DP Corvettes 1-2-3 at Long Beach; # 4 GTLM victory denied
Pipped for the pole, # 10 DP Rickey Taylor out-braked # 5 Christian Fittipaldi into turn 1 on the opening lap.
Wayne Taylor's team proceeded to lead 72 of 75 laps to celebrate their second straight win at Long Beach.
# 5 Action Express and # 31 Whelen rounded out the top three. # 90 Flis Visit Florida finished 6th with lack of grip and tire problems unsolved.
# 4 Tommy Milner, hounded by the # 912 Porsche of over eager Fred Makowiecki took a hit from behind with just 2 minutes left while leading GTLM. The Corvette recovered to finish 2nd while # 911 Porsche of Nick Tandy slipped by to win.
Milner was understandably upset but 2nd place was not so awful given the Corvettes qualified slower than the # 25 BMW Bill Auberlin and both Porsches.
As race strategy ultimately turned out, Oliver Gavin’s quick unscheduled pit stop for a puncture gave Milner the lead over the Porsches.
Running 1-2 late in the race, # 3 Antonio Garcia spun damaging the left rear. The car could not be repaired in the remaining 9 minutes and retired 9th in class.
Bonus coverage! # 3 Johnny O’Connell in GM Caddy ATS VR GT3 outraced # 9 Alvaro Parente K-Pax McLaren 650S GT3 to win the preceding Pirelli World Challenge race but his car failed post-race inspection and was penalized one position.
