Sunday sees Race 2 of the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge as part of the Roar before the Rolex 24 weekend.

Saturday and Sunday could not be any different in terms of weather. Saturday’s season opener was ran under bright, sunny and beautiful condition. Sunday tested these Bronze and Silver rated drivers with wet, cloudy and tricky conditions.

As the 45-minute race clock began with the second pace lap, it was exactly with how both races started yesterday. Columbian Oscar Trunjo started the race from pole in LMP3 with Westin Workman doubled down in poles in GSX.

Up close on Westin Workman’s #8 Rafa Racing Toyota Supra GT4 Photo Courtesy: Dylan Spaulding/GT Report

Unforeseen Circumstances and Action at the Start

Workman’s quest to sweep the weekend, however, took an unwelcomed turn. First, he had to come to pit road to fix a faulty airjack. Then as he was catching the field he stopped on the backstretch to reset his car, due to power steering, before resuming.

At the start, Tunjo pulled away into the lead in LMP3 over Danny Soufi. In GSX, Bronze Cup driver Sean Quinlan in his Mustang went toe-to-toe with the Porsches of Justin Di Benedetto and Ismaeel Ellahi. On Lap 5, Di Benedetto muscled past Quinlan on the infield to take the lead.

Ellahi’s race up front would not last much longer. At the 15-minute mark, Ellahi was battling Quinlan for third when he spun at the exit of Speedway Turn 4. A flat right rear tire was the cause of the spin. The young Ellahi was able to keep it off the wall and bring the car back to pit road, but it would take him out of contention.

Comeback Complete as P3 Intensifies

Meanwhile, Workman to go from stopped on the backstretch to the lead 18 minutes, passing Di Benedetto at the exit of the infield.

Up in LMP3, at the 20 minute mark, Tunjo lost the lead in the International Horseshoe to Soufi. Seconds later, Tunjo went wide exiting the infield and lost second to Saturday’s runner-up Brady Golin. With the aid of GSX traffic, Golin completed his run from 3rd to 1st in the span of a lap passing Soufi on the outside of Turn 1 for the lead. Tunjo also recovered 2nd from Soufi as the PINAXIS driver was held up in GSX traffic again.

Golin’s time at the front was short as he went off at Turn 6 in the wet and fell back from 1st to 3rd. His 3rd became 2nd with 16 minutes remaining as Soufi slowed out of the Le Mans chicane. After returning to the pits, mechanical problems sidelined Soufi for good.

The Upside Down Final Third

With 13 minutes to go, chaos erupted in the West Bend. John Hirshberg and Oscar Tunjo collided sending both for a spin. Avoiding the spin and coming to a stop in the midst of the collision was Westin Workman, the GSX leader. Workman drove away with no damage but his then 5 second lead over Di Benedetto was wiped away.

Golin inherited the lead after the Tunjo spin, but the chaos was not done yet. One lap later, in the same area, his race ended for good. His Ligier hydroplaned at the exit of the Kink, smashing into the tire barriers damaging his front. The incident resulted in a full course yellow to clear up the incident.

Not enough drama or craziness for you yet? The incident was cleared up in time for a one lap shootout. Tunjo had no issues thanks to traffic splitting him from the rest of his LMP3 rivals. Behind Tunjo on the restart were the two GSX leaders which battled it out in the infield. The decisive moment was at The West Bend when Di Benedetto ended up in the grass trying to pass Workman on the outside. Workman pulled away as a LMP3 pulled alongside Di Benedetto’s Porsche. The Toyota driver gained a half second gap which he would carry to the line.

It is a clean sweep for all four winners on the weekend. In addition to Tunjo and Workman taking main class honors on Sunday, Brian Themes takes the LMP3 Bronze Cup and Sean Quinlan claims the GSX Bronze Cup. A special shoutout to Themes for having a quiet race, keeping the car on track and coming through with a runner-up finish.

A Texas Two Step

The VP Racing SportsCar Challenge resumes with their first of two trips to Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX. The series will run a pair of sprint races on Saturday, February 28 during the NASCAR weekend at COTA.

Featured Image: #1 Gebhardt Engineering Duquiene D08 of Oscar Tunjo Photo Courtesy: Dylan Spaulding/GT Report