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GT World Challenge America

Long, Bergmeister Win SprintX CTMP Makeup Race at COTA

Wright Motorsports wins SprintX CTMP Makeup Race at COTA…

Photo: Brian Cleary/BCPix.com

Joerg Bergmeister stole the lead from Jeroen Bleekemolen with an outside maneuver into the first turn of the first lap and Patrick Long finished off a dominant win in the Pirelli World Challenge SprintX make-up race at Circuit of The Americas.

Bergmeister and Long started second in their Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R on a grid that was set by the fastest race lap from Canadian Tire Motorsport Park after the second race there was rained out.

Bergmeister pulled away from the field upon taking the lead from Bleekemolen, and Long was never threatened after taking over with 32 minutes remaining.

The final margin of victory was 3.241 seconds.

Daniel Mancinelli brought the No. 31 TR3 Racing Ferrari 488 GT3 home to a strong runner-up finish after an impressive opening stint from his co-driver Niccolo Schiro.

Daniel Morad in the No. 2 CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 took the final step on the podium with a muscular move around SprintX co-leader Michael Cooper with just over ten minutes remaining, demoting the No. 8 Cadillac Racing entry to fourth, just ahead of the sister No. 3 entry.

In all, eight different manufacturers were represented amongst the top nine finishers.

The points standings have tightened up with two rounds to go in the SprintX GT championship.

Unofficially, Mancinelli has closed to within 23 points of Cooper and his co-driver Jordan Taylor, with Dalziel and Morad 30 points behind in third.

James Sofronas and Mathieu Jaminet took a dramatic win in the Pro-Am category from last on the GT grid, with Sofronas in the No. 14 GMG Racing Porsche edging out Tim Pappas in the overall pole-sitting Black Swan Racing Mercedes on the final lap.

Sofronas and Jaminet were forced to the rear because the Frenchman was not a part of the driving lineup at CTMP but quickly moved to the front, and Jaminet was credited with the fastest overall race lap.

Pappas and co-driver Bleekemolen, who led overall during the pit stop cycle, settled for second ahead of Michael Schein and Jan Heylen in the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche.

The No. 30 MOMO/NGT Motorsports Ferrari 458 GT3 of Henrique Cisneros and Peter Ludwig took the Am-Am category win.

Yuki Harata and Alessandro Bressan won in GT Cup Pro-Am, Cory Friedman and Joe Toussaint took victory in GT Cup Am/Am, Adam Merzon and Trent Hindman combined for the GTS Pro-Am win, and the GTS Am/Am winners were Aristotle Balogh and Greg Liefooghe.

The second SprintX race of the weekend will be held at 4 p.m. CT with live coverage available at World-Challenge.com.

RESULTS: CTMP Make-Up Race

Ryan Myrehn is an Indianapolis-based broadcaster and reporter. In addition to his work covering primarily domestic sports car racing for Sportscar365, he is the lead announcer for SRO America's TV coverage as well as a pit reporter for IndyCar Radio. Myrehn, a graduate of DePauw University, is also the host of Sportscar365's “Double Stint” Podcast.

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