Buford Wins; Sofronas Wraps Up Overall GTS Championship

Photo: Brian Cleary/PWC

Jade Buford held off a hard-charging Ian James to capture victory in Saturday’s Pirelli World Challenge GTS Sprint round at Watkins Glen.

GMG Racing’s James Sofronas, meanwhile, clinched the overall GTS title ahead of tomorrow’s season finale.

Buford took his No. 55 PF Racing Ford Mustang GT4 to a 0.208-second win over the No. 50 Panoz Avezzano GT4 of Ian James, in the caution-free 50-minute race.

While having lined up on pole, James lost the lead to the pink-colored Mustang GT4 at the start but rebounded to pressure Buford in the closing stages.

The No. 1 Blackdog Speed Shop Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R of Lawson Aschenbach completed the overall podium in third, ahead of Harry Gottsacker, who entered the race with a slim chance of stealing the overall title away from Sofronas.

It ultimately did not materialize, with Sofronas recording a seventh place result in his No. 14 Audi R8 LMS GT4, which was enough to lock up his second GTS title of the year, alongside his SprintX crown.

The GTS Sprint title, however, remains open heading into Sunday, with Aschenbach having gained ground on Sofronas in Saturday’s race.

Courtney Claims GTSA Honors; Takes Over Championship Lead

Jeff Courtney has taken over the lead of the GTSA championship with his second win of the season in the No. 99 JCR Motorsports Maserati GT4.

It came after a disappointing outing for Drew Stavelely, who entered the weekend as the points leader, but finished 17th overall and 10th in class.

The No. 71 MarcoPolo Motorsports KTM X-Bow GT4 of Nicolai Elghanayan and Tony Gaples, in the No. 11 Blackdog Camaro GT4 completed the class podium.

RESULTS: Race 1

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