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Three cars took part in todays penultimate round of the IVRA GT Sprint series at Road America, and not one got away unscathed.
Each car had it's own story arc to begin to bring to a close: the #256 looking to secure the important prize for second place in the Division 2 championship, with first place well out of reach. The #356 looking to close out the Division 3 championship. The #208 hoping to finally get some luck.
As it turned out, none of those story arcs played out the way we'd have liked.
Strong practise pace from Jason Dilworth in the #256 and Ryan Hamilton in the #356 did not convert into good qualifying performance, both cars struggling to put a lap together in the 20 minute session. The #208 of Chris Chadderton also struggled to find pace for qualifying, with the three cars starting P17, P18 and P29 overall.
The #256 found itself instantly on the back foot, with championship rivals Deutsche Payment #287 a full 15 positions ahead. Caught in the midfield on the first lap, the car was unceremoniously turned by an incredibly impatient Division 1 car that has been no stranger to incidents so far this season.
Not long later, though, it felt that fortune was coming our way with a penalty dropping the #287 behind enough positions to make the championship exciting. It wasn't to be though, with a computer freeze causing a tow to pits and a couple of laps lost to an interesting race control choice. Ultimately the #256 came home in 11th in class.
The #356 was sitting in a comfortable first place in class in the early section of the race, but suffered a similar fate midway through the race, with an internet connection drop forcing a tow. A more fortunate resulting pit stop brought by having two drivers meant that Ayden Refaie was able to take over the car having dropped much less time though, and the recovery fight was on. A late safety car helped the driver to cement a 4th place in class that helps to increase the championship despite their issues.
The #208 was having by far their best race of the season, staying clean in the early part of the race and avoiding "mechanical" issues. Håkon Eide Lindmo entered the car for the second stint not far outside of the top 10 overall, and had a storming restart after the safety car to find themselves in P7. Unfortunately a domino effect collision multiple cars back put paid to their race in the closing moments, and with the option of a good result gone the drivers selflessly allowed the #256 car by and finish P12 in class.
The entire team feel like this is a race that got away, as has been the case a few times this season. Full focus now moves to ensuring that the Division 3 championship is brought home in the final round, and prepare to be ready for any miracles that could happen to turn P3 into P2 in Division 2. The final race of the season is at Bathurst, and anything could happen there.
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