Catalano, Adelson, Porto Sweep Weekend in Daytona

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

The weather changed for Sunday’s second IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge 45-minute race at Daytona International Speedway. However, the winners in all three categories did not, as each driver showcased their skills in drastically different conditions.

After racing under sunny and warm skies on Saturday, dark and wet conditions greeted the field Sunday as teams ran on Michelin wet-weather tires. Each of the winners, Valentino Catalano in LMP3 and overall, Adam Adelson in GTDX and Kiko Porto in GSX met the moment as the race evolved on a drying track.

Catalano Controls P3 Competition

Driving the No. 30 Gebhardt Intralogistics Motorsports Duqueine D08 Nissan, Catalano led all but one of the 21 laps from pole as the track slowly dried out.

The only time he wasn’t out front came after a restart when Brian Thienes, in the No. 77 Forte Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan, got the jump on the tri-oval on Lap 8. Catalano quickly repassed him on the outside one lap later and never looked back, leading the team’s second 1-2 finish in as many races to start the year.

Teammate Markus Pommer, in the No. 31 Gebhardt Intralogistics Motorsports Duqueine, finished second only 2.273 seconds in arrears. Despite going off course a couple of times, he managed to keep going without damage or losing too much time.

Jonathan Woolridge was third in the No. 54 MLT Motorsports Ligier with Thienes fourth among P3 cars and the top Bronze-rated finisher.

Adelson Adds Second Straight GTDX Class Debut

In GTDX, Adelson’s No. 24 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R was again the class of the field. After winning by more than 30 seconds in the dry on Saturday, Adelson’s winning margin was a nearly equivalent 26.324 seconds on Sunday.

Like Catalano in GTDX, he only lost the lead on Lap 8 as Kyle Washington powered past in his similar Porsche, before Adelson regained the top spot into the Le Mans Chicane on the inside of Lap 9.

Af Corse teammates Matias Perez Companc and AJ Muss in their Nos. 50 and 66 Ferrari 296 GT3 cars completed the GTDX podium, with Muss starting first in class.

Washington, in the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche, ended fourth among GTDX cars and was the top Bronze-rated driver ahead of Samantha Tan, who was second in Bronze for the second straight day in her No. 38 ST Racing BMW M4 GT3.

Porto Pushes Past Penalty for GSX Encore

Multiple drivers saw their races go awry Saturday when assessed a ten-second time penalty by IMSA officials for a false start, improperly changing lanes and starting from the wrong column. Porto got the same penalty as those drivers on Sunday but avoided the same setback result.

Driving the No. 8 RAFA Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2, Porto took the lead on Lap 4, briefly lost it on Lap 8 to his Saturday sparring partner Steven Clemons (No. 76 BSI Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2), then regained it on Lap 9 before working to set sail on his rivals.

Running laps two to three seconds faster a lap, Porto was able to bank the gap to an eventual 21.283 second margin, which was enough to offset the 10-second penalty applied post-race.

Jackson Lee drove through the field to second in the No. 2 CSM Porsche 718 GT4 RS Clubsport while Porto’s RAFA Racing teammate, Ian Porter in the No. 68 Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO1, finished third in GSX and first among Bronze-rated drivers.

RESULTS: Race 2