R. Ferri and its drivers Toni Vilander and Miguel Molina scored their first win of the 2019 World Challenge America SprintX season yesterday at Circuit of The Americas, after a nail-biting dash to the flag following a late race restart.
K-PAX Racing’s Gen 2 Bentley Continental GT3s, after a dominant display during Saturday’s race, was unable to complete a weekend sweep of pole and a pair of wins for the Californian team. The #9 K-PAX Continental of Andy Soucek and Alvaro Parente (that finished second in Race 1) came close, but it was the 2018 champions in R. Ferri’s Ferrari that came out on top.
It was an almost a lights-to-flag win for R. Ferri after Vilander quickly moved into the lead after starting third, but it was a far from comfortable victory.
A late safety car for two cars stopping out on track (#11 One11 Ferrari and #38 K2R Porsche) set up a sprint finish with under 10 minutes remaining.
Molina had to defend hard from Soucek to secure the win for the R. Ferri, eventually crossing the line with a winning margin of 1.2 seconds, getting its title defence well and truly underway.
Third on the road was the #58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R of Pat Long and Scott Hargrove, which finished just ahead of the second of the K-PAX Bentleys – the #3 – which crossed the line fourth, recovering well after an early drive-through.
Alegra Motorsports’ Porsche completed the top five, finishing just ahead of the Pro-Am winning Racers Edge Motorsporta Acura NSX Evo.
It was a strong race for the NSX, as Gradient Racing’s example finished seventh overall and second in Pro-Am, making it a 1-2 for the car.
Wright Motorsports’ second Porche completed the top three in the Pro-Am class.
P1 Motorsports Mercedes AMG-GT3 of Max Buhk and JC Perez looked set to win the Pro-Am class but received a black flag during the race after the team failed to serve a drive-through penalty.
Squadra Corse Garage Italia won the Am class, Martin Fuentes and Cesar Bacarella completing a sweep of the weekend in their #7 Ferrari 488 GT3.
Photo courtesy of World Challenge America
