(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)
Jonathan Bomarito and Kuno Wittmer (No. 93 SRT Motorsports Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R) delivered the first TUDOR United SportsCar Championship GT Le Mans (GTLM) class victory for the Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R on Friday in the Brickyard Grand Prix. Bomarito qualified the car third but Wittmer started the race. With 44 minutes elapsed in the two-hour and 45-minute race, Bomarito took over behind the wheel. Just over an hour later, Bomarito passed Nick Tandy's Porsche 911 RSR for the lead and held it until the checkered flag. “I was second in 2012, and I’ve got to tell you, I was pretty jealous watching those guys kiss the bricks,” said Bomarito. “To come back here and experience that first hand with the team… everybody that is part of this team was out there kissing the bricks. I hope, and I know, it drives everyone to push even harder between now and the race at Road America.” Formula 1 veteran Giancarlo Fisichella and Pierre Kaffer (No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 Italia) finished second and Patrick Long and Michael Christensen (No. 911 Porsche North American Porsche 911 RSR) finished third, just 0.348 seconds out of second. Earning its reputation - yet again - as the most hotly competitive racing in the world, the top seven GTLM cars finished on the same lap. Check out John Thawley's scintillating images from the Indy race here.
(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)
Alessandro Balzan and Jeff Westphal (No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia) won the GT Daytona (GTD) class for their second victory of the year. Westphal held the lead with the Ferrari briefly while under caution before he turned over the wheel to Balzan at the one-hour mark. On the seventh and final class lead change of the race, Balzan passed James Davison (No. 007 TRG Aston Martin V12 Vantage) with 36 minutes remaining. Christopher Haase and Bryce Miller (No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Audi R8 LMS) finished second and Jeroen Bleekemolen and Ben Keating finished third in the No. 33 Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R.
(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)
Christian Fittipaldi and Joao Barbosa (No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP) took the overall win in last Friday’s Brickyard Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Barbosa took the Prototype lead with 48 minutes remaining and never looked back, maintaining a healthy lead for much of his stint while also conserving fuel. When the Prototype contenders hit pit road with less than 20 minutes remaining, Barbosa was able to stay out and then take the checkered flag, 48.964 seconds ahead of the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford EcoBoost/Riley DP of Scott Pruett and Sage Karam. It was the second TUDOR United SportsCar Championship victory of the season for Fittipaldi and Barbosa after the duo opened the season with a victory in the Rolex 24 At Daytona. For Fittipaldi, the win came 19 years after he made his Indianapolis 500 debut in 1995, where he finished second and earned Rookie of the Year honors. Richard Westbrook and Michael Valiante (No. 90 VISITFLORIDA.com/GoPro Corvette DP) finished third.
(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)
Jack Hawksworth (No. 08 RSR Racing AutomaxUSA.com ORECA FLM09 started by co-driver Chris Cumming) and Bruno Junqueira battled it out Friday for the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Prototype Challenge (PC) class win in the Brickyard Grand Prix. While Junqueira — the 2002 Indianapolis 500 pole winner — led much of the final stint, it was Hawksworth who made the winning pass with three minutes remaining. “The last 45 minutes were some of the most fun I’ve had in a race car, to be honest,” said Hawksworth, who finished 20th in the Indianapolis 500 this season, but finished seventh on the same IMS road-course layout in the IndyCar Grand Prix of Indianapolis in May. “I had a great battle with Bruno, fighting through the traffic. I enjoyed every minute of it. It’s a great circuit and I enjoyed it. To finally get a win here, it feels awesome.” Junqueira and co-driver Duncan Ende (No. 09 RSR Racing ORECA FLM09) made it a 1-2 finish for RSR Racing by finishing second. Colin Braun and Jon Bennett (No. 54 CORE autosport ORECA FLM09) finished third. The next race for the TUDOR Championship will be the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, on Sunday, August 10.
(Image courtesy of GM Racing/Chevrolet)
Robin Liddell, with co-driver Andrew Davis (No. 6 Stevenson Automotive Group Camaro Z/28.R), won the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday, their third victory of the season. Liddell finished the race 3.494 seconds ahead of Trent Hindman in the No. 46 Fall-Line Motorsports Trim-Tex/Cirroco Ozzimo BMW M3, co-driven by John Edwards. It was the fourth win in eight races for the Stevenson Motorsports team. Shelby Blackstock and Joey Atterbury (No. 48 Starstruck/Trianon Hotels BMW M3) finished third.
(IMSA)
Corey Lewis and Cody Ellsworth (No. 50 BERG Racing Porsche Cayman, shown in practice) pulled off an upset Street Tuner (ST) class victory Friday in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. closing in on its second consecutive ST win, the No. 04 BBA Accounting/DE Labs Porsche Cayman of Remo Ruscitti slowed on course - out of fuel - on the final lap of the two-hour, 30-minute Brickyard Sports Car Challenge, allowing Lewis to make the pass for the win. Wayne and Will Nonnamaker (No. 42 Sahlen’s Porsche Cayman) finished second and Jeff Mosing and Eric Foss (No. 56 Mosing Motorcars BMW 328i) came home third. The Brickyard Sports Car Challenge will be televised on FOX Sports 1 on Aug. 3 at noon ET.