CTMP IMSA: Braun/Bennett claim amazing win from back of pack

Although Braun set the pole time, having dominated every session this weekend, the team elected to start with his much slower teammate Bennett – and thus had to start from the rear of the Prototype field. “I’m just a business guy with a dream,” admitted Bennett.

They took advantage of the early yellow to install hotshoe Braun, once Bennett had completed his minimum drive time, and Braun charged from 12^th to sixth as the race hit the one-hour mark.

Before that, Penske’s Dane Cameron hared into the lead from his inherited pole position in the #6 Acura, while the #10 WTR Cadillac of Renger van der Zande and Jonathan Bomarito in the #55 Mazda passed front row man Robert Alon (#85 JDC-Miller Oreca) in the opening corners.

Van der Zande challenged Cameron hard as they hit the tail-end of the GTLM traffic on lap 11, but in clean air the Acura was able to stretch its lead again.

The first full-course caution, for a stranded Porsche 911 GTD car, shook up the pack after just over 20 minutes. Cameron stayed out in the leading #6 Acura, with the big winner being the #31 Action Express Racing Cadillac that Eric Curran had pitted just before the yellow, which leapfrogged newly-installed co-driver Felipe Nasr up to third.

At the restart, van der Zande passed Misha Goikhberg in the Watkins Glen-winning JDC-Miller Oreca for second, which had stayed out during the yellow. The second full-course caution occurred soon after, with Christian Nielsen getting her GTD Wright Motorsports Porsche beached at Turn 5.

Leader Cameron pulled clear of van der Zande again at the green, as Goikhberg held up a train comprising Nasr, Ryan Dalziel in the sole ESM Nissan, Ricky Taylor’s #7 Acura and Bomarito.

Cameron pitted on lap 35 under green, dropping him outside the top 10, just as Nasr got around Goikhberg for what was now second behind van der Zande. Dalziel slowed and pulled into the pits with turbo issues.

Bomarito and Ricky Taylor swapped places again, just after Goikhberg boxed the Acura in behind a Ford GT. Bomarito then did likewise to get around Goikhberg in GTD lappery, with Taylor following suit.

A third full-course caution was required when the #52 Ligier lost a wheel, just before half distance. This prompted the entire field to pit, with Jordan Taylor taking over the leading #10 Caddy from van der Zande, ahead of Cameron (who short-filled after his green-flag stop) and the AXR Cadillacs of Nasr and Filipe Albuquerque (in the #5).

Another full-course caution was required almost immediately due to debris from the #912 Porsche at Turn 5, which caused drama at the front as Cameron pitted from second with a puncture. He rejoined under a red light at the end of pitlane, resulting in a 60s stop/go penalty – putting the #6 car totally out of the picture.

Jordan Taylor pulled clear at the restart, easing away from Nasr, with Harry Tincknell up to third in the #55 after taking over from Bomarito. Ricky Taylor got around the Mazda as the race entered it final hour, as Braun passed Albuquerque for fifth, but Taylor then lost a couple of spots to Tincknell and Braun when he ran wide at Turn 5.

At the final round of pitstops, the #5 AXR Caddy jumped several places to run third, ahead of Braun, Ricky Taylor and Tincknell.

The man to watch in the final stages was Braun, who passed both AXR cars to grab second – and then a full-course caution came out as Juan Pablo Montoya lost a wheel from the #6 Acura. 

The race restarted with 17 minutes to go, with Jordan Taylor leading Braun, Nasr and Albuquerque, as Tincknell passed Ricky Taylor for fifth, a move mirrored by Oliver Jarvis in the #77 Mazda on Taylor a few laps later. But Tincknell went off, causing another yellow with 12 minutes left on the clock – just as Braun passed Taylor for the lead around the outside.

Taylor repassed Braun seconds later, but that was under the yellow, so the positions were redressed with Braun leading.

The race restarted with seven minutes left to run, and Braun rattled off the laps to a famous victory over Jordan Taylor, Nasr and Albuquerque. Ricky Taylor finished fifth, ahead of Jarvis.

Ford grabs GTLM victory on fuel strategy

In GT Le Mans, Nick Tandy took the lead from pole in Porsche #911, ahead of Jan Magnussen’s Chevrolet Corvette and the second Porsche of Laurens Vanthoor, with Ryan Briscoe (#67 Ford GT) losing two spots in the opening exchanges.

