Mazda finish 1-2 in Daytona Weathertech 240

Harry Tincknell in the winning #55 Mazda

The Mazda RT-24P Daytona Prototype international (DPi) program has not lost an IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race in July since 2018.

A little over a year ago, Harry Tincknell and Jonathan Bomarito delivered the program’s first victory in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen with co-driver Oliver Pla in a 1-2 sweep for Mazda. The following weekend, Tristan Nunez and Oliver Jarvis won at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, leading another 1-2 ahead of Bomarito and Tincknell.

In Saturday’s two-hour, 40-minute IMSA WeatherTech 240 At Daytona it was No. 55 Mazda co-drivers Bomarito and Tincknell doing the honors once again in yet another 1-2 sweep ahead of Nunez and Jarvis in the No. 77 entry. The No. 55 dominated most of the second half of the race, taking the lead for the final time at the end of the pit stop sequence with just over 30 minutes remaining.

Tincknell took the checkered flag 10.168 seconds ahead of Jarvis to win the first WeatherTech Championship race since January’s Rolex 24 At Daytona. It was his third career win in the series and Bomarito’s ninth in IMSA competition.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]"The build up to this event was obviously tricky with the quarantine period and all the regulations in place," Tincknell said. "We knew with only 15 crew including drivers, we didn’t have enough for a pit-stop helper.

"We practiced it meticulously, and it worked absolutely fine. I had plenty of time to do my belts up after JB buckled me in. To be honest, it was like clockwork like most of the weekend. Literally a dream stop for everyone."

The start of the race was delayed 40 minutes due to lightning just before the scheduled start. Early evening rains also left the track damp in many areas, but with no more rain expected, some teams elected to start on Michelin rain tires while others gambled on slicks.

That led to a flurry of activity and a variety of different leaders in the first half, including both Acura Team Penske machines and the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R. A different Cadillac – the No. 5 Mustang Sampling machine from JDC-Miller MotorSports shared by Joao Barbosa and Sebastien Bourdais – completed the podium in third.

The race was run without a full-course caution. It was the series’ 12th caution-free race since 2014.

‘Murica! Corvette Racing Scores 100th IMSA Win

Antonio Garcia

Corvette Racing’s 100th victory in IMSA competition has been coming for more than two years. The last one came in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach in April 2018.

Tonight, the iconic American sports car team’s drought finally ended, appropriately enough, on the Fourth of July at Daytona International Speedway. Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor will go down in the history books as the driver pairing to deliver the milestone victory – also the first for the revolutionary, midengined C8.R race car – in the No. 3 Velocity Yellow machine.

Fuel strategy was the name of the game in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class tonight at Daytona. And while every car in the class led at one point or another throughout the evening, it was the No. 3 team that hit the strategy just right.

Garcia won the high-speed game of musical chairs by 1.977 seconds ahead of defending WeatherTech Championship GTLM champion Earl Bamber in the No. 912 Porsche GT Team 911 RSR-19.

"The engineers spotted very early how close we’d have been with fuel and how early we should start working on that," Garcia said. "Jordan did a great job and saved a lot there and I saved another one. We didn’t know about the 912. We didn’t know if they could make it or if we were fighting them and the 911.

"We were expecting the Porsche to follow the 4 car (Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin), but we realized it was a fight. As soon as I had an opportunity early in the stint when I knew my tires were good, I waited for Earl to make a little mistake, and because I was able to follow very close I took advantage of that position. After that I worked my way through traffic really, really well."

It was Taylor’s first GTLM win after moving from his father’s Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi team to the Corvette factory program this season. The significance of the Independence Day victory wasn’t lost on him either.

"It’s obviously very special," Taylor said. "I was Antonio’s third driver for so many years and we finished second at Sebring, and Petit and Le Mans, and had so many podiums. It’s great to finally get a win with Antonio. And to get a win on the Fourth of July in an American car and being an American driver is pretty sweet."

Bamber and co-driver Laurens Vanthoor finished second, matching their result from January’s Rolex 24 At Daytona. The same can be said for No. 911 Porsche co-drivers Nick Tandy and Frederic Makowiecki, who claimed their second straight third-place trophies in Daytona’s Victory Lane.

