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Westbrook And Valiante Score At The Glen

 The No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP leads the pack on the way to winning at Watkins Glen.  [Joe Jennings Photo]

Watkins Glen, N. Y. – Richard Westbrook and Michael Valiante drove the Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP to victory lane by taking advantage of late race opportunities in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen at Watkins Glen International.

The lengthy endurance race marked the mid- point of the inaugural TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season and a huge crowd turned out on a sunny day to what was offered.  They saw 55 cars in four classes battle it out around the impressive 3.4-mile road course.

Until a pair of caution flags slowed the field in the final 20 minutes, the OAK Racing Morgan Nissan of Alex Brundle, Gustavo Yacaman and HoPin Tung held a formidable lead and looked to be en route to victory lane.  But they ended up second when Brundle got caught up with the lapped car of Burt Frisselle, losing his momentum.

Westbrook took advantage quickly, forging ahead to go unchallenged all the way to the checkered flag.  The margin of victory was a scant .877 seconds

For the Troy Flis team, they won for the first time in two years after winning three times in 2012.  The winners 98 of the 191 laps run.

“Our approach in the last couple of races was to play it safe and allow us to get a podium or maybe a win,” Valiante said.  “For the last two races, we have had a quick car, and it seems to get better with each race.  Hopefully, we are on a roll after today’s win and the runner-up in Detroit.”

Westbrook stated, “It was massive relief for us to get a victory after our success in 2012.  We will take the win, but I really feel for the OAK guys.  We had a great race for six hours, but they were unlucky on the next-to-last restart, getting pushed out by the lapped car.  When that happened, it gave me an opportunity and I got a nice run.  With more straight-line speed, I was able to make it stick.  It is a massive result for our team after wrecking in Daytona in December.  I am proud to be part of this team.”

The OAK team took second followed by the Action Express Racing Corvette DP of Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi and Burt Frisselle.

Although frustrated in his quest for the win, Brundle said without the two yellow flags at the end, he would have had to stop for fuel.

Said the rising star, “It was a good result to get the podium, and it looked like we would have it but the straight-line speed of the (winning) DP played us out of it.  I did give it my absolute best, but the win wasn’t to be.”

In the PC class, Colin Braun and Jon Bennett were convincing victors as extensions of their accomplished season.

“It is so good to do so well in the most important endurance races of the season, and we have good chemistry,” Bennett said.

Added Braun, “We got behind after having a lap lead, and I don’t know how it happened.  It is really cool to win this race and it helps our quest to win the championship.”

Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia put the Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C7.R into victory lane in the GTLM class, besting a pair of SRT Motorsports Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R entries.

The winners took their third consecutive victory.

Said Magnussen, “I am so pleased for how things have gone with developing this car.  We have a fantastic race car.  In this category, you have to be on your game or otherwise you will lose it the competition is so good.’

In GTD action, Dane Cameron and Markus Palttala led the entire distance in a BMW Z4 to gain the victory rostrum.

Said Palttala, “It was a picture-perfect day for us.  We took the lead in the first turn and never gave it up.  Everything went according to plan, and we were able to avoid any hassles.”

Four caution flags slowed the race for 17 laps, including seven laps at the end.  In the final accident, Scott Pruett got rammed from behind by PC driver Renger van der Zande.  Both cars were wrecked.  While Pruett was able to walk away, he did so with a limp.

 

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