Jesse Krohn took the lead in the #24 BMW during the first round of pitstops, ahead of Tandy and Vanthoor. Tandy and then Vanthoor took advantage of DPi lappery to jump back ahead of Krohn to reinstate the Porsche 1-2.

But the #912 car’s race went south after Earl Bamber took over from Vanthoor at half distance, and following a slow stop, he collided with the #67 Ford GT of Richard Westbrook and later suffered an explosive puncture.

Drama also befell the #911 car when Patrick Pilet, in for Tandy, hit John Edwards’ BMW – sending the latter to the pits. But his biggest threat was the fuel-gambling #67 Ford of Briscoe/Westbrook.

The penultimate yellow allowed Westbrook a ‘free’ pitstop, so he retained the lead and was able to record a sensational win. Pilet then lost places to both Corvettes, with Garcia and Tommy Milner passing him in heavy traffic, and had to settle for fourth.

The #66 Ford of Dirk Muller/Joey Hand finished fifth, ahead of the delayed #912 Porsche.

In GT Daytona, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Ben Keating claimed a fabulous win for Team Riley Mercedes, with Bleekemolen getting past the Lexus of Kyle Marcelli in the closing stages. Andy Lally and John Potter finished third in the Magnus Racing Audi.

Pos	Class	Num	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Gap
1	P	54	Jon Bennett    Colin Braun	ORECA LMP2	116
2	P	10	Jordan Taylor    Renger van der Zande	Cadillac DPi	116	3.431
3	P	31	Eric Curran    Felipe Nasr	Cadillac DPi	116	4.666
4	P	5	Christian Fittipaldi    Filipe Albuquerque	Cadillac DPi	116	6.657
5	P	7	Helio Castroneves    Ricky Taylor	Acura DPi	116	6.836
6	P	77	Oliver Jarvis    Tristan Nunez	Mazda DPi	116	9.453
7	P	99	Mikhail Goikhberg    Stephen Simpson	ORECA LMP2	116	11.194
8	P	85	Simon Trummer    Robert Alon	ORECA LMP2	116	11.835
9	P	52	Gustavo Yacaman    Sebastian Saavedra	Ligier LMP2	114	2 laps
10	GTLM	67	Ryan Briscoe    Richard Westbrook	Ford GT	112	4 laps
11	GTLM	3	Jan Magnussen    Antonio Garcia	Corvette C7.R	112	4 laps
12	GTLM	4	Oliver Gavin    Tommy Milner	Corvette C7.R	112	4 laps
13	GTLM	911	Nick Tandy    Patrick Pilet	Porsche 911 RSR	112	4 laps
14	GTLM	66	Joey Hand    Dirk Müller	Ford GT	112	4 laps
15	GTLM	912	Earl Bamber    Laurens Vanthoor	Porsche 911 RSR	112	4 laps
16	GTLM	25	Connor de Phillippi    Alexander Sims	BMW M8 GTE	112	4 laps
17	P	6	Juan Pablo Montoya    Dane Cameron	Acura DPi	111	5 laps
18	GTD	33	Jeroen Bleekemolen    Ben Keating	Mercedes-AMG GT3	107	9 laps
19	GTD	14	Kyle Marcelli    Dominik Baumann	Lexus RC F GT3	107	9 laps
20	GTD	44	Andy Lally    John Potter	Audi R8 LMS GT3	107	9 laps
21	GTD	48	Bryan Sellers    Madison Snow	Lamborghini Huracan GT3	107	9 laps
22	GTD	86	Alvaro Parente    Katherine Legge	Acura NSX GT3	107	9 laps
23	GTD	93	Justin Marks    Lawson Aschenbach	Acura NSX GT3	107	9 laps
24	GTD	15	David Heinemeier Hansson   Jack Hawksworth	Lexus RC F GT3	107	9 laps
25	P	55	Harry Tincknell    Jonathan Bomarito	Mazda DPi	106	10 laps
26	GTD	63	Jeff Segal    Cooper MacNeil	Ferrari 488 GT3	106	10 laps
27	GTD	58	Patrick Long    Christina Nielsen	Porsche 911 GT3 R	106	10 laps
28	GTD	16	Wolf Henzler    Michael Schein	Porsche 911 GT3 R	73	43 laps
29	GTD	96	Bill Auberlen    Robby Foley	BMW M6 GT3	63	53 laps
30	GTLM	24	John Edwards    Jesse Krohn	BMW M8 GTE	61	55 laps
31	P	22	Pipo Derani    Ryan Dalziel	Nissan DPi	45	71 laps