding and both ending up in the barriers with race-ending consequences. The upshot was that Roman De Angelis’s #23 Valkyrie would finish second with the #5 JDC-Miller Porsche of Laurin Heinrich taking the final podium place in a critical swing in the championship. It also confirmed the win going the way of the #10 of Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor would win the inaugural 6 hour race at Road America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n LMP2<\/strong> – Inter Europol Hold On After Strong Final Stint, Crowdstrike and TDS Complete Podium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With the pit stops shaking up the order once again, Tristan Vautier now led in his #8 of Tower Motorsports ahead of United Autosport USA’s #22 of Paul Di Resta with Tom Dillmann’s #43 now sitting third. When Vautier pitted Di Resta assumed a small lead over the #04 of Alex Quinn, with Tom Dillmann’s #43 in closing in on both of them. Having run a clean race the #79 of JDC-Miller’s Sennan Fielding was now up to fourth and running well with the TDS #11 of Mathias Beche fifth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The final pitstops then began with the #22 making its final pitstop and being the first of its to do so dropping it only to fifth with Tom Dillmann becoming the next to do so from the lead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With the final pitstops made in the class, Tom Dillmann assumed the class lead in his #43 ahead of the #04, Di Resta’s #22 and the sister #2 of Mikkel Jensen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After the #22 was turned around at the final corner on the final restart Inter Europol’s #43 would take yet another win in IMSA’s LMP2 class Tom Dillmann, Jeremy Clarke and Bijoy Garg would be confirmed as the winners ahead of Alex Quinn, George Kurtz and Toby Sowery’s #04 with Mikkel Jensen, Phil Fayer and Hunter McElrea finishing third in the #2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n GTD Pro<\/strong> – Pfaff Take First Temerario Victory, #3 Corvette Beached as RLL McLaren Suffers Late Steering Issues<\/p>\n\n\n\n After spending so long off the podium, Pfaff Motorsports would win in IMSA for the first time since Sebring 2023 and take the first win for the Temerario with Andrea Caldarelli and Sandy Mitchell finishing ahead of the #77, with Tommy Milner guiding the #4 home to a podium ahead of Fred Vervisch’s #65 Ford Mustang GT3. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Under the full course yellow brought out by the #7, Nick Tandy and both Corvettes swapped drivers as Harry King stepped aboard the #77 with Alexander Simms and Tommy Milner boarding the #4 and #3 respectively, as the #9 Pfaff Lamborghini Temerario GT3 of Andrea Caldarelli moved up to third having not stopped, with Jack Hawksworth’s #14 moving up to fourth having also elected to stay out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n King would lead the GTD Pro field back to green ahead of Milner, Caldarelli and James Calado’s #033 of Triarsi with Dennis Olsen fourth in the best placed of the two Ford Mustang GT3s, but it would last barely half a lap as Alexander Simms made contact with the #65 and went off, bringing out a full course yellow again having found the gravel. The car was beached sufficiently and Corvette’s challenge for the class lead was halved, Simms going no further, and under the subsequent pitstops the #9 took the lead of the class ahead of Jack Hawksworth’s #14 with James Calado’s #033 in third, Tandy having dropped to fourth as Caldarelli continued to extend his lead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Max Esterston meanwhile slowed significantly meanwhile from the lead battle and ultimately pitted with steering issues, ruining what had been a great run from the team, while during the final pitstops Tandy took the lead again as the #911 Manthey Porsche of Thomas Preining jumped Tommy Milner as the #3 Corvette had pitted, before the Austrian ran wide at turn eleven. With all three made their last stops their task was to eliminate the near-10sec gap to Andrea Caldarelli in the #9. Tommy Milner eventually got back past Preining’s Porsche after orders from race control. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After the restart Caldarelli struggled to break free as he had done previously, with the #77 and #4 keeping him more than honest, the three of them split by barely a second and opening the gap to the fourth placed #65 Ford Mustang GT3 of Fred Vervisch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n GTD<\/strong> – Winward Win Thanks To Late Race FCY, #13 Survives Scare With Barriers as Trarsi and Dragonspeed Complete Podium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In GTD Winward would hold on with the #57 to win once again, with Indy Dontje, Russel Ward and Phillip Ellis holding off the #023 of Triarsi taking second ahead of Dragonspeed’s #81 with the #068 of Car Blanche missing out on a maiden podium by the narrowest of margins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Going back to green the #27 of Heart of Racing still led with Tom Gamble still led ahead of Robey Foley’s #96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 Evo, with Matthew Bell’s #13 Autosport Corvette now third. But heading into the first corner on the restart Bell ran wide and dropped ten places, to thirteenth before another full course yellow was called. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The #28 RS1 Porsche #911 GT3 R of Jan Heylen received a drive through penalty for passing under yellow flag conditions, as the #57 of Winward Racing went behind the wall from second position. This promoted the #81 Dragonspeed of Giacomo Altoe to second ahead of Robey Foley’s #96 Turner Motorsport BMW which was now third. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Having dropped down the order the #21 was awarded a drive through penalty dropping it to fourteenth in class with Antonio Fuoco at the wheel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With 56 minutes to go the Pfaff #9 was the first of the class to make its final pit stop rescinding the lead of the class to Hawksworth’s Lexus RCF GT3 as the #45 received a drive through penalty for speeding in the pits. But with 45 minutes to go the next spanner was thrown into the works, as the Wright Motorsports #120 of Tom Sargeant went off at turn eleven, slamming into the barriers and bringing out the race’s next full course yellow. They’d had a nondescript race to that point, and wouldn’t see the chequered flag. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Winward climbed back up to second despite the earlier penalty as the FCY continued with Kenton Koch’s #023 Triarsi Ferrari now leading the class. Third and fourth were two Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evos, the #068 Car Blanche of Valentin Hasse-Clot leading Tom Gamble’s #27. Winward’s #57 launched itself round the outside of Koch’s #033 and into the lead of the class, the latter merely trying to finish on the limited virtual energy it had to spare. Meanwhile in only their second race Car Blanche were running in a podium place with 20 minutes to go, Hasse-Clot tasked with holding off the challenge of Dragonspeed’s #81 and the #27 of Tom Gamble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Charlie Eastwood meanhwhile spun his #36 DXDT Corvette after contact with the #912 Manthey Porsche which was immediately handed a drive through for the contact. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" GTP – Wayne Taylor Win After #60 Finds the Barriers And Estre\/Aitken Fight […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,9],"tags":[70,71,43,36,37,53,32,35],"class_list":["post-1743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gt-racing","category-prototype-racing","tag-70","tag-2026-imsa","tag-gt3","tag-gtd","tag-gtd-pro","tag-gtp","tag-imsa","tag-lmp2"],"yoast_head":"\n