Mosing Doubles Up At COTA

Subtitle:Veteran Clinches Gold, Gold Masters Titles At Home; Benitez Wins Platinum

AUSTIN, Texas (Sept. 17, 2015) – Angel Benitez Jr. made a daring pass to take the lead in Turn 1 on the first lap and drove away for his fourth victory of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama season in Round 13 Thursday, Sept. 17 at Circuit of the Americas.

Jeff Mosing, from Austin, Texas, clinched the Gold Cup and Gold Masters Drivers’ Championship with victories in both classes at his home track.

Benitez, from Miami, jumped from the third starting spot to race three-wide with pole sitter Jesse Lazare and Platinum Cup championship leader Elliott Skeer on the uphill climb to Turn 1, diving to the inside of his rivals. He threaded his No. 05 JDX Racing Porsche past Lazare and Skeer, leading the rest of the way in the 45-minute race that was a taxing test of stamina in 94-degree air temperatures.

“Nobody expected that, right?” Benitez said of his decisive move. “From third to first place. It was a surprise to me, too.

“They just left the door open, and I took it. And that’s it. I’m happy that it worked. I’m having fun with the championship.”

Series veteran Benitez solidified his third-place position in the championship with his fourth victory in 10 starts this season in the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA)-sanctioned Single-Make Series. He missed the first three rounds before joining the powerful JDX team in June at Watkins Glen.

Skeer, from Carlsbad, California, celebrated his 21st birthday today by finishing second in the No. 14 Wright Motorsports entry. Skeer padded his lead over Lazare to 27 points with three rounds remaining in the season. Round 14 starts at 7 p.m. (CT) Friday on the 20-turn, 3.4-mile circuit at COTA, the only night race of the season.

Michael Schein, from New York, earned his third podium finish of the season by finishing third in the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche.

Andrew Longe, from Naples, Florida, passed reigning Platinum Masters Drivers Champion Kasey Kuhlman late in the race to finish fourth in the No. 47 Fall-Line Motorsports Porsche.

Kuhlman, from Cincinnati, finished fifth overall and was the top Platinum Masters finisher in the No. 15 Wright Motorsports Porsche.

Benitez ended up winning by 3.627 seconds over Skeer, but that margin was deceptive. Skeer stayed within one-half to one second of Benitez until the last 10 minutes of the race, when Benitez pulled away.

Skeer also was involved in a dramatic moment just five minutes into the race. Santiago Creel spun and stopped in Turn 11 in the No. 60 Wright Motorsports entry, triggering a full-course caution.

Lazare, running second, spun after contact from behind by Skeer, running third.

“Angel drove a great race,” Skeer said. “When the caution came out, that caught everyone by surprise. It was interesting what happened there.”

Lazare, from Montreal, dropped to 25th but recovered over the last 40 minutes of the race to finish sixth in the No. 21 Kelly-Moss Motorsports Porsche.

Porsche Carrera Cup Japan competitor Paul Ip, from Hong Kong, earned the Yokohama Hard Charger Award in the No. 65 Kelly-Moss Motorsports Platinum Cup entry in his USA series debut. Ip finished 17th after starting 24th.

Platinum Masters

Kuhlman climbed closer to his second consecutive Platinum Masters Drivers Championship with his ninth class victory of the season. Kuhlman leads Jay Patel by 48 points, 242-194, and must lead by only 40 points after Round 14 on Friday to clinch the title.

“I’m happy to hold on for a top five (overall),” Kuhlman said. “That’s my goal all the time. Masters winner, more points toward the championship. I feel good about today. Thanks to Wright Motorsports for a great car.”

Patel, from Crown Point, Indiana, finished second in the class in the No. 00 Kelly-Moss Motorsports Porsche, 36.17 seconds behind Kuhlman. Bill Peluchiwski, from Chicago, finished third in the class in the No. 74 Kelly-Moss Motorsports Porsche.

While Kuhlman never was challenged for the Platinum Masters lead, Patel and Peluchiwski produced yet another fierce, fair duel that has characterized the season for the teammates and friends.

Peluchiwski was ahead of Patel early in the race but was forced to avoid a spin by Oscar Arroyo. Patel squeezed past both drivers and maintained a slim margin over Peluchiwski for the rest of the race, earning his fifth runner-up finish of the season.

