Davison Scores PWC Win Sunday at Road America

James Davison, in the No. 33 AE Nissan GT Academy Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3, claimed his second GT win of the Pirelli World Challenge season in Round 13 at Road America presented by Cadillac.

Frankie Montecalvo scored his third GTA victory of the year, and Colin Thompson scored his ninth GT Cup presented by MOMO victory for Round 11 of the championship.

From the standing start, pole-sitter Chris Dyson, piloting the No. 16 Bentley Team Dyson Racing Bentley Continental GT3, lost the top slot to Tomas Enge, in the No. 25 Blancpain Racing Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 FL2.

Behind them, Bryan Heitkotter, in the 05 AE Nissan GT Academy Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3, who was ninth on the grid, stalled and collected Robert Thorne, in the No. 6 K-PAX Racing with Flying Lizard Motorsports McLaren 650S GT3.

Drew Regitz, in the No. 19 Stephen Cameron Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra, who started 24th, also stalled which collected Eric Lux, in the No. 08 DragonSpeed Mercedes Benz AMG SLS GT3. A full-course caution ensued.

The top five on the restart were Enge, Davison, Dyson, Mike Skeen, in the No. 2 CRP Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra and Kevin Estre, driving the No. 9 K-PAX Racing with Flying Lizard Motorsports McLaren 650S GT3. Montecalvo and Thompson paced GTA and GT Cup, respectively, when the field went back to green.

Under heavy braking going deep into Turn 5, Estre made contact with Dyson, and Estre pitted for repairs. Estre went off track in Turn 12 one lap later on Lap 4, and pitted again to change a flat left tire. Dyson recovered nicely to pick off competitors to get back in contention as the race progressed to its finish.

Eight different manufacturers were featured in the top 10 through seven laps. The lead GT pack of five racers were only separated by three seconds at Lap 10 when Davison snuck inside Enge and made the pass for the lead in Turn 6.

Arguably the strongest campaign for position in GT, occurred for the second- and third-place slots.

Charging toward the front from a seventh-on-the grid position, Olivier Beretta, piloting the No. 61 R. Ferri Motorsport Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia, held fourth place on Lap 4. Beretta overtook Skeen to make the inside pass in Turn 5 on Lap 7.

Beretta ascended to second when Enge retired from the race during a full-course caution on Lap 11, when Alex Welch went off track in Turn 12, and his No. 76 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra caught fire. Skeen regained third position on lap 13, and Beretta took it back for good one lap later.

Meantime, Dalziel made it his late race mission to snare second spot, and not allow Beretta to keep it. Dalziel got ahead of Beretta coming under the bridge in Turn 6 on Lap 17, and held on for the second-place podium spot. Beretta, the GT points leader was third.

Montecalvo and Thompson were never threatened by rivals en route to victories in GTA and GTC, as the young racers achieved solid overall results on the weekend.

Besides Sunday’s win, Montecalvo clinched two second-place finishes. Thompson, the GTC points leader, swept both Road America events to add to his victory total, which stands at nine.

RESULTS: Round 13 (GT, GTA), Round 11 (GT Cup)