JMF Motorsports were the kings of the first GT World Challenge America race in Road Atlanta, though what was on course to be a dominant win for the No. 34 Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo of Mikael Grenier and Michai Stephens turned all the way in favor of the No. 27 Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo of Philip Ellis and Jason Daskalos, with the super sub Swiss doing a remarkable stint in the final part of the three hour race.
The No. 12 AF Corse Ferrari led the way in the initial moments, and while some dry portions of asphalt were appearing in the racing line, the track was mostly damp. In the second lap, Matias Perez Companc caught a wet patch at Turn 1 and left the door totally open for Michai Stephens to go past him and put the No. 34 JMF Mercedes in the lead, and this miscalculation from the Argentine allowed the No. 6 Dollahite Ford to take second place too.
With most of the track being dry before 15 minutes of racing as the sun was out, Dollahite Racing acted fast and got slick tires in the first stop, with more teams following suit in the next laps. This move paid off in the long run, as JMF Motorsports opted to keep the No. 34 on track for a longer time, and Cameron Lawrence was able to undercut Stephens for the lead. Perez Companc also recovered pace and took the second place from Stephens before a yellow flag was triggered, which was caused when the No. 99 Random Vandals BMW failed to negotiate an overtake on the No. 28 RS1 Porsche, ramming the back of the car ahead and sending both of them to the wall.
The neutralization period extended until the early moments of the second hour, and things were normal until the No. 6 slowed down in front of the No. 12, with investigations taking some time but confirming their race was over due to loss of power.
In a different strategy from the rest of the field, the No. 8 McCann Porsche led most of the second hour, and when Zachary Vanier went back with it, the lead went to the No. 34 JMF Mercedes while the No. 9 had no success holding the second place against an aggressive Frederik Schandorff in the No. 12 AF Corse Ferrari. Things got worse for Vanier as he got bullied off the third place by the Pro-Am Cup top contenders, as the No. 27 JMF Mercedes opened the way and the squabble between the No. 14 Riley BMW and the No. 69 Archangel McLaren got heated pretty quick, calling the No. 32 GMG Porsche and the No. 31 Wright Porsche to the party, which threw Vanier to the back of the pack. Philip Ellis secured the class lead while Aaron Telitz drove the No. 69 to second in class while holding the No. 32.
Starting the final hour, the No. 34 got a penalty to be applied after the race as their pit stop time was 1.27 seconds shorter than required , but in Mikael Grenier’s help was Ellis, as he battled Schandorff and took the overall second place from him, which was basically setting all pieces from JMF Motorsports in the right places, as their cars had the overall, Pro Cup and Pro-Am Cup leads while they could apply the team game to protect their positions or to hold up the field.
The problem for the No. 34 was the 1.27 second penalty hanging on it and the fact that Ellis was faster than Grenier, so what was supposed to be team play quickly became a tough battle that saw the No. 27 JMF Mercedes take the overall lead. To make matters worse for Grenier, he was bullied out of the second spot and more in the same way as Zach Vanier, with the No. 12 AF Corse Ferrari becoming the new Pro Cup leader.
The final minutes were the moment when most of the field finally settled down in their places, with the No. 27 JMF Mercedes winning overall and in the Pro-Am Cup by a comfortable margin, while the No. 12 AF Corse Ferrari had the second place overall and the Pro Cup win. With no opposition in the Am Cup, the No. 163 AF Corse Ferrari of Jay Schreibman and Benny Simonsen just had to be driven to the finish to represent the class, finishing in 14th overall.
GTWC America - Road Atlanta race results
The duo Stephens/Grenier (No. 34) holds the Pro Cup lead with 78 points, but Perez Companc and Schandorff (No. 12) got closer as they have 70, and despite the disastrous race at Road Atlanta, Rothberg and Foley (No. 29) are quite close in the title race with 67 points.
Road America the venue for the next race of the calendar, set for 30 August.
PHOTO: SRO/Andrew Miterko Photography
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