Action Express wins TUDOR prototype title
BRASELTON, Ga. (AP) Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi clinched the prototype title for Action Express in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship with a second-place finish at Road Atlanta in the 17th annual Petit Le Mans on Saturday.
Jordan Taylor took the lead from Fittipaldi with approximately 90 minutes to go and pulled away before a full-course caution when Prototype Challenge (PC) class leader Sean Rayhall crashed, bunching the field with 17 minutes to go. After the cleanup, Jordan Taylor held off Barbosa by 11 seconds, leading a Corvette 1-2 sweep.
The victory for Wayne Taylor Racing came 16 years after owner Wayne Taylor won the initial Petit Le Mans in 1998.
Jordan and Ricky Taylor became the first American drivers to win overall at Petit Le Mans.
''My dad always said that to win at Petit Le Mans was special, that it ranked right up with his wins at Daytona, Le Mans and Sebring,'' Jordan Taylor said. ''Now to hear that we are the first U.S. drivers to win the race overall makes it all the more special.''
The Chip Ganassi Racing Ford EcoBoost/Riley, driven by Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas and IndyCar driver Scott Dixon, finished third overall after the car sustained a damaged rim late in the race.
Renger van der Zande finished first in PC with Starworks teammates Mirco Schultis and Alex Popow.
CORE autosport swept the PC championships, with Colin Braun and team owner Jon Bennett taking the season titles and James Gue sharing the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup. The team dominated that four-race competition, winning the three previous races and finishing second at Petit Le Mans.
In the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class, defending race champion Wolf Henzler in the Team Falken Tire Porsche 911 RSR held off the No. 912 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR with Michael Christensen, and Marc Goossens in the 91 SRT Motorsports Dodge Viper GTS-R. The one-two finish secured the TUDOR Championship GTLM manufacturer title for Porsche, while the driver championship went to Kuno Wittmer of SRT Motorsports.
In the GT Daytona class, the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Audi R8 LMS team of Matthew Bell, Christopher Haase and Bryce Miller prevailed by 3 seconds over the No. 58 Dempsey Racing Porsche 911 GT America of Madison Snow and Jan Heylen. It was the first victory for both Paul Miller Racing and Audi in the TUDOR Championship.
Dane Cameron brought the Turner Motorsport BMW home fourth in class, enough to bring him the TUDOR Championship drivers' title. The GTD Patron Endurance Cup team and drivers title went to AIM Autosport and drivers Bill Sweedler and Townsend Bell.
