Despite facing Balance of Performance challenges on their Corvette Daytona Prototypes, Action Express Racing managed to finish first and second at the 2015 Continental Tire Road Race Showcase at Road America.
Winners Dane Cameron and Eric Curran drove a strong race in the #31 car, helped by an early driver change. Second position was taken by the sister #5 car of Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi, 14 seconds behind.
The #01 Chip Ganassi Riley-Ford DP of Scott Pruett and Joey Hand started from pole but finished third. The car lost over a minute in the first round of pit stops when a clamp came loose on the turbocharger. Overall, the team finished 25 seconds behind the leader.
Problems hit the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP despite being Action Express Racing’s strongest opposition for most of the 2 hour 40 minutes of running. A problem with the left-rear suspension discovered at the final pit stop cost them two laps, forcing the Konica Minolta-sponsored car to finish eighth in class, and amongst the GT Le Mans field.
A shock last-lap spin decided the Prototype Challenge battle, with RSR Racing drivers Bruno Junqueira and Chris Cumming taking the chequered flag. This came after leaders James French and Conor Daly were spun by a GT Daytona car on the final lap, resulting in the #38 Performance Tech Motorsports car finishing second.
GT Le Mans was dominated by Porsche North America, with Nick Tandy and Patrick Pilet coming from the back of the field to victory ahead of team-mates Jorg Bergmeister and Earl Bamber. Second place was taken by the #912 from Pierre Kaffer and Giancarlo Fisichella‘s Risi Competizione entry at turn 13 on the last lap.
Finally, the GT Daytona battle was decided with 20 minutes to go following a late pit stop for the #007 TRG-AMR Aston Martin. This handed a strong lead to Jeroen Bleekemolen and Ben Keating‘s #33 Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper.
The only full course caution came out for three laps on lap 12, when the #97 Turner Motorsport BMW Z4 of Michael Marsal and Markus Palttala stopped at the side of the course. Two more retirements were made, both PC entries. JDC/Miller Motorsports completed 43 laps, whilst Starworks Motorsport ran for 60 laps.
Detailed class reports to follow.
