Ibiza Farm McLaren Takes 4H Mid-Ohio Win

Photo: Geoff Miller/IMSA

Michael Cooper and Moisey Uretsky came out on top in Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 4 Hours of Mid-Ohio, putting their Ibiza Farm Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4 back in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge victory lane for the second time this season.

Cooper drove the No. 44 machine to a 2.295-second win over the No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 EVO of Luca Mars, following a late-race caution and restart that erased Cooper’s nearly 13-second advantage at the time.

Mars challenged on the restart with 30 minutes to go but slowly fell adrift from Cooper, who emerged into the lead following a well-timed second-to-last pit stop that saw the McLaren stretch its fuel mileage.

The win came after the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Daan Arrow was forced to the garage, from second at the time, due to an alternator issue.

Arrow returned to action after repairs but finished 34th overall, some 11 laps behind.

It opened the door for the No. 27 AutoTechnic Racing BMW of Stevan McAleer, who was also in contention but took on only fresh right-side Michelin tires on his final stop with 49 minutes to go.

McAleer faded to fourth, with pole-sitter Jeff Westphal completing the GS podium in his No. 39 CarBahn with Peregrine Racing BMW alongside co-driver Sean McAllister.

The No. 23 Koch-Copeland Motorsports Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 of Jaxon Bell and Ford Koch completed the top-five, ahead of the No. 12 RAFA Racing Toyota of Kiko Porto and Varun Choksey in sixth.

TCR class honors looked set to go to the class pole-sitting No. 5 KMW Motorsports With TMR Engineering Honda Civic FL5 TCR of Tim Lewis, until he too was limped into the pits with alternator issues with 24 minutes to go.

It opened the door to a hard-fought two-way fight between Dennis Dupont and Karl Wittmer, who battled until until the very end.

Wittmer, in the No. 93 MMG Honda, made a thrilling last-lap pass on Dupont to take the class win over the No. 76 Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Elantra N TCR by just 0.801 seconds.

The Canadian squad claimed its first Pilot Challenge victory since Canadian Tire Motorsport Park last year, in the car shared by LP Montour and Dai Yoshihara.

Dupont and co-driver Preston Brown were seeking their fourth four-hour race win in the last two years.

The No. 98 BHA Hyundai of Mark Wilkins and Maddie Aust completed the class podium in third.

RESULTS: O’Reilly Auto Parts 4 Hours of Mid-Ohio

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