Koch Muscles Way to Victory at Road America in Late Battle

Photo: Road America

Kenton Koch muscled his way to victory in Saturday’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge round at Road America, getting around Alec Udell for the lead with less than five minutes to remaining in the Road America 240.

Koch, in the No. 56 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4, scored the team’s third win of the season, helping put co-driver Eric Foss closer in the GS class championship fight with two rounds to go.

A late-race yellow, prolonged by a spin from Scott Andrew’s Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 which lost a wheel while under caution, set up a 11-minute shootout with the No. 66 Kelly-Moss Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport of Udell out front.

Udell, who was stretching the fuel in his Porsche, dropped to third after side-by-side contact involving Koch with two laps to go.

It promoted the No. 43 Stephen Cameron Racing BMW M4 GT4 of Gregory Liefooghe to finish second, with points leader Trent Hindman rebounding from a drive-through penalty to come home fourth, behind Udell and co-driver David Brule.

The VOLT Racing Aston Martin was assessed incident responsibility for an accident involving Hindman’s co-driver Alan Brynjolffson and the No. 877 PF Racing Ford Mustang GT4 of Kyle Marcelli in the third hour.

Mike Skeen brought the FCP Euro Mercedes to the line in fifth, ahead of a recovering Marcelli and the No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW of Bill Auberlen, which battled intermittent radio issues throughout the four-hour enduro.

The early stages of the race saw multiple incidents and penalties for driving standards although eased up until the final restart, which resulted in the top six GS cars all battling for the eventual win.

TCR class honors came down to the last lap, with Tim Lewis Jr., on fresh Michelin tires, getting around the No. 54 Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Elantra N TCR of Stephen Simpson.

Lewis Jr. pitted his No. 5 KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR during the final caution for new tires, which saw him rocket through the field in the closing minutes.

It marked the third class win of the season for the Alfa crew of Lewis Jr. and co-driver Roy Block.

Simpson and co-driver Michael Johnson finished second ahead of defending class champions Taylor Hagler and Michael Lewis, which completed the podium in third.

Of note, the No. 33 BHA Hyundai of Mark Wilkins and Robert Wickens finished fifth despite a hand-brake system failure for the car that forced Wickens to relinquish controls of the car shortly after his minimum drive time was met.

RESULTS: Road America 240

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