Under sprinkling skies, Michael McCann Jr. and the #3 McCann Racing Audi RS3 LMS lead the field to green, but as the field got to turn 5 the slippery tarmac would hurt the leader as he slid wide, falling from first to last, handing the lead to Nate Vincent in the #72 FCP Euro VW Golf GTI. Vincent would never look back and go on to cruise to the TCR victory. “It was tricky driving in the rain, just tip-toeing around. This was my first time racing here at Road America, so having it in the rain was something! The team did a great job of setting up the car to handle the wet conditions and that was really the trick to bringing it home,” said Vincent.
As the field reached Canada Corner, Victor Gonzalez in the #99 VGMC Honda Civic Type R then fell victim to the rain and would spin out of third place, falling down the order. Championship leader Michael Hurczyn and the #71 FCP Euro VW Golf GTI would slide into second place, where he would finish. Hurczyn would claim the race’s fastest lap, giving him pole for Sunday’s race 2. Gonzalez would fight his way back through the field and finish third.
James Walker in the #34 Risi Competizione Alfa Romeo Giulietta would come home fourth with Christian Cole and the #3 McCann Racing Audi RS3 LMS claiming the TCR Cup win, finishing fifth overall.
With 28 minutes remaining, Mark Pombo and the #59 MINI Team JCW MINI Cooper would pass Chris Haldeman in the #69 X-Factor Racing Honda Civic Si for the lead. Haldeman would then go wide defending at turn 3 and go off track, falling to eighth in the TCA class.
As the clock ticked down to the 21 minute mark, Nate Norenberg in the #60 MINI Team JCW MINI Cooper would go off at The Kink, hitting the barrier but would get the car back to pitlane, keeping a full course caution from falling. Nick Wittmer and the #91 TechSport Racing Subaru BRZ sT would inherit second place momentarily as Pombo then had an off from the lead, putting Wittmer in first with Tomas Mejia in the #69 MINI Team JCW MINI Cooper landing in second. While that was going on, Haldeman would fight his way back to third place and start his pursuit for second.
With 11 minutes left on the clock, Haldeman’s attack would see him overtake Mejia for second going into turn 3. Mejia would come home third with Taylor Hagler and the #77 X-Factor Racing Honda Civic Si fourth. Stephen Jeu would round out the top five in the #02 X-Factor Racing Honda Civic Si.
On the last lap, Haldeman’s charge would not stop and would overtake Wittmer for the lead, claiming his first win of the season. “I started from pole and pretty much immediately put myself in last, so I had to charge back through the field. Luckily it ended with me still taking the win!” said Haldeman.
TC America TCR/TCA Race 2 will go green on Sunday, September 22nd at 11:10am CT streaming live at https://www.tcamerica.us/watch-live
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TCR/TCA PROVISIONAL RESULTS - PDF LINK