Grand-Am, Detroit – Race Report
Chevrolet Celebrates On Its Doorstep

The first visit of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series to the Belle Isle circuit in Detroit proved to be a memorable one, with bruising action and controversy aplenty on the tight, bumpy and unforgiving track throughout the two hours of racing. Through it all came Joao Barbosa, who had to fight back from a safety car snafu to regain the lead and take the win for Action Express and Chevrolet.

Practice/Qualifying

The Friday was not far from being a wash-out as torrential rain had a major impact on the two hour-long practice sessions, with drivers finding it difficult to find the racing line as they negotiated the deep puddles of standing water.

Qualifying later in the day – not quite as wet  - saw Jon Fogarty take his twentieth Grand-Am pole in the #99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Corvette DP, with a lap of 1:22.369; ahead of Max Angelelli (#10 SunTrust Corvette) and Terry Borcheller (#5 Action Express Corvette).

GT pole went, for the first time, to Guy Cosmo in the #03 Extreme Speed Motorsport Ferrari 458 (1:27.967), with John Edwards (#57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R) and Andrew Davies (#59 Brumos Porsche). 

It would not be until race day that the field finally got dry running on the track, during the final 30-minute practice session.

Race

Jon Fogarty led the field around the 2.080 mile, 14-corner Belle Isle circuit – the ten DPs split from the GTs for safety – and made sure he got to the first right hander before anyone else in the #99 Red Dragon.

Further back, Guy Cosmo took advantage of his first Grand-Am pole to keep the ESM Ferrari 458 in the class lead; and despite the track looking awfully narrow between the concrete walls, the entire field completed Lap 1 without incident.

The field soon began to fragment into several local battles for track position, with the three Corvette DPs of Fogarty, Angelelli and Borcheller tussling for the lead; and with the #01 Chip Ganassi Riley of Memo Rojas, the #9 Action Express Corvette of Darren Law and the #90 Spirit of Daytona Corvette of Michael Valiante nose to tail for fourth.

In GT, Cosmo had broken clear of his pursuers, John Edwards in the #57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro and Andrew Davis in the #59 Brumos Porsche; but Steven Bertheau was not enjoying his start to the race in the #67 TRG Porsche after being knocked into the tyre wall after ten minutes by a glance from a lapping Borcheller (who would receive a drive-through for avoidable contact as a result).

The fight for fourth was not going Rojas’ way, with first Law and then Valiante finding a way past shortly before the 15 minute mark. Up ahead, Fogarty had managed to pull out a gap on Angelelli by the time Borcheller took his penalty, with the Bob Stallings Corvette more than four seconds to the good.

With just 17 minutes having elapsed Spirit of Daytona made a tactical stop to install Richard Westbrook in the #90 Corvette. A minute or so earlier, Starworks had put Colin Braun in the #7 DP started by Scott Mayer.

Cosmo’s lead in GT was up to ten seconds after 20 minutes, but the AIM FXDD 458 of Emil Assentato – winner of the previous two races – was languishing down in 13th.

With the race still green, both the #5 Action Express and #01 Ganassi DPs made early stops; and not a moment too soon as the track went yellow mere seconds after Scott Pruett brought the blue and white Riley back out. The cause was a crash for the #46 Michael Baugham Racing Corvette, which needed extracting from a wall.

This didn’t work out so well for the two class leaders who lost their hard-earned advantages, and when Jon Fogarty pitted under caution the car lost two places as the #10 SunTrust and #9 Corvettes turned their cars around quicker; and it was a similar story in GT as Guy Cosmo found himself following Robin Liddell’s #57 Camaro down the pitlane as he took over the ESM Ferrari from Guy Cosmo. 

Leh Keen almost snatched a place further down the pitlane, but the #03 stayed just ahead. Not everyone pitted and these three cars rejoined several places down in the GT pack.

As the race went green again, Scott Pruett now led and managed to repel Ricky Taylor at the first corner. The lead changed further round the track, however, as the SunTrust DP powered past the Ganassi car.

Leh Keen’s stint lasted just a lap before he was back at his pit box; a loose lug-nut having caused a loose right-rear wheel.

With 39 minutes having gone, rain began briefly to fall; and the first casualty was the GT leader Dion von Moltke in the APR Motorsport Audi R8, which lodged itself in the T1 tyres. "The car was hooked up and was running really well, I just got caught out going into turn one with that brief shower that made it much slicker than I anticipated," said a contrite von Moltke after the race.

"It's really unfortunate because I know the team has worked hard to improve the car and the guys worked hard in the rain and wind all weekend to prepare the car so well. It was a great feeling to lead our first laps with the Audi R8 Grand-Am. This is disappointing, but we'll move on and be ready for Mid-Ohio next weekend."

The race went yellow for the second time, but not before Joao Barbosa had improved to second in the #9 Action Express DP, at the expense of Pruett (who was struggling with a rev-limiter problem on the #01).

