Leading 266 out of 451 laps is a good recipe to win an endurance race. Case in point: DS Racing eSports Team and their #155 Dallara P217 in Saturday’s season finale at Road Atlanta.
The Portuguese team with drivers Pedro Vargas and Dan Marques made their intentions quite clear early on, taking the lead on lap 16, before putting their stamp on the ten-hour race by leading more than half of all laps completed in class.
In the final hour of the race, things heated to a boiling point between the eventual race winners and championship winners #19 Trading Paints Racing when the two cars made contact going into the chicane.
Furious with their competitors, DS Racing eSports Team filed a complaint with Race Control, but was faced with the fact that Race Control did not issue a penalty for the incident in question.
Fortunately for the team from Matosinhos, Portugal, the incident did not prove to keep them from reaching winner’s circle and after ten hours of racing, the #155 Dallara took the checkered flag 3.112 seconds of a very strong #17 Agee Motorsports entry with Jeroen Hannink, Robert Cancian and John Langan, after the runners-up team had been absent from the grid the previous two races.
New LMP2 series champions #19 Trading Paints Racing with Jordan Erickson and Selena Ward took third place on the podium, after a post-race penalty was issued against #14 Fischer Motorsport for a late-race incident that completely destroyed the #312 GTD BMW of Real Pixel Motorsport. The Fischer Motorsport entry still wound up fourth in the end.
Taking fifth place were the #66 Dallara of VRG Sport with Andy and Alex Banfield and Jeff Yeager.
GSE Racing eSports took sixth place, albeit four laps down from the leaders, after involvement in an incident with the #531 Yellow Submarine Squad car a little more than three hours into the event.
Freshly baked Sprint Cup champions #96 Albrecht Motorsports finished seventh, but left with a sour taste in their mouth after a late-race penalty for a contact on pit road while under full-course yellow.
The #813 HAC Racing Dallara with Jack Stawowczyk and Richard Franke finished P8, 25 laps down. On lap 386 the car suffered major damage as Franke exited the pits following a scheduled pit stop and the #16 Mercedes AMG GT3 of Jonathon Herickhoff didn’t see Franke and the two cars collided.
Finishing ninth and tenth, respectively were the #92 Vice Motorsport and #18 Gowin Racing Dallara LMP2, who were involved in a massive crash in the esses in the ninth hour of race, adding major damage to both cars. The two entries ended the race 56 and 75 laps down, respectively.
Trading Paints Racing wins championship after challenging race
Coming into the the season finale, #19 Trading Paints Racing had a solid 82-point championship lead. But with a ten-hour race in the final race of the season, at a track that is prone to lots of incidents and crashes, it was all but a given for the Allentown, Pennsylvania team to bring home the championship.
In the end, despite some late-race drama with the #155 car, Jordan Erickson, Selena Ward and their team celebrated a championship that was highlighted by an incredible six wins this season and five poles.
“We couldn’t be any happier. To win this championship means so much for us. It was a total team effort. I’ve got to give Selena a lot of credit. Today wasn’t the easiest of races for us, but all that matters is that we brought home the Endurance Cup and of course the series championship. We are Champions, baby!”, said a visibly excited Jordan Erickson after the race, still smelling of burnt rubber after doing a massive celebratory burnout.
In the final championship standings, #96 Albrecht Motorsports finish second, 109 points behind #19 Trading Paints Racing. The #14 Fischer Motorsport entry finishes third, 322 points behind the leaders, ahead of #66 VRG Sport who end up fourth and GSE Racing eSports, who rounded out the top-five.
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