The 2021 IMSA Prototype Challenge season kicked off Saturday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway. Moritz Kranz was driving for Muehlner Motorsports America on the pole and the No. 40 Forty7 Motorsports of David Grant made up the front row.
There were only two cautions in the race, including a four-car pileup involving Peter Ludwig, Jon Brownson, Joe Robillard, and Greg Palmer. Also involved in the wreck but kept going was Alan Brynjolfsson.
Under the same caution, the No. 6 Performance Tech Motorsports of Dan Goldburg went off the track and hit the horseshoe’s guardrail. It took track crews several minutes to get the cars off the track before the race could resume with an hour and seventeen minutes left.
The race would remain caution-free for the rest of the afternoon. There were some great position battles with the No. 81 of Mel Johnson and the No. 74 of Jason Rabe for sixth place. Just ahead of them, another battle occurred for fourth place, with the No. 34 of Ludwig getting the fourth position over the No. 11 of Steven Thomas. Both of those cars caught up to the No. 54 of Josh Sarchet. They made a run for the second spot, but Sarchet held on to the position.
With 49 minutes left, Moritz Kranz came to pit road for a driver change as Laurents Hörr took over the ride while the No. 54 MLT Motorsports of Josh Sarchet was the new leader. Sarchet would head to pit road to make a driver change with Dakota Dickerson in the car. While they were on pit road, Hörr took back the lead and never looked back.
The Muehlner Motorsports America would win the race by 19.886 seconds over the No. 54 MLT Motorsports of Dakota Dickerson. Finishing in third was David Grant in the No. 40 JDC MotorSports, followed by Jarett Andretti finishing fourth. Andretti the son of John Andretti in the No. 18 Andretti Autosport Ligier JS P320. Wrapping up the top five is the No. 46 CT Motorsports LLC of Scott Huffaker.
In the LMP3-2 Class, the No. 60 Wulver Racing of Tonis Kasemets took the win over the No. 61 Conquest Racing of George Staikos.
The next race for the IMSA Prototype Challenge will be at Sebring International Raceway on the weekend of March 13th and 14th.
