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Photo: Dan Bathie/McLaren Bryson Morris and Daniel Hanley delivered a first victory for Bryan Herta Autosport in the first of two McLaren Trophy America races at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta this weekend. BHA’s No. 98 McLaren Artura Trophy EVO survived an attritional closing phase of the 50-minute race to win on its maiden appearance in the championship by 7.705 seconds from Kaia Teo and Paul Holbert’s  No. 8 Forte Racing entry, as several contenders fell by the wayside. Much of the race was dominated by Patrick Liddy and Tanner Harvey’s No. 24 Forte Racing entry, which took the lead when polesitter Jeff Cook’s No. 5 GMG Racing machine was issued with a drive-through for a false start. Liddy handed over to Harvey with a comfortable lead, but this was gradually eroded by a chasing pack headed by the sister No. 53 Relapsing Polychondritis Motorsports/Forte entry of Kevin Madsen. Madsen, sharing with team manager Jon Miller instead of Neil Lanberg this weekend, had just taken t...

Photo: Fred Hardy/SRO Spencer Pumpelly and Luca Mars took victory in the second Pirelli GT4 America race of the weekend at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta after a storming restart. The No. 028 RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport drivers claimed a third outright win of the season by 1.661 seconds over the Pro-Am Blackdog Racing McLaren Artura GT4 of Michael Cooper and Tony Gaples, making up for their defeat to Cooper on the final lap of Race 1 , to extend their lead in the Silver class standings ahead of the summer break. Mars had run comfortably in third during the 60-minute race’s opening stint, holding off Kenton Koch’s No. 94 Random Vandals BMW M4 GT4 Evo, as polesitter Cooper gradually pulled clear of Matheus Leist in the No. 47 Nolasport Cayman. Mars came in at the earliest opportunity to hand over to Pumpelly, who was pressuring Nolasport’s Matt Travis for second when the race was transformed by a full course yellow caused by debris. That eradicated the lead Cooper ha...

Photo: Julien Delfosse/DPPI BMW’s No. 20 car led after three hours in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but Toyota continued to hold the strategic advantage as an ill-timed full-course yellow prevented leader Sheldon van der Linde from completing a scheduled routine stop. After moving to the head of the Hypercar order in the opening hour following an early pit stop for Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley continued to make the most of its early strategic gambit aboard the best of the Japanese marque’s upgraded TR010 Hybrids. Buemi had got the advantage over Rene Rast in the No. 20 BMW out to 20 seconds after the second round of pit stops, and continued to pull away to the tune of 28 seconds before he handed over to co-driver Hartley at the third round of stops. Rast meanwhile handed over the No. 20 car to van der Linde, who was due to come in for a pit stop just beyond the three-hour mark but was forced to take just five seconds of fuel for the FCY before coming in again the followi...

Photo: Fred Hardy/SRO Michael Cooper made a last-lap pass on Luca Mars to take overall victory in the opening Pirelli GT4 America race of the weekend at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in a remarkable drive to the front by the Blackdog Racing driver. Mars, in the No. 028 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport, held command of the 60-minute contest after co-driver Spencer Pumpelly sped away from pole. However, a full-course caution for an accident by the No. 5 OGH Motorsports McLaren Artura GT4 of Sean Gibbons reset the gaps and set up a ten-minute shootout to the finish. Gonazlez put heavy pressure on Mars at the restart, although his No. 68 RAFA Racing Team Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 dropped down the running order in the closing minutes with a suspected issue. A hard-charging Cooper, meanwhile, flew through the field and passed Mars in Turn 12a on the final lap, finishing 1.051 seconds ahead of the RS1 driver. The overall win, and Pro-Am class honors for the Blackdog Racing McLaren, c...

Photo: IMSA IMSA President John Doonan indicated the current designs of LMDh manufacturers will not become “obsolete” under the rules that will be introduced in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2030. Doonan was speaking immediately after Friday’s ACO press conference, where the governing bodies of the world’s two largest sports car racing series fleshed out their vision for a unified set of regulations at the end of the decade. Manufacturers will be permitted to use either its own bespoke chassis or a ‘spine’ from one of the four licensed chassis manufacturers that are currently available to LMDh competitors. Those following the latter path can then choose between making their own hybrid system and a common solution produced to the same regulations. Reacting to the news, Doonan said current LMDh competitors competing in either series would not need to develop a new car from scratch. “I thi...

Photo: Fred Hardy/SRO Spencer Pumpelly and Michael Cooper have claimed poles for this weekend’s pair of Pirelli GT4 America races at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. Pumpelly, who currently leads the Silver class standings with RS1 co-driver Luca Mars, reeled off a 1:26.627 in his No. 028 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport to outpace title rival Westin Workman by a hefty 0.518 seconds. Workman, in the No. 68 RAFA Racing Team Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 will line up alongside Pumpelly in second, ahead of series rookie Austin Jurs, in his best-ever qualifying effort in the No. 131 Advance Motorsports McLaren Artura GT4. Yves Baltas and Francis Selldorf completed the top-five for ACI Motorsports and AutoTechnic Racing, respectively, in a top five sweep of Silver class entries. Michael Garcia powered his way to the sixth quickest overall time, and pole in the Am class in the No. 21 ACI BMW M4 GT4 EVO. Garcia’s 1:27.697 lap time was quicker than the entire Pro-Am class field, ...

Source: Sports Car 365