AIM Vasser Sullivan Dominates IMSA WeatherTech 240 in GTD

Saturday evening belonged to AIM Vasser Sullivan in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Daytona (GTD) class.

IMSA’s first race back after a five-month hiatus – the IMSA WeatherTech 240 At Daytona – saw the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 of Jack Hawksworth and Aaron Telitz at the top of the leaderboard for nearly the entire duration of the two-hour, 40-minute race. In fact, they led 81 of 87 laps.

Telitz kicked off the superior day for the team by starting from the pole position. He initially qualified second behind the No. 76 Compass Racing McLaren 720S, but the McLaren faced a penalty when the car could not participate in the reconnaissance lap before the race, promoting the Lexus to P1 on the grid.

Telitz held steady in tricky, slippery conditions and as Hawksworth took over, the No. 14 Lexus held a double-digit lead at times, but that lead waned as the minutes went by.

Who did they face pressure from? Their teammates, Townsend Bell and Frankie Montecalvo in the No. 12 Lexus, who crossed the line 6.915 seconds behind its sister car at the end of the race.

"Aaron was able to get a jump and got a nice gap on the field," said Hawksworth. "It was great to see the No. 12 car up with us, but by the time I took over after the stop the track was very dry. Not a puddle on the racing line. Then all I had to do was maintain position and maintain the lead and bring it home. Fortunately the Lexus RC F was working really well. I’m absolutely delighted for myself and the team. Great job to everyone."

For Townsend Bell, the victory capped off quite the adventurous day. Montecalvo qualified third as Bell actually started his day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to commentate the IndyCar Series race for NBC. After the race, he hopped on a private jet with team owners Jimmy Vasser and James "Sulli" Sullivan to fly down to Daytona to compete. However, the flight experience cabin pressure issues and inclement weather forced them to land in Jacksonville. They completed the hour-and-a-half drive to the World Center of Racing just before the call was made to start engines.

"Frightened is probably accurate," said Bell of his experience. "We had an issue in the sky, any time the pilot is pulling out the owners manual mid-flight is generally not a good sign. It was one of those things where we could tell even on take-off, your ears, the pressurization was kind of in and out. I could hear the pressurization pump in the back of the plane going. I went up to talk to the pilot and they said ‘We know we are working on it.’ We had to level off at like 12,000 feet while they worked on it. Then they said we’re not going to be able to do this, we have to go back to Indy. I said there is no way, after all the effort put into this, that I’m missing this race."

It’s a good thing he didn’t.

The 1-2 finish for Lexus is the best performance yet for the team which first joined the WeatherTech Championship GTD class in 2019. The manufacturer’s previous best finish came at the Detroit Grand Prix at Belle Isle Park last year, when the No. 14 Lexus won the race and Bell and Montecalvo finished third in the No. 12 Lexus.

Finishing third was the No. 86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 of Mario Farnbacher and Matthew McMurry.

Select Quotes

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM RACE WINNER: "I think we deserved this moment. We came up just short so many times even though we won championships. All I could think about when I went across the line was remembering about Kyle (Millay, race engineer, (ex-teammate) Jan Magnussen and us coming so close. It's the first win for the Corvette C8.R, 100th in IMSA for Corvette Racing and the first victory with Jordan. This is huge."

HOW CLOSE WERE YOU ON FUEL AT THE END?

"That was the big thing. Jordan did a perfect job on that. He saved one lap in his stint, and I saved one on my first stint. We were going for a green race and made it to the end. We didn't know if the Porsche would make it, and when we came out after the last stop we knew it was going to be between us. I'm very happy for Corvette Racing and Team Chevy. We came so close with the C7.R, now it's time to win with the C8.R."

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM RACE WINNER: "It is amazing. I think the off time gave the Corvette Racing guys some decent time to make some headway with our new C8.R. Our fuel mileage, engine and drivability at the beginning of the race was much better than the first race. Pit stops were improved as the guys were training through the quarantine once they could get back in the shop. I'm very proud to be here with Antonio for the first win for the C8.R and the 100th win for the team. It is a very special day."

RESULTS: WeatherTech 240

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