Winward Racing Wins Road America Race 1

Two wins, two different series, two weeks apart – but the same team and drivers. Winward Racing, Russell Ward, and Philip Ellis won Race 1 of the Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS’ visit to historic Road America in Elkhart Lake, Winsconsin. Ward and Ellis converted pole position in qualifying earlier today into […]

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Two wins, two different series, two weeks apart – but the same team and drivers. Winward Racing, Russell Ward, and Philip Ellis won Race 1 of the Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS’ visit to historic Road America in Elkhart Lake, Winsconsin.

Ward and Ellis converted pole position in qualifying earlier today into their second Road America victory aboard the #33 Mercedes-AMG GT3 this month; they had most recently won in the GTD class when the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship visited Road America just two weeks ago.

It’s the second Pro Cup class victory for the Winward team, and this time, they secured the outright victory that mercilessly eluded them at the end of Race 2 in Watkins Glen a month ago.

Battling one another for second place, the K-PAX Racing Lamborghinis finished second and third overall, led this time by the green #3 K-PAX Huracan GT3 of Misha Goikhberg and Jordan Pepper, ahead of the black #1 of Michele Beretta and Andrea Caldarelli. Pepper overtook Caldarelli into turn five, nearly losing control and crashing into his team mate along the Moraine Sweep – but the South African driver kept his car under control, somehow, and took the position on lap 23.

In a heated battle for the Pro-Am victory, the #93 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 of Ashton Harrison and Mario Farnbacher overhauled the #94 BimmerWorld Racing BMW M4 GT3 (Chandler Hull/Bill Auberlen) in the final ten minutes.

After battling tail-to-nose for several laps, Farnbacher got a fine run out of turn three to eventually outbrake Auberlen and take the top spot into turn five.

The Acura finished fourth place overall, ahead of the BMW in fifth. The #45 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3-R (Charlie Luck/Jan Heylen) finished seventh overall and third in the Pro-Am Cup class.

And they all gain ground in the Pro-Am championship after a first-lap incident took out the #04 CrowdStrike with Riley Motorsports AMG GT3 (George Kurtz/Colin Braun).

Kurtz was caught up in an accident that began when the #6 US Racetronics AMG GT3 of Steven Aghakhani spun out of turn three in front of nearly the entire field. Aghakhani was clipped by the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 of Michael Dinan, and Kurtz suffered damage when he tried to avoid them – only to be hit by the #43 RealTime Racing NSX GT3 of Erin Vogel.

The 6, 96, and 04 cars all retired on the spot, while Vogel and Michael Cooper fought back after repairs to finish in ninth overall. The incident caused a 20 minute Safety Car intervention. There was a second, much shorter full course yellow when the #91 TR3 Racing Lamborghini (Jeff Burton/Corey Lewis) crashed and pulled off at turn five.

With an 11th place overall finish, the #23 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo driven by Charlie Scardina and Onofrio Triarsi Jnr won the two-car Am Cup battle and have mathematically clinched the Am Drivers’ and Teams’ Championships.

Scardina and Triarsi were running as high as sixth overall, with Triarsi holding off some strong pro-rated competitors inside the top ten. They dropped down the overall running order after needing a late fuel stop.

All the same, with a 125 point lead, it is now impossible for any team to overhaul this margin for the rest of the season – as their principal competitors for most of the season, AF Corse (Jean-Claude Saada/Conrad Grunewald), haven’t raced since the VIR round. It is a maiden championship for the Central Florida-based outfit in their first full season of GT World Challenge America competition – and their seventh straight win in class.

In the Pro championship, there is little change as Caldarelli maintains a 54 point lead over Pepper in the Drivers’ Championship.

Kurtz and Braun still lead the Pro-Am standings heading into Race 2 tomorrow, but their lead over Luck and Heylen has been reduced to just six points. Race 1 winners Harrison and Farnbacher are now 21 points behind in third, and the Hull/Auberlen team are just 33 points back in fourth.

GTWCA RACE 1 PROVISIONAL RESULTS >>

Images © Brian Cleary, Fred Hardy / SRO Motorsports Group America

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