Robusto Hangs On to Win Race 2 at Road America

Will Robsuto hung on to win the second race of the Toyota GR Cup North America weekend at Road America, surviving strong pressure from points leader Westin Workman to take his second victory of the season on Sunday.

The RVA Graphics Motorsports by Speed Syndicate driver got to the head of the field after a multi-car battle for the lead in the early stages, and survived the BSI Racing driver applying consistent pressure to his rear bumper until the current point-leader went long under braking on the penultimate lap, allowing Robusto enough breathing room to take the checkered flag and win 2.135 seocnds clear of Ethan Goulart in second.

Robusto’s win remains provisional, however, having been the subject of a post-race investigation from race control for an incident with the pole-sitter Jeremy Fletcher.

Fletcher led the 28-car field to the green flag, neck-and-neck with Goulart, with the pair battling for the overall lead, with Robusto sneaking his way into second before attacking Fletcher at the start of Lap 2.

A three-horse race for the race lead in the opening stages saw Fletcher, Goulart, and Robusto all spend time at the head of the field, with BSI’s Westin Workman joining the battle by Lap 3.

However, after the opening laps, Fletcher pulled onto the grass along the main straightaway with smoke pouring from his GR86 Cup car, ending a strong run at the head of the field.

Just prior, Fletcher and Robusto had gone door-to-door in the final sector, with the RVA driver losing ground after going wide out of Canada Corner. The incident came under review by race control, and a verdict will be assessed post-race.

By the time the field fell under caution in the early stages, Goulart held the lead from the overall points-leading Workman, with Jaxon Bell behind in third.

On the Restart, Workman charged around the outside of the TechSport driver into Turn 1 before Robusto took the point shortly thereafter.

Race 1-winner Spike Kohlbecker brought himself into contention in the final 20 minutes, catching the back of the podium contenders in his No. 55 RVA Toyota.

By the checkered flag, Robusto secured the victory over Goulart, with Parker DeLong bringing home a podium finish in his first ever weekend in the series.

Kohlbecker finished fourth overall, with Max Schweid completing the top five for TechSport. Workman, who lost ground in the final laps after appearing to have difficulty adequately slowing his No. 13 GR86 Cup car finished eighth.

Lucas Weisenberg was credited with an 11th-place finish after last-lap contact with Jackson Tovo saw him spin off track and ground to a halt on the grass just past the start-finish straight.

The field fell under caution with just over 35 minutes remaining after a significant accident for Christian Weir into Canada Corner, when his No. 71 TechSport machine appeared to be unable to slow for Turn 12, pitching sideways before colliding with the tire barriers. Weir climbed from the car under his own power.

Ford Koch survived a mid-race slide in The Carousel, taking to the gravel trap but remarkably maintaining a lengthy bout of oversteer to get his No. 21 Copeland machine back on track without a full spin or contact with the barriers.

RESULTS: Race 2