The IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge were back in action at Saturday afternoon’s Tioga Downs Casino Resort 240 at Watkins Glen International. On the pole for the race were the No. 13 AWA McLaren of Kuno Wittmer and Orey Fidani in the GS category. In TCR were the No. 84 Atlanta Speedwerks Honda of Robert Noaker and Brian Henderson.
In the GS category, Wittmer lost two positions at turn one to Michael Cooper and Patrick Gallagher. The first caution came out when the No. 61 TCR of Gavin Ernstone and No. 64 GS of Ted Giovanis hit one another at turn seven. At the same, the No. 71 of Robin Lindell went wide in between turns seven and eight and crashed, leaving plenty of debris on the track.
With two hours and twenty-four minutes left in the race, the No. 56 of Eric Foss and the No. 09 Aston Martin of Ramin Abdolvahabi were fighting for first place. Three minutes later, the caution would come for the No. 11 James Vance when he got loose and went around in between turns three and four.
With under an hour left in the race, the No. 21 Toyota Supra of Scott Andrews hit the guardrail bringing out another caution. The No. 7 Aston Martin of Trent Hindman was leading when he made a pit stop before the caution. He would be penalized for pitting when pit road was closed. Track crews had to repair the guardrail. Once the guardrail was repaired, the race resumed with 21 minutes left.
With two minutes left, Bill Auberlen was leading the race when the No. 23 Aston Martin of Stevan McAleer passed him the lead and went on to win by 1.073 seconds.
In the TCR category, the No. 54 Michael Johnson hit Taylor Hagler, battling for the ninth position. As a result, Hagler went into the gravel at turn ten that brought out the second caution. There was a huge crash with two hours and forty-nine minutes left when the No. 27 of Tyler Maxson and the No. 51 of AJ Muss hit while trying to avoid a GS car, who already crashed at turn one. The GS car was the No. 83 of Alex Papadopulos.
With one hour and four minutes left, the No. 84 of Robert Noaker and the No. 98 of Ryan Norman were fighting for first place. Not long after Norman got the lead, the No. 81 of Trenton Estep took the lead. Later in the race, Estep’s car suffered suspension damage with six minutes to go and was out of the race just as he lost the lead to the No. 94 of Todd Lamb. Lamb would win the TCR race over the No. 98 of Ryan Norman.
The IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge will return to Watkins Glen International next Friday, July 2nd, at 2:30 pm on NBC Sports Gold Track Pass.
