Mid Ohio Race Recap Key Hole to Carousel Drivers Love This Technical Course
Late June marks one of the favorite stops on the calendar for International GT and their host of Ohio based drivers and teams at Mid Ohio Sports Car Course. The weatherman wasn’t very optimistic but the only raindrops that impacted any IGT session was the second qualifier on Friday.
When the field of 30+ cars lined up for the Saturday sprint race #1, skies were clear and the racing was great. There were very lively battles at the front of the grid between ANDY PILGRIMin his #4 SKI Autosport Ferrari, which ultimately swept the weekend winning all three races overall, but not without tremendous pressure from MARK SANDRIDGE #58, in his Team Salad GT3 Cup 4.R and the 4 liters of TODD SLOAN #25, J-Max Racing and MARK MATHYS #77 – Oh and three of these four are from Ohio!
In the Mission Foods GT3 Cup, Sandridge won the 4.R category in both sprint races, followed by JUAN GONZALEZ #81, Car Amigo in the first sprint race. Both gentlemen were responsible for a great party on Friday night with Sandridge bringing in his family and crew from Grandma’s Salads to put on a fabulous BBQ, while Gonzalez supplied the Mission Foods chips and salsa. A wonderful time was had by all!
In the 4 liter category Todd Sloan returned to IGT competition after sitting out 2020 and it was like he never missed a beat, in fact he had one of his best IGT races yet with the toughest competition in series history. Sloan won the category in sprint race 1, took a second in sprint race 2 and ran a fantastic enduro finishing second overall and first in class. Mark Mathys scored a pair of seconds and took the 4 liter win in sprint race 2. Also having an all-podium weekend was JERONIMO GUZMAN #22A from TLM Racing and bringing along his sponsor, CODIGO 1530 Tequila which was also presented on the podium. Jeronimo took a pair of thirds in the sprints and moved up a step on the podium to second in the enduro.
The Stuttgart Cup category was once again very well represented at Mid Ohio. In the 3.4 class Series Champion, WILL WACHS #017 posted a sweep of the weekend, winning all three events, while JONATHAN BROWNE #94, Quirt Racing, in only his second IGT event (he first joined the series for VIR last year) followed Wachs to take second place in each race.
In the 3.8 class in Stuttgart Cup, IGT newcomer and another in the Ohio gang, MIKE WARD #711 had a great series debut winning sprint race 1 and the enduro. MIKE MARTIN #5, from ZOTZ Racing took a pair of seconds, sharing the enduro with ERIC ZITZA and won sprint race 1. JAMES BROWNE (father to Jonathan) #88 Quirt Racing, also in his second IGT event, finished on the podium for all three races taking a trio of third place finishes.
In the Maranello Cup Pilgrim swept the F458GT category while COLIN COHEN #15 from Norwood Auto Italia won each of the 458 races including an excellent run in the enduro finishing third overall with co-driver JASON HART. RM Motorsports from Wisconsin came out to Mid Ohio with SEB COPPOLA #288 taking a pair of second place finishes in the two sprint races.
Mission Foods GT3 Cup 3.6 category had a bigger field then we’ve seen in a while with two Ohioans joining us for the first time in 2021, BRAD WAITE #37 and BRANT GIERE #56X from Maplecrest Racing. Brant had a great weekend winning sprint race 2 and the enduro, while Brad won sprint race 2 and took second in the first sprint race. NICHOLAS KARANGELEN #76 competed in his first IGT race at Mid Ohio, although he has run consistently with the Series in 2021 since Sebring. Nick had a pair of third place finishes in the sprint races and took second place to Brant in the enduro. NICHOLAS PANK #41, Ultra Performance, struggled with some mechanical issues but completed one of the podiums taking a third in the first sprint.
Once again, the largest entry was in the Mission Foods GT3 Cup 3.8 category. Arriving at Mid Ohio in new cars where DAVID TUATY #68 and JODY MILLER #3 both from Tuaty’s TLM Racing. However the big winner in the category was new Virginia Tech graduate LUKAS PANK #40 who had to sit out the earlier races in 2021 to finish school but has come back with a vengeance and won all three races on the weekend in the 3.8 category and even finishing fourth overall in the enduro! Dad TOM PANK, who we are used to seeing running at the front of the field lost an engine (or two) early in the weekend and became head cheerleader for his two sons. Obviously he has a talent for it, as Lukas had his best racing weekend against some very fast competition.
David Tuaty had a good run with the new car finishing second in sprint race 1 and third in sprint race 2. ROBERT WISEN #27, Ultra Performance, had a great weekend at his home track, Wisen finished second in sprint race 2 and scored a pair of thirds in sprint 1 and the enduro. While CHRIS RUPPEL #119 of ZOTZ Racing finished behind Pank in second in the enduro.
The 3.8 category saw fantastic racing all weekend with close finishes throughout the field. Finishing just off the podium were JOHN BLEAZARD #33, Quirt Racing, BRIAN HICKS #22 (another of the Ohio players), TOMNELSON #62 in his first official IGT race after troubles in testing had him sit out of the Road America event early after Thursday test day, JEFFREY FREEMAN #116, NICK GROOMBRIDGE #56 and ALBERT LUZAZIK #47, both from SpeedSport Racing.
The 3.8 category racing was nose to tail all race, every race!
International GT now takes the traditional summer hiatus and returns September 8-12 at Watkins Glen International. Already receiving entries for the highly anticipated return to The Glen, IGT competitors are excited to be back to the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York for potentially another record entry! Click on the Watkins Glen logo for registration. Any questions contact Julie@InternationalGT.net or call (770)380-7770.
Happy Independence Day From IGT
MICHAEL WILLIAMS surprised us with a new car and a great new livery, which is a perfect nod to the holiday weekend.
Plus we found a couple of IGT fans with excellent taste in flags at the Mid Ohio event.
Enjoy your 4th and celebrate safely!!
Marketplace
Selling or looking for a race car, trailer, equipment, etc? We’ll highlight it in our Marketplace section. This is free to International GT competitors and teams and will run for about 4 email blasts. Just send a photo, description and contact information to Julie@InternationalGT.net.
Kernodle Photography
The official series photographer for International GT is John Kernodle. John attends all IGT events and provides galleries of photos for all competitors to select from, as well as offering special photo packages to participants. Click on the photo above to visit the Kernodle Photography site.
2021 Schedule