“I tried to avoid all of the incidents the best I could,” Patel said. “I tried to think ahead and see what could possibly occur the next couple of laps with all the cars. Then I just kept my focus and kept my foot in there and focused on keep on pushing.”

Gold Cup/Gold Masters

Mosing earned his first Gold Cup championship and second consecutive Gold Masters championship in dramatic style before a home crowd at COTA.

He led to the finish in the No. 05 TOPP Racing Porsche after starting from the class pole. But David Ducote, from Houston, hounded Mosing for nearly the entire race in the No. 6 Kelly-Moss Motorsports Porsche.

The gap varied between three-tenths and 1.3 seconds between Mosing and Ducote as they snaked through traffic. But Ducote stayed within a half-second of Mosing during the final 10 minutes of race, looking for a chance to pass for the win.

Ducote took that chance on the final lap. But he made contact with Mosing’s car, with both Porsches spinning. Mosing regained control more quickly and drove to the victory.

IMSA officials penalized Ducote for incident responsibility, and he ended up seventh in the class finishing order.

“David Ducote always is tough,” Mosing said. “He always puts a lot of pressure on me.

“Hat’s off to (TOPP Racing owner) Todd Opperman. He gave me a fantastic car all weekend up until now. We’re going to take the momentum into Friday night’s race. I’m really looking forward to running under the lights. Even though we got things wrapped up for the Porsche GT3 Cup, I’m still looking to have fun and drive hard and drive myself happy.”

The penalty to Ducote elevated Mark Llano to second in Gold and Gold Masters in the No. 22 NGT Motorsport Porsche, his third Gold runner-up finish of the season. The strong finish was just part of the good news this week for Llano, from Wellington, Florida. He also was named a Hero Ambassador for his tireless work for American armed forces veterans through the Boot Campaign.

Fred Kaimer, from Austin, Texas, placed third in Gold and Gold Masters in his season debut in the No. 23 NGT Motorsport Porsche.

Up Next

Round 14 will start at 7 p.m. (CT) Friday, the only night race of the season. The race is 45 minutes.

For live updates on all the action, follow @IMSALive on Twitter.

ROUND 13 POST-RACE QUOTES:

ANGEL BENITEZ JR. (No. 05 JDX Racing, winner): “We won again. I have to congratulate JDX for all the work they’re doing and Hertz for making it all possible. We’re trying to reward them with all the accomplishment we can. The track is awesome. It’s an F1 track, for sure. The race was hot, very, very hot inside the car. It was about maintaining control and concentration and not getting tired at the end of the race. We ended up first, and we are happy. We know we could win, and we are here.” (About pass for lead in first turn): “Nobody expected that, right? From third to first place. I think I did that in 2013 in rain. It was a surprise to me, too. They just left the door open, and I took it. And that’s it. I’m happy that it worked. I’m having fun with the championship.”

ELLIOTT SKEER (No. 14 Wright Motorsports, second): “This is a pretty fun track. I’m enjoying driving around it so far. Nice hot day to get the cars all hot and the drivers all hot, but we all made it through. Angel (Benitez) drove a great race. When the caution came out, that caught everyone by surprise. It was interesting what happened there. Good race. As a team we did really well. We’ll just do it all again tomorrow.”

MICHAEL SCHEIN (No. 16 Wright Motorsports, third): “I was away from it (melee at start). I had kind of a quiet race. Kasey (Kuhlman) and Andrew (Longe) behind me were battling, so I kind of had a gap to them, and I had a gap to the front. As long as I maintained my pace, I was all right. It was a hot race. I’m happy to finish third.”

KASEY KUHLMAN (No. 15 Wright Motorsports, first Platinum Masters): “It was just a long, hot race. Man, it was so hot. It was a little crazy at the start. Some people at the back were maybe a little overzealous; I don’t know. But once we got in a line, everybody kind of found their pace except for (Andrew) Longe in the 47. He just chipped away at me over the last four laps. He sized me up, pushed me hard and made a great pass on me. Kudos to him. I’m happy to hold on for a top five. That’s my goal all the time. Masters winner, more points toward the championship. I feel good about today. Thanks to Wright Motorsports for a great car.”

