Yardley Takes COTA Finale Win; Class Champions Crowned

Photo: Jessica Johnk/Porsche

Ryan Yardley took his third Porsche Carrera Cup North America victory of the season in Sunday’s season-ending race at Circuit of The Americas, that saw class champions crowned in Pro-Am and Masters.

Yardley got around the No. 24 Kellymoss Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car of Pro class champion Loek Hartog on Lap 5 and extended his advantage for the remainder of the 35-minute race.

The Kiwi finished 2.850-seconds ahead of the No. 98 PT Autosport-backed JDX Racing Porsche of Alex Sedgwick following a fierce late-race battle with Race 1 winner Zach Vanier, who ran second for the majority of the race in his JDX entry.

Hartog was classified fourth, with Michael Cooper rounding out the top-five for Baby Bull Racing.

Cooper, who started on pole, quickly dropped behind Hartog and Yardley in a fierce opening race battle with the top five contenders.

Hartog initially dropped to fifth but made up a position on Cooper in the closing stages.

Pro-Am class and championship honors went to the No. 99 Kellymoss Porsche of Alan Metni, who held off a hard-charging Efrin Castro, who spun on his own in Lap 9.

Castro entered the race at just two-point deficit to teammate Metni.

Moisey Uretsky finished second in race in class, with Castro rebounding to come home third.

Matt Halcome and Chris Bellomo, meanwhile, tied on points in the Masters class championship following final-lap drama.

Bellomo lost the race win but won the title after a final-lap clash involving Blind, who claimed top class honors on Sunday.

Halcome, who retired in Race 1 with an airborne accident, returned to action to finish third in class but lost the tie-breaker, reverting to second-place finishes, to Bellomo, who took the title.

Unlike Saturday’s caution-filled race that resulted in only a handful of green flag laps, Sunday’s title-decider ran without any safety car interventions.

A number of cars, however, suffered spins during the race.

RESULTS: Race 2

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