Van Berlo Strikes Back, Wins Race 2

Kay van Berlo grabbed the lead from polesitter Sebastian Priaulx on the first lap and controlled the race to lead home a Kelly-Moss Road and Race 1-2 finish in Porsche Carrera Cup North America Race 2 at Sebring International Raceway.

Van Berlo jumped to the lead on the opening lap after going side-by-side with Priaulx through the opening sequence of corners following the initial green.

The Dutch driver then withstood the pressure from Priaulx, who headed him in Race 1 on Saturday, for the rest of the race and crossed the line 4.338 seconds ahead to take the race win.

The battle for the final overall podium position was fierce throughout the 45 minute affair with 311RS Motorsports driver Leh Keen losing out to Team Hardpoint EBM’s Riley Dickinson after a hard fought duel.

Parker Thompson spent the final 25 minutes trying to fight his way by Keen but had to settle for fifth after a spirited defense from the veteran driver.

Despite a spin on the penultimate lap, Alan Metni took 992 Pro-Am class honors for the second day over BGB Motorsports driver Tom Collingwood, while Tim Pappas came home third in class.

The 991 Pro-Am class for previous generation equipment saw Matt Halcome take victory, while Kurt Hunt recovered from a pace lap spin to finish second in class.

The race ran without a full course yellow but a few minor incidents affected the result.

Of note, Dylan Murry saw a promising run go away when he spun out of a top five position in the final turn with just over 30 minutes to go.

Murry managed to keep his BGB Motorsports entry off the wall and continued, but was relegated to an 11th place finish.

Fellow Pro class contender Max Root suffered an unknown setback just past the halfway mark which knocked him out of top five contention. Root came to the pit lane on Lap 12 and did not return to the race.

Additionally, Jeff Kingsley was not able start his MRS GT Racing entry after Porsche and the team discovered a technical issue prior to the start. The problem could not be resolved so the choice was made to not start.

RESULTS: Race 2