31 / 40
31
from two hours to 75 minutes. It
ended with two safety car periods in
the last 15 minutes and a single final
lap under green, which saw
Gottsacker driving the Hyundai he
shared with Filippi to a maiden win.
He crossed the finish line in second
position behind the HART Honda
Civic of Ryan Eversley and Chad
Gilsinger, however, the Honda team
was penalised for not respecting the
minimum drive-time requirements
and so Gottsacker and Filippi were
elevated to the win.
In the initial stages, on a very damp
track, Galante dominated on wet
tyres from the Honda of Brian
Henderson that was soon passed by
Chris Miller’s Audi, Wilkins’ Hyundai
and Blackstock’s Honda. As the track
started to dry, Blackstock, who was
on slicks, took the lead, while
Galante made an early pit stop to
change tyres. By lap 17, the rain
started to fall again, with Gilsinger’s
Honda in the lead, without having
pitted yet and still on wet tyres; the
other Honda of Max Faulkner and the
Hyundai of Gottsacker followed in
second and third. With the rain
falling harder, some cars went off,
prompting the safety car out;
Eversley took the wheel of the race-
leading Honda, while the
championship-leading Hyundai of
Lewis-Wilkins had a puncture and
missed its pit because of the unsafe
release of a GS car. Still, they
managed to recover and finish fourth.
The race resumed 15 minutes from
the end, but was again under yellow
six minutes later and restarted for
the final lap when Gottsacker
overtook five rivals to take second.
VIR – VANCE-GALANTE
WIN A RACE FULL OF DRAMA
Changeable weather conditions at the
Virginia International Raceway
resulted in another race full of
drama, again with a single final lap
under green.
Wilkins started from the TCR pole of
a grid determined by the positions in
the standings, as Qualifying had been
Round 7 – Saturday 3 August,
Road America
1. M. Filippi/H. Gottsacker (Bryan Herta
Autosport, Hyundai Veloster N); 2. T.
O’Gorman/ S. Blackstock (LA Honda
World Racing, Honda Civic FK8); 3. G.
Ernstone/J. Morley (Roadshagger Racing,
Audi RS 3 LMS)
Round 8 – Saturday 24 August,
Virginia International Raceway
1. N. Galante/J. Vance (Fast MD Racing,
Audi RS 3 LMS); 2. M. Filippi/H.
Gottsacker (Bryan Herta Autosport,
Hyundai Veloster N); M. Johnson/S.
Simpson (JDC-Miller Motorsports, Audi
RS 3 LMS)
cancelled due to a thunderstorm, but
his teammate Gottsacker was faster
and took the lead. Wilkins retook first
position on lap 3, but then lost it to
Blackstock. There was a close fight for
the lead, with Blackstock, Wilkins,
Gottsacker, Colin Mullan and Brian
Henderson covered by just 1.5
seconds. The rain began to fall on lap
6, three GS cars crashed and the
safety car was deployed. The
neutralization lasted for half-an-hour
during which everyone pitted for wet
tyres except Galante. When the race
resumed, Galante dropped back, while
Ernstone, Wilkins and Gottsacker
alternated in the TCR lead.
Halfway through the two-hour race
the track began to dry, all the teams
pitted for refuelling, driver changes
and going back out on slicks. Morley
(who had replaced Ernstone) led from
Vance, Ryan Nash, Filippi, O’Gorman
and Stephen Simpson, while Lewis
had dropped back after serving a
drive-through for passing during the
safety car period.
The final 25 minutes were disrupted
three times by safety car
interventions as the rain began to fall
again and some GS cars spun off.
Eventually the race resumed for the
final lap, Vance took the lead from
Morley, who was then running abreast
with Simpson and Filippi as they
battled for the second position. There
was contact between Simpson and
Morley and the latter spun off and
crashed. And so Vance crossed the
line as the winner from Filippi,
Simpson and Lewis.