Arthur sweeps TC America weekend at Circuit of The Americas

Cloudy skies did little to cool the intensity at Circuit of The Americas, as humid conditions set the stage for another hard-fought 35-minute TC America powered by Skip Barber Racing School contest in Austin for the CieloVision GT World Texas powered by Samsung weekend.

Andre Castro led the field to green from pole position in the No. 77 Ricca Autosport Hyundai Elantra N1 TC EVO after setting the fastest lap in Race 1 on Friday. He launched well off the line, but was immediately placed under pressure by yesterday’s winner Braydon Arthur in the No. 4 JMF Motorsports Toyota GR Corolla TC and Dean Lambros in the No. 7 Skip Barber Racing Acura Integra Type-S DE5.

By the end of the opening lap, the fight for the lead had turned into a three-way battle, with Castro, Arthur and Lambros going side-by-side through multiple corners. Arthur ultimately came out on top, taking control of the race as Lambros slotted into second and Castro was pushed back to third.

With clean air ahead, Arthur quickly began to build a gap, while the battle behind him continued to intensify. Logan Anderson, aboard the No. 23 Skip Barber Racing Acura Integra Type-S DE5, launched an attack on Castro as he looked to break into the podium positions, but Castro defended firmly as the race approached the halfway mark.

In the closing stages, Castro shifted his focus back toward Lambros, applying pressure in the fight for second place. The two exchanged positions back and forth in the final laps, but Castro was soon forced to defend once again as Anderson closed in behind. Lambros held on to claim second place for the second time this weekend, while Castro kept Anderson at bay to complete the podium and take top honors in the Hyundai N Trophy Cup in the process.

Out front, Arthur remained unchallenged once he took command, driving to his second consecutive victory to complete the sweep at COTA.

When reflecting on his progression from California to Texas, Arthur said: “I actually changed a lot in my driving and just tried to calm myself down a little bit. Coming off Sonoma, I wasn’t too happy with how I drove in the second race. I made small mistakes here and there, but I think I cleaned a lot of that up here in Austin. Getting two wins is always good. Now we have points back going into the rest of the season, so it feels good.”