JAY PATEL (No. 00 Kelly-Moss Motorsports, second Platinum Masters): “There were a lot of things going on early in the race. I saw a couple of cars try to figure out where they were going to go, where they were going to end up. I saw an inside line in Turn 1 and decided to go inside. Then there was something on (Turn) 11. I tried to avoid all of the incidents the best I could. I tried to think ahead and see what could possibly occur the next couple of laps with all the cars. Then I just kept my focus and kept my foot in there and focused on keep on pushing.” “(About heat): “It’s really hot. I’m not used to this, coming from Chicago. The summer is hot, but it pretty much cool most of the time. Battling with Bill (Peluchiwski), a great teammate, it was a great effort by Kelly-Moss. Thanks to my wife.”

BILL PELUCHIWSKI (No. 74 Kelly-Moss Motorsports, third Platinum Masters): “Jay (Patel) and I went at it. In fact, I had the lead. But then I had to avoid an accident with Oscar (Arroyo). He spun, and he (Patel) passed me, and I was never able to get it back. It was hot, but it was a good race, clean race. I enjoyed myself. Thanks to Kelly-Moss.” (About racing in Jeff Mosing and David Ducote’s battle for the Gold and Gold Masters victory): “You’ve got to stage it. They were closer to each other than I was to Jay. So you had to let them go but at the right time so you didn’t lose that much time to Jay. That was the tricky bit. Hopefully they had a good race. Unfortunately, David spun at the end and then it was no race. Other than that, it was fun.”

JEFF MOSING (No. 01 TOPP Racing, winner Gold Cup, Gold Masters, 2015 Gold Cup, Gold Masters Champion, Austin resident): “Certainly, things lined up to be able to do it (win both titles) here. David Ducote always is tough. He always puts a lot of pressure on me. We had a big melee at the start. I was hoping to keep a lot of these Platinum cars between he and I. It just didn’t work out that way. I came through (Turn) 2, and he was right behind me along with (Mark) Llano. I put my head down. Eric Foss was on the radio with me, my driver coach and bro driver in the other series. He’s always good about calming me down in the car and saving tires and letting me know what’s going on behind me instead of me having to look. That was big. Hat’s off to Todd Opperman. He gave me a fantastic car all weekend up until now. We’re going to take the momentum into Friday night’s race. I’m really looking forward to running under the lights. Even though we got things wrapped up for the Porsche GT3 Cup, I’m still looking to have fun and drive hard and drive myself happy.”

MARK LLANO (No. 22 NGT Motorsport, second Gold Cup, Gold Masters): “Circuit of the Americas is one of those tracks, when we did the opening race here with Formula One, we were the support race. Just to be on the podium here is truly remarkable with the level of competition. NGT did an amazing job putting the car together. Yokohama, amazing how those tires just stick. We just kept trying to stay focused and push. If I could stay up with (Jeff) Mosing and (David) Ducote, I figured we were in good shape there. It was extremely hot – kind of like sunny Florida. But this is Texas, so we’re just happy to be here with some great friends who are supporting us, some veterans, some Marines who are here, as well. I want to thank IMSA and thank all the fans who are here to support SERKET Racing.”

FRED KAIMER (No. 23 NGT Motorsport, third Gold Cup, Gold Masters, Austin resident): “It was a bit of a nutty one, and it was roasting hot. It was real entertaining. I had a good battle going on from pretty much the first turn to the last turn. It was a handful. It was a big handful.” (About spin by David Ducote that elevated Kaimer into third): “I was surprised. I was pretty much resigned myself to not coming up here (podium). But it was beneficial for me, for sure. I’m pretty happy for my return back here. First time this year.”

PAUL IP (No. 65 Kelly-Moss Motorsports, Yokohama Hard Charger Award): “Perfect atmosphere. I really enjoyed it. The car is a little bit different than what I’m used to driving back in Japan. I’m in the Carrera Cup in Japan, so the tires are a little different. The track is amazing. The facility is amazing, and the hospitality is great. Thank you, Texas. My whole objective was to get experience for Race 2. But I got quite up there on the start. They bunched up in T1 (Turn 1), and I had a clear line. So that was it. The Safety Car helped a bit. The weather is too hot. I left my cool suit back home. If the race was any longer, I probably would have parked and called it a day.”