Dane Cameron passed Jordan Taylor during the final 30 minutes and held on to win Saturday’s Chevrolet Sports Car Classic presented by Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers, giving the No. 31 Whelen Engineering/Team Fox Corvette DP started by Eric Curran its first TUDOR United SportsCar Championship victory. They became the fifth different TUDOR Championship Prototype winner in five races in 2015.
Ozz Negri took second on the final lap in the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ligier JS P2/Honda started by John Pew, denying Action Express Racing a 1-2 finish. Joao Barbosa spun in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Corvette DP started from the pole by Christian Fittipaldi, but recovered to finish third.
Jordan Taylor, looking for his fourth consecutive victory in the event and third for Wayne Taylor Racing’s No. 10 Konica Minolta Corvette DP, was issued a drive-through penalty in the final 10 minutes for contact with Townsend Bell in No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia. Taylor, co-driving with his brother Ricky, came back to finish seventh.
The 100-minute race started under sunny skies but finished under increasing rain which began falling entering the final hour. Fittipaldi led comfortably until the first full-course caution at the 33-minute mark for an incident involving the No. 33 ViperExchange.com Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R of Ben Keating. Barbosa led following a full round of pit stops, followed by Richard Westbrook in the No. 90 VisitFlorida.com Corvette DP, Jordan Taylor, Cameron and Negri. Taylor took the lead on the restart, but Cameron worked his way through the field before taking the lead on Lap 41 and led the final 19 circuits.
Starworks Sheds Bad Luck, Posts First PC Victory Of 2015
“I’m not looking for good luck, I just don’t want any more bad luck like we’ve had in the last three races,” Starworks Motorsport owner Peter Baron said before Saturday’s debut of the Prototype Challenge (PC) class at Belle Isle.
He got his wish. Mirco Schultis and Renger van der Zande drove a flawless race to score their first victory of the season in the No. 8 Martini ORECA FLM09, while misfortune struck the top three contenders in the championship.
Schultis and van der Zande won three races in 2014, with van der Zande finishing second in the championship. Saturday’s victory enabled the pair to move up to sixth in the standings.
Starworks spoiled a strong showing by Performance Tech Motorsports, with James French winning his first TOTAL Pole Award in the No. 38 Ric-Man Detroit ORECA FLM09, and new co-driver James Vance leading the opening 55 laps before van der Zande took the lead. Five laps later, Stephen Simpson took second in the No. 85 JDC/Miller Motorsports UndergroundCellar.com/Young Marines ORECA. Vance held on for third.
PC points leader Jon Bennett had contact with runner-up Mike Guasch on the opening lap, with the No. 54 CORE autosport Flex-Box ORECA losing four laps for repairs. While Guasch was able to continue, his No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA was damaged midway through the event when co-driver Tom Kimber-Smith tagged the spinning No. 11 RSR Racing AutoMax USA ORECA of Bruno Junqueira, a car started by Chris Cumming. Colin Braun was able to take over for Bennett, eventually finishing fourth.
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.
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