PWC Weekend Roundup: Road America

Photo: Halston Pitman/MotorSportMedia

***RealTime Racing dominated the weekend at Road America, with Ryan Eversley claiming victories in both GT races on Saturday and Sunday with his No. 43 RealTime Racing Acura TLX-GT. It came in the backyard of the Peter Cunningham-owned team, which is based 30 miles south in Saukville, Wis.

***It was a weekend to forget for four-time and defending series champion Johnny O’Connell, who limped his No. 3 Cadillac ATS-V.R home with throttle sensor issues in both races. O’Connell provisionally drops from third to fourth in the title race, behind teammate Michael Cooper, who charged to a podium finish in Race 2.

***Engine issues forced GTA championship leader Martin Fuentes out of both races, although the Scuderia Corsa driver managed to get past the 50 percent distance mark to score points in Race 2. His lead has been provisionally reduced from 376 to 252 points over defending class champion Frankie Montecalvo, who broke through to score his first win of the season in Race 2.

***A number of GT drivers received penalties in Race 2 for contact, including Michael Lewis on his move on Kyle Marcelli in the No. 2 CRP Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra, as well as Austin Cindric for his contact with the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing McLaren 650S of Jon Fogarty.

***Derek DeBoer and Brett Sandberg scored GTS victories. DeBoer took the No. 09 TRG-AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT4 to his first career PWC win on Saturday, while Sandberg edged out Jeff Courtney for his second win of the year in the No. 13 ANSA Motorsports KTM X-Bow GT4.

***Tony Rivera (TC), Joey Bickers (TCA) and Tom O’Gorman (TCB) swept both of their respective Touring Car races on Thursday and Friday. Rivera, in a Nissan 370Z, edged out Toby Grahovec’s BMW M235iR for top honors in both 50-minute races.

***Dion von Moltke’s No. 23 M1 GT Racing Audi R8 LMS was moved from 2nd to 22nd on the grid for Race 2, after a pre-race ruling from the competition department. Von Moltke’s time was set in qualifying, per PWC regulations for teams with two-driver lineups, with the grid set for single-driver lineups based on the fastest lap from Race 1.

***A number of teams raised concerns over the rule, which had initially placed von Moltke on the front row of the grid despite his car not even starting Race 1. Adding to the confusion was the fact that Von Moltke, who is Silver-rated by the FIA, was allowed to race in the first place, as PWC rules only allow two Bronze-rated drivers in multi-driver lineups.

***Laura Klauser has been named the new Cadillac Racing program manager. Klauser, a longtime GM production engineer, takes the role previously held by David Caldwell, who departed late last year to become PWC’s Director of Operations.

***Watch this weekend’s GT/GTA/GT Cup races on CBS Sports Network on Sun. July 3 at 3 p.m. ET. The GTS action will air on Thurs. July 7 at 9 p.m. ET.

***PWC returns to action next month at Mid-Ohio, for Rounds 14 and 15 for GT/GTA, Rounds 13 and 14 for GT Cup and Rounds 13 and 14 for GTS on July 29-30. It will again be an IndyCar weekend.

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