LEXINGTON, Oh. — GEBHARDT Intralogistics Motorsports’ Oscar Tunjo was able to use the outside of turn 4 to get around teammate Valentino Catalano just after the green came out Sunday morning (June 8). From there, he was able to hold on to win IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge Race No. 2 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. It is Tunjo’s first career win in the series.
“It was a little bit tricky for us today,” Tunjo told Frontstretch after the race. “It’s the first time here at Mid-Ohio and first time in the rain. Hard to see what was going to happen with the limits of the track. Very happy to get my first win in the championship.”
Tunjo won by 1.279 seconds over Catalano. Wright Motorsports’ Adam Adelson was third, then AJ Muss and Jake Walker.
Catalano started on pole in his Duqueine with Tunjo alongside in the slippery conditions. However, Tunjo took advantage of the conditions and used the outside line in turn 4 on the first lap under green to take the lead.
Once in the lead, Tunjo quickly pulled away from the rest of the field.
Halfway through the race, the potential result was thrown upside-down. While trying to lap Rebel Rock Racing’s Frank DePew, there was contact made entering turn 4 that ultimately resulted in DePew having to make an unscheduled pit stop.
IMSA officials responded by assessing Tunjo a 10-second post-race penalty, similar to what he had on Saturday for switching lines on the start.
Later on, the officials took a second look at the incident. They chose to change the penalty to be on DePew instead of Tunjo. However, the information wasn’t disseminated well.
In the confusion, Tunjo’s advantage began to shrink. The lead shrunk from 11 seconds to just over five as Catalano was beginning to run Tunjo down. RAFA Racing Team’s Corey Lewis was right behind Catalano until she performed a 720° spin exiting the Keyhole.
Shortly after Lewis’ spin, Forte Racing’s Brian Thienes slid off at the Keyhole and nosed into the tires. That brought out the race’s sole caution and closed everyone back up.
The green came back out with a little more than seven minutes to go and it didn’t take long for trouble to break out. In the Keyhole, Lewis spun after contact from Adelson, this time a 540° spin that left him facing the wrong direction.
The No. 36 Ligier JS P320-Nissan was undamaged and Lewis was able to continue with a big time loss. Officials reviewed the incident, but did not issue a penalty.
Tunjo was able to open up a small gap over Catalano on the restart. From there, he was able to hold on for the win.
However, there was confusion after the race. It wasn’t clear that the post-race penalty had been shifted to DePew. As a result, it appeared like Catalano would have won the race. Eventually, the switch was explained, guaranteeing Tunjo the win.
In GTDX, Walker started from pole in his BMW. However, Muss was able to take the lead away on the first lap in his Ferrari. In addition, the Porsche 911 GT3 R’s rear-engine layout is a great benefit in the wet.
At the end of the first lap under green, Adelson was able to get a run exiting the Carousel on Walker. Entering turn 1, Adelson was able to make the pass stick to move up to second. Later on, Walker slid off at the Keyhole and dropped behind the GSX leaders.
Once in second, Adelson closed in on Muss. When he reached the back of the Ferrari, he didn’t fool around. A move to the outside of Muss exiting turn 6 allowed Adelson to take the overall lead.
Once out front, Adelson pulled out to a decent advantage of multiple seconds. That lead was wiped out by the yellow.
The restart incident with Lewis could have cost Adelson the win. However, with no action taken, Adelson held on to take his third win of the year.
The margin of victory was 5.019 seconds over Muss. Walker was third, then Samantha Tan.
RAFA Racing Team’s Ian Porter started from the GSX pole in his Supra. Behind him, teammate Kiko Porto was on the move from the start. He was able to come up from third on the grid to take the lead on the first lap under green.
Porter eventually dropped to third, but ended up in a battle with Saturday’s winner Steven Clemons for second. Contact was made, resulting in Clemons spinning in the Carousel. Porter was ultimately given a drive-through penalty for the contact.
The penalty gave Porto a big lead and Chris Walsh up to second. Clemons was able to eventually get second back, but was nearly 10 seconds back.
The yellow wiped out the lead, but Porto was able to hold on for his fourth win of the year. The margin of victory was 3.122 seconds over Walsh. Clemons was third, then Justin Di Benedetto and Porter.
IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge: Mid-Ohio Race No. 2 Results
VP Racing SportsCar Challenge teams are off for the next month. The fourth race weekend for the year will be at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Race No. 1 is scheduled for July 12 at 8:50 a.m. ET and will be streamed live on Peacock.
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.