IMSA Prototype Challenge: double podium at Mid-Ohio
Sunday 15th May 2022 –The second round of the 2022 IMSA Prototype Challenge was held on the Mid-Ohio circuit. #60 entered by Wulver Racing made an excellent comeback to second place on the podium while holding on to the championship lead. #30 run by Jr III Racing finished third. The #14 Sean Creech Motorsports Ligier JS P320 set the fastest lap in the race.
An epic comeback by Wulver Racing!
Four months after the opening round on the Daytona circuit, the IMSA Prototype Challenge was back on the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Sunday 15th May for the second round of the championship. The #60 Wulver Racing Ligier JS P320 driven by Toni Kasemets put on a superb performance. Absent in both free practice and qualifying due to a scheduling problem with the Indycar Championship, he started the race from the back of the grid without having been able to set up his LMP3 beforehand. In only four laps he fought his way up from 15th to sixth place. Then he had to cope with another challenge a few laps later when his Ligier suffered a puncture. But it needed more than that to curb the ambitions of #60, which fought its way up the classification for the second time taking the lead on lap 35. With 18 minutes of the race still to go, Kasemets came in for his mandatory pit stop and rejoined in second place. On lap 53 his LMP3 was overtaken by #77 run by US RaceTronics (Brian Thienes and Patrick Kujala). But the latter fell victim to fuel problems and slowed on the final lap gifting second place on the podium to #60!
Jr III Racing's first podium finish of the season
The #54 MLT Motorsports Ligier JS P320 (Jason Rabe and Tyler Maxson) started in the middle of the grid and worked its way up to the front-runners 10 laps before the end of the race. It took the chequered flag in third place, but was disqualified because of excessive wear of its skid block. #30 run by Jr III Racing (Ari Balogh and Thomas Merrill), which was in the top 5 for the whole race, finished fourth and was promoted to third after the disqualification of #54. It was followed home by #77 entered by US RaceTronics that finished just shy of the podium after running out of fuel on the final lap!
The #6 Performance Tech Motorsports Ligier JS P320 (Dan Golburg and Oscar Bitar) qualified in second place, but was tagged on the grid by one of its rivals and ended up in third spot. It moved up a place after some 20 laps and then fell back down the classification in the second part of the race. The Ligier JS P320 saw the flag in seventh place followed by #14 run by Sean Creech Motorsports (Parker Thompson and Lance Willsey), which posted the fastest lap in the race in a time of 1m 17.583s, and #3 entered by Jr III Racing (Courtney Crone and Terry Olson).
The #60 Wulver Racing Ligier JS P320 still holds the lead in the championship thanks to its second place. The third race of the season will be run on 1 - 3 July on the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park circuit during the Chevrolet Grand Prix meeting.
To consult the full results, CLICK HERE.
For more information about the Ligier JS P320, CLICK HERE.
Photo credit: Jake Galstad