Wright Motorsports Breaks K-PAX Racing Streak with Watkins Glen Win
The Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS jumped into its first race of the weekend as the Summer humidity settled into the rolling hills of Upstate New York. The Saturday afternoon 90-minute race was marred by contact with the walls and a few mechanical issues. Overall the race ran very smoothly and showed how exciting sports car racing is on this legendary circuit. It was also a testament to the saying “it’s not over until it’s over,” as there were some major changes in position during the final 15 minutes.
This was a day when the Pro-Am teams really shined taking a 1-2 overall. The Pro-Am field was flat out fast, as the #45 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3-R (991.ii) of Charlie Luck and Jan Heylen, as well as #93 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 (Ashton Harrison/Mario Farnbacher) staying ahead of the Pro class cars at times.
Wright Motorsport scored the eventual overall win. The final laps were fantastic as Colin Braun in the #04 Crowdstrike by Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 shared by George Kurtz finished just 0.179 second behind. This was the third win of the season for Wright Motorsports and closed the points gap to CrowdStrike Racing.
“It was a fun race, it ran the way it should be,'' Heylen said. “A lot of pressure from behind, and everybody did a great job. Charlie did a really good first stint, and it feels good to be back on the top step of the podium.”
Scoring their best finish of the season was the #43 RealTime Racing Acura NSX GT3 of Erin Vogel and Michael Cooper with a strong third place run..
Earlier in the race, David Askew (#63 DXDT Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3) and Erin Vogel battled hard for fourth place in Pro-Am and better positioning before the mandatory pit stop. This battle lasted a couple of laps and made for a brilliant example of the driving talent within the series’ ranks. After a war of attrition throughout the field, Vogel’s teammate Michael Cooper was able to continue their drive all the way up to a third-place finish in Pro-Am and fourth overall after starting 17th overall.
The rest of the Pro-Am field wasn’t so lucky, as both the #88 and #191 Zelus Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan GT3s, driven by Jason Harward/Madison Snow and Jeff Burton/Corey Lewis, respectively, were not classified at the finish.
The Pro-Am points battle tightened with Wright Motorsports gaining seven points to the championship leaders CrowdStrike with Riley Motorsports. This is likely a fight that will go all the way to the October finale in Indianapolis.