Starworks driver Sebastien Bourdais got his first Rolex win in a rain-soaked, wreck-filled inaugural Grand Am Rolex Brickyard Grand Prix, and earned his team victory in the first North American Endurance Challenge, the three-race sub-series within the 2012 Rolex series.
Bourdais in the #2 Starworks Riley-Ford came on late in the race with several clean but very aggressive passes, took the lead from teammate Ryan Dalziel on lap 75 of the 91-lap event, and held on through another caution and restart, to open a gap of nearly four seconds over second-placed Ricky Taylor in the #10 SunTrust Dallara-Corvette when the final caution flag flew on lap 89.
This win, coupled with the team’s victory in the Rolex 24, gave Starworks the North American Endurance Championship title and the hefty cash reward that comes with it.
The race started under yellow because of rain, and there were a total on nine yellows before the race ended—one for the rain’s return, and several more for cars which ended up in the walls or gravel traps. Some of those wrecks were due to the wet track, and some due to overaggressive drivers.
With all the cautions, the race was a series of short sprints; fuel strategies were changed and erased with each subsequent yellow flag; even the final seven-and-a-half-minute sprint finish was cut off early by a wreck.
Bourdais was the fastest driver on the track through the last forty laps, and it was good to see him pick his way through the puddles and the wrecks to collect his first Rolex win.
Montoya’s Mayhem
The race win and the NEAC bonus didn’t completely ameliorate the anger of team owner Peter Barron, who was livid when Dalziel, in the #8 Starworks car was pushed off the course by NASCAR star Juan Pablo Montoya in the #02 Telmex-Ganassi Riley-BMW.
Dalziel was three points behind leaders Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas in the #01 Telmex car, which was having a tough race. Rojas handled the wet conditions extremely well, but Pruett spun and had to pit, losing track position. Then Rojas got overly aggressive as the track dried and tried to squeeze between the wall and Ronnie Bremer’s #75 Stevenson Camaro.
Rojas bounced off the wall into the Camaro, ending its race on lap 62—a tremendous blow to Stevenson Racing, which had been leading the GT class and the NEAC at the time. Robin Liddell had already wrecked the #57 car trying to enter the pits in heavy rain to change to rain tires, so this collision ended the team’s hopes.
Rojas had to pit the #01 for repairs. Scott Pruett got in and returned to the track in sixth position with Dalziel leading the race and set to take over the championship lead.
On lap 75 Montoya rammed David Donohue’s #9 Action Express Coyote-Corvette trying a pass for which the NASCAR driver simply lacked the skill—a pass Sebastien Bourdais made successfully several times in the race. Montoya lacked the car control, and maybe didn’t care—he has that reputation. Grand Am officials reportedly talked to Telmex-Ganassi, asking them to keep Montoya on a short leash. Not short enough by far, it turned out.
After the Action Express car had been retrieved and the race went green again on lap 78, Bourdais led, with Dalziel and Montoya behind. Ricky Taylor in the #10 SunTrust Dallara made a great restart and passed Montoya, then made an even better pass of Ryan Dalziel on the outside around Turn One to take second on lap 81.
Three laps later Montoya tried to pass Dalziel at the same spot where he wrecked Donohue; and amazingly enough, he sent Dalziel spinning into the gravel too.
This had huge championship implications. Montoya, who drives for Telmex-Ganassi in two races per year—the Rolex and this year, the Brickyard Grand Prix—wrecked the car which was about to take the points lead form the other Telmex-Ganassi car.
The wreck cost Dalziel a lap and the points lead. When the race restarted on lap 87, second-placed Ricky Taylor ran wide into the first corner, letting Scott Pruett into second. Had Dalziel and Montoya not fallen back due to the wreck, Dalziel would have moved into second, and Pruett would have been stuck behind his teammate in fifth.
Of course, if Montoya hadn’t wrecked Dalziel, there wouldn’t have been a restart, and Dalziel still would have taken the championship lead.
For Montoya, none of this matters. He goes back to NASCAR knowing he helped team owner Chip Ganassi hang onto the Rolex points lead; Montoya is done with Rolex until next January, and the havoc he wreaked means nothing to him.
For Ryan Dalziel at Starworks, and David Donohue at Action Express, Montoya’s dangerous driving has had serious financial consequences. These drivers make their livings in Rolex; their careers are in Rolex, and how they finish in the championship each year greatly affects their future earnings.
GT: Magnus Rises From Flames to Double Victory
In GT, Andy Lally and John Potter in the #44 Magnus Racing Porsche erased the memory of the fiery finishes of their last two races by winning the class and the GT-class North American Endurance Championship.
The Magnus Porsche didn’t burst into flame at any point during the race—as it did in its last two races—though John Potter had a scary moment on lap 10 when smoke started pouring off the Porsche’s back end. It was only the rain tires melting as Potter drover the dry line instead of looking for puddles to cool the tires.
Lally took over from Potter under caution on lap 29 and slowly worked his way to the front. He was nearly wiped out on lap 37 when Alex Gurney in the #99 Gainsco Riley-Corvette made an unexpected dive to the pits. The Gainsco driver couldn’t see through the fog on his windshield—not at all helped by the spray off the soaking track—so he didn’t realize he nearly ran over the Magnus Porsche (and Dane Cameron’s Sahlen Mazda.)
The last 30 laps were a GT slugfest as Lally, Jordan Taylor in the #88 Autohaus Camaro, Leh Keen in the #59 Brumos Porsche, and Jonathan Bomarito in the #70 SpeedSource Mazda fought for the class lead, with Jörg Bergmeister in the #66 TRG Porsche hot on their tails.
Lally held the class lead for the final twenty laps, surviving many restarts and finally crossing the finish line under a final caution period caused by a collision between Leh Keen and Jörg Bergmeister. Jonathan Bomarito pushed past Leh Keen on alp 88; Bergmeister tried to follow, but keen punted the other Porsche into the gravel.
The Rolex Sports car Series returns to Watkins Glen to race on the short course on Saturday, August 11 for a two-hour race which starts at 6 p.m. EDT. Tickets are available through the Watkins Glen website.
