Weekend Recap: Laguna Seca Winners; DTM, GTWC Sprint Cup Kicks Off & More
Catch up on a busy weekend of sports car racing from the U.S., Europe...
Taylor, Albuquerque Prevail in Acura Battle at Laguna Seca
Wayne Taylor Racing has scored victory in Sunday’s Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship, following a hard-fought battle with fellow Acura squad Meyer Shank Racing.
Filipe Albuquerque took the No. 10 Acura ARX-05 to a 1.080-second win over Tom Blomqvist’s MSR machine in the fourth round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.
Having started on pole, Ricky Taylor stretched out into an early lead until the race’s only full-course caution for a heavy accident by the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of GTD class pole-sitter Russell Ward.
An undercut strategy by MSR, however, put Tom Blomqvist out front briefly in the two-hour and 40-minute race although an aggressive move by Albuquerque, which saw the two cars make slight contact heading into the Corkscrew, put the Konica Minolta-sponsored Acura back out front.
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Mueller Takes Lights-to-Flag DTM Win at Portimao
Nico Mueller won the second DTM race at Portimao in dominant fashion, scoring his first series win since November 2020.
Mueller started the race from pole position and held off a challenge from Gasser Racing Team’s Mirko Bortolotti on the opening lap.
Once Mueller kept the Italian behind he was able to pull out a gap.
Meanwhile, second place changed hand as Felipe Fraga’s No. 74 Red Bull AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 took the position from Bortolotti on the second lap.
Mueller remained out front after the mandatory round of stops and kept Fraga at bay, scoring his first win of the season.
The Audi factory driver hadn’t won a race since the penultimate round of the 2020 season and returned to the podium for the first time since the Monza season opener in June of last year.
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Marciello, Boguslavskiy Win GTWC Sprint Race 2 for Early Points Lead
Raffaele Marciello and Timur Boguslavskiy took a crushing victory in the second race at Brands Hatch to develop an early Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup points lead after one round.
The drivers of the No. 89 Akkodis ASP Team Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo won Sunday afternoon’s 60-minute contest by a 6.5-second margin ahead of Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts who shared the No. 32 Team WRT Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II.
Marciello started the race from pole after posting a record-breaking qualifying lap on Saturday and built a significant 10-second lead during the opening stint.
A solid pit stop from the ASP mechanics kept Boguslavskiy in the lead and the 2020 GTWC Europe combined champion managed the gap to Weerts, who removed a few seconds but couldn’t get close enough to challenge for the win.
Factoring in their third in Race 1, Marciello and Boguslavskiy left Brands Hatch with 27 points scored, putting them at the top of the Sprint Cup standings by three points from double defending champions Vanthoor and Weerts who twice finished second.
It marked the third Sprint Cup win for Marciello and Boguslavskiy, who triumphed together at Misano and Barcelona in 2020.
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VOLT’s Hindman, Brynjolfsson Score MPC Laguna Seca Win
Trent Hindman drove to victory in Saturday’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge round at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Hindman, in the No. 7 VOLT Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4, resisted a late-race challenge from Bill Auberlen in the No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 to take he and Alan Brynjolfsson’s first victory of the season.
The Wright Motorsports-run Aston took over the lead after initially gambling on fuel prior to a series of late-race yellows that put the car back into its mileage window.
Hindman crossed the line 2.513 seconds ahead of the No. 28 RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport of Stevan McAleer after Auberlen was forced to dash to the pits in the final ten minutes due to a tire puncture.
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Kujala, Piscopo Win Lamborghini Super Trofeo Race 2 at Laguna Seca
Patrick Kujala made a late-race pass on Giano Taurino to claim victory in the second Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America race of the weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Kujala took his No. 50 O’Gara Motorsport/Change Racing/USRT Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2 to a 0.441-second win over the No. 1 Wayne Taylor Racing entry of Danny Formal in Sunday’s 50-minute contest.
Multiple positions changed hands in the closing ten minutes, first with Kujala getting around Taurino for the overall and Pro class lead, followed moments later by Formal also passing the Taurino Racing with D Motorsports driver.
It came after a controlling opening stint by his co-driver Loris Spinelli despite making contact with Formal’s co-driver Kyle Marcelli at the start that saw the Race 1 winning car spun around in Turn 1.
A lengthy yellow for an accident by the No. 4 MCR Racing Lamborghini of Bart Collins set up a 25-minute dash to the checkered flag.
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Thompson Holds Off Dickinson, Van Berlo for Porsche Carrera Cup NA Weekend Sweep
Parker Thompson held off Riley Dickinson and Kay van Berlo to claim a weekend sweep of Porsche Carrera Cup North America race wins at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
The JDX Racing driver took over the lead on the opening lap of Sunday’s 40-minute contest, getting around pole-sitter Dickinson after starting second on the grid by virtue of best lap times set in Race 1.
Thompson held the position for the remainder of the race, despite heavy pressure at times from Dickinson in the No. 53 Kelly-Moss Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car. He finished 0.557 seconds ahead of Dickinson.
It marked Thompson’s second win of the season after breaking van Berlo’s four-race win streak on Saturday.
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Le Mans Entry List Finalized
Track Upgrades for Laguna Seca
Power Reduction for Alpine
NOLA Replaces Ozarks on SRO Calendar
Porsche’s GTD Approach in 2023