Yardley, Musial Jr. Win Overall at COTA After JMF Penalties

Photo: Fabian Lagunas/SRO

Wright Motorsports scored a surprise overall win for one of its Pro-Am class Porsche 911 GT3 R Evos in Sunday’s GT World Challenge America powered by AWS race at Circuit of The Americas following a pair of late-race penalties for the dominant JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.

Porsche Motorsport North America Selected Driver Ryan Yardley claimed victory in the No. 31 Porsche that he shared with Dave Musial Jr., with a third place overall, and second-in-class, for the sister No. 242 entry of Thomas Merrill and Therese Lahlough marking a 1-2 class finish for the Ohio-based squad.

It came after the overall and Pro class pole-sitting No. 34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG, which dominated the first three-fourths of the race, was handed two penalties in the final 40 minutes.

Mikael Grenier, who was out front by nearly 25 seconds, first served a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility with the No. 71 Rebel Rock Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo of Frank DePew.

The Canadian driver was then handed a ten-second post-race penalty for blocking the No. 13 Kellymoss Porsche of Riley Dickinson on the front-straight.

Grenier, who was battling radio issues, emerged from his first penalty in second overall, behind Yardley, but retook the overall lead with 20 minutes to go, which allowed him to build enough of a gap to the No. 29 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Robby Foley, his direct competitor in the Pro class, to still take the class win.

While Grenier crossed the line in first, he was classified third overall once the penalty time was added post-race.

It marked reigning Porsche Carrera Cup North America champion Yardley’s first GT3 victory in only his third start in GT3 competition.

Both Wright Porsches, along with the fifth place Pro-Am-finishing No. 14 Riley BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Andy Lee and Slade Stewart, benefitted by making early race stops during the resumption of the second and final safety car period with less than ten laps completed.

With no further yellows, the alternate strategy gave all three cars a leg up, capitalizing on the series’ newly mandated minimum three full-fuel pit stops.

Despite not winning outright, it marked Grenier and Michai Stephens’ second Pro win in two races this season, with Foley and Justin Rothberg scoring second place points with their fourth place overall finish.

The No. 28 RS1 entry of Jan Heylen and JP Martinez completed the top-five overall and all-Porsche podium sweep in Pro-Am.

Tom Sargent, who once again set the race’s fastest lap, charged to a sixth place result, fourth in class, ahead of Lee, who faded in the closing stages in his Riley BMW.

Zachary Vanier and Michael McCann completed the Pro class podium in their McCann Racing Porsche, which finished eighth overall.

The five-car Pro class was quickly reduced to three contenders, as the No. 6 Dollahite Racing Ford Mustang GT3 EVO of Cameron Lawrence stopped on track with driveshaft failure on the opening lap.

Soon after, the No. 12 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo of Matias Perez Companc pitted with gearbox actuator issues.

Both cars returned to action after undergoing repairs but finished 12 and six laps behind, respectively.

The Pro-Am class No. 69 Archangel Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo also lost laps early after contact with the No. 9 TR3 Racing Mercedes-AMG that led to a left-rear puncture and broken toe-link for Todd Coleman on Lap 5.

Another Pro-Am car to hit trouble, although in the final hour, was the class pole-sitting No. 27 JMF Mercedes-AMG when Lorcan Hanafin went to the garage after encountering splitter damage.

It was the race’s only retirement in the 21-car starting field.

Ozz Negri and Jay Schreibman picked up Am class honors in their No. 163 AF Corse Ferrari, which finished one lap ahead of the No. 11 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG, which made its first start of the season.

Marc Austin lost time in the closing stages with a spin.

RESULTS: Race

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