Corvette DPs 1-2 In Detroit, Taylor Brothers Capture Chevrolet Sports Car Classic Victory

Faced with a restart amidst heavy traffic midway through Saturday’s Chevrolet Sports Classic Presented by the Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers, Jordan Taylor passed three cars on his way to the lead. That proved to be the key to give the No. 10 Konica Minolta Corvette DP its third victory in four years at the Raceway at Belle Isle Park.

Joined by older brother Ricky, the Taylors scored their second IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship victory at the circuit, backing up their triumph in 2014. Jordan Taylor also had a pair of Rolex Series triumphs at the 2.360-mile temporary circuit, including the 2013 victory in the No. 10 Corvette DP with then-co-driver Max Angelelli.

Action Express Racing’s TOTAL Pole Award winner Christian Fittipaldi led the opening 26 laps before pitting under caution shortly before the one-hour mark of the 100-minute event, when he turned the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Corvette DP over to Joao Barbosa.

The timing of the caution saw a group of lapped GT Daytona (GTD) class cars and a pair of Prototype Challenge (PC) cars ahead of the lead Prototypes. When the green flag waved with 48 minutes remaining, Jordan Taylor threaded his way past Barbosa and the two PC cars to take both the class and overall lead – which he held for the remainder of the event.

“We talked about being conservative, but when I saw the opportunity so wide open we jumped on it,” Jordan Taylor said. “It was odd when we restarted in the middle of the pack – it doesn’t happen often. Going through the kink I saw Joao wanted to go to the inside and the other two (PC) cars were blocking each other. So I went on a clean line around the outside, and I was able to get around them all.”

Taylor took the checkered flag 1.740 seconds ahead of Barbosa to give the brothers their second win of the season and sixth of their WeatherTech Championship careers. Entering the event fourth in the Prototype standings, they leave Detroit unofficially tied for the lead with Fittipaldi and Barbosa with 151 points apiece.

Jonathan Bomarito and Tristan Nunez finished third in the No. 55 Castrol/ModSpace Mazda Prototype, giving Mazda Motorsports its first podium finish in WeatherTech Championship competition.

The race took a dramatic turn at the 14-minute mark. Marc Goossens went wide in Turn 7 while running third, clipping a tire barrier which tore off the rear wing of the No. 90 Visit Florida Racing Corvette DP. That allowed the fourth-place No. 31 Whelen Engineering/Team Fox Corvette DP of Eric Curran to close up.

Lacking downforce, Goossens spun entering Turn 12. He hit the barrier and bounced back into the path of Curran, who struck his left rear with his right front. The incident took out the Visit Florida entry, while former points leaders Curran and Dane Cameron rejoined the race after a lengthy stop for repairs. They finished sixth, and are now four points behind the new co-leaders.

On the final restart with 34 minutes remaining, Ozz Negri took his fourth-place No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Curb Records/AERO Honda Ligier JS P2 started by Katherine Legge with suspension damage. He returned to the race three laps down, finishing fifth.

Starworks Motorsport Repeats In Prototype Challenge With Late-Race Pass

Renger van der Zande pressured Colin Braun into making a rare mistake with less than five minutes remaining to win in the Prototype Challenge (PC) class at Detroit for the second consecutive year in the No. 8 Starworks Motorsport ORECA FLM09 started by Alex Popow.

Van der Zande was mired in traffic running in third position after the driver change under the caution – trailing Tom Kimber-Smith in the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA started by pole winner Robert Alon, and Braun, who took over for Jon Bennett in the No. 54 CORE autosport entry. Those cars – along with many of the GT Daytona (GTD) competitors – pitted under the green flag but found themselves running ahead of the Prototype leaders who elected to pit under caution.

Van der Zande took second with 30 minutes remaining, and then managed to run down Braun to challenge for the PC lead. With less than five minutes left, Braun spun in Turn 6 while working through GTD traffic. That gave the lead to the Starworks driver, who won by 3.474 seconds.

“This was a real nice race,” van der Zande said after scoring his seventh career WeatherTech Championship victory. “We got real unlucky with the yellow after the pit stops, so I had to get by several cars. Once I got clean air I was able to chase down Colin. I gave it my all, and I think it was the fastest lap ever on this track – I think it was the fastest lap I ever done in my life. This one tastes very sweet.”

• Said race winner Ricky Taylor: “We weren’t the fastest car for sure, the 31 and 5 were faster than us, but this morning we woke up and said to each other, these are the kinds of races you win. Not being the fastest, something will come together and you can get the win. Jordan made great work of the traffic on the restart and then controlled the lead from there. Great day for Chevrolet, with a 1-2 here in Detroit.”

• The victory unofficially gives van der Zande and Popow a three-point lead in the PC standings over Alon and Kimber-Smith, 162-159.

• Saturday morning’s 30-minute warm-up saw a two-car incident in Turn 13 between Misha Goikhberg in the No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports ORECA FLM09 and Joel Miller in the No. 70 Mazda Motorsports Castrol/ModSpace Mazda Prototype.

“I was following a Mazda, and he spun,” Goikhberg said. “It was either hit him, or hit the wall. I hit the wall.”

While Goikhberg was cleared to race following a mandatory trip to the care center, an inspection of the car revealed major left side wreckage which included damage to the tub – which put it out of the race. The team then borrowed a spare car from BAR1 Motorsports two hours from the green flag, transferring the engine and electronics from the No. 85 car to the No. 16 which last raced at the Rolex 24. The car made it to the track 23 laps down.

• Next up is the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen. The event at Watkins Glen International on Sunday, July 3 will feature all four classes in Round 6 of the WeatherTech Championship and Round 3 of the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup.

Contact:

nsiebens@imsa.com

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