Simpson beats Koch on the line after two hours
The sixth round of the IMSA Continental Tire Challenge at Lime Rock Park delivered a thrilling race in the TCR class, with Stephen Simpson beating Kenton Koch on the line by 0.066 second after two hours of close competition.
This was the first victory for the #54 JDC-Miller Motorsports Audi RS3 LMS that Simpson shares with paraplegic driver Michael Johnson and was the peak of a consistent progression that saw them finishing fourth, third and second in the three previous events.
Their victory and the second position claimed by Koch and Tom O’Gorman who started from pole position in the #12 eEuroparts.com Racing Audi marked the first defeat of Compass Racing that had won all the fifth previous races.
Kuno Wittmer and Rodrigo Sales finished third in the #74 Compass Racing Audi, 8.6 seconds behind the winner and ahead of the sister #77 car of Tom Long and Britt Casey jr.
O’Gorman and Casey enlivened the first 30 minutes of the race delivering a close battle for the lead. At the 60-minute mark, the first five cars in the class were covered by seven seconds, with Long leading from Koch, Wittmer, Simpson and Gavin Ernstone in the #61 Roadshagger Racing Audi.
Ten minutes later, the #12 took the lead ahead of the #54 and, from that moment on, Koch and Simpson ran bumper-to-bumper. On the last-but-one lap Simpson overtook Koch at the exit of the final turn, but Koch retook the lead at the end of the pit straight. However, at the end of the last lap, Simpson repeated the manoeuvre and crossed the line inches ahead of Koch.
Long and Casey are still leading the standings, but their advantage over Wittmer and Sales is down to one point only; the #10 eEuroparts.com Racing Audi of Lee Carpentier and Kieron O’Rourke moved up to third with a gap of 28 points
The next round of the series will be the 2 Hours of Road America on 4th August.
