Action Express holds on for 1-2 at Road America in 3-lap shootout
Action Express Racing's Dane Cameron and Eric Curran have gone back-to-back at Road America, having claimed victory in Sunday's Continental Tire Road Race Showcase.
Cameron edged out the sister No. 5 Corvette DP of Joao Barbosa for their second IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship victory of the season, and second consecutive at the four-mile circuit.
It came after another flawless run for the pair of Action Express Corvette DPs, in a race that saw the pole-sitting and pace-setting No. 55 Mazda Prototype falter yet again.
Jonathan Bomarito led from the green and dominated the early stages, but an off-sequence pit strategy compared to the leading DP machinery ultimately took the Mazda out of contention.
Co-driver Tristan Nunez relinquished a 30-second lead with its final stop with 36 minutes to go, opting for fuel and tires, and dropping the No. 55 Mazda to fifth, where it ended up finishing.
The No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP of Jordan and Ricky Taylor came home third, ahead of the Ozz Negri and John Pew's No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ligier JS P2 Honda in fourth.
It was a tough day for the SpeedSource-run Mazda team, with its No. 70 entry dropping out on the sixth lap with engine issues.
Tom Kimber-Smith gave PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports its second Prototype Challenge class victory of the season, in a strong run for he and co-driver Robert Alon.
The Englishman took over the lead on Lap 34, after an early race battle between Alon and the class pole-sitting No. 38 Performance Tech Oreca FM09 of James French.
A late-race accident between the No. 8 Starworks Motorsport entry of Renger van der Zande and Stephen Simpson's No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports car while battling for second gave Kimber-Smith clear sailing to the end.
It was a big points day for the PR1/Mathiasen duo, following the race-ending accident for championship leaders Van der Zande and co-driver Alex Popow, who were seeking their fourth class win in the last five races.
Instead, they were classified sixth in class, and have shrunk their lead to only seven points ahead of Kimber-Smith and Alon.
The No. 54 CORE autosport car of Colin Braun and Jon Bennett finished second, ahead of Kyle Marcelli and James French, who completed the class podium in third.
Corvette Racing scored its 101st victory in a last-lap pass for the GT Le Mans class win.
The No. 4 Corvette C7.R of Tommy Milner, who restarted in fifth on the third and final restart with 12 minutes remaining, got around Richard Westbrook’s class-leading No. 67 Ford GT on the back straight for the dramatic victory.
It came following a frantic final few laps, which saw both the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE of Toni Vilander and the No. 911 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR of Nick Tandy suffer spins.
Tandy’s attempt to go from third to first failed when the Englishman was turned around in Turn 5 with four minutes to go. It relegated the Porsche to a 7th place class finish.
Vilander, who pressured Westbrook for the lead, was then tagged by the No. 55 Mazda Prototype of Tristan Nunez in Turn 1 on the following lap, spinning the Prancing Horse, and ultimately giving way to the No. 4 Corvette.
Milner edged out Westbrook by 0.730 seconds for he and co-driver Oliver Gavin’s second consecutive class victory, following their historic 100th for the team last time out at Lime Rock Park.
The No. 100 BMW Team RLL BMW M6 GT3 of John Edwards and Lucas Luhr took a surprise podium finish in third, benefitting by the late-race carnage, with the No. 912 Porsche in fourth after fading on the final restart.
With their fourth class win of the season, Milner and Gavin extend their lead in the title race to 13 points over Westbrook and Ford Chip Ganassi Racing co-driver Ryan Briscoe.
Riley Motorsports returned to victory lane in GT Daytona, with a dominant run by the No. 33 Dodge Viper GT3-R of Jeroen Bleekemolen.
The Dutchman edged out the No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R of Joerg Bergmeister by 1.762 seconds for he and co-driver Ben Keating’s second class victory of the season.
Bergmeister made a late charge to second in the final restart, a position held by the No. 6 Stevenson Motorsports Audi R8 LMS of Robin Liddell, who dropped to fifth in class at the checkered flag.
The No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 of Alessandro Balazan and Christina Nielsen completed the class podium in third, extending their championship lead.
