Connect with us

Prototype Challenge

Muehlner Wins Race; Dickerson, Sarchet Claim IPC Title

Race winners, champions crowned in final round of season at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta…

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

Moritz Kranz and Ugo de Wilde did everything they could by winning the IMSA Prototype Challenge season finale Thursday morning at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. It wasn’t quite enough, however, to stop Josh Sarchet and Dakota Dickerson from winning the championship.

Kranz and de Wilde controlled the one-hour, 45-minute race, leading all but two of 67 laps in the No. 21 Muehlner Motorsports Duqueine D08 Nissan and taking the checkered flag 3.191 seconds ahead of the pack.

Sarchet and Dickerson needed to finish at least fifth to sew up the crown and, despite some late dramatics and with an assist from a competitor, did just that in the No. 54 MLT Motorsports Ligier JS P320 Nissan.

It gave Sarchet and Dickerson a 10-point cushion over Kranz in the final class standings.

Kranz – who drove in all six IPC races this year, sometimes solo and sometimes with a co-driver – started from the pole position and built a 22-second advantage before a full-course caution with just more than an hour remaining.

He turned the car over to de Wilde, who was occasionally threatened by Trent Hindman in the No. 7 VOLT Racing with Archangel Ligier but never surrendered the lead.

Dickerson took over the No. 54 Ligier for Sarchet in the final hour as well and was comfortably riding in third place when the final caution flag came out.

The field squeezed coming to the restart with 17 minutes to go and Dickinson was tapped from behind by Rasmus Lindh in the No. 6 Performance Tech Motorsports Ligier.

Dickerson plunged to seventh place. Knowing he had to gain two spots in a hurry, he charged.

He quickly pushed the No. 54 into sixth place but couldn’t find a way past Garett Grist (No. 33 Jr III Racing Ligier) as the laps and clock ticked away. Suddenly, with less than three minutes remaining, Grist pulled aside to let Dickerson into fifth position and hand the championship to a fellow Ligier team.

Sarchet, Dickerson and the No. 54 MLT Ligier, with one race win and podium finishes in every race but the finale, totaled 1,850 points.

Kranz and the No. 21 Muehlner Duqueine had three victories but wound up with 1,840 points.

By finishing second in the race, Hindman, Alan Brynjolfsson and the No. 7 VOLT Racing by Archangel Ligier advanced to third in the final standings with 1,600 points.

In the LMP3-2 class for previous-generation cars, Mike Watt and Nic Jonsson won their second straight race in the No. 15 D Motorsports Ligier JS P3 Nissan.

Danny Kok and George Staikos, who clinched the class title last month at Virginia International Raceway, finished second for the sixth straight time in the No. 61 Conquest Racing Norma M30.

David Grant and Keith Grant won the LMP3-1 Bronze Cup class for entries with only Bronze-rated drivers. The co-drivers of the No. 40 JDC MotorSports Duqueine are also the Bronze Cup season champions.

RESULTS: Race

The latest sports car racing news from trusted series, manufacturer and team sources based around the world.

Click to comment
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

More in Prototype Challenge