Ellis, Daskalos Score Overall Road Atlanta Win for JMF

Jason Daskalos and Philip Ellis took victory in a close-fought GT World Challenge America powered by AWS race at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta after passing their JMF Motorsports teammates Michai Stephens and Mikael Grenier.

As Grenier’s Pro class No. 34 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo faced a pair of post-race penalties, Ellis was already set to inherit the win on his one-off return to the championship subbing for Lorcan Hanafin, as he followed close behind in the closing stages of the three-hour race.

But Ellis put the result beyond doubt 15 minutes from the finish with a pass on Grenier that capped a strong run for his Pro-Am No. 27 Mercedes-AMG, as JMF’s decision to start Daskalos on slick tires in damp but quickly drying conditions proved the correct one.

That put Daskalos to the head of the Pro-Am pack, and gave Ellis a fighting shot at challenging the Pro class leaders following two full course yellows that closed up the pack.

His final margin was 2.525 seconds over the No. 12 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo of Matias Perez Companc and Frederik Schandorff, which Ellis crucially passed with 30 minutes remaining.

Until Ellis loomed large in his mirrors, Schandorff had appeared content to sit behind Grenier in the knowledge that he did not need to pass to secure the victory.

The Canadian had only jumped ahead at the final caution courtesy of a short pitstop and not following proper pit lane procedure by maintaining the minimum speed.

The battle between the JMF and AF Corse crews had raged from lap two, when Stephens powered past Perez Companc on the damp road before a mistake at Turn 5 allowed the Ferrari through, but was finally settled on track when Schandorff completed the pass on Grenier.

As the Canadian then suffered a mysterious loss of pace and fell back, the tussle between Aaron Telitz’s Archangel Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo and Tom Sargent’s GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo turned out to be for third overall.

In the car started from the class pole by Todd Coleman, Telitz narrowly held on to secure the final spot on the overall rostrum and second in Pro-Am, as Sargent and Kyle Washington had to settle for fourth overall and third in Pro-Am.

Colin Braun made good progress in the latter stages of the race to take fifth in the No. 017 Kellymoss Porsche started by Michael Clark.

Passes on Ryan Yardley (Wright Motorsports Porsche) and Andy Lee (Riley Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 EVO) proved crucial in edging the pair ahead of Stephens and Grenier, who once the penalties were applied fell to sixth.

However, they still placed second in the Pro class on a day when misfortune hit their rivals.

After finishing on the podium at Sebring, the Dollahite Racing Ford Mustang GT3 EVO had looked to be a contender for the outright victory as Cameron Lawrence made rapid progress in his opening stint to take the lead from Stephens. But the car lost power shortly after Alex Sedgwick took over and did not see the finish.

Another car to lament misfortune was the Turner Motorsport BMW of Sebring winners Justin Rothberg and Robby Foley, with the last-named running clear of Ellis when a loss of power left him stranded on the track.

The McCann Racing Porsche of Michael McCann Jr and Zach Vanier took eighth overall and third in the Pro class, but were left to bemoan the yellow triggered by Foley’s stranded car which evaporated McCann’s handy 41-second lead over Schandorff.

RESULTS: Race