KPAX leaves NOLA with another GTWC America sweep

Despite the changes made in the K-PAX Racing lineups due to the FANATEC GT World Challenge America regulations, the team was still superior in the long run at NOLA Motorsports Park, with the No. 1 Lamborghini of Andrea Caldarelli and Michele Beretta winning two out of two as the opposition offered a tougher challenge through the weekend.

The No. 1 K-PAX Lamborghini kept its starting position on top in Race 1, mostly due to a bad start from the No. 6 US Racetronics Mercedes, which brought the sister No. 3 Lamborghini and the No. 96 Turner BMW forward to second and third. The field was neutralised immediately after one lap due to a spin on track for the No. 45 Wright Porsche, which was capable of going back to the pits despite the front end damage.

K-PAX Racing made sure at the restart that securing the first two positions would allow them to play their tactics, basically the leader goes away, while the other holds position and the opposition, and this worked well to put the brakes on Michael Dinan's enthusiasm in the No. 96, so much that he was almost becoming prey of Steven Aghakhani in the No. 6, though the tires didn't contribute to the Mercedes as a spin with 25 minutes of racing sent the No. 6 to seventh.

While the K-PAX Lamborghinis were more than safe in their positions, the No. 96 was racing hard to keep third place, with the Pro-Am Cup leader No. 94 Bimmerworld BMW keeping the No. 96 and the No. 6 from facing each other for a Pro Cup position. It took nearly 15 minutes of different moves from Loris Spinelli to put the Mercedes in front, but the Italian still had some pace to give Robby Foley a run for his money.

With 20 minutes to go, Spinelli intensified the attack, and when Foley tried a side block, the right rear suspension collapsed and the No. 96 got beached in the gravel, throwing the podium away while the No. 6 dropped two positions to fifth and the No. 04 Crowdstrike Mercedes took the final overall podium position. Despite the lengthy Safety Car, the K-PAX cars were unstoppable, with the No. 1 Lamborghini winning the race and the No. 3 coming home second.

GTWC America NOLA - Race 1 results

The No. 04 Crowdstrike Mercedes emerged as the Pro-Am Cup winner only in the final restart due to smarter racing through, outpacing long time leader No. 94 Bimmerworld BMW. The No. 23 Triarsi Ferrari enjoyed a flawless run to the Am Cup win, miles ahead of the competition.

For the second race, the No. 6 US Racetronics Mercedes was the polesitter while the K-PAX Lamborghinis were starting sixth and seventh, and Loris Spinelli easily kept the lead while Jordan Pepper and Andrea Caldarelli were coming from behind and moving through the field.

After facing some pressure from the Pro-Am Cup leaders, the No. 6 was able to open a gap, and with the No. 93 Racers Edge Acura defending first position from the No. 9 TR3 Lamborghini, the No. 1 K-PAX Lamborghini had nowhere to go from fourth, eventually losing position to the No. 08 DXDT Mercedes.

The K-PAX duo then positioned themselves behind the Pro-Am Cup leaders, and despite having the No. 93 and the No. 8 in between, the seven second gap wasn’t too much for Spinelli to be comfortable. The pit window proved to be their nemesis, or more specifically both front wheels as they refused to go out, costing a lot of time and the lead, which went for the No. 93 after a combination of an extended stint for Mario Farnbacher and awesome pitwork from Racers Edge.

Ashton Harrison soon found herself in the same position as the race-winning Mike Hedlund was at Road America a few years ago - Pro-Am Acura leading overall with an Italian car on the chase. Unfortunately the fairy tale lasted 4 minutes as Michele Beretta put the No. 1 K-PAX Lamborghini ahead, but despite losing the overall top spot, the No. 93 still had the Pro-Am Cup lead, which was the main goal of the team. Harrison held a sub 10 second gap for most of her stint, but the No. 93 wasn’t in position to threaten the No. 1, which ran secure to victory with 13 seconds to the Pro-Am Cup winner. The No. 23 Triarsi Ferrari completed the winner list by completing the full sweep in the Am Cup.

GTWC America NOLA - Race 2 results

Andrea Caldarelli leads the standings with 100 points against 83 of Pepper and 63 of Misha Goikhberg while Aghakhani and Spinelli have a 39 point deficit to the leader in fourth place. Colin Braun and George Kurtz lead the Pro-Am Cup table with 73 points but Farnbacher and Harrison are almost there with 69 points.

Moving from NOLA, the competition will go to Virginia International Raceway on 18-19 June.

PHOTOS: SRO