Revenge of the Audi cars in the IMSA weekend at Mid-Ohio

The IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge ran at Mid-Ohio in a couple of two-hour races that were both won by Audi RS 3 LMS cars. These were the first victories for the German brand after that achieved in the season’s opening at Daytona and disrupted Hyundai’s recent dominance of four straight wins by the Bryan Herta Autosport Veloster N cars.  
In Saturday’s Race 1, the Fast MD Racing pairing of Max Faulkner and James Vance claimed their maiden win. Faulkner led the first half of the race after starting from pole position and handed off to Vance for finishing the job. 
Ryan Eversley and Taylor Hagler drove their Honda Civic to the second place, eight seconds behind the winner, while the podium was completed by another Audi, the Road Shagger Racing of Gavin Ernstone and Jonathan Morley a further three seconds adrift.
Sunday’s second race was dominated by the LA Honda World Honda Civic piloted by Hagler and Eversley, but they retired with a mechanical issue with twenty minutes remaining, handing victory to Ernstone and Morley in the Road Shagger Racing Audi.
When Ernstone handed the car off to Morley, the Audi pairing committed to an aggressive fuel-saving strategy that Morley executed to perfection without needing to make a second stop. He crossed the line 1.5 seconds ahead of Gabby Chaves, who shared one of the Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Veloster N cars with Ryan Norman. Michael Johnson and Stephen Simpson took third place in the JDC-Miller Motorsports Audi.
The series will next visit Road Atlanta on October 15/17.

Race 1
1. Fast MD Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS (Faulkner/Vance), 75 laps
2. LA Honda World, Honda Civic Type R (Eversley/Hagler), 8.517
3. Road Shagger Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS (Ernstone/Morley), 11.417

Race 2 
1. Road Shagger Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS (Ernstone/Morley), 76 laps
2. Bryan Herta Autosport, Hyundai Veloster N (Chaves/Norman), 1.557
3. JDC-Miller Motorsports, Audi RS 3 LMS (Johnson/Simpson), 9.728

Championship points
1. Chaves/Norman 202 pts; 2. Lewis/Filippi 195; 3. Wilkins/Gottsacker 191

Picture: IMSA/LAT Images