Van Berlo Takes Victory and points lead at Watkins Glen
Kay van Berlo bolted into the lead on Lap 9 and led the rest of the way to win Friday’s Porsche Carrera Cup North America race at Watkins Glen. Driving the No. 3 Kelly-Moss Road and Race Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, van Berlo pulled away to win by 9.038 seconds over pole sitter Max Root (No. 7 Moorespeed-Wright Motorsports Porsche).
Van Berlo after qualifying third on the grid was given a boost when Priaulx, who started alongside Root on the front row, was given a drive-through penalty for changing his line at the start of the 45-minute race.
The Kelly-Moss Road & Race driver then then chased down Root’s Morespeed-Wright Motorsports car through the opening stages before out-braking the American into the Heel of the Boot right-hand turn after 16 minutes. Van Berlo then extended the gap even more through a combination of his own fast lap times and Root coming under pressure from a group of cars led by TJ Fischer and Riley Dickinson at the front of the chasing pack.
Root under pursuers managed to hold and take second place, nine seconds behind van Berlo who earned his third win of the season. Van Berlo’s 25-point score elevated the Dutchman ahead of his Kelly-Moss teammate Priaulx in the standings heading into the sixth race of the season on Saturday.
Priaulx was running just outside the top 20 after his penalty but recovered to finish eighth and limit van Berlo’s points gain. Fischer taking third completed the podium after fighting Dickinson to the finish line, while Keen took fifth for the 311RS Motorsports team.
Dylan Murry was sixth for BGB Motorsport ahead of Parker Thompson and Priaulx, who secured eighth with an overtake on Sebastian Carazo on the final lap.
Efrin Castro (No. 65 Team Hardpoint EBM Porsche) won in the Pro-Am class, edging Alan Metni (No. 99 iFly/Kelly-Moss Porsche) by a mere 0.188 seconds. Jeff Majkrzak (No. 24 Goldcrest Motorsports) was victorious in Pro-Am 991 by 6.304 seconds over teammate Matt Halcome.
The victory in the fifth race of the season for the new series sanctioned by IMSA pushed van Berlo into the unofficial points lead, 10 better than teammate Seb Priaulx (No. 15 Kelly-Moss Porsche), who finished eighth after being assessed a drive-through penalty for changing lanes before crossing the start/finish line at the beginning of the 45-minute race.