#33 Hyundai breaks through and #98 Hyundai breaks points tie
Three of Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Elantra N cars raced under the spotlight in Saturday’s 2-hour IMSA race at Road America. One broke through to win after a tough season, while the tie between its other two title-contending entries in the TCR standings was broken.
Bryson Morris drove the #33 Elantra N TCR to its first victory of the season and the first for Morris in the Michelin Pilot Challenge with co-driver Mark Wilkins. This was Wilkins’ 14th win in the series, the winningest in class history, but first at Road America.
Morris prevailed by 3.252 seconds over Jaden Conwright, who co-drove the #31 RVA Graphics Motorsports Audi RS 3 LMS TCR with Luke Rumburg. The #93 Montreal Motorsport Group Honda Civic FL5 shared by Karl Wittmer and LP Montour finished third.
The #33 Elantra only made it to the lead by lap 25 of the eventual 42-lap race. Harry Gottsacker finished fourth after a hectic race for the #98 BHA Hyundai he co-drove with Mason Filippi. That broke a tie for the championship lead with the #76 BHA Hyundai of Preston Brown and Denis Dupont, who finished one spot behind in fifth.
The #98 car recovered from an early race penalty for incident responsibility with another TCR entry and then had a second penalty rescinded later in the race. With this result, Gottsacker leads Brown and Dupont by 20 points with Wittmer and Montour still within striking distance, only 90 points in arrears, in third.
The next round will be at Virginia International Raceway on August 23/24.
Race
- M. Wilkins/B. Morris (Bryan Herta Autosport, Hyundai Elantra N), 42 laps
- L. Rumburg/C. Gilsinger (RVA Graphics Motorsports, Audi RS 3 LMS), 3.252
- K. Wittmer/L.P. Montour (Montreal Motorsport Group, Honda Civic FL5), 3.417
Championship points
- H. Gottsacker, 2060 pts; 2. D. Dupont/P. Brown 2040; 3. L.P. Montour/K. Wittmer, 1970
Picture: IMSA/Jake Galstad
