The opening two hours of the inaugural Mazda Raceway California 8 Hours were dominated by the #29 Audi Sport Team Land R8. Christopher Mies was at the wheel at the start of the race, and because of an early safety car-intervention, it took him some laps to create a comfortable gap. After two hours of racing they now have an 11 second advantage.
Behind the green-and-white Audi the #44 Audi Sport Team Magnus R8 is in second, with the #43 RealTime Racing Acura completing the top-3 after two hours. The other Acura, the #93 machine of Kox, Gounon and Wilkins retired because of an issue with the cooling system.
The #77 Calvert Dynamics / GMG Racing Porsche created a surprise by doing a short fuel only pitstop after the first hour, briefly taking the overall lead. The car dropped to 9th after two hours, second in the Pro-Am class behind the #54 Black Swan Racing Porsche.
In the GT4 category, the #3 TRG Aston Martin tops the timing sheets, with a 1’14 advantage over the #12 Ian Lacy Racing Ginetta.
Christopher Mies (#29 Audi Sport Team Land R8): “I had two tight moments in the opening hour, at the start and at the restart, with Long and Parente coming alongside. But after that I could pull away from them, creating a comfortable gap. We worked hard on the set-up of the car, and that clearly pays off.”
Standings after two hours