A crucial victory for Ernstone-Morley at Laguna Seca
The pair of Gavin Ernstone and Jonathan Morley took their maiden win in the TCR class of the IMSA Michelin Challenge at Laguna Seca. At the wheel of their Audi RS 3 LMS run by the Roadshagger Racing, they beat the Hyundai Veloster of Michael Lewis and Mark Wilkins by just two tenths at the end of the two-hour race.
This victory relaunched their title odds as they have moved into third place, 14 points behind Lewis-Wilkins and three behind the Honda Civic of Tom O’Gorman-Shelby Blackstock who finished second in the race. The second Bryan Herta Autosport’s Hyundai of Mason Filippi-Harry Gottsacker slipped to fourth in the standings, 16 points off the leaders. The title fight will be therefore decided in the final round at Road Atlanta on October 10th/11th.
The victory of Ernstone-Morley came in an impressive 12th-to-first performance without a pit stop in the final 50 minutes of the race.
“The team did an incredible job, as they have in the last five races, jumping us up during the pit stop,” said Morley. “They got me out in third place, and then I managed to get to the lead pretty quick, pull out a bit of a gap, and then from there, it was just managing tires. We weren’t planning on running the whole way, but the way the race went, that’s what happened.”
This win repaid the team for a disappointing previous race in which the #61 Audi was involved in a late-race incident from the lead at Virginia International Raceway that wiped out a potential victory.
Race
1. Roadshagger Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS (Ernstone/Morley), 71 laps
2. Bryan Herta Autosport, Hyundai Veloster N (Wilkins/M. Lewis), 0.276
3. LA Honda World Racing, Honda Civic FK7 (Blackstock/O’Gorman), 3.292
4. KMW with TMR, Alfa Romeo Giulietta (Block/T. Lewis), 14.856
5. Atlanta Speedwerk, Honda Civic FK7 (Lamb/Henderson), 1 lap
Championship points
1. Lewis-Wilkins 256 pts; 2. O’Gorman-Blackstock 245; 3. Ernstone-Morley 242
