Ford Mustang GT4 wins SRO Opener

[Forgeline]

Congrats to Drew Staveley and the Ian Racing Team on winning the opener at COTA and a podium in the second race!!! The beat quite a few Mclarens, Porsche's and Aston Martin's!!




Austin, TX – Drew Staveley was victorious in his Pirelli GT4 America Sprint Pro division debut Saturday afternoon at Circuit of The Americas. Spencer Pumpelly crossed the line second, while three-time Driver’s Champion Michael Cooper was third.

From pole, Staveley in his #12 Ian Lacy Racing Ford Mustang GT4 took the green flag to begin the 50-minute race. Third-on-the-grid, Cooper in the #10 Blackdog Speed Shop McLaren 570S GT4 gained a position on Pumpelly in the #66 TRG Porsche 718 Cayman GT4. Cooper then set his sights on Staveley and passed for the lead through turn 12 on the opening lap. Behind them, Jarett Andretti, in his #18 Andretti Autosport McLaren 570S GT4 moved up from his sixth starting position slotting into fourth.

In the Am division, Paul Terry, in #59 Rearden Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 began a race long battle with fellow class competitor Michael Dinan in the #210 Flying Lizard Aston Martin Vantage GT4. Running 5th and 6th Terry and Dinan began passing and repassing each other for position.

On Lap 2, Staveley regained the race lead passing Cooper through turn 1 and then by lap 3 the Mustang pilot set the fast lap of the race to pull a 1.6 second lead over Cooper. Through lap 7, Staveley had extended his lead to 2.5 seconds over Cooper, and Pumpelly, with Andretti, Terry and Dinan battling for 4th, 5th and 6th. Staveley maintained his 2.5 second advantage for the duration of the race, but by lap 20, Pumpelly began to pressure Cooper for second and then on the white flag lap Pumpelly went side by side with Cooper through turn 11 and the two drag raced for position down the back straight. The two dueled through turns 12, 13, 14 and 15 with the TRG pilot moving for good into 2nd through 16 and 17.

Staveley took the checkered flag 2.2 seconds ahead of Pumpelly, with Cooper .5 seconds off second place. Dinan crossed the line in 4th ahead on Terry.

"Winning one of these races is really tough to do and this is just really special,” said Staveley. “I feel relaxed and the Ian Lacy crew gave me a great car, so thanks to them."

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

Excellent

 

[Ludachris]

And by the way, please take a moment to welcome Steve Schardt and his team from @Forgeline on as new TMO sponsors. We're happy to have Forgeline involved and supporting our community!

 

[Bill Pemberton]

Welcome Steve and you have found a great Forum to Sponsor ----- this is a friendly hello from an old friend at Woodhouse Ford, Woodhouse Chrysler , Dodge, Jeep and Ram ( and our 16 other Stores). Not sure you have heard, but Mark Jorgensen ( Woodhouse Motorsports Director ) is running the Service and Parts Dept. at our new Bentley Store!

 

[Tonymustang302]

Can we setup a race between him and treynor’s gt4 now lololololol

 

[Bill Pemberton]

Ben is really quite fast , but I am afraid he is not as quick as ( Pro ) Drew Stavely in his GT4 Stang. Really solid win and nice posting from Forgeline.

That said, it would be fun to see a race with a bunch of the GT4s running in the US. Pesek Family Racing is nearby me in Missouri and they ran both IMSA and SRO World Challenge last year. They rented/siupported a car to a couple of drivers who used to run Vipers with Woodhouse Performance. That was a race team Bob Woodhouse had and he was the support group for a couple of drivers in World Challenge ( Feed Roberts and Jeff Courtney ) while he was racing too. PF Racing had both of those gentlemen running one of their GT4 Mustangs last year so it was interesting to me to see both of those drivers still active in WC. Sorry, long story, but all the Viper Comp Coupes ran on Forgelines and Woodhouse Dodge built up a giant customer base with Woodhouse Motorsports ( Mark Jorgensen was the Director ) putting custom Forgelines on many of the Vipers I sold. Another high quality , customer focused company added to the TMO Universe.