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Road America Saturday Notebook

John Dagys’ Saturday PWC notebook from Road America…

Photo: Halston Pitman/MotorSportMedia

Photo: Halston Pitman/MotorSportMedia

***Balance of Performance was again the talk post-race at Road America, in the wake of the dominant victory by the pair of RealTime Racing Acura TLX-GTs. The cars received a 50 mbar reduction in top-end turbo boost (at 6500 and 7000 rpm) prior to the weekend, yet still showed considerable straight-line speed. The lone Bentley Continental GT3 was also a top contender, and another turbocharged car.

***Johnny O’Connell’s quest for a fifth consecutive Pirelli World Challenge championship took a hit on the fourth lap of Saturday’s race when his No. 3 Cadillac ATS-V.R developed an engine misfire. The issue, believed to have stemmed from a throttle position sensor, relegated him to a 19th place finish in class and 23rd overall.

***There was also trouble for the GTA championship-leading No. 07 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 of Martin Fuentes, who retired on the fifth lap due to overheating issues. It marked the Mexican driver’s first DNF. Fuentes had a 376-point lead heading into the race over Frankie Montecalvo, who finished second in class on Saturday.

***After being identified as a GTA driver on Friday, Dion von Moltke has been confirmed as a GT class driver. The Audi Sportscar Brand Ambassador, however, failed to start the race due to an issue with the steering wheel. While he was initially due to split the weekend with Walt Bowlin, von Moltke told Sportscar365 he will indeed start tomorrow’s Race 2.

***Michael McCann, who entered the weekend in GT, was reclassified to GTA prior to Saturday’s qualifying. McCann finished fourth in class in Race 1 in his Dodge Viper GT3-R.

***The No. 19 Stephen Cameron Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra of Drew Regitz was withdrawn following its fire in Friday’s practice. The team deemed the damage to be too extreme to be repaired on-site and packed up yesterday evening.

***Despite the BoP not particularly suiting the McLaren this weekend, GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing’s Jon Fogarty felt they’ve turned a corner after struggling in the setup department in recent races. The team is coming off a two-day test at Utah Motorsports Complex.

***K-PAX Racing will test all three of its McLarens at Mid-Ohio next month, ahead of the race weekend itself at the end of July.

***The No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, which scored a GTA class podium debut in the hands of Andy Wilzoch, is scheduled for additional outings at Sonoma Raceway and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

***Further details on the race program for the Acura NSX GT3 is expected to be announced in the coming weeks. The manufacturer has so far only announced that it will race in the U.S. in 2017, with no official decision on PWC and/or the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

***Initial development of the NSX GT3 was undertaken in Italy by JAS Motorsport, with the project since having been handed over Honda Performance Development. It’s still unclear if the car will actually race in Europe next year.

***Watch tomorrow’s second and final GT/GTA/GT Cup race of the weekend at 9:55 a.m.. ET, live on MotorTrend on Demand and World-Challenge.com. The races will air on CBS Sports Network on Sun. July 3 at 3 p.m. ET. The GTS action will be televised on Thurs. July 7 at 9 p.m. ET.

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

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