BRASELTON, Geo. — Forbush Performance’s Jules Caranta led flag-to-flag, but held off charges from GEBHARDT Intralogistics Motorsports’ Oscar Tunjo to win IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge Race No. 2 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta Friday morning (Oct. 2). The victory gives Caranta the weekend sweep.
“To be here the same weekend as Petit Le Mans and win both races is an incredible feeling,” Caranta told Frontstretch. “I’m really grateful to my good team Forbush [Performance], to Duqueine and to my parents.”
Caranta’s margin of victory was 2.031 seconds over Tunjo. Tunjo’s teammate Danny Soufi was third, then Shopify Racing’s Travis Hill, who won the Bronze Cup. Forte Racing’s Brian Thienes was fifth.
By virtue of the fastest second lap in qualifying Wednesday, Caranta started from the overall pole. With the championship locked up Thursday, Tunjo immediately tried to put the pressure on Caranta for the lead, but slipped exiting turn 7.
That allowed Soufi to sweep past on the backstretch. Once in second, Soufi put the pressure on Caranta for the lead. The pressure ultimately lasted for a couple of laps before Caranta was able to pull away.
Tunjo was eventually able to get second back from Soufi, then proceeded to run Caranta down. The early morning weather appeared to be much more acceptable to his Duqueine D09 chassis.
With 10 minutes to go, Forte Racing’s Jon Hirshberg spun in the Esses after contact with KohR Motorsports’ Ray Mason and ended up in the gravel. That brought out the full course caution.
In GSX, champion Westin Workman started from the class. In the early laps, he was able to slowly pull away from Panam Motorsport’s Cecelia Rubelo.
CarBahn Motorsports with Peregrine Racing’s Courtney Crone was able to take second away from Rubelo five minutes into the race. By that point, Workman was already six seconds ahead and continuing to run away.
Further back, Rubelo ended up in a battle for fourth with Kingpin Racing’s Jon Brel. Brel made a move on the outside in the chicane to try to take the spot, but he ultimately wasn’t clear. Contact was made, resulting in Brel driving through the gravel.
While no action was taken by the stewards, the contact did damage the right front corner of Brel’s Supra. He was forced to pit for repairs and lost multiple laps. Rubelo was also given a mechanical black flag (“the meatball”) in order to fix damage to the rear bumper that arose from the contact.
Meanwhile, Workman continued to run off and hide. When the caution came out for Hirshberg’s trip into the gravel, it wiped out a 42-second lead. Crone and the others on the lead lap required a pass-around to catch up since the overall leaders were between Workman and the others in class at the time of the yellow.
Even with the wavearound, Workman was still not challenged en route to the victory, his 11th of the year. The only race he did not win was where he had a mechanical issue at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park that forced him to retire.
Workman won by 9.424 seconds over Crone. KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering’s Angus Rogers was third in his Porsche. Workman’s teammate/car owner Rafael Martinez was a lap down in fourth, while Mason was fifth.
Scoring the weekend sweep is just one good thing that has happened to Workman this weekend. On Thursday, IMSA announced Workman as the winner of the IMSA Diverse Driver Scholarship. As a result, he will be moving up to IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge in 2027 with the RAFA Racing Team.
IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge: Road Atlanta Race No. 2 Results
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the Frontstretch email 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 Frontstretch 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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