As it was the case during the first weekend of FANATEC GT World Challenge America at Sonoma, K-PAX Racing was unstoppable at the Circuit of the Americas, with neither the weather nor the traffic being able to avoid a full sweep for their Lamborghinis.
The front row in the first race was entirely occupied by K-PAX Lamborghinis, but Michael Dinan in the No. 96 Turner BMW was decided to give them trouble, finding the inside before Turn 1 to take the lead in a damp track as the weather wasn’t exactly collaborating with the racing. Dinan resisted as much as he could, but being slotted in the slippery parts of the track disturbed his acceleration, opening the door for the No. 3 K-PAX Lamborghini to attack and overtake, while the No. 6 Lamborghini was on the watch and ready to go.
The No. 6 got stuck behind the No. 96 for around 15 minutes before finding enough of a gap to pass and go away with second place, while the No. 3 was consolidating a lead of almost 10 seconds. Next to them, the No. 70 Inception McLaren was also in a comfortable drive as it was leading the Pro-Am Cup with five seconds to the No. 04 DXDT Mercedes.
With half of an hour of racing, the drop in pace of the No. 96 Turner BMW was clear, being passed by the No. 33 Winward Mercedes and losing the podium, which pretty much settled things in the Pro Cup until the pit window. The change to wet tires before the weather gets worse was a point in favor of those teams which pitted early in the window, as the rain intensified and brought stading water to most of the lower points of the circuit and even to some higher ones. Lost time in the pits cost a lot to the No. 6 K-PAX Lamborghini, dropping down to fourth with a lot of terrain to cover to get back the lost time, even though the No. 6 was the first K-PAX car to wear wet weather tires.
In the final 30 minutes, the weather just got worse at the CIrcuit of the Americas, to a point where the drivers had to accelerate with extreme caution, and the wet track led to a Safety Car intervention with 12 minutes to go, and with no improvements in track condition, the race was red flagged and finished with nine minutes to go, giving the win to the No. 3 K-PAX Lamborghini.
GTWC America - COTA Race 1 results
The No. 70 Inception McLaren debuted in GT World Challenge America in the best style possible, with the Pro-Am Cup win while also being a threat to the podium contenders, barely missing the overall podium. The only Am Cup entry, the No. 61 AF Corse Ferrari, found pace to beat some of the Pro-Am Cup competition to finish in 11th overall.
The Race 2 grid is a bit more mixed thanks to the professional drivers starting in the Pro-Am Cup cars, and the No. 33 Winwards Mercedes was commanding the pack with the No. 20 Wright Porsche just behind, while the dominant K-PAX Lamborghinis were still entangled with the midfield entries.
Complains about lack of power for the No. 3 K-PAX Lamborghini were justified as the car was just tumbling down the table, with the No. 6 Lamborghini not having much better luck from sixth place.
Out of the problem zone, the No. 20 Wright Porsche was leading a five-car train with Pro Cup and Pro-Am Cup entries, as Han Heylen was trying to keep a defensive position against the No. 33 Winward Mercedes and the No. 9 TR3 Lamborghini, which stayed longer to deliver it to the gentleman drivers with less work left to do.
Due to a detached tire for the No. 77 Compass Acura, the Safety Car was called, leaving the leading Pro-Am Cup cars under the radar of the Pro Cup cars, especially the recovering K-PAX Lamborghinis, and once the green flag was back, the leading No. 33 Winward had to rush to build as much distance as possible to the K-PAX duo.
The Nos. 3 and 6 Lamborghinis were switching positions just behind the No. 33 to favor the faster car, and once the No. 3 passed the No. 33 for the lead, they took advantage of the extra numbers and played the team tactics so the No. 3 K-PAX Lamborghini could lead while having the No. 6 Lamborghini behind to either cover or eventually set the pace, and with both cars having better pace and clear air, the rest of the race was just about keeping positions and wait the countdown of the clock to see the checkered flag, but the No. 6 passed for the win in the middle of the final lap.
GTWC America - COTA Race 2 results
The No. 04 DXDT Mercedes kept the good run of the final part of the race to win in the Pro-Am Cup, while also appearing in fourth overall in between the Pro Cup cars, while the No. 61 AF Corse Ferrari ended in tenth overall as the lone Am Cup entry.
The series will resume the action on 5 and 6 June at the Virginia International Raceway.
PHOTO: SRO/Fabian Lagunas
Comments
Post a Comment
Do you have an opinion? Feel free to comment.