Moments earlier, Westbrook had made a great pass through Turns 10 & 11 on David Donohue in the #5 to move the #90 up into fifth. 

The restart came with 48 minutes complete and Ricky Taylor made a break for it. At the same time, his brother Jordan Taylor took the GT lead in the #88 Autohaus Camaro. Guy Cosmo also made a pass (to tenth) but he had gone too soon at the restart and was given a stop/go for his trouble.

Pretty much the entire GT field seemed to be nose-to-tail at the restart, with Patrick Lindsey holding a big queue of cars behind him in the #73 Porsche. Robin Liddell managed to get past, while Bill Auberlen had to defend forcibly to keep Jeff Segal’s Ferrari behind the #94 BMW.

Joe Nonnamaker hit the tyre wall with the #43 Mazda, bringing out a third caution, just as Ricky Taylor pitted from the lead. The #10 SunTrust took on fuel only, but Taylor pushed too hard on his exit and the Corvette DP thumped the pitwall with enough force to derange the right-left wheel.

Suddenly the whole race was thrown into confusion as the lead DPs came into the pitlane to make a stop. The Bob Stallings team waved Alex Gurney past after apparently being told that the pits were not open, but Pruett and three other cars did take on fuel. It turned out that the safety car had not picked up the new leader, Barbosa, and this had confused Pruett.

But then the message came from race control that the pits had indeed been open after all. Gurney and Barbosa – who had passed the pit entrance before he got the call – pitted with the GTs, but had clearly lost out.

All this left David Donohue in the lead, as heated ramifications continued between team members and officials in the pitlane. But it didn’t help Barbosa, who had dropped from first to eighth.

The race went green again after five laps behind the pace car and with just under 50 minutes remaining. Gurney was one position ahead.

In GT, Charles Espenlaub found himself leading in the #41 Dempsey Racing Mazda after not pitting during the latest caution (but being the only GT car to pit during the previous caution).

The order at the restart was 5, 60, 01, 2, 90, 8, 99, 9 and 7 in DP. Westbrook immediately saw a gap and took position from Lucas Luhr in the #2 Starworks Riley and then also demoted Pruett and Ozz Negri before the lap was completed; from fifth to second in very quick succession. Gurney had followed him past Ryan Dalziel and Luhr, and was himself followed by Barbosa; and just a few corners later the Portuguese swooped on the #99 for fifth.

The Riley cars were at a clear disadvantage to the Corvette DPs and the two Starworks cars were quickly shuffled to the back of the pack.

In GT, Espenlaub was holding onto the lead, but could not afford even a momentary lapse in concentration as Taylor (#88 Camaro), Bomarito (#70 Mazda), Liddell (#57 Camaro), Segal (#69 Ferrari), Auberlen (#94 BMW), Curran (#31 Corvette), Lally (#44 Porsche), Foss (#73 Porsche) and Sharp (#03 Ferrari) were all queued up behind him. Trailing bodywork on Liddell’s car showed how close the GT battle was.

Westbrook had broken away from the main DP pack (now led by Barbosa, who was up to third) by seven seconds and had closed to with four-tenths on Donohue, who made it as difficult as possible for the Spirit of Daytona Corvette to close up.  

As the battle for the lead in both classes raged, the SunTrust DP rejoined the race after extensive repairs, albeit eight laps down.

Taylor found his way past Espenlaub with 37 minutes to go and Bomarito also took advantage of the #41 Mazda’s loss of momentum to improve to second. Liddell also tried to go through, but Espenlaub closed the door forcibly. This resistance allowed the top two to break away and there was a sizeable gap by the time the Scot found a way past in the Stevenson machine. Shortly afterwards, Espenlaub had a lurid spin/slide as Segal made a move, but the Mazda stayed away from the wall. However, having dropped from first to eighth in the space of about a lap, Espenlaub spun again just two corners further on and this time contacted the tyre wall.

At exactly the same moment, Westbrook took the overall lead in the #90 DP after Donohue was momentarily held up by the APR Audi. It was a forceful move by the Englishman, but necessary as Barbosa was right on his tail by this point.

But then disaster struck – Westbrook dived down the inside of the #40 Dempsey Racing Mazda, but was possibly too aggressive and contact was made; the #90 immediately suffering broken rear suspension. The two Action Express cars then arrived at the scene and contact was made as they threaded their way past the scene. Donohue stayed ahead, however.

With half an hour remaining the two Action Express DPs caught up with the GT battle once more and Barbosa saw his chance as Donohue lapped the ESM Ferrari, diving down the inside at T1 to take the lead to Donohue’s obvious displeasure. Barbosa was decisive through the traffic and started to pull out a gap.

Westbrook meanwhile was back out in the repaired #90. The SunTrust Corvette, however, had been retired after its return to the race.

With 23 minutes remaining, Barbosa led Donohue by three seconds, with the fight for third – involving Pruett, Negri, Gurney, Dalziel and Luhr – beginning a further 13 seconds back.

