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GT World Challenge America

Heitkotter Sweeps Weekend in Utah

Brian Heitkotter claims victory in Race 2, sweeps PWC Sprint weekend…

Photo: Nissan

Photo: Nissan

Bryan Heitkotter has swept the Pirelli Word Challenge Sprint weekend at Utah Motorsports Campus, having taken victory in Sunday’s Race 2.

The Always Evolving driver took his No. 05 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 to a 1.375-second win, again over the No. 88 Bentley Team Absolute Bentley Continental GT3 of Adderly Fong, in the 50-minute race which ran caution-free.

Heitkotter, who started alongside pole-sitter Michael Lewis, got around the No. 98 Calvert Dynamics Porsche 911 GT3 R on the start and initially checked out to comfortable lead over the Bentley driver.

While Fong managed to reel in Heitkotter, he was unable to get around the Nissan and ultimately lost ground in traffic.

It marked Heitkotter’s second consecutive victory, in what was a breakout weekend for the inaugural Nissan GT Academy USA winner, who claimed his first overall wins in pro racing.

A third place finish for the No. 58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R of Patrick Long has put the Porsche factory driver into the lead of the GT championship, following another disappointing result for Alvaro Parente.

Parente finished 11th after starting 17th on the grid due to his retirement in Race 1, with his No. 9 K-PAX McLaren 650S GT3 unable match the pace of the GT competition throughout the race.

Lewis, who started from pole due to setting the quickest lap in Race 1, was fourth, with Jon Fogarty completing the top-five in the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing McLaren.

Martin Fuentes claimed his record 9th class victory in GTA, after late-race trouble for Race 1 winner Frankie Montecalvo.

Montecalvo spun his No. 66 DIME Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 twice in the final 10 minutes, from the class lead, and ultimately retired.

Fuentes took his No. 07 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 to a narrow 0.040-second win over the No. 58 Wright Motorsports Porsche of Michael Schein, with Brent Holden completing the class podium in third.

In GT Cup, Alec Udell returned to the top step of the podium, in another hard-fought battle in the spec Porsche class.

Udell got around the No. 57 Wright Porsche of McKay Snow for the lead with 19 minutes remaining and had been under pressure from Race 1 winner Sloan Urry until Urry stopped on track with fuel pressure issues.

In addition to the issues for Montecalvo and Urry, both RealTime Racing Acura TLX GTs also failed to finish, with left-rear suspension damage for the No. 43 car of Ryan Eversley and axle failure for Spencer Pumpelly on the parade lap.

RESULTS: Race 2

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

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