Morley and Ernstone win an incident-packed Sebring race
The #61 Road Shagger Racing Audi RS 3 LMS of Jonathan Morley and Gavin Ernstone claimed victory after a thrilling finale to the two-hour IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race at the Sebring International Raceway.
The race was effectively split into two by a lengthy Full Course Yellow period, with the first half seeing Ernstone move into the TCR lead when he passed pole-sitter Brian Henderson’s Atlanta Speedwerks Honda Civic a couple of laps before the yellow flags came out. Nearly all the TCR cars headed into the pits on the one-hour mark, with racing resuming with around 55 minutes remaining.
Henderson’s race was effectively ended with a brake problem that saw the #84 car stopped in the pits while brake fluid was poured into the reservoir, so it was the #19 Van Der Steur Racing Hyundai Veloster N of Denis Dupont that now led the TCR field from the Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Elantra of Parker Chase and the Unitronic JDC-Miller MotorSports Audi of Mikey Taylor.
Morley moved into P4 when he passed Mark Wilkins and Taylor then passed Chase for P2 with around 50 minutes remaining, with Wilkins quickly dropping several places. Morley then passed Chase for P3 and a furious battle for the podium places then ensued, with the top four running together for a number of laps.
After steadily reeling in Dupont, Taylor took the lead with less than 40 minutes remaining, with Morley lucky to hang onto third position after two slight contacts forced him to run wide. Within ten minutes, Morley passed Dupont for second position, but the bumpy and abrasive Sebring track surface was about to play a decisive role in the race result. TCR leader Taylor was forced to pit for tyres but a problem with the front-left wheel left the car languishing in the pit lane. Morley moved into the lead as a result and the final 15 minutes of the race then saw a terrific battle between Morley’s Audi and the LA World Racing Honda Civic of Mat Pombo; Dupont’s challenge effectively ended when he dived into the pits for tyres and fuel.
Pombo moved to within 0.3 seconds of Morley at one point, but the Audi driver kept his nerve and held the Honda at bay to take the win by 2.270 seconds. Michael Lewis was third for the Bryan Herta Autosport team, Tim Lewis Jr finished fourth in the KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering Alfa Romeo Giulietta and Stephen Simpson’s Hyundai was fifth.
The third place meant that Michael Lewis and Taylor Hagler moved into the lead of the standings, two points ahead of Ryan Eversley/Greg Strelzoff (Atlanta Speedwerks, Honda Civic) and Stephen Simpson/Michael Johnson (Michael Johnson Racing, Hyundai Veloster N).
The third round of the season will take place at Mid-Ohio on May 15th.
IMSA Sebring – Race
1. G. Ernstone/J. Morley (Road Shagger Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 51 laps
2. M. Pombo/M. La Marra (LA Honda World Racing, Honda Civic Type R), 2.270
3. M. Lewis/T. Hagler (Bryan Herta Autosport, Hyundai Veloster N), 23.328
4. T. Lewis/R. Block (KMW Motorsports, Alfa Romeo Giulietta), 31.775
5. S. Simpson/M. Johnson (Michael Johnson Racing, Hyundai Veloster N), 37.393
Championship points
1. M. Lewis/T. Hagler 58 pts; 2. R. Eversley/G. Strelzoff 56; 3. S. Simpson/M. Johnson 56
Picture: IMSA/LAT Images
