PWC Weekend Roundup: CTMP

Photo: Brian Cleary/BCPix.com

***James Davison has provisionally lost his 2nd place finish in Sunday’s GT Race 2, as the Always Evolving driver’s No. 33 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 for an unspecified reason. Davison was handed a post-race penalty of 35.6 seconds (equivalent to a drive-through penalty), dropping him to 11th. The team has appealed the ruling. Click Here for the revised results.

***Max Riddle claimed his first career PWC GTS class victory in Sunday’s Race 2, in eventful round that saw Race 1 winner Lawson Aschenbach and pole-sitter Brent Sandberg collide and crash out in first corner of the opening lap. Riddle held off 15-year-old Parker Chase and 16-year-old Nate Stacy for top honors.

***Riddle’s win was the second of the day for the No. 07 TRG-AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT4, as he and Kris Wilson claimed top GTS class honors in Sunday’s SprintX round with the same car.

***Aschenbach took his No. 10 Blackdog Speed Shop Camaro Z.28/R to the the GTS victory on Saturday, marking his 20th career PWC win. The former series champion edged out Sandberg’s ANSA Motorsport KTM XBow GT4 and Riddle’s TRG-AMR entry for top honors in Race 1.

***Nick Wittmer (No. 91 Honda Accord V-6 Coupe) and Toby Grahovec (No. 26 BMW M235iR) scored TC class victories this weekend, while the No. 70 Mazda MX-5 Cup of Elivan Goulart swept both TCA races. Henry Morse (No. 14 Mazda 2) and Will Rodgers (No. 65 Mazda 2), meanwhile, took TCB honors.

***Patrick Long provisionally rakes over the lead of the GT class championship thanks to his weekend sweep. Long is 4 points ahead of Alvaro Parente, with Johnny O’Connell dropping to third (-9 points) and Michael Cooper in fourth (-14 points).

***Turner Motorsport packed up early and withdrew its No. 96 BMW M6 GT3 from Sunday’s GT/GTA/GT Cup Race 2. The Bret Curtis-driven entry was allegedly pulled over Balance of Performance concerns with the car, which has lacked straight-line speed all weekend.

***The No. 14 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R of Brent Holden, which finished second in Sunday’s SprintX race, also did not take the green flag in the GT/GTA/GT Cup Race 2, with Holden having also left the track early but due to previous commitments.

***TRG team owner Kevin Buckler attended last weekend’s Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup round at Silverstone as a guest of Stephane Ratel. Buckler said he’s working on a few opportunities but declined to elaborate. “I wanted to see how things work over there,” he told Sportscar365.

***M1 GT Racing has abandoned plans to race in this year’s Total 24 Hours of Spa. The team will instead add next month’s PWC round at Road America to its schedule, with Walt Bowlin set to drive his 2016-spec Audi R8 LMS.

***Stephane Ratel told Sportscar365 they plan to announce the American round of the 2017 Intercontinental GT Challenge during the annual SRO press conference at Spa in July. Ratel said GT Challenge will feature a four-round calendar, with events again at Bathurst, Spa and Sepang.

***Next up for PWC is Lime Rock Park next weekend, which will host the GT/GTA/GT Cup, GTS and TC/TCA/TCB categories. A number of teams are set to test on Tuesday, with official track action getting underway on Friday.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John