Ibiza Farm Motorsports’ Michael Cooper and Moisey Uretsky had a terrible time in Daytona. They simply were not competitive. That was not the case Friday (March 20) as Cooper was able to drive to the front in the second half of the race and hold on to win the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Alan Jay Automotive Network 120 at Sebring International Raceway.
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The margin of victory was 2.506 seconds over Winward Racing’s Daan Arrow and Bryce Ward. Turner Motorsport’s Dillon Machavern and Luca Mars were third, followed by Panam Motorsport’s Caio Chaves and Thiago Camilo. AutoTechnic Racing’s Stevan McAleer and Austin Krainz were fifth in their BMW.
The race didn’t even get started before the second half of the Grand Sport field piled up on the pit straight. It appeared that BSI Racing’s Harrison Goodman failed to come up to speed and pulled out of line. CarBahn Motorsports with Peregrine Racing’s Steven Wetterau checked up when he saw this, then got hit from behind by Murillo Racing’s Aurora Straus.
Wetterau then spun and created a road block. BGB Motorsports’ Thomas Collingwood, Czabok-Simpson Motorsports’ Madeline Stewart, KohR Motorsports’ Ray Mason, Rebel Rock Racing’s Frank DePew, VRC Motorsports Group’s Dan Ammann, Medusa Motorsports’ Athan Sterling, Turner Motorsport’s Vin Barletta LAP Motorsports’ Scott Thomson were all wrapped up in the wreck.
Everyone was ok after the crash, but only Straus and Thomson were able to drive away from the scene of those heavily involved. CarBahn Motorsports with Peregrine Racing’s Sean McAlister, who started at the rear due to issues in qualifying, also got a piece and continued. Ultimately, the only one of the 11 cars involved that actually finished the race was the LAP Motorsports Mustang, which finished 16 laps down after spending time in the paddock getting repairs.
By the time pole sitter Varun Choksey led the field back to green, more than a quarter of the two-hour time limit had elapsed. He was able to open up a decent advantage in a couple of laps, but a piece of debris from McAlister’s BMW exiting turn 3 resulted in a second full-course caution.
During this yellow, the 40-minute minimum drive-time was reached, resulting in a big decision for everyone. Stick to a one-stop strategy, or stop here and convert to a two-stop strategy. Choksey and most of the leaders pitted here for driver changes, fuel and tires. Meanwhile, Chaves stayed out and took the lead.
Ultimately, three teams chose not to pit. McCumbee-McAleer Racing’s Robert Noaker took fuel only and moved up to fourth. Choksey’s teammate was forced to serve a drive-through penalty for crewmembers over the wall too soon, which seemingly ruined their race. In reality, it forced them into an alternate strategy.
After the restart, the man on the move was Ibiza Farm Motorsports’ Michael Cooper in the sole McLaren Artura GT4. Cooper moved up from ninth in 15 minutes to second, then started to challenge Chaves for the overall lead.
With 49 minutes to go, Cooper was able to make his move to take the lead on the Uhlmann Straight. Chaves, who had still not pitted at that point, immediately pulled in for tires, fuel and a change to Camilo.
When the pit cycle ended, Kiko Porto ended up with a 28-second lead in the RAFA Racing Team Toyota. The goal was to go as long as possible before making a stop for fuel.
Cooper took the overall lead when Porto stopped with 32 minutes to go. Strong form meant that he ended up with six-second lead over Winward Racing’s Daan Arrow. Porto came out of the pits 37 seconds back in 10th. He would ultimately be penalized for contact with Billy Johnson and ended up finishing 10th.
Cooper generally maintained a lead of between six and eight seconds over Arrow over the final 30 minutes of the race. He ultimately backed off on the final lap, which is the only reason the margin was as close at the finish.
The race will likely be best remembered for the attrition. Not only did the start crash attribute to 10 of the retirements, but a total of 18 of the 49 starters failed to finish.
With the big wreck breaking out before the TCR class even got around Sunset Bend on their final pace lap, the entire pack all but had to stop. Eventually, everyone was able to wind their way through without issue.
The track blockage did shuffle the order, but IMSA officials declared that the starting grid order would be retained. As a result, KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering’s Rocco Pasquarella retained the class lead when the race finally restarted.
In the early laps, Pasquarella came under pressure from Victor Gonzalez Racing’s Franco Girolami. Despite Girolami being very quick, Pasquarella held on until the debris caution came out.
There was even more of a split in regards to pit strategy during the yellow. Pasquarella stayed out along with Girolami. Bryan Herta Autosport split the strategy, while other teams were all over the place.
The top-five teams stayed out and continued from the front of the class. When the race restarted, Pasquarella settled into a steady pace at the front.
With 52 minutes to go, Pasquarella stopped for his one and only pit stop to hand over to Tim Lewis Jr. That gave the lead to Girolami.
Once the pit sequence wrapped up, BHA’s Denis Dupont ended up in the class lead in his Hyundai. Teammate Harry Gottsacker was right on his tail.
Behind them, Tyler Gonzalez was on a roll and proceeded to dispatch both BHA Hyundais for the lead. Unfortunately, the day unraveled for Dupont shortly afterwards when he cut his right front tire with just under a half-hour to go.
From there Gonzalez pulled away from the pack to score an easy win for himself and Girolami. It is the second victory for VGR at Sebring as the team won with their Honda back in 2022.
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The margin of victory was 13.9 seconds over Gottsacker and Lance Bergstein. Bryson Morris and recovered from an early spin to finish third, followed by teammates Maddie Aust and Mark Wilkins. Pasquarella and Lewis ended up fifth.
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Next up for Pilot Challenge teams is WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca 120. That race will be May 2 with live coverage on the IMSA Official YouTube channel and Peacock.
