The No. 9 K-PAX Bentley Continental GT3 enjoyed a dominant weekend in the Blancpain GT World Challenge America season finale at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, with Alvaro Parente and Andy Soucek in top form while the remaining titles were decided.
Scott Hargrove pushed the No. 58Wright Porsche to the limits and above in order to keep the lead at the start of the first race, being followed immediately by the No. 61 R. Ferri Ferrari and the No. 9 K-PAX Bentley. It took some laps for Andy Soucek to study Vilander’s line and get back second place as the No. 9 had the edge in the brake battle.
The No. 58 was opening a great gap to the competition, but unfortunately for Hargrove, his defending action had the aid of the runoff area, so race control decided to penalize him by giving back position to the No. 9 Bentley.
Things stood settled between the top-4 even after the pit window, so the action at that point came from the Pro-Am Cup field, as the No. 91 Wright Porsche had Matt Campbell in full attack mode over Marc Miller in the No. 5 Gradient Acura, all while the No. 43 RealTime Acura was in a close third place, waiting for room to overtake. Miller resisted the maximum possible, so much that a slight mistake opened the door for Campbell to get the class lead while the No. 43 jumped to second.
The No. 9 K-PAX Bentley was simply untouchable in the final part of the race, so it won with a decent margin over the No. 61 R. Ferri Ferrari, while the No. 3 K-PAX Bentley completed the podium as the No. 58 Wright Porsche retired with a last lap problem. Wright Motorsports still had something to celebrate as the No. 91 Porsche won the Pro-Am Cup, being followed by the Acuras from RealTime, Gradient and Racers Edge on track.
Eventually the No. 91 and the No. 80 were penalized for contact, which promoted the No. 43 to the top in Pro-Am, with the No. 5 making it an Acura 1-2 and the No. 91 being thrown to the third spot.
Race 2 was held under the floodlights and into a colder track, and Miguel Molina in the No. 61 R. Ferri Ferrari got the advantage at the start, keeping a decent gap to the No. 9 K-PAX Bentley through the initial minutes. Molina’s effort then went to waste as a track limits breach forced him to handle the top spot to the No. 9 car.
It was a four-car fight for top honors but again the No. 58 Wright Porsche was knocked out, just after 30 minutes of racing, leaving the No. 61 R. Ferri Ferrari in between both K-PAX Bentleys. The other Wright Porsche, the No. 91, was still in the fight for the Pro-Am win, but Matt Campbell wasn’t finding room to go past the No. 43 RealTime Acura.
K-PAX worked well in the pit stops and found a way for the No. 3 Bentley to go second place while keeping the No. 9 car in command of everything, as well the No. 43 Acura in the Pro-Am Cup.
Mike Hedlund was holding the lead but with 15 minutes to go the No. 7 Scuderia Corse Ferrari found a way past, and then the class lead to not give it back, securing the Pro-Am Cup win. Further in front, the No. 9 K-PAX Bentley had an easier life in the final moments and just run for the checkered flag and the overall win.
Toni Vilander was already decided as the overall drivers champion, but K-PAX got the teams title despite a tie with R. Ferri Motorsport. Martin Barkey and Kyle Marcelli were the Pro-Am champions while RealTime Racing got the teams title, meaning an Acura sweep in the class.
For 2020, it is known that the Pro Cup will be axed, promoting the Pro-Am Cup to the top spot in the GT America class.
PHOTOS - SRO
PHOTOS - SRO
Comments
Post a Comment
Do you have an opinion? Feel free to comment.