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Created on Sunday, 24 August 2014 08:20

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Alton, VA - August 24, 2014

• TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Recap

Fuel mileage was the topic of the day and with varying pit strategies in play, the Grand Sport Daytona (GTD) race was anyone’s game. The No. 58 Snow Racing Porsche 911 GT America with driver, Jan Heylen, behind the wheel came out strong. But an early pit stop for a two driver-change strategy shot the No. 94 Turner BMW Z4 into the lead. Markus Palttala navigated the twists and turns of Virginia International Raceway (VIR) with ease and the Turner team never looked back.

For a brief period, Madison Snow, Heylen’s co-driver, took the lead mid-way through the race. One caution flag and some pit strategy later, Dane Cameron had the No. 94 back up front after taking on fuel and just left side Continental tires. Meanwhile, the No. 63 Suderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia was in hot pursuit. Jeff Westphal handed the wheel of the No. 63 to, Alessandro Balzan, who drove the final two stints of the race on one set of Continental tires.

“I told (the engineers) I didn’t need anything because the more I went, the faster we went,” said Balzan about his double stint on tires. “The yellow at the end was not easy for me because on cold tires, we struggled for a couple laps to get up to temperature. But when the tires were warm, the car was working perfectly.”

Cameron fought hard to keep Balzan and a bevy of Porsche’s behind him crossing the line a mere 1.420 seconds ahead of the Ferrari. After missing qualifying due to an accident in Saturday morning practice, Patrick Dempsey and co-driver, Andrew Davis, piloted the No. 27 Dempsey Racing Porsche 911 GT America to a third-place finish.

The win marked Turner’s second in a row and fourth on the year. It also setup a three-way tie atop the GTD point standings with Cameron, drivers Townsend Bell and Bill Sweedler in the No. 555 Ferrari, and Leh Keen and Cooper MacNeil in the No. 22 Porsche all tied for the coveted GTD championship.

8Star Motorsports Dominates VIR From start to finish, the No. 25 8Star Motorsports ORECA FLM09 team put on a Prototype Challenge (PC) school at Virginia International Raceway (VIR). Not only did, Sean Rayhall, claim the pole position for the start, he dominated the first of two 45 minutes races on Saturday leading all 23 laps. Crossing the line more than five seconds ahead of, Duncan Ende, Rayhall was indeed the class of the field and his co-driver, Luis Diaz, picked up where Rayhall left off on Sunday.

During Sunday’s race, Colin Braun, charged from eighth to second in the No. 54 CORE autosport ORECA FLM09, but a late race caution ended Braun’s hopes of claiming a come-from-behind victory for him and co-driver, Jon Bennett. Under caution, Diaz took the checkered flag with Braun in second. The second-place finish was enough to maintain the teams point’s lead.

Rayhall and Diaz won the combined event while James French and David Ostella finished second with Bennett and Braun third.

Take a look at our snapshot of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.

Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Recap

The Aston Martin Picks Up Second Win of 2014 The Grand Sport (GS) win came down to the wire with, Robin Liddell, in the, No. 6 Stevenson Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R, hot on the heels of leader, Kris Wilson, in the, No. 07 TRG-AMR Aston Martin Vantage. The two battled for the final few laps with a tenacious Liddell pulling alongside Wilson several times. The Aston Martin was too much for the Camaro and Wilson claimed the win with co-driver, Max Riddle, marking the team’s second win of 2014. The win came on a newly paved Virginia International Raceway (VIR) which put the Continental tires to a test that they passed with flying colors.

“They repaved the track here at VIR and our TRG Aston works awesome on the Continental tires,” said Riddle following the race. “Tire wear was really good for us. The guys set the car up perfectly and we couldn’t be happier for the win today.”

Liddell and Andrew Davis combined for their second, second-place finish in a row and jumped into the points lead. Martin Barkey and Kyle Marcelli took third in the No. 08 Rebel Rock Racing Porsche 997, marking their best finish of the season.

Mosing and Foss Combine for ST Win Texas residents, Jeff Mosing and Eric Foss, combined for their second Street Tuner (ST) win of the 2014 season. The duo picked up their first win at Daytona in a BMW. This time, they carved their way around the track in a Porsche, the No. 56 Murillo Racing/Mosing Motorcars Porsche Cayman to be exact. Hot temperatures and new pavement provided some challenges, but not as big of a challenge as fuel mileage.

“The only concern today was the fuel,” said Foss. “We really had to work to stretch fuel. The tires were not an issue at the end; I kept pushing on the tires just to make sure I could keep pace.”

Foss held off an eager, Remo Ruscitti, in the final minutes of the race to claim victory. Ruscitti combined with, Adam Isman, to finish second in the No. 04 Autometrics Motorsports Porsche Cayman.

“The Continental tires really held up for us throughout the race.” Ruscitti continued, “I wish I could have pushed a little harder but I was saving fuel. It was really hot out and our car lost the drink bottle so we really didn’t’ have water for the whole race and the radio wasn’t really working so we didn’t really know when we could push but it’s good to be back on the podium.”

Take a look at our snapshot of the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge race.

Come into the paddock with us @continentaltire, #tiresrule.

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