CTSC: Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport scores first win with Cassels and Hindman

The first time proved to be a charm for Bodymotion Racing’s new Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport in IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge competition. Cameron Cassels and Trent Hindman combined to give Porsche’s new turnkey race car its first victory in international competition, winning Friday’s Sebring 150.

It was the first race in a Porsche for Hindman, the 2014 GS champion, while Cassels won in his second IMSA start. The No. 12 Bodymotion Racing Porsche was not quite ready for the season opener at Daytona in January.

“Never in a million years did I think we could pull off a win in the first race for our new Clubsport,” said Hindman, who passed Matt Plumb for the lead exiting Turn 17 with 27 minutes remaining before pulling away to score his fourth career triumph. “We have to keep our foot on the gas and hopefully we can keep this result going forward.”

TOTAL Pole Award winner Scott Maxwell and Billy Johnson – winners of the season-opening race at Daytona – took second in the No. 15 Multimatic Motorsports Ford Shelby GT350R-C, finishing 13.484 seconds behind the No. 12 Porsche. Plumb ended up third in the No. 13 Rum Bum Porsche 911 started by his brother Hugh.

Cattaneo, Trinkler Combine To Win ST In CRG-I Do Borrow Honda Civic Si

Running “under the radar” throughout the race weekend, Owen Trinkler took the Street Tuner (ST) lead with 55 minutes remaining and cruised to victory in the No. 44 CRG-I Do Borrow Honda Civic Si started by Sarah Cattaneo.

The most experienced female driver in Continental Tire Challenge competition with 67 races, Cattaneo joined Ashley Freiberg as the leading female winner in series history in taking her second victory. She won her first race at New Jersey Motorsports Park in 2011 co-driving with Trinkler in a Mini Cooper. Trinkler, second on the list of all-time races with 119 starts, scored his sixth career victory and first since 2012 at New Jersey Motorsport Park in a Honda.

“We were under the radar all week, and we barely cracked the top five at any time,” Trinkler said. “It was all about being consistent. We worked all week concentrating on longer runs on older tires, and if you look back at the lap times, you’ll see our car barely moved a second all weekend and during the race.”

Despite late-race difficulties, Michael Valiante finished second in the No. 93 HART Honda Civic Si started by Chad Gilsinger, 15.489 seconds behind. TOTAL Pole Award winner Tyler Cooke and James Clay took third in the No. 84 BimmerWorld Racing OPTIMA Batteries BMW 328i.

The race was slowed only once by full-course caution when Sam Adams went off in Turn 17 with one hour, 17 minutes remaining in the No. 7 Rebel Rock Racing Porsche Cayman. The final lap saw Mark Pombo lose the brakes in the No. 37 MINI JCW, and impacted a barrier after hitting Valiante in the door. Pombo escaped without injury, while Valiante held on to finish second.

NOTEBOOK

·      While Tyler Cooke is credited with capturing the TOTAL Pole Award in ST, his No. 84 BimmerWorld Racing BMW 328i started from the back of the grid due to a post-qualifying engine change. Moved to the back due to technical infractions were the second-qualifying No. 8 Rebel Rock Racing Porsche Cayman of Elliott Skeer and the No. 18 RS1 Porsche Cayman of Aaron Son, while the fourth-place qualifying No. 34 Alara Racing Mazda MX-5 of Justin Piscitell lost its starting position due to being late for the gird.

“We didn’t like one of the cylinders, so we decided to change engine even through it meant moving to the back,” said Clay, the BimmerWorld Racing team owner and the finishing driver for the No. 84 OPTIMA Batteries BMW 328i. “We might have gotten away with it, but we didn’t want to risk anything happening here.” Cooke needed only 11 laps to put the car in the top three, while Clay finished out to give the F30 version of the BMW 328i its first podium finish since the team debuted the car in 2013.

·      The Mosing brothers bookended the ST field for Murillo Racing. Jeff Mosing started on the pole in the No. 56 Mosing Motorcars Porsche Cayman, while his older brother Brent was at the back of the field when the No. 65 Mosing Motorcars BMW 328i arrived late for the grid. “I’m still trying to figure out what Jeff learned and I didn’t at the Skip Barber School here 20 years ago,” Brent Mosing said prior to the start of the race.

·      Two top ST contenders suffered misfortune in the opening laps. Jeff Mosing’s No. 56 Murillo Racing Porsche Cayman broke the gear linkage cable on the opening lap, resulting in seven lost laps and a 21st-place finish. Liam Dwyer pitted the No. 26 Freedom Autosport Mazda MX-5 on lap three with suspension damage, putting the car behind the wall for repairs. Dwyer and Andrew Carbonell returned to finish 22nd.

·      Round 3 for the Continental Tire Challenge will be at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on Saturday, April 30.