The Alfa Romeo of Block and Lewis wins at Watkins Glen

Roy Block and Tim Lewis know how to give the best birthday presents. In the fourth round of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge at Watkins Glen, the co-drivers of the #5 KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce outlasted the TCR class competition in Saturday’s chaotic race to win on the 113th anniversary of when Alfa Romeo was founded in Italy.

TCR cars had outpaced the more powerful GS cars in Qualifying, with Mat Pombo placing the LA Honda World Racing Honda Civic Type R FL5 car on pole with a lap of 1:55.096 that was the fastest time overall, seven tenths faster than Chris Miller’s 1:55.828 and nine tenths faster than the best GS car.

In the two-hour race, Lewis snagged the lead with 27 minutes remaining and held off a gaggle of TCR contenders through a pair of late restarts. He and Block won by 0.576 seconds over Miller and Mikey Taylor in the #17 JDC-Miller Motorsports Audi RS 3 LMS.

“Just great teamwork, great strategy,” Lewis said, “Our team always nails the pit stops and puts us in a position to succeed. Roy did a great job keeping the car in one piece during some hectic opening stints and then it was just my job to bring it home and survive all the restarts.”

Block also did a great job keeping the car off the wall when he suffered a flat left-front tire but was able to negotiate back to pit lane for a replacement just as he achieved his minimum drive time and could turn the car over to Lewis.

“It was truly treacherous conditions for me at the start,” Block said. “A lot of people were being aggressive. I just kept the long view always in mind. I started to get my footing as the track dried and then my left front blew up going into Turn 7. Luckily, I saved it, kept it together and then our race engineer called a great strategy and here we are.”

The win was the second for the #5 Alfa Romeo this season. It also tightened the TCR standings after four races. The #98 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N, with drivers Mark Wilkins and Mason Filippi, leads with 1150 points after finishing 10th on Saturday tied on points with the #33 BHA Hyundai, with drivers Robert Wickens and Harry Gottsacker, that finished fifth; Lewis and Block are tied with Miller-Taylor and Tyler Maxson, 60 points behind the leaders.

The series will now move to Canada for racing at Bowmanville’s Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in two week-time.

Watkins Glen – Race

1. T. Lewis/R. Block (KMW Motorsports, Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce), 46 laps

2. C. Miller/M. Taylor (JDC-Miller Motorsports, Audi RS 3 LMS), 0.576

3. T. Maxson/B. Ortiz (van der Steur Racing, Hyundai Elantra N), 1.447

Championship points

1. M. Wilkins/M. Filippi, 1150 pts; 2. R. Wickens/H. Gottsacker, 1150; 3. T. Lewis/R. Block, 1090

Picture: IMSA/LAT Images