Starworks takes Victory at Road America

The winning No. 8 Starworks BMW

Opportunity knocked for Brendon Hartley and the young New Zealander made the most of it on Saturday at Road America, joining Wisconsin driver Scott Mayer in winning the VISITFLORIDA.com Sports Car 250.

It was the first GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series victory for both drivers of the No. 8 Starworks Motorsport BMW/Riley. Hartley had shown flashes of brilliance through his rookie season – with the 23-year-old Formula One simulator development driver nearly winning at Circuit of The Americas before a late-race mistake.

“This was an emotional win for me," Hartley said. “I’m not going to lie – I had a lot of flashbacks to COTA. But I knew we had it covered, so I just brought it home."

The turn of events that put Hartley and Mayer – of Franklin, Wis. – in victory lane began with misfortune for Starworks teammates Ryan Dalziel and Alex Popow, who won the Brickyard Grand Prix at Indianapolis in the No. 2 Soloson BMW/Riley. Dalziel lost his engine exiting the pits after a stop with one hour remaining and came to a stop at the exit of Turn 1 – bringing out the first caution of the race. Most of the remaining leaders pitted during a later caution – putting Hartley ahead to stay.

Hartley and Mayer completed 70 laps in the two-hour, 45-minute race on the 4.048-mile circuit, averaging 102.974 mph.

The Action Express cars finished 2nd and 3rd

Action Express Racing finished second and third. Joao Barbosa finished 4.290 seconds behind Hartley in the No. 5 Corvette DP started by Christian Fittipaldi. Brothers Brian and Burt Frisselle took the final podium position in the No. 9 Corvette DP.

Polesitter Dane Cameron and co-driver Wayne Nonnamaker dominated much of the race in the No. 42 Team Sahlen’s BMW/Riley. Cameron broke an axle while leading on lap 54 – moments before the engine let go in Stephane Sarrazin’s No. 3 Corvette DP resulting in a spin to Wayne Nonnamaker in the No. 43 Team Sahlen’s BMW/Riley to bring out the final caution.

Max Angelelli took the lead in the No. 10 Velocity Worldwide Corvette DP started by Jordan Taylor when Cameron pulled off. Team owner Wayne Taylor was visibly upset when the final caution flag waved – knowing that Harley and the Action Express teammates did not need another pit stop.

Dalziel and Popow wound up 14th, trimming their Daytona Prototype points lead to four points over Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney (246-242), who finished eighth in the No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Corvette DP.

Both the GT and GX classes featured lead changes in the final minutes – and both winners came to a stop on the cooldown lap.

Bill Auberlen prevailed in a terrific battle with Patrick Long to join Paul Dalla Lana in winning GT in the No. 94 Turner Motorsport BMW M3, their third victory of the season. Long finished second in the No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche GT3 started by Patrick Lindsey, followed by Michael Marsal and Maxime Martin in the No. 93 Turner Motorsport BMW M3 and Indianapolis winner Jeff Segal, who was joined by Ken Wilden in the No. 61 R. Ferri/AIM Motorsport Ferrari 458.

Andy Lally and John Potter finished fifth in the No. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche GT3, extending their lead in the GT standings to seven points over Robin Liddell and John Edwards (255-248), who finished eighth in the No. 57 Stevenson Auto Group Chevrolet Camaro.

Joel Miller led the final four laps to take his fourth GX victory in the No. 00 Visit Florida Racing/SpeedSource Mazda 6, joined by three-time winner Tristan Nunez. Points leader Jim Norman and Spencer Pumpelly finished second in the No. 38 BGB Motorsports Porsche Cayman. Norman now leads Miller by 10 points, 297-287.

Auberlen ran out of fuel in Turn 5 after taking the checkered flag, while Miller came to a stop with a broken drive shaft.

Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge
Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi scored a dramatic victory in Saturday’s Road America 200 – along with a huge step toward their first Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Grand Sport driver championship.

Plumb passed Spencer Pumpelly for the lead when the latter pitted for fuel with four minutes remaining, and then nursed the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche Carrera for two more laps to the checkered flag. Nick Mancuso – looking to give Aston Martin its first CTSCC victory in the No. 15 Multimatic Motorsports Vantage started by Frank Montecalvo – made up 10 seconds in the closing two laps but came up 1.932 seconds shy at the checkered flag.

Plumb and Longhi now hold a 54-point lead in the GS standings over Matt Bell and John Edwards, who finished 17th after battling back from early problems. It was Rum Bum’s third victory of the season, and 18th for Plumb and 15th for Longhi.

BJ Zacharias and polesitter Bryan Heitkotter finished third in the dominant No. 14 Doran Racing Nissan 370Z, followed by Pumpelly and Jim Norman. Mark Boden – seeking his third consecutive victory – finished fifth with substitute driver David Donohue in the No. 46 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3.

The Street Tuner race also had a compelling finish when leader Tom Dyer ran out of fuel on the final lap in the No. 196 RSR Motorsports Honda Civic Si started by Andrew Novich. Gregory Liefooghe went on to win in the No. 81 BimmerWorld BMW 328i started from the pole by Tyler Cooke.

Jesse Combs and Jeff Mosing battled back from an early penalty for contact to finish second in the No. 56 RACE EPIC/Murillo BMW 328i – unofficially taking a six-point lead in the ST championship.

Both the Rolex Series and Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge return to action next weekend with GRAND-AM’s first visit to Kansas Speedway for Saturday’s SFP Grand Prix.

Peter Baron, Team Owner: “I am so happy for Brendon and Scott to break through with the win; we knew it would happen this year. Both cars could have won today, but for the 2 car the good news is that Alex and Ryan still lead the Drivers’ Championship and also the 8 car now jumps up a couple of places in the Team standings. So with three races to go, it’s still looking good."

Brendon Hartley, #8 Starworks: “I feel awesome; the car was so good today. It is an emotional win as it has been a while since I’ve won a race and it has been building up for a while. Scott drove a great first stint and the team did a faultless job; the strategy was perfect. I want to give a massive thanks to everyone at Starworks. All of the tracks are new to me and I’m loving racing in the US. It is such a relief to get this first win under our belts and hopefully we’ll be up there fighting again in Kansas next week."

Scott Mayer, #8 Starworks: “We rocked. Great team. Great drive. Great BMW."

Ryan Dalziel, #2 Starworks: “It’s a bitter sweet day for us. We for sure had a car to win today, but unfortunately we had a small motor issue and ended up with a DNF. That's racing and we win as a team and loose as a team. I am really proud of everyone at Starworks, Dinan and BMW North America and we look forward to bouncing back at Kansas next week. Also want to congratulate Brendan, Scott and all the 8 car crew for a fantastic win. Heading to Kansas we still have the points lead and we look forward to extending it once again."

Alex Popow and Ryan Dalziel remain in the lead of the 2013 Rolex Series Drivers’ Championship with 246 points. The 2 car is in second place in the Team standings with 246 (behind leader Chip Ganassi Racing on 251) and the #8 Starworks sits in sixth position with 212 points.

The next round of the Rolex Series is the SFP Grand Prix at the Kansas Motor Speedway, Kansas City, KS, August 15-17, 2013 and shall be broadcast live on August 17, 8:00PM ET, on FOX Sports 2.

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