Jr III Racing’s Bijoy Garg, fresh off his victory in Race No. 1 earlier in the day, took the lead away from JDC-Miller MotorSports’ Dan Goldburg with 15 minutes to go Sunday afternoon (March 12). From there, he held on to claim the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge weekend sweep at Sebring International Raceway.
Garg’s margin of victory was 4.949 seconds over Muehlner Motorsports America’s Antonio Serravalle. Goldburg was third, then Dr. Lance Willsey. Brian Thienes was fifth.
By virtue of the quickest second-fastest lap in qualifying Saturday, Garg led the 30-car field to green. Unlike Race No. 1, the second race wasn’t as clean.
On the first lap, Forty7 Motorsports’ Courtney Crone, MLT Motorsports’ Adrian Kunzle and Kelly Moss Road & Race’s Scott Neal collided and went off-course. That contact drew the race’s first yellow.
Kunzle was able to drive away and eventually finished ninth. Crone drove away on her own, but dropped out after spending time in the pits. Neal’s Ligier JS P320-Nissan was disabled and had to be towed away, putting him out on the spot.
On the restart, JDC-Miller MotorSports’ Dan Goldburg was able to slip past Garg and take the overall lead. Despite losing the lead, Garg was able to stick to Goldburg, along with Muehlner Motorsports America’s Antonio Serravalle. These three drivers proceeded to drive away from the rest of the field.
As the top LMP3 drivers approached the rear of the GSX class, Garg kept up the pressure on Goldburg. While traversing through some of the quicker GSX cars, Garg was able to pounce and re-take the lead with 15 minutes to go.
Goldburg was able to stick with Garg and match his pace through traffic. However, Goldburg spun in the hairpin (turn 7) with a little more than five minutes to go, ending any chance at victory. From there, Garg held on for the win.
In GSX, Stephen Cameron Racing’s Greg Liefooghe once again started from the pole with Race No. 1 class winner Luca Mars alongside. However, trouble erupted for Mars during the early caution. He was forced to pit for repairs and completely fell out of the hunt, finishing multiple laps down in 18th.
Mars’s issues meant that Kelly Moss Road & Race’s Sebastian Carazo moved up to second. Unlike Race No. 1, he wasted no time getting the lead away from Liefooghe.
Once out front, Carazo briefly opened up a decent advantage. Then, an unforced error allowed Liefooghe to re-assume the lead. Once Liefooghe was back in front, he drove away from the rest of the class.
Liefooghe was never again threatened en route to the class win, the first in the United States for the new G82-based BMW M4 GT4. Liefooghe ended up 22.712 seconds ahead of Carazo at the finish. Split Decision Motorsports’ Patrick Wilmot in the previous generation BMW M4 was third, then Accelerating Performance’s Moisey Uretsky. Sean Quinlan was fifth in the second Stephen Cameron BMW.
IMSA VP RACING SPORTSCAR CHALLENGE SEBRING RACE NO. 2 RESULTS
VP Racing SportsCar Challenge teams are off for nearly four months. The next scheduled race is at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on July 8 at 11:40 a.m. ET. That race will be streamed live on Peacock.
About the author
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.
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