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Championship Battles Tighten Entering Watkins Glen Weekend

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Photo: Jamey Price/Lamborghini Two memorable races at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America field tightened up the championship battles in the Pro and LB Cup classes and has set the stage for what will be a pivotal third race weekend for Rounds 5 and 6 at Watkins Glen International. With 41 Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2 cars entered , if all start this weekend it would eclipse the season-high of 39 cars set at the Sebring opener. It’s been a roller coaster and dynamic start to the season in Pro, with the top three entries separated by just one point heading to Watkins Glen. Will Bamber (No. 33 XONINE Racing) has three wins from four races with two different teams and is tied atop the top spot with the ever-consistent Nick Persing and Hampus Ericsson (No. 1 Wayne Taylor Racing). Elias De La Torre (No. 29 TR3 Racing), meanwhile, is just one point behind. Bamber’s first race in the XONINE entry at Monterey featured a mixed bag with pl...

Pittard Joins Paradine BMW Lineup for 24H Spa

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Photo: Gruppe C Photography David Pittard will tackle the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa at the wheel of a BMW M4 GT3 EVO for the first time this weekend after joining the Paradine Competition squad. Pittard, who was unable to start last year’s contest after Henrique Chaves’ Superpole qualifying crash in the Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo that the Briton was due to race, had previously taken a best result of fourth at Spa in 2024. The 2023 Nürburgring 24 winner did contest the Spa race three times at the wheel of an BMW M6 GT3, the M4’s predecessor, but has now joined Paradine’s ranks for this year when he will share the No. 991 Bronze Cup BMW with team owner Darren Leung, squad regular James Kellett and ADAC GT Masters front-runner Leyton Fourie. Pittard is currently racing a similar car in the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup, in which he competes for KPX Motorsport. The sister Paradine Silver Cup No. 992 ent...

Watch Full-Length Replays of Rounds 7 & 8 at Road Atlanta

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Source: Sports Car 365

Lewis to Sub for Injured Hand at Gradient for Watkins Glen

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Photo: Gradient Racing Corey Lewis has been drafted back into Gradient Racing’s Ford Mustang GT3 EVO for this weekend’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, subbing for the injured Joey Hand, who has been ruled out due to a karting injury. Hand, who has served as one of the team’s two dedicated IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup drivers, suffered a broken pelvis in an accident. “I’m so bummed to not be able to race at Watkins Glen,” he said. “Unfortunately, I suffered a broken pelvis in an accident while training in my kart some weeks ago. “It’s tough to miss this one for so many reasons, but mainly because I love this track and I love driving with Gradient Racing. “I look forward to fully recovering and being back in action with the team for Road America. I’ll be watching and cheering from home.” Lewis has been serving as the team’s driver for the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship sprint rounds, in addition to opening the se...

Staut Holds Off Dyszelski to Sweep GT3 Cup Races at VIR

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Photo: Kyle Schwab/Porsche Karel Staut (Kellymoss) continued his winning form in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama with a GT3 Cup sweep at Virginia International Raceway, while Ford Koch (Kellymoss) and Anna Cecchi (CHR) split Cayman Pro-Am class victories during the series’ fifth event of the season. Staut added two GT3 Cup victories to his season tally at VIR, although Sunday’s race proved to be his closest challenge of the weekend. Race 1 was interrupted almost immediately when Chris Hutter (JTR Motorsports Engineering) was involved in a heavy accident on the opening lap. The incident brought out an extended caution period before the field returned to green-flag racing. Once the race resumed, Staut quickly settled back into the lead and maintained control through the remainder of the contest. Behind him, Riley Giacomazzi (Competition Motorsports) secured second place while Matthew Siegal (JDX Racing) completed the podium in third. Danny Dyszelski (TO...

Watch Full-Length Replays of Rounds 5 & 6 at Road Atlanta

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Source: Sports Car 365

Balogh, Grist Claim Win in Airbnb Endurance Challenge at VIR

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Photo: IMSA As Ari Balogh slid off course in Turn 3 following contact from Farhan Siddiqi in the No. 87 FastMD with Remstar Duqueine D08 Nissan on the first lap of Sunday’s two-hour IMSA Airbnb Endurance Challenge race at Virginia International Raceway, he likely didn’t expect to find himself standing in victory lane two hours later. But that’s exactly where he wound up alongside his No. 30 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS P325 Toyota co-driver Garett Grist thanks to heady strategy from Toney Driver Development Owner Nathan Toney and a well-timed full-course caution period. The first-lap incident put Balogh at the rear of the field, but the first of the race’s three full-course cautions for debris just four minutes into the race enabled him to catch back up to the rest of the field. Shortly after achieving minimum drive-time, Balogh made the first of the team’s two required pit stops to turn the car over to Grist for the remainder of the race. The tur...