Lewis Sweeps Weekend in St. Pete

Photo: Brian Cleary/BCPix.com

Michael Lewis has swept the weekend on the streets of St. Petersburg, with the EFFORT Racing driver claiming another dominant victory in Sunday’s Race 2 of Pirelli World Challenge.

Lewis took his No. 41 Porsche 911 GT3 R to a 1.298-second win over the No. 33 Always Evolving Racing Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 of James Davison in an caution-filled race.

Davison, who failed to finish Saturday’s Race 1 due to wing damage, moved from fourth to second at the start and held his position throughout the race, which was slowed by a lengthy 30-minute caution for a heavy accident.

A final yellow for a multi-car incident involving Alvaro Parente and Austin Cindric’s K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S GT3 cars set up a two-lap shootout to the checkered flag.

Patrick Long, who had charged from seventh to third on the opening lap, lost third on the final lap to the No. 8 Cadillac ATS-V.R of Michael Cooper after over-cooking his No. 31 Porsche into the first corner.

Long finished fourth, holding off Johnny O’Connell, who completed the top-five in his No. 3 Cadillac.

Ryan Eversley, Andrew Palmer, Colin Thompson, Jon Fogarty and Andrew Davis rounded out the top-10 overall and in the GT class.

GTA class honors again went to the No. 07 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 of Martin Fuentes, who recorded a 13th place overall finish. Fuentes maintains his undefeated record this season.

Sloan Urry, meanwhile, claimed his third consecutive GT Cup class win, taking his No. 20 TruSpeed Autosport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car to a 0.304-second victory over Alec Udell’s GMG Racing entry, who finished second.

The 50-minute race was slowed by a massive single-car accident by Corey Fergus on the second lap, who slammed into the Turn 3 wall, moving the concrete barriers in the process.

It resulted in a lengthy caution period for track cleanup and repairs, with the race restarting with less than 19 minutes to go.

Fergus was taken to a local hospital but later released.

RESULTS: St. Pete Race 2

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