K-PAX Racing’s Michele Beretta took the overall lead away Sunday (June 19) from Racers Edge Motorsports’ Ashton Harrison with just under a half-hour to go. From there, Beretta pulled away to give himself and Andrea Caldarelli their second straight Fanatec GT World Challenge America Powered by AWS weekend sweep. It is Caldarelli’s sixth straight win to start the season, while it is Beretta’s fourth straight.
“We knew that today was going to be harder,” Caldarelli told SRO America’s Amanda Busick after the race. “After a difficult start with the car getting bumped around, we tried to stay out a couple more laps [during the pit window]. I tried to push hard. The team did a good job in the pit stop…and sent Michele [Beretta] out in front.”
Racers Edge Motorsports’ Mario Farnbacher started from the overall pole in his Pro-Am class Acura, but the likelihood of this was in doubt after Harrison ran into the back of Samantha Tan early in Race No. 1 on Saturday. Only some spare parts from Rick Ware Racing allowed the team to make the start.
Farnbacher showed that despite the crash on Saturday, the team’s Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 had not lost anything. He was able to out-drag outside pole sitter Ryan Dalziel to turn 1, then expanded his advantage.
The first full course caution came out very early when Zelus Motorsports’ Corey Lewis had some kind of mechanical issue on the first lap of the race at the end of the backstretch. Lewis locked up the brakes on his Lamborghini, spun off-course and hit the tires. Lewis was ok, but out on the spot.
Once the green came back out, Farnbacher was able to pull away from Colin Braun in second. In the Pro class, US RaceTronics’ Loris Spinelli started on the pole and settled into third overall. Caldarelli gave chase.
A second full course caution flew 21 minutes into the race when RealTime Racing’s Michael Cooper reportedly lost his brakes at the end of the backstretch and plowed into the back of Zelus Motorsports’ Madison Snow. This contact resulted in both cars flying off-course into the tires and causing significant damage to the tire barriers. Snow was ok, but Cooper appeared to be limping when he exited his Acura.
Both Snow and Cooper were out on the spot. With two cars failing to take the start due to crash damage from Saturday, the wreck dropped the field down to 14 cars. Repairs to the tire barrier resulted in a near 20-minute caution period. As a result, the…
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