Cooper Sweeps Weekend, Long Clinches PWC Sprint Title

Michael Cooper went back-to-back in Pirelli World Challenge competition at Sonoma Raceway, and Patrick Long added the Sprint championship to the Overall title he earned Saturday with a runner-up finish in Race 2.

For the second-straight day, Cooper made a strong move to the outside of the pole sitter at the start in his No. 8 Cadillac ATS-V.R, taking the lead from second on the grid in the opening moments of the race.

Long, in the No. 58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, settled into second place and could not retake the lead despite mounting a spirited challenge.

Pierre Kaffer put in a strong run to third in the No. 4 Audi R8 LMS for Magnus Racing, his second podium finish in the last three races.

Bryan Sellers and Ryan Dalziel completed the top-five for K-PAX Racing and CRP Racing, respectively.

Alvaro Parente entered the final race of the season just four points behind Long in the Sprint championship standings, but the title was decided before the field had made it to Turn 3.

Parente’s K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S GT3 was tagged by Daniel Mancinelli in the No. 31 TR3 Racing Ferrari 488 GT3, sending the defending series champion spinning into the path of Ryan Eversley’s RealTime Racing Acura NSX GT3.

The ensuing contact eliminated both Parente and Eversley, ending the former’s Sprint championship hopes.

Mancinelli was penalized with a stop and two-minute hold for causing the incident.

Because Parente did not score points, Cooper was able to move up into second in the overall championship with his win.

James Sofronas, who finished 10th overall, was the winner in GTA for GMG Racing, capping off a dominant season that saw him pick up 11 class wins across Sprint and SprintX.

RESULTS: Race 2