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Ferrari, Audi, BMW and Hyundai Class Winners at the Grand Prix of Texas, Round 2 of the Pirelli World Challenge


© 2018, Bruce Miller

© 2018, Bruce Miller

© 2018, Bruce Miller

© 2018, Bruce Miller

© 2018, Bruce Miller

© 2018, Bruce Miller

© 2018, Bruce Miller

© 2018, Bruce Miller

 

Austin, TX, 25 March 2018 Ferrari, Audi, BMW and Hyundai came away as winners at the Grand Prix of Texas, Round 2 of the Pirelli World Challenge.

GT SprintX

The Ferrari brand swept all three GT SprintX classes Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) led by Toni Vilander and Miguel Molina co-driving the No. 61 R. Ferri Motorsport Ferrari 488 GT3 for the second round GT SprintX race.

Vilander, the past LeMans champion from Finland, and Molina, the factory Ferrari driver from Spain, drove to another impressive win Sunday in the 60-minute, two-driver feature by defeating the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 pair of Mike Skeen and Scott Heckert by 2.521-seconds in the 28-lap Round 2 contest in the Pro-Pro category.


© 2018, Bruce Miller

Another Ferrari victory came in the GT SprintX Pro-Am class with Jeff Segal of Miami, Fla., and Wei Lu of Vancouver, B.C., Canada co-driving the No. 31 Ferrari of Vancouver/TR3 Racing Ferrari 488 GT3 over the No. 3 K-PAX Racing Bentley Continental GT3 duo of Rodrigo Baptista of Brazil and Maxine Soulet of Belgium.

And the Am-Am class victory went to former GTA champion Martin Fuentes of Mexico City, Mex., and Caesar Bacarella of Miami, Fla., in the No. 07 Squadra Corse Garage Italia/Hublot Ferrari 488 GT3.

GTS SprintX

Reigning GT SprintX Pro-Am champion James Sofronas of Villa Park, Calif., teamed with Alex Welch of Englewood, Colo., to capture Sunday’s Round 2 GTS SprintX 60-minute feature in the No. 14 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS sports car

Sofronas started eighth in the 37-car field Sunday and moved to the third spot by the second lap of the 21-lap main event at the popular 3.427-mile, 20-turn road course southeast of Austin.


© 2018, Red Case Photography

Welch took over the driver’s seat on a lap 12 pit stop and sat third when a full course yellow appeared on lap 14. The Colorado racer then moved past leader Samantha Tan and second place Justin Raphael, both in BMW M4 GT4 cars, at lap 18.

Welch opened up his advantage to 1.5 seconds immediately and took the checkered flag under another full course caution period.

The win for Sofronas and the Southern California-based GMG Racing team was the fourth in the last four COTA races including three Pro-Am victories last September.

Second overall went to the early race leaders, Stevan McAleer and Justin Raphael in the No. 17 Raphael & Associates/Classic BMW BMW M4 GT4 followed by the No. 38 ST Racing BMW M4 GT4 of Tan and race pole-sitter Nick Wittmer. Rounding out the top-five were 18-year-old Harry Gottsacker, Round 1 pole winner, in the No. 69 Racers Edge Motorsports SIN R1 GT4 and the No. 78 Compass Racing McLaren 570S with Ray Mason and 2017 TC champion Paul Holton.

In the Am-Am division the No. 36 ST Racing BMW M4 GT4 of 19-year-old Aurora Straus and veteran Al Carter won the category Sunday. The duo held off the solo driver Drew Staveley in the No. 12 Ian Lacy Racing Ginetta G55 and the Classic BMW duo of Toby Grahovec and Chris Ohmacht in the No. 92 EFT Global BMW M4 GT4.

Touring Cars

Mark Wilkins of Mulmur, Ont., Canada, led the 1-2 Hyundai sweep with his Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian teammate Michael Lewis in Round 2 of the opening TCR Class events.

Wilkins, pole winner in both TCR contests at COTA this weekend, protected his position entering turn one at the 3.427-mile, 20-turn race track southeast of Austin. The 34-year-old sports car veteran kept a strong pace throughout the 14-lap race in the No. 99 BHA Hyundai i30 N TCR and held off Lewis, the Saturday TCR winner, by 0.512 seconds at the checkered flag.

The impressive performance by the Hyundai i30 N TCR sedans saw Wilkins sweep practice, qualifying and Round 2 with Lewis, the Laguna Beach, Calif., driver in the No. 98 BHA Hyundai i30 N TCR, capturing the Round 1 40-minute sprint race. Third for the second consecutive TCR race was veteran Ryan Eversley of Atlanta, Ga., in the all-new No. 43 RealTime Racing Honda Civic Type-R TCR car.

Finishing out the top-five TCR positions Sunday were Anthony Geraci of Glen Head, N.Y., in the No. 69 Heinlein Racing Development Audi Sport RS3 LMS and Nate Vincent of Pomfret, Conn., in the No. 72 FCP Euro by HRD Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR.

The top five TCR finishers drove four different auto makes in Sunday’s 40-minute sprint event.

Nissan’s Vesko Kozarov of Salt Lake City, Utah, dominated the two Touring Car features this weekend with another win Sunday in his Rearden Racing Nissan 370Z TC Spec with a 2.885-second triumph over his Tony Rivera of Escondido, Calif., in the No. 97 Brass Monkey Racing Nissan 370Z TC Spec and former TCB champion Johan Schwartz of Huntersville, N.C., in the No. 80 Rooster Hall Racing BMW M235iR.

In the TCA action, Tom O’Gorman of Mason, Ohio, in the No. 94 RealTime Racing Honda Civic Si, came back to defeat Saturday’s race winner Eric Powell of Orlando, Fla., in the No. 95 TechSport Racing Subaru BRZ tS sedan followed by his teammate P.J. Groenke in the No. 25 TechSport Racing Subaru BRZ tS.

Coming Up Next

The Pirelli World Challenge Rounds 3 and 4 now move to the picturesque VIRginia International Raceway in Danville, Va., on April 27-29. The next PWC event will be a GT/GTS event in the streets of Long Beach, Calif., as part of the 44th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 13-15.

Bonus Feature:
Day by Day Photo Coverage by Bruce Miller