Austin, Texas - Tyler Maxson continued his impressive 2020 TC America campaign winning Round 12, and unofficially securing the TCR Driver's Championship at Circuit of the Americas Thursday afternoon. Plano, Texas' Toby Grahovec won at his home track in TC, while Kevin Boehm crossed the line first in TCA.
Scott Smithson and Roy Block finished second and third respectively in TCR. James Clay, and John Capestro Dubets finished second and third respectively in TC. Tyler Gonzalez and Caleb Bacon finished second and third respectively in TCA.
The 40-minute contest was held under ideal sunny, 83-degree Fahrenheit weather conditions. Maxson, in his Copeland Motorsports #74 Hyundai Veloster N led the combined 31-car field to the green and launched successfully into the overall and TCR lead. Behind the TCR field, Grahovec launched into the TC lead from pole in his #26 Classic BMW BMW M240iR, while Boehm also launched successfully from his TCA front starting position behind the wheel of the #9 Boehm Racing Honda Civic Si.
Action on the first lap of the race focused on the TC field as Classic BMW's Phil Bloom in #11 BMW M240iR, Johan Schwartz in the Hard Motorsport's #31 BMW M240iR and TC Championship points leader James Clay in the #36 BimmerWorld Racing BMW M240iR moved by John Capestro Dubets, who had started second in his #20 Auto Technic Racing BMW M240iR.
By lap 2, Maxson grew his lead to a healthy 2.8 seconds over KMR Motorsports w/ TMR Engineering #5 Alfa Romeo Giulietta driver Roy Block, with Taylor Hagler in the #77 LA Honda World Racing Honda Civic Type-R in third and DXDT Racing's Scott Smithson, who won twice at Road America, pursuing in fourth in his #17 Honda Civic Type-R TCR. Behind the TCR field, both Grahovec and Boehm also grew their leads in TC and TCA to healthy margins. With Schwartz encountering some mechanical issues with his machine both Clay and John Castro Dubets moved up and began a pursuit of Bloom.
Back in TCA, Bacon in the #18 CB Motorsports Hyundai Veloster Turbo had moved up into second while class championship contender Tomas Mejia in the #60 MINI JCW Team MINI Cooper JCW slotted into third.
By lap 5, Maxson, Grahovec and Boehm had all pulled away from their nearest class competitors leaving battles to wage behind them. Action focused on battles for second between Block and Smithson in TCR, Bloom and Clay in TC, and Bacon and Tyler Gonzalez who had moved around Mejia into third in his #57 Copeland Motorsports Hyundai Veloster Turbo.
By lap 12, Bloom succumbed to the constant pressure being applied by Clay and ran wide through turn 1 allowing both the driver of the #36 machine and Capestro Dubets to slide by. Then on the white flag lap, and after being consistently thwarted by Block throughout the race, Smithson finally found a way by and up into second. At the checkered, Maxson secured his 10th win on the season by 3.6 seconds over Smithson and provisionally wins the 2020 TCR Driver's Championship, his second consecutive SRO America driver's championship after claiming the TCA championship last season. Grahovec won by 12.5 seconds over Clay to keep his TC championship hopes alive. Boehm scored his fourth win in a row and unofficially takes the lead in the TCA championship from Mejia.
"It really comes down to the quality and preparation of the Copeland Motorsports team, they are top notch," said Maxson after the race. "These guys put in more work on this car than anyone I know, and it feels great to pick up my 10th win."
"It's amazing to get the win on Classic BMW's home soil," said Grahovec, "I have to thank all of my team for this win."
"I'm really trying to take it one race at a time, we've been doing that all year," said Boehm. "We've learned so much since we were last here in March and the result here today shows that. To go on a four-win race streak is pretty memorable. Everything seems to be coming together at once, and it doesn't get better than this."
Results are provisional until posted final. TC America drivers now get set for Saturday's Round 13 race scheduled for a green flag start of 12:05 pm Central. Watch the race live at www.youtube.com/GTWorld.
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PROVISIONAL RESULTS - PDF Link