Wittmer and Yoshihara put Honda Civic in TCR Victory Lane
In the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge 2-hour race at VIRginia International Speedway, Karl Wittmer completed a brilliant outside-inside pass of Tyler Gonzalez for the lead with three and a half minutes to go and drove away to claim the first TCR class win in the #93 Montreal Motorsport Group Honda Civic FL5 he shares with Daijiro Yoshihara.
Gonzalez, in the #99 Victor Gonzalez Racing Team Hyundai Elantra N, was hounded by Wittmer over the final 30 minutes; Wittmer made numerous overtake attempts on the backstretch and heading into T1 but was rebuffed by Gonzalez each time. Eventually, Wittmer moved to the outside as they approached T1 on Lap 55 and when Gonzalez faded his Hyundai outside to block, Wittmer darted back inside as they entered the turn and exited with the lead. He went on to win by 1.299 seconds.
Gonzalez finished second, the best result for him and co-driver Morgan Burkhard this season.
TCR points leaders Chris Miller and Mikey Taylor finished seventh in the #17 JDC-Miller MotorSports Audi RS 3 LMS after sustaining damage just six laps into the race when Miller slid into the T11 tire barrier. They saw their lead trimmed to 170 points over Robert Wickens and Harry Gottsacker, who finished third in the #33 Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Elantra N.
The series will be back in action on September 20/21 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
VIRginia International Raceway – Race
- K. Wittmer/D. Yoshihara (Montreal Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 57 laps
- M. Burkhard/T. Gonzalez (Victor González Racing, Hyundai Elantra N), 1.299
- H. Gottsacker/R. Wickens (Bryan Herta Autosport, Hyundai Elantra N), 3.133
Championship points
- C. Miller/M. Taylor, 2450 pts; 2. R. Wickens/H. Gottsacker, 2280; 3. D. Dupont/P. Brown, 2210
Picture: IMSA/LAT Images
