Yesterday, in the first half of a weekend doubleheader at the Pirelli World Challenge Mid-Ohio Grand Prix Presented by StopTech, as expected, point leader Paul Brown managed to capture his third Pirelli World Challenge GTS win of the season. Eric Foss and Jason von Kluge completed the top three in a race combined with the GT and Touring Car classes.
Despite the fact that Brown of Covina, Calif., started second in his No. 50 Lucas Oil/K&N Filters/Wellendorf Ford Mustang Boss 302S, he moved past polesitter and defending race Champion Peter Cunningham’s No. 1 Acura/RealTime Racing Acura TSX at the start. After the start Brown held the point for the entire race, holding off charges from fifth-starting Foss, of Dallas, Texas, and his No. 73 Traxxas/St. Jude Hospital/SPX Ford Mustang FR500S and Cunningham in the race’s early stages.
Considering that the Acura shed its left-rear wheel as the car went over the hill entering Thunder Valley, spinning around and slamming the concrete barrier, we can say that Peter Cunningham ended this race in one spectacular fashion. The incident brought out the second full-course caution, and earned Cunningham a trip to the medical center, where he was also treated and released.
Extending his point lead to 72, like GT winner Alex Figge, Brown was able to hold the lead on both restarts and take his third win of the season.
“We got a really good start and PD [Cunningham] was a gentleman on the outside,” Brown said. “We went through two-wide in Turn 1 and got a little bit ahead. As soon as we got the caution, it was like ‘crap’. We knew it was going to be tough and we were hoping it wasn’t going to go that way because you don’t get the rhythm.
“On the restarts, it was pretty much a battle. My car seems like it takes a couple of laps to come up, and Eric [Foss] seemed like he was right on, right out of the box, so he would pressure me. In fact, he ripped the tow hook out of the back of my car he hit me so many times. It was a good race. We had stronger cars in different spots and I used it to my advantage where I could.”
After Foss kept the pressure on Brown during the green laps, he scored his third runner-up finish of the season. Jason von Kluge, of Ann Arbor, Mich., completed the podium in his No. 19 JDK/Varsity Ford/Steeda Ford Mustang FR500S.
Also Richard Golinello (No. 55 Grand Sanitation Ford Mustang FR500S) and Ben Crosland (No. 25 RaceWithRP.com Ford Mustang FR500S) completed the top five in GTS.
With its latest result, Brown leads the Pirelli GTS Championship, with 846 points, to Foss’ 774. Crosland is third, with 687. Ford holds a commanding lead over Acura in the Manufacturers’ Championship, 67 to 28.
Source: MustangsDaily
