[Sprint Race 1 Live Blog]
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Looks like we had some rain overnight as we are greeted by a wet track at sunrise. Our first Sprint Race isn’t until 11:30AM so we are hoping things dry up. Still chilly here at 59 degrees with completely overcast skies.
OK…looks like we are set to roll to grid. Things have dried out mostly and the word is the track is good to go / no issues at all for Sprint 1.
UPDATE 11:27 / Rob is on grid set in pole position #74 Porsche GT3-R, sharing the front row with Boden #46 in the GT3 Cup. Row 2 is a pair of IGT regulars Tom Pank in his #42 GT3 Cup and Steve Hill in the Norwood Auto Italia #33 F458C. Row 3 is another GT3 Cup #44 driven by Kezman and another familiar Ferrari #43, also from Norwood Auto Italia, driven by Barry Fromberg.
UPDATE 11:34 / Cars are rolling and about half way thru the pace lap a we expect a green flag to drop in about 90 seconds.
UPDATE 11:36 / We have a green flag. It looked like Rob may have spun the tires on the start as Boden and Hill immediately launched ahead. Rob is P3 thru T1. Hill leads.
UPDATE 11:39 / One lap complete after a clean start from the entire field, and track position has not changed for anyone. Boden is applying the pressure to Hill. Rob is less than a second behind Boden.
UPDATE 11:41 / Boden gets by Hill braking into T8 . Top 3 Boden, Hill and Rob coming thru Canada Corner in a pretty tight group.
UPDATE 11:43 / P1 thru P3 come by Start/Finish all within a second. Lap 2 complete.
UPDATE 11:44 / Boden, Hill, Rob down into T5 literally nose to tail.
UPDATE 11:44 / Boden is strong in the T6 section on thru the Kink and makes a gap.
UPDATE 11:45 / Rob is very close to Hill as they come out of T14. He’s catching a draft as they come up the hill to S/F. Now pulls out for a pass. Wow… both Hill and Rob brake very deep going into T1. Hill wasn’t going to give the position up easily, but Rob gets by and gains P2. That looked like a game of “chicken” to me!
UPDATE 11:47 / Rob is trying to catch the #46 GT3 Cup now and gets within 0.5sec out of T5, but Boden is strong from here thru Canada.
UPDATE 11:48 / Rob has closed the gap Boden created thru the Carousel as they come into T14. Its still Boden, Rob, Hill Top 3.
UPDATE 11:51 / Things are unchanged as P1, P2 come into T14 again. P3 Hill has fallen back some.
UPDATE 11:51 / Correction, Rob pulls out for a pass coming out of T14 onto the front straight…it sticks. Now, P2 Boden is stuck to Rob’s rear bumper as they run thru T1.
UPDATE 11:53 / Rob maintains the lead for now by 4.1 secs. Running order has shaken up a bit behind the leaders. Its now Kezman, Hill, Pank making up the Top 5.
UPDATE 11:55 / A mistake in T6 at the top of the hill shrinks Rob’s gap to 2 seconds now.
UPDATE 11:56 / White flag is out, one lap left. Lead is still just over 2 secs. The rest of the running order is unchanged.
UPDATE 11:59 / Rob takes the checker with a 2.2 sec gap, followed by Boden, Kezman, Hill, and Pank. Closest in class car is the #81 991 GT3-R finishing P7.
[Sprint Race 2 Live Blog]
*Sprint Race 2 was broadcast at the track by Road America – see video at the bottom of this page.
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Gearing up here in Elkhart Lake for Sprint Race 2 where Juan Lopez- Sanitni will be the designated pilot of the #74 Porsche 997 GT3-R, starting from pole. Weather has cleared somewhat but the good news is rain shouldn’t be an issue at all.
The grid is staged and a beautiful long line of Porsche GT3 Cup and Ferrari F458 Challenge Cars are waiting for the pace car to stage and get this race going.
UPDATE 4:28 / The field is out on the pace lap…we are about 45 seconds away from the green flag for Race 2.
UPDATE 4:30 / Green flag and a clean start. Boden puts an inside pass on Juan into T3, but Juan tucks under and takes the spot right back. Classic over and under.
UPDATE 4:31 / Boden passes Juan under braking into T8. Hill, Kezman close behind. The entire field is really tight as they come thru The Kink with Hill glued to the back of Juan’s bumper.
UPDATE 4:35 / No changes other than everyone is starting to spread out a little behind the Top 3, Boden in the GT3 Cup, Juan, then Hill in the Ferrari 458C. Good racing up front. Boden is very good in the back half of the track and it’s clear he has a lot of time here.
UPDATE 4:43 / Juan takes P1 again on the front straight, but Boden is right on his bumper coming thru T1 and isn’t going to let the position go easily.
UPDATE 4:48 / Looks like Juan hit the “go” button as he has significantly gapped Boden and Hill at this point. Juan’s fast lap so far is within a few hundredths of Rob’s fast lap in Race 1.
UPDATE 4:51 / Hill has taken P2 from Boden. Juan has checked out – running by himself. One thing we have noticed is that the much larger tires of the GT3-R seem to take much longer to heat up than the Cups or F458C. All the other cars in the field seem to have MUCH more grip than us early in the race.
UPDATE 4:54 / Juan is now 15.6 seconds ahead of P2 Hill. P3 is now Tom Pank. P4 Boden. We aren’t sure if something happened to Boden as he clearly has skill and experience at Road America.
UPDATE 4:59 / Race complete. Not much to report from Lap 4 onward as Juan had no other cars around him. P2 goes to Steve Hill / Norwood Auto Italia #33 F458C, P3 the Ultra Performance / GT3 Cup #42 driven by Tom Pank, P4 to Mark Boden #46 / Fall Line Motorsports GT3 Cup, and P5 to Juan Gonzalez in the Mission Foods 991 Gt3-R. Enduro tomorrow!
