PWC: Cooper picks up first GT win

Michael Cooper earned his first GT win and the first win for Cadillac in Race 2 at the Grand Prix of Birmingham presented by Porsche, holding off hard-charging Alvaro Parente and Johnny O'Connell to take the checkered flag. Martin Fuentes was given "an early birthday present" with his seventh consecutive win this season in GTA. Drew Regitz finished .18 seconds behind and Michael Schein rounded out the podium.

Alec Udell clinched his second GT Cup win of the weekend, followed by Sloan Urry in second and Preston Calvert in third.

Knowing a good jump on the green flag was vital, the defending Pirelli World Challenge Series GTS champion pushed his Cadillac ATS-V.R GT3 out front at the start. O'Connell was able to get a good run that caused Parente to take his McLaren to the inside of the track to block the No. 3 Cadillac ATS-V.R Coupe. This allowed Cooper to run up alongside the McLaren and take the lead at the exit of Turn 1. The 50-minute race went without caution as Cooper led the race from the start.

"We got down there pretty side-by-side and initially I think [Alvaro] outbraked me a little bit. I was trying to carry speed around the outside, whether I could get first or slot into second, that was going to be my move," Cooper said. "As we got closer to the apex, Alvaro started slowing down and I just had my foot on the throttle already, keep rolling speed around the outside and was able to get the lead. I knew from yesterday that was the move that had to be done if I wanted to win."

By Lap 3, Cooper had built a 1.555 second lead over Parente and by Lap 5 he extended it to 2.063 seconds. In GTA, pole sitter Frankie Montecalvo held a comfortable lead over Fuentes, while in GT Cup, Udell pushed out to an eight-second lead, leaving Corey Fergus and Urry to battle behind him. On Lap 33 with under four minutes remaining in the race and moving through lapped traffic, Parente closed the gap on Cooper and through segments of the track closed right up on the bumper of the Cadillac ATS-V.R. O'Connell closed his gap to Parente and the three leaders ran nose to tail. A lap later, Corey Fergus' Porsche came together with the No. 23 M1 GT Racing Audi R8 GT3 driven by GTA driver Walt Bowlin through Turn 3. The 00 machine ended up safely off course beached in the gravel. Bowlin was issued a drive-through penalty for the contact. Fergus' day was unfortunately over. On the last lap, Montecalvo's Mercedes encountered a mechanical issue and he slowed on track allowing Fuentes to pass for the lead. Regitz and Schein inherited second and third.

"To win races you have to be fast sometimes and lucky other times," said Fuentes. "Today, luck definitely helped us. We weren’t fast and we were just trying to keep ourselves in second. ... Then (Frankie) Montecalvo had a mechanical problem while in the lead. So when the Mercedes had trouble, we inherited that first place with three laps to go. But we will definitely take the win and move on to Canada for the next race."

As the white flag flew, third-place O'Connell made up the gap and closed behind Parente's bumper, but neither could match Cooper, who credited a tire conservation strategy with helping him save the tires until 20 laps to go.

"Alvaro put a ton of pressure on me today," Cooper said. "Just had to hit my marks and keep it clean and stay out front.

"I knew from being behind Alvaro yesterday how hard it would be to put a move on and get passed. I just tried to be aware that he might be setting me up for big dive-bomb maneuver, but he is a pro and it never came. It is still a little surreal that I just got my first win for Cadillac. I think it will set in later. It is absolutely awesome to come through the ranks of World Challenge and get a win at the top level."

Patrick Long and Michael Lewis rounded out the top five in GT. Jon Fogarty was the big mover, picking up five positions from his 19th-place starting position and finishing 13th. Colin Thompson suffered damage in Saturday's race and was not able to take the checkered flag. 

For Udell, the weekend is a great accomplisment, but his week to come is just as pressure-packed.

"It was exciting to come back and this track is such a great facility," Udell said. "The scenery around here is like nothing else in motorsports. I have to go back to school tonight (Clemson University) since we have finals this week. I currently have a full load of classes but my professors have been great to work with my racing schedule. I have been very fortunate to be able to do both. However, it does make it busy right now as I do have school and racing at the same time.”

Full results:

Drivers listed by position, position in class, name, hometown, car, laps

1. 1, GT, Michael Cooper, Syosset NY, Cadillac ATS-V.R. GT3, 36

2. 2, GT, Alvaro Parente, Porto Portugal, McLaren 650S GT3, 36

3. 3, GT, Johnny O’Connell, Flowery Branch GA, Cadillac ATS-V.R. GT3, 36

4. 4, GT, Patrick Long, Manhattan Beach CA, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 36

5. 5, GT, Michael Lewis, Laguna Beach CA, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 36

6. 6, GT, Bryan Heitkotter, Fresno CA, Nissan GTR GT3, 36

7. 7, GT, Adderly Fong, Hong Kong, Bentley Continental GT3, 36

8. 8, GT, JD Davison, Denver CO, Nissan GTR GT3, 36

9. 9, GT, Kyle Marcelli, Barrie Canada, Audi R8 LMS GT3, 36

10. 10, GT, Andrew Palmer, Los Angeles CA, Bentley Continental GT3, 36

11. 11, GT, Andrew Davis, Athens GA, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 36

12. 12, GT, Ryan Eversley, Atlanta GA, Acura TLX-GT, 36

13. 13, GT, Jon Fogarty, Bend OR, McLaren 650S GT3, 36

14. 14, GT, Austin Cindric, Charlotte NC, McLaren 650S GT3, 36

15. 15, GT, Peter Cunningham, Milwaukee WI, Acura TLX-GT, 36

16. 1, GTA, Martin Fuentes, Mexico City Mexico, Ferrari 458 Italia GT3, 36

17. 2, GTA, Drew Regitz, Denver CO, Audi R8 LMS GT3, 36

18. 3, GTA, Michael Schein, Glen Cove NY, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 36

19. 4, GTA, Frankie Montecalvo, Highlands NJ, Mercedes AMG SLS GT3, 34

20. 5, GTA, Joseph Toussaint, Houston TX, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 34

21. 1, GT Cup, Alec Udell, The Woodlands TX, Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 34

22. 2, GT Cup, Sloan Urry, Park City UT, Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 34

23. 3, GT Cup, Preston Calvert, Potomac MD, Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 33

24. 6, GTA, Walt Bowlin, Tarpon Springs FL, Audi R8, 33

25. 4, GT Cup, Corey Fergus, Columbus OH, Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 31

26. 22, GT, Colin Thompson, Doylestown PA, McLaren 650S GT3, 0, DNS