With the first half of the season coming to a close, we travelled to Road Atlanta for the United States GT Cup. Here is our race report.
After the third race of the season, STAX Racing was third in the Team’s Standings, just one point behind SimTech Motorsport. Last race, Nico Barclay defended P4 in the Drivers’ Championship while Chris Shepherd moved up a couple of positions and was now sixth place.
Chris had a very good Qualifying, battling for Pole Position. He was narrowly beaten by both Borja Millan (Epic Racing) and Arne Schoonvliet (Edonis Engineering) and thus started the race from P3. At the start he lost one position to ACR Zakspeed’s Risto Kappet, however he then passed Millan one lap later. In the following laps, the Top 3 – Schoonvliet, Kappet and Shepherd, the same drivers that dominated the last race in Suzuka – were able to build a gap to Francic in P4. Several times, Chris was right behind Risto and attempted an overtake maneuver, but without success. After Schoonvliet pitted on lap 39, Chris and Risto headed for the pits one lap later. Chris rejoined the race in P5, having lost several seconds to Risto due to the fact that it takes longer to refuel the McLaren compared to the Mercedes. This meant that, after all their drivers did their pit stop, Chris was back in P3, but with a large gap to the drivers ahead and behind him. On Lap 65, he lost the rear of the car going through Turn 5, the fast left-hander going over the crest at the end of the first sector. Chris crashed into the barrier on the inside, heavily damaging his suspension. In the final laps of the race, he therefor lost between one and three seconds to the guys around him. Nevertheless, he finished the race in P3 and with the Fastest Lap of the race to his name.
Nico started the race from P7. He lost one place to Kasdorp right after the start and was unable to defend against Kevin Ryan going into the last chicane. Four Laps later, Ryan’s teammate Bogusz passed him at the same spot. Nico gained one position when, on Lap 17, Francic crashed into the to-be-lapped Rudde and was forced to make a trip through the graveltrap. Two laps later, Nico passed Borja Millan, also in the last chicane. He then gained another spot when Kevin Ryan unfortunately suffered from a disconnect on Lap 22. Nico pitted on Lap 39 and rejoined the race in P9. On Lap 47, Bogusz spun his Bentley at Turn 5, gifting Nico P5. In the final laps of the race, Nico was able to close the gap to Kasdorp ahead of him, and with a few laps more he would have had a good chance of passing him. Unfortunately, time was running out for Nico and he finished the race in a strong 5th position.
At the midpoint of the season, STAX Racing is second in the Team’s Standings, just three points behind ACR Zakspeed and ten point ahead of Edonis Engineering. Both drivers moved up one position in the Drivers’ Championship: Nico Barclay is now third while Chris Shepherd is fifth in the standings.
The next race will be held in Monza, Italy on May 17th, 2018. Below you can find the broadcast and the results of last week’s round.
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