Successful teammates Alex Koreiba and James French drove the No. 25 Wolf Motorsports Ligier JS P320 to a series-leading third Historic Sportscar Racing Prototype Problem introduced by IMSA total and Professional-Am race win Friday evening at Daytona Worldwide Speedway. The 90-minute race set the stage for the beginning of this weekend’s HSR Traditional Daytona 24 Hour Introduced by Mission Meals which is at the moment in its last hours of competitors at DIS.
Spherical 5 of the inaugural six-race HSR Prototype Problem introduced by IMSA season, Koreiba and French added the convincing victory at Daytona to earlier triumphs this season within the HSR Mitty at Michelin Raceway Highway Atlanta and on the HSR Watkins Glen Traditional 6 Hour weekend in June.
Koreiba began from the pole and misplaced some floor early with a balky shifter challenge, however he rebounded to retake the lead. He joined French in taking management of the race for the ultimate hour, though their nearest championship rivals, John Reisman and Eric Curran within the No. 74 Hudson Historics Ligier JS P320, usually stored the strain on till the tip. Curran was closing on French within the race’s last minutes, however the Wolf Motorsports driver withstood the strain for a 2.536s margin of victory.
“I used to be pondering firstly that we had been going to should go to Sebring to win a championship with our shifting challenge. All confidence went out the window once I went into Flip 1 and I couldn’t get out of sixth gear,” mentioned Koreiba. “I simply did all the things I might within the automotive, was even doing heel-and-toeing at one level attempting to make a downshift, however once we received some temperature in there the issue cleared itself in a means. The plan was to run so long as attainable to provide James the perfect automotive he might have on the finish with recent sticker tires and low gas. Wolf Motorsports has given us an unbelievable automotive. It’s exhausting to consider it’s our first yr in an LMP3 automotive. They’ve completely mastered this automotive. I can’t thank the group sufficient for all that they’ve executed.”
Third in Professional-Am and total went to the sister Hudson Historics No. 47 Ligier JS P320 of Bob Neapole and Man Cosmo who matched their season-best end after beforehand securing a third-place exhibiting at The Glen in June.
Whereas Koreiba, French and the Wolf group have gained three of the yr’s 5 Professional-Am races up to now, PC Problem parity has been the order within the Am division. The fourth completely different winner of the season emerged at Daytona with veteran and versatile street racing driver Mirco Schultis co-driving to the category win and fourth total with Lucas Lasserre within the the No. 70 Mishumotors Ligier JS P320.
“This was our first time in Prototype Problem and we simply got here right here to have enjoyable and to look into subsequent season,” mentioned Schultis. “It was an evening race, right here in Florida and we needed to do it. I just like the championship loads. It’s a pleasant format.”
The victory got here within the PC Problem collection debut for Schultis and his Mishumotors group whereas their teammate Lasserre had a profitable first go to to Daytona in simply his second profession race in the USA. A local of France, Lasserre is a profitable competitor within the NASCAR Whelen Euro Sequence. His solely earlier racing look within the U.S. was 15 years in the past when, as a a number of European inventory automotive champion, he earned an invite to compete within the Toyota All-Star Showdown inventory automotive race at Irwindale Raceway in California.
Second in Am and finishing the general prime 5 was the duo of Gary Ball and Nigel Greensall within the within the No. 73 Ligier JS P320. Greensall took the checkered flag one spot forward of the No. 86 One Motorsports Ligier JS P3 of Dave Home and Mikel Miller, who had been sixth total and third in Am.
Am championship leaders Tobias Lutke and Travis Hill within the No. 22 TWOth Autosport Ligier JS P3 completed fourth in school at Daytona however be part of solely the Professional-Am leaders Wolf Motorsports as a number of race winners this season. Each class factors leaders will go into subsequent month’s season-ending race at Sebring Worldwide Raceway with “champion-elect” standing after garnering sufficient factors at Daytona to safe the titles in each divisions.
The Sebring three-hour season finale takes place Sunday, December 8 as a characteristic race that’s a part of the year-end Mission Meals HSR Traditional 12 Hour Pistons & Props, Introduced by Allen Jay Automotive Community.
