Calvert Wins SprintX Race 2 in Utah

Photo: Brian Cleary/BCPix.com

Preston Calvert held off a late charge from Dion von Moltke to claim victory in Sunday’s Pirelli World Challenge SprintX round, sweeping the weekend for his Calvert Dynamics team at Utah Motorsports Campus.

Calvert crossed the line 5.215 seconds ahead of the No. 23 M1 GT Racing Audi R8 LMS of von Moltke, in a race that saw a hard-fought battle between Calvert and Michael Mills in the closing stages of the 60-minute race.

A slow pit stop for the No. 98 Porsche 911 GT3 R, which had seen co-driver Michael Lewis open up a 16-second lead over the No. 46 Mills Racing BMW Z4 GT3 of Kuno Wittmer, was reduced to just four seconds following the driver change.

Calvert then came under attack from Mills, who ultimately spun his BMW with 10 minutes to go, while trying to get around the Phoenix Performance-run Porsche for the lead, giving Calvert clear sailing to the end.

It marked Calvert and Lewis’ second SprintX win in as many races, with von Moltke finishing second, after making up more than 15 seconds in his closing stint.

Mills and Wittmer were relegated to third, after Mills’ late-race spin, ahead of the No. 14 GMG Racing Porsche of Brent Holden and Jame Sofronas in fourth.

TRG-AMR scored a 1-2 finish in GTS, led by the No. 07 Aston Martin Vantage GT4 of Max Riddle and Kris Wilson.

Riddle took the lead following the round of pit stops, after a strong opening stint by the No. 09 Aston of Derek DeBoer, who passed the No. 54 Racers Edge Motorsports SIN R1 GT4 of Scott Heckert for the top spot at the 15-minute mark.

It also marked a weekend sweep for the Kevin Buckler-led team, but with each of its cars claiming class wins.

Parker Chase and Harry Gottsacker completed the GTS class podium in third, in a late addition to the grid in their No. 29 Performance Motorsports Group Ginetta G55 GT4.

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