Bleekemolen, Keating Win In GTD While Nielsen Takes Points Lead

Jeroen Bleekemolen inherited the GT Daytona (GTD) lead when Kuno Wittmer drove the No. 007 Royal Purple/Orion Energy/LaSalle Solutions/PassTime USA Aston Martin Vantage V12 onto pit lane for fuel with 20 minutes remaining and never looked back, joining co-driver Ben Keating in giving the No. 33 ViperExchange.com Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R its first win of the season.

Wittmer held on to finish second, propelling co-driver Christina Nielsen to the points lead by two points (199-197) with three races remaining. Nielsen took the top spot from No. 48 Castrol EDGE Audi R8 LMS co-drivers Christopher Haase and Dion von Moltke, who finished sixth.Polesitter Patrick Lindsey led the first 24 laps and finished third in the No. 73 Park Place Porsche 911 GT America co-driven by Spencer Pumpelly. It was the duo’s first podium finish since winning earlier this season at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.The race was slowed by full-course caution once for three laps for an incident involving Turner Motorsport’s No. 97 Alvarez & Marsal/IHG Rewards Club BMW Z4 of Michael Marsal.NOTES• The No. 73 Park Place Porsche 911 GT America was one of the quickest cars in the GTD class all weekend. Pumpelly set the fastest lap in the race, while co-driver Lindsey also earned the TOTAL Pole Award on Saturday.• Up next for the TUDOR Championship is a GT-only event at VIRginia International Raceway on Aug. 23. The GTLM and GTD classes headline the Oak Tree Grand Prix that also includes the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama and Lamborghini Super Trofeo. QUOTESBen Keating – No. 33 ViperExchange.com Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R“No doubt, it has been a difficult season for the (No.) 33 car. We had a good car the entire season, but it feels great to finally stand on the top step of the podium. We ran the exact strategy that we expected to run. The race kind of came to us being green until the end. If a yellow came out in the last hour, I think we would have come out third.”Jeroen Bleekemolen – No. 33 ViperExchange.com Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R“Today we had a great race, we ran well, no mistakes. We had great pit stops. Since they were almost all green, they had to be great because every second counted. It’s nice to finally win, I don’t like to look back too much, but we had a rough start to the year. I’m happy it’s starting to go well. A second in Lime Rock, and now a win here, it’s a nice come back going into the end of the season.”