Salt Lake City’s Vesko Kozarov took his third Pirelli World Challenge TC class win in a row with a commanding display at Miller Motorsports Park.
Driving the #3 Skullcandy Nissan Altima, Kozarov got the better of Alex Welch (HPA Volkswagen Jetta) at the start and duly asserted his authority over the large touring car field.
Behind Kozarov, championship contender Corey Fergus hit trouble on the opening lap when his Porsche Cayman experienced mechanical issues. Fergus was forced to retire from the race, leaving his championship lead dented heading into the season finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
Pole-sitter Welch then lost second position to the Breathless Racing Mazda MX-5 of Ernie Francis Jr who executed a precise move past his rival on lap seven. Moments later Welch was forced out of contention as he returned to the pits with an apparent technical issue that relegated him below the lead lap.
Welch’s misfortune promoted Steve Burns (VP Racing Fuels Ford Mustang) to third place, although the Texan’s podium position was placed under immediate threat thanks to a late charge by John Weisberg in the REDCOM Labs Mazda MX-5.
A varied grid for the penultimate round of the championship (Credit: PWC)
Weisberg was eventually able to find a way past Burns’ Mustang in traffic as the race entered its final stages, holding on for a memorable third place finish having experienced trouble at the start.
Despite a spirited charge in the closing laps, Francis Jr was unable to mount a challenge to Kozarov, who crossed the line 2.27s ahead of the man from Davie, Fla.
Weisberg finished a further 50s behind in third, while Burns had to settle for fourth. Lara Tallman completed the top five in the other Skullcandy Nissan, over a minute in arrears to the race winner.
In TCA, Jason Wolfe (Kia Forte Koup) produced a mirrored performance to TC victor Kozarov by leading from the start to take his third race win in a row and further his lead in the class championship. Ottawa’s Patrick Seguin (Honda Civic Si) was able to limit the damage inflicted on his points defecit to Wolfe by finishing second, while Tony Rivera (Scion FRS Coupe) profited from a mistake by Kris Wright’s Kia to take the third podium spot.
TCB honours went to Joey Jordan on his Pirelli World Challenge debut, taking a lights to flag win in the Corksport/Minxnails.com Mazda 2. A comfortable advantage of 18.08s separated Jordan from second placed Johan Schwartz in the Tech Sport Racing-entered Chevy Sonic, while Glenn Nixon pipped Wei Lu to the line to seal third in class.
