Grand-Am, Mid-Ohio – Race Report
Spirit Of Daytona Doubles Its Tally

Richard Westbrook held off a determined charge from Scott Pruett after a late caution period to claim the second win of the season for Spirit of Daytona Racing, while in GT Bill Auberlen withstood similar pressure from Jeff Segal to take the win for Turner Motorsport.

The race began in bright sunshine at 4.30 on Saturday afternoon, with Jon Fogarty taking full advantage of his 21st career Rolex Series pole to take the #99 Gainsco/Bob Stallings Corvette DP into an immediate lead, while just behind Ricky Taylor moved the #10 SunTrust Corvette up to second at the expense of Michael Valiante’s #99 Spirit of Daytona DP.

Further back, John Pew and Enzo Potolicchio swapped paintwork as their Riley Fords jostled for position; the #8 Starworks car able to continue while the #60 Michael Shank Racing version made a quick stop.

In GT, John Edwards kept the pole-sitting #57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro in the lead, with Andrew Davis second in the #59 Brumos Porsche and Boris Said third in the #31 Marsh Racing Corvette.

The #73 Horton Motorsport Porsche had a difficult start to its race – Eric Foss being slow away from the line initially and then heading to the pits after five laps with smoke and fluids leaking from the car; the resulting slippery surface being a contributory factor to a spin for Alex Popow in the #8 Starworks Riley and also to the race’s first caution period on Lap 8.

The race went green after three laps, with Fogarty under pressure from Valiante – who had retaken second from Taylor shortly before the caution – and the first lead-change came on Lap 18 when the blue Corvette moved ahead of the red one. It transpired that Fogarty had lost power-steering and the Red Dragon began to slip down the standings; Alex Gurney taking over on Lap 26.

A whole slew of stops had already taken place by this time – 30 minutes in – with the majority taking place under green-racing conditions; but it wouldn’t be until 40 laps had been completed that the top two cars stopped (the GT leader also pitting at the same time). Richard Westbrook joined the race in the Spirit of Daytona car third overall, with Alex Popow leading and Terry Borcheller second in the #5 Action Express Corvette. 

Robin Liddell took the #57 Camaro over and also joined in third in his class, behind Sylvain Tremblay (#70 SpeedSource Mazda) and Andy Lally (#44 Magnus Racing Porsche).

Eric Foss was starting to gain some notoriety in this race, as he was also the cause of the race’s second caution period; this time by depositing the Horton Porsche into the gravel. The top two cars in both classes pitted, leaving Westbrook and Liddell at the head of DP and GT respectively.

Racing resumed at 5:50, with 48 laps complete, with the battle for the top positions in GT particularly intense – Bill Auberlen soon took third from Jordan Taylor’s #88 Autohaus Camaro in the #94 Turner Motorsport BMW, while Dane Cameron wrestled the lead away from Liddell in the #42 Team Sahlen Mazda shortly before the midway point of the race.

Westbrook was able to hold on to the lead in the #90, but he had a train of cars behind him – Max Angelelli in the SunTrust Corvette, Scott Pruett in the #1 Chip Ganassi Riley BMW and Joao Barbosa in the #9 Action Express Corvette all within three seconds.

Auberlen continued his progress in GT, first taking position from Liddell’s Camaro and then finding a way past Cameron with a forceful move. The two cars had touched during the change for the lead, but the race officials deemed it to be a racing incident and no penalties were forthcoming.

The race now entered a period of relative stability – the next cycle of scheduled stops caused the positions to fluctuate as usual, but with two hours complete (81 laps) Westbrook held an 8.926s lead over Angelelli, who was followed closely by Barbosa, Pruett and the #5 DP of David Donohue. GT was led by Charles Espenlaub in the #41 Dempsey Racing Mazda, but he would soon pit and hand first place to Spencer Pumpelly in the #67 TRG Porsche. One lap later Pumpelly himself stopped and Auberlen regained his lead.

Despite his pursuers’ best efforts, Westbrook looked quite comfortable in the lead. Scott Pruett, meanwhile, was making progress in the #01 and took third from Barbosa on Lap 94. Seven laps later the multiple champion took second from the SunTrust car and Barbosa tried to follow him through. The ensuing Italo-Portuguese contact resulted in Angelelli spinning and retiring with apparent suspension damage, while Barbosa had to pit with a puncture. It also resulted in a Full Course Yellow.

Just seven and a half minutes remained when the race went green for the final time (Lap 105) and Westbrook put his foot down. Pruett went with him and these two broke away from an intense battle for third which involved Donohue, Luhr (#2), Barbosa and Dalziel (#8).  In GT, Auberlen led from Jeff Segal (#69 AIM Ferrari 458) and Liddell.

Pruett pushed Westbrook hard, but the English driver is nothing if not cool under pressure and managed to keep the blue and white Riley – its driver looking for his first win of the season – half a second behind. Pruett pushed harder as he saw the white flag, but the #90 Corvette reached the line 2.258 miles later just under a quarter of a second before the #01 and Westbrook secured his and Valiante’s second win of the season.

Donohue hung on to third, while Dalziel took fifth from Barbosa in the closing stages.

“It’s amazing that we’re doing so well with such a new car," said Richard Westbrook. "It was a big day for all of us at Spirit of Daytona Racing. Detroit was a heartbreak for everyone on the team. We had a very good car, but it was a lot tougher than I think it looked. Scott Pruett was very strong at the end, and I was very relieved to see the checkered flag. I really didn’t have anything else there at the end.”

“The car was great," confirmed Michael Valiante. "I was able to get around Ricky (Taylor), and I don’t know what happened to the #99 (Jon Fogarty), but I was able to slip down to the inside. It’s a big adjustment between the two cars (Valiante won the ST class in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge earlier in the afternoon), but I was able to get a fair amount of laps in both of them this weekend, so it wasn’t too bad. It’s great to be competitive in both series.”

“We were definitely pleased with the finish," said Scott Pruett. "We’ve seen some incredible racing this year in Grand-Am. Today, it was all good, hard racing. I’m glad we were able to have a good, solid finish and some good points today.”

It was just as close in GT, with Auberlen being almost pushed round by the Ferrari and the Camaro; but ‘experience’ is Bill’s middle name and he managed to extend his lead to almost a second round the final 13 turns before taking his first win of the season – win number 23 for him and the third for teammate Paul Dalla Lana. Liddell completed the podium.

“We had a very good car – we always do for Mid-Ohio," said Bill Auberlen. "Our Continental Tires never went off all day. The car would get faster and faster as the fuel burned off. That’s the holy grail of racing – to get faster as the car gets lighter, and the tires really worked for us today.”

“It was a real close race, like it always seems to be at Mid-Ohio," said Jeff Segal. "We were off sequence on our pit stops all day. We came in early, and no one else did. We really fought to hold on to second at the end. It was a good GT points day for us.”

Richard Westbrook and several other drivers left immediately for Le Mans, but would be required back for Grand-Am duties at the next round at Road America on June 22nd-24th.

MH