Caldarelli, Beretta Go Wire-to-Wire in NOLA; K-PAX 1-2 in Race 1
One name on the roof may be different. But the result was still the same for the all black #1 K-PAX Lamborghini Huracan GT3 at NOLA Motorsports Park, as it was in the first GT World Challenge America meeting at Sonoma Raceway.
Michele Beretta and Andrea Caldarelli led every lap of Race 1 at NOLA from pole position, en route to their third consecutive overall and Pro Cup win of the 2022 season. Beretta built a commanding lead of over 19 seconds over the course of his opening stint – his first since joining K-PAX Racing for this event. Caldarelli picked up with a commanding lead of over 20 seconds.
A Safety Car neutralized the race with 17 minutes left, after the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 of Robby Foley went into the gravel at turn five after contact from the #6 US Racetronics Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Loris Spinelli while they were battling for third.
When the race resumed with less than five minutes left, Caldarelli got a perfect restart and secured a lights-to-flag victory, his third of the season in the #1 K-PAX Lamborghini. For Beretta, it is his first overall win in GTWC America competition.
The #3 K-PAX Lamborghini of Misha Goikhberg and former K-PAX #1 driver Jordan Pepper completed a 1-2 finish for the team in second.
A mad scramble for third place on the final restart saw Colin Braun go from sixth to third overall, securing a Pro-Am Cup victory for he, George Kurtz, and their #04 CrowdStrike Racing with Riley Motorsports AMG GT3 – the first win for the CrowdStrike Racing programme since joining forces with Riley in the off-season.
The #93 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 (Ashton Harrison/Mario Farnbacher) was fourth, the #6 USRT AMG GT3 of Spinelli and Steven Aghakhani finished fifth, and the #94 BimmerWorld M4 GT3 (Chandler Hull/Bill Auberlen) dropped to sixth (third in Pro-Am).
This will shake up the Pro-Am Cup standings after the #45 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3-R (Charlie Luck/Jan Heylen) crashed on the opening lap, losing twelve laps in the garage for repairs.
The #23 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 488 GT3 (Charlie Scardina/Onofrio Triarsi) finished 12th and won the Am Cup.
results to follow
Images © SRO Motorsports Group America
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