A dramatic late-restart collision between GTP contenders Kevin Estre and Jack Aitken within the closing minutes was the height of Sunday’s chaotic Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix.
With simply over 10 minutes remaining within the six-hour IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup spherical on the 4.048-mile, 14-turn pure terrain street course, Estre, within the # 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963, and Aitken, within the #31 Whelen Cadillac V-Collection.R, had been locked in a fierce duel for second place. As the sector charged into Flip 1 on the race’s last restart, the 2 continued to lean into one another to realize the upperhand, however heavy contact adopted and despatched each frontrunners sliding into the outer boundaries, ending their days prematurely and freezing the order below a race-ending full-course warning.
The late-race melee cleared the trail for Filipe Albuquerque to cruise to victory within the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac. Estre and Aitken had been categorized in eighth and ninth place within the GTP class, respectively.
Nevertheless, the ultimate race outcomes stay unofficial. IMSA issued a press release confirming that officers are conducting a “complete assessment” of the Flip 1 incident earlier than finalizing the classification.
The crash additionally considerably reshuffled the rostrum behind Albuquerque. Laurin Heinrich, Aitken’s main title rival, was promoted to second place within the #5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche. This promotion got here after the Coronary heart of Racing Aston Martin Valkyrie acquired a post-race time penalty, equal to a drive-through, for incident duty with the #93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06. The ensuing DNF provisionally slashes Aitken’s championship result in 108 factors with solely two races remaining within the season.
Drivers hold forth
Each drivers provided differing views on the contact that derailed their sturdy runs.
Estre considered the crash as a byproduct of intense, hard-nosed racing, refusing to put complete blame on both facet.
“A DNF for us within the final ten minutes of the race,” Estre shared by way of social media. “We had been preventing for a podium. However on the restart, the 31 tried to do a transfer on the left facet on the skin in Flip 1. He simply had his nostril right here. I might have left a bit of extra room. He might have backed off as effectively. I don’t suppose there’s one hundred pc fault to provide to anybody.
“However for certain there’s should-have, could-have, give a bit of room to the left. We had contact as quickly as we hit the brakes after which we had been each passengers and ended up within the boundaries and that’s it.
“It’s unhappy as a result of we did a fantastic race till there. One factor is for certain is that we now have to drive like maniacs to be in that place in the mean time. That’s the way in which it’s.”
Aitken was much more important of the aggression ranges on observe, lamenting a missed alternative to strengthen his championship standing.
“I believe it is an actual disgrace as a result of regardless of possibly not being fairly the place we needed to be by way of tempo, the blokes ran a extremely unbelievable race and we managed to place ourselves within the struggle for a win and a podium,” Aitken stated.
“And I simply suppose that the driving by a number of the others round us was over the road. Like I stated, it is a disgrace as a result of plenty of effort goes into today and we might have had one other good outcome to go on the again of a extremely sturdy 12 months, however we’ll decide up the items, transfer on and crack on with the final two races.
“Clearly, unbelievable that the ten acquired the win and closed that out. Actually glad for them. And we’ll come again stronger in Indianapolis.”
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