The top three in GT was reasonably static, but Auberlen was pushing Segal hard for fourth, while Sharp was trying to find a way past Lally for sixth; never an easy task. The AIM Ferrari’s resistance soon caused the four cars to close up and now it was Auberlen who felt the pressure, with the Magnus Racing Porsche right on the Beemer’s tail.

With 15 minutes to go, the race went yellow for the fourth time (debris) and the gaps closed up once again. The #99 was one of a handful of cars to pit for fresh rubber, in the hope of getting a late advantage after being stuck in fifth for quite some time.

The caution ended with ten minutes remaining – and with drops of rain being reported in the vicinity of Belle Isle.

Gurney immediately used his new Continentals to take sixth from Dalziel, but Barbosa stayed in the lead; and Taylor kept the #88 at the head of GT.

Donohue, however, saw the clear track as his opportunity to hit back at his Action Express teammate and the #9 and #5 DPs were nose to tail. Gurney was now up to fifth and was pushing Negri hard for fourth. All this allowed the #01 Ganassi Riley to enjoy plenty of space in third.

Robin Liddell was pushing Bomarito for second in GT and Taylor made good his escape.

Gurney kept pushing Negri, but the Brazilian was making his Riley as wide as possible. With just over two minutes to go, however, the #60 caught up with the #31 Marsh Racing Corvette and Gurney saw his chance. The Red Dragon went to the outside, but Negri immediately blocked – Gurney kept his foot in though and went to the inside at T8; the two cars had side-to-side contact, but the pass was made.

Barbosa got the white flag with 25 seconds left on the clock, but Donohue was still right with him. But there was to be no final challenge and Barbosa led home an Action Express 1-2. Scott Pruett came home an encouraging third, after a challenging race.

“Winning in Detroit with the Corvette – it can’t be better than this,” said a delighted Joao Barbosa. “And being part of the Action Express crew……I have no words!”

“If I bit my nails, I’d have no nails left after watching that,” said Darren Law. “Joao did a stellar job and I have to say a big thank you to all the Action Express crew.

“We are really very proud. We knew we had a good car coming into the race. Actually both cars, so it’s great for Action Express to finally get a win and actually put both cars on the podium together one-two that is really cool for us. It is great to do it here at Chevrolet’s headquarters in the Corvette. As far as the race goes for me I did not have the best of starts. I had a good opening stint once we got rolling. The car was good and really we did the same as everybody kind of came in on that first yellow and Joao (Barbosa, co-driver) got in and had a great run. He did a stellar job and drove it all the way to the front. In the middle of the race there we did have a little mix up with officiating which I was pretty upset about, but we pulled it out and had a great run. I’m happy for everybody.”

David Donohue was a bit more reserved as he exited the #5; “Going into Turn 1, Joao didn’t give me much room – I thought it was a bit of a hairy move,” he said of the lead-change. “But this result is long overdue; I’ve long been saying that this team is ready to break out and hopefully this is the time. And to do it in the 60th Anniversary colours of Corvette in Detroit is fantastic.”

In GT, Taylor brought the #88 Autohaus Camaro home to the GT win – making it a double victory for Chevrolet in its home town – while Bomarito held off Liddell to take second.

“How cool is it do be driving that Chevrolet Camaro right in Detroit in the hometown of Chevrolet and General Motors?” said Paul Edwards. “You can actually see the world headquarters right from the race track. It’s an awesome win.”

“The month of June will be packed for me, but it’s great to start off with a win for Camaro and Autohaus Motorsports,” said Jordan Taylor, just before rushing off to catch his flight to Le Mans. “The guys have been doing a great job all year.  It’s just been little things that have been biting us and this is great to finally get that win.

"For the race itself, I'd only done about three laps in the dry conditions and four in the wet, so, that first restart was a bit wild. I just kinda saw someone brake and tried go a little bit deeper to get around them, and kind of judge it off that. Once I got in the lead, I was kind of lost for the first few. It was really great for the Autohaus guys because that first pit stop got us that track position. I think we were running third for fourth for the first stint. And then we jumped to the lead of the guys that made that first stop; two guys stayed out, so we were really third. But, we were able to get around a few guys and keep that track position through the end of the race."

“The on track battles were intense and although I managed to get ahead of Andy Lally in the #44 Porsche on a restart, there were also a few slower cars who had stayed out and they cost us precious time to the #88 Camaro as it was both risky and difficult to overtake on the narrow streets," said Robin Liddell. "Once the race shook out it was basically the #88, the #70 and us in third and that was how it finished; I was pushing hard once I got clear track but with the rear tires going away (we didn't change at the second stop), and a flat spotted front tire which I picked up braking at the end of the back straight, we really weren't able to put significant pressure on the leaders."

The Series now moves onto Mid-Ohio in a week’s time for Round 6, the EMCO-Gears Classic.

MH