While Conor Daly and James French looked sure to win Prototype Challenge at the 2015 Continental Tire Road Race Showcase at Road America, it was eventually Bruno Junqueira and Chris Cumming who crossed the line first.
The #11 RSR Racing duo passed the spinning #38 Performance Tech Motorsports car on the final lap.
“For some reason, [a GTD car] decided to not let us by, even though we were in the lead of the class,” said Conor Daly. “I know it’s not their job to let us by, but that’s what killed us. I caught him in the worst part of the track – The Carrousel.
“I got him on the exit, but Bruno was already behind me and he had more power than me on the straights. I went to defend in the hairpin, but the rears locked really badly and that was it – I couldn’t save it. Pretty devastating.”
In third position came Jon Bennett and Colin Braun‘s #54 CORE Autosport entry ahead of the #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports car of Mike Guasch and Tom Kimber-Smith.
The last PC car to finish was BAR1 Motorsports. Matt McMurry and Daniel Burkett came home fifth in class and 12th overall.
Two cars failed to finish the race, though. Mikhail Goikhberg and Chris Miller (JDC/Miller Motorsports) completed 43 laps, and the Starworks Motorsport entry of Renger van der Zande and Mirco Schultis drove for 69 circuits.
“Man, I gave it 100 percent,” said Bruno Junqueira. “Both cars were on old tires, and I took all the risks. I really wanted to win it bad. I love this track, and it was great to win for the RSR team and for Chris.
“We tested for the first time this year on Tuesday and the car was good. I pushed hard. We had brake problems at the end, but I was able to win. The last lap, I just took all the risks to catch him.”
