The #33 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Russell Ward and Philip Ellis completed a picture-perfect GT World Challenge America Race 2 at Road America, to secure a weekend sweep at America’s National Park of Speed.
Race 2 on Sunday was held under overcast conditions. The #6 US Racetronics Mercedes-AMG GT3 (Steven Aghakhani/Loris Spinelli) was meant to start from pole position, but withdrew due to collision damage sustained in Race 1. Also withdrawing was the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 (Michael Dinan/Robby Foley), which reduced the field to just 14 cars.
This moved the #33 Winward AMG GT3 to the pole, and from the start, Philip Ellis controlled the opening stint of the race. Jordan Pepper in the #3 K-PAX Lamborghini Huracan GT3 got around the #93 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 of Mario Farnbacher at the first corner.
Meanwhile, further back, the #04 CrowdStrike with Riley Motorsports AMG GT3 (George Kurtz/Colin Braun) had to start at the back after a chassis change. They suffered damage to the hood after contact on the opening lap, and had to make an unscheduled pit stop at the end of the first lap – which compromised their race immediately. They would finish 12th overall, and only ninth in their class.
The rest of the field basically held station for the remainder of the opening stint, as Ellis continued to extend his margin over Pepper. At the pit window, Ellis took a 15 second lead into the pits, handing the cockpit over to Ward during the compulsory pit window.
Ward re-entered the race with a 25-second gap over the two K-PAX Lamborghinis, but the green #3 K-PAX car, now in the hands of Misha Goikhberg, had to serve a drive-through penalty for not respecting the minimum pit time.
This elevated the black #1 of Michele Beretta and Andrea Caldarelli to second overall, but Ward was well in control at the wheel of his powerful V8-powered Mercedes.
Stretching his lead out to over 30 seconds over Beretta, Ward took the chequered flag after completing 42 laps to give Winward Racing their third Pro class win of the season, and their second overall win.
Since returning to the series at Watkins Glen, Winward Racing have racked up four straight Pro Cup podiums. And across both GT World Challenge and the IMSA GTD class, Ward and Ellis recorded three wins at Road America in just two weeks!
On this weekend the K-PAX Racing Lamborghinis just didn’t have the speed to match the more powerful Mercedes, but Beretta and Caldarelli still came away with solid points in second. Their sister car broke down just ten minutes short of the finish, but Goikhberg and Pepper completed enough laps to be classified in 14th, getting credit for third in the Pro Class.
After a solid opening stint from Farnbacher, Ashton Harrison took over and brought the red #93 Racers Edge NSX GT3 home to third overall and a weekend sweep in the Pro-Am category.
With clear track ahead of her, Harrison took the class win by well over 15 seconds, followed by the #08 Qelo Capital/DXDT Racing AMG GT3 (Scott Smithson/Bryan Sellers), who finished in fourth overall and second in Pro-Am – season-best results for Smithson and Sellers.
The battle for fifth overall and the last podium position in Pro-Am was settled when the #94 BimmerWorld Racing BMW M4 GT3 (Chandler Hull/Bill Auberlen) overtook the #45 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3-R (Charlie Luck/Jan Heylen) with less than ten minutes left in the race.
After Hull overtook Luck, Luck went off course at turn seven momentarily, taking him out of contention for the class podium, but he brought the car home for a big points finish.
The #43 RealTime Racing NSX GT3 (Erin Vogel/Michael Cooper) brought home a seventh place finish at the team’s home race. In eighth were the Am class winners – and new series champions – Charlie Scardina and Onofrio Triarsi Jnr in the #23 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo.
Bouncing back from a single-car accident in Race 1, the #91 TR3 Racing Lamborghini (Jeff Burton/Corey Lewis) finished ninth, with the #12 Ian Lacy Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 (Frank Gannett/Drew Staveley) rounding out the overall top ten.
Commendations as well to the GMG Racing Am duo of Kyle Washington and James Sofronas, who took the chequered flag in both races aboard their #032 Porsche.
So, with three races remaining – two at Sebring International Raceway, and a three-hour, double-points finale at Indianapolis Motor Speedway – the Pro-Am championship battle has never been tighter. For the first time since their double victory at Sonoma, Luck and Heylen now lead the standings by just two points over Harrison and Farnbacher, and by four points over Kurtz and Braun, who are now third in the table.
And don’t discount the chances of Hull and Auberlen, who are just 24 points back with 100 available.
Caldarelli continues to lead Pepper in the Pro Cup standings by 47 points, while Ward and Ellis have leapt over the absent USRT and Turner duos.
GT World Challenge America’s visit to Sebring is next up, the penultimate round of the season taking place from 23-25 September.
Images © Brian Cleary, Regis Lefebure / SRO Motorsports Group America
