Weekend Recap: IMSA Action in Laguna Seca; Indy Hosts Porsche Sportscar Together Fest
Busy weekend of IMSA-sanctioned racing in multiple locations...
Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque extended their DPi points lead with victory in Sunday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca after a failed two-stop strategy call by Meyer Shank Racing.
Taylor took the No. 10 Acura ARX-05 to a 14.875-second win over the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R of Renger van der Zande, who made a late charge in the final moments of the two-hour and 40-minute contest.
Pla and co-driver Dane Cameron led the bulk of the race in the No. 60 MSR Acura DPi after stretching the fuel mileage following an early-race yellow.
The Frenchman made his final stop with 53 minutes to go and emerged as the leader once Taylor made his third and final stop some ten minutes later.
However, Pla then went into fuel-saving mode, handing the lead and eventual victory back to the No. 10 Acura with 25 minutes to go.
It marked Taylor and Albuquerque’s third win of the season and first since Mid-Ohio in May.
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Priaulx Wins Two of Three Porsche Carrera Cup NA Races at Indy
Sebastian Priaulx benefited from a Parker Thompson drive-through penalty to win Sunday’s third Porsche Carrera Cup North America presented by The Cayman Islands race at Indianapolis and extend his points lead over Kay van Berlo who finished third.
Sunday morning winner Thompson snatched the Race 3 lead from pole-sitter Priaulx on the left-hand switchback through Turn 2 after running side-by-side around Turn 1.
A long Full Course Caution period to clean up fluids spread by Pro-Am leader Efrin Castro’s accident on the front straight at the end of the first lap kept Thompson in the lead for most of the 45-minute contest.
The JDX Racing driver, who had finished second and first in the two prior Indianapolis races, remained ahead after the restart with 15 minutes to go but was carrying a penalty for changing lanes at the start of the race.
Thompson served his drive-through with just under 10 minutes left on the clock, releasing Priaulx into a lead that would be maintained until the checkered flag.
Priaulx came under pressure from Riley Dickinson in the closing stages, with the pair ultimately crossing the finish line three-tenths of a second apart.
It marked a second win of the Indianapolis weekend for Priaulx, who heads to the final triple-header round at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta with a provisional 44-point advantage over van Berlo.
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Marcelli, Formal Claim Lamborghini Super Trofeo NA Race 2 Win
Kyle Marcelli and Danny Formal claimed their third Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America victory in the last four races following a commanding run in the second round of the weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Marcelli drove the No. 1 Prestige Performance by Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo Evo to a 11.306-second win over Race 1 winner Richard Antinucci in Sunday’s 50-minute contest, which ran caution-free.
Having started on pole, Formal stretched out into an early lead over the No. 6 O’Gara Motorsport/US RaceTronics Lamborghini of Jacob Eidson, who capitalized on a mistake by Richard Antinucci after driving off-course at the start.
Antinucci managed to retake second through traffic on Lap 11 and solidified his position through the round of mid-race pit stops.
Eidson and Steven Aghakhani completed the overall and Pro class podium in third ahead of the No. 16 Change Racing entry of Stevan McAleer and Jeroen Mul.
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Heylen, Root Win Pilot Challenge Race as Turner Hits Trouble
Jan Heylen and Max Root claimed a pivotal victory in Saturday’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge round at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, in a race that saw the GS championship-leading Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 hit trouble.
Heylen drove his No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport to a 4.563-second win over the No. 4 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Indy Dontje following an intense battle with Bill Auberlen in the final hour.
Auberlen took over the lead after the final round of scheduled green flag pit stops in his No. 95 Turner BMW and enjoyed a duel with Heylen until suffering a right-rear puncture with 38 minutes to go.
The stop for four fresh Michelin tires dropped Auberlen to 17th in class at the time.
It gave clear sailing for Heylen, who entered the weekend trailing Auberlen and co-driver Dillon Machavern by 260 points, to claim his first victory of the season.
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