Road America’s opening Porsche Carrera Cup North America race delivered dominant drives, hard-fought battles and championship implications across all three classes.
Tyler Maxson strengthened his Mobil Pro title campaign with a commanding flag-to-flag victory, while Patrick Mulcahy maintained his perfect Solairus Aviation Pro-Am season despite starting from the rear of the field.
In Solairus Aviation Masters, a penalty reshuffled the order after an intense three-way fight, handing Marco Cirone the class victory. With Race 2 scheduled for later in the day, the stage was set for another round of action at one of North America’s most iconic circuits.
Flag-to-flag victory extends Maxson’s point lead.
Maxson started on the Race Brew Pole and kept his No. 77 TOPP Racing Porsche 911 Cup in front of the 22-car field through the 40-minute, caution-free race.
In clean air, Maxson ticked off lap after lap to hold the Mobil Pro Class and overall lead. His gap was still just more than 1.5 seconds until Callum Hedge, then running second, suffered technical issues and pulled off course with two laps to go which gave Maxson even more breathing room.
“This was good, but we definitely have a little bit to work on for the afternoon,” Maxson said. “We’re never fully satisfied. Overall it was a great race, and good points from race one. We still have two more to go this weekend and one more today, so we’re going to get back and get to the drawing board and try to find some improvements for race two.”
Behind Maxson, the order continued to shuffle. Aaron Jeansonne (Kellymoss) and Hedge (JDX Racing) moved around Cole Kleck early and battled for second place. Hedge moved past Jeansonne with an over/under move in Turn 5 with 29 minutes remaining and then aimed for Maxson. Hedge did manage to turn the fastest lap of the race in 2:08.194 to earn the pole for Race 2 later Friday afternoon.
When Hedge pulled off course, Jeansonne inherited second place in the race and second place in the point standings.
Kleck crossed the line third but was one of three drivers assigned a 10-second penalty post-race for blocking. That penalty dropped him to fifth, behind Jared Thomas (JTR Motorsports Engineering) and Janne Stiak (ACI Motorsports).
Mulcahy stays perfect in Pro-Am.
ACI Motorsports driver Patrick Mulcahy extended his Solairus Aviation Pro-Am class point lead and remained a perfect eight-for-eight in the class this season with a win at Road America on Friday morning.
Mulcahy was placed at the rear of the field after qualifying when he lost his quickest two laps for bringing out a red flag per series regulations.
By lap two, he had already moved around Josh Conley (Kellymoss) for the class lead and remained there the rest of the way, finishing ninth overall.
“Obviously, this was really good,” Mulcahy said.
“Unfortunately I caused the red flag during qualifying, but it feels good to be able to run up the field and finish in the top 10, that’s for sure.
Cirone grabs Masters victory.
A mid-race battle in the Solairus Aviation Masters class was the feature of the weekend, with the top three cars running nose-to-tail to settle the podium positions.
Rob Walker (JTR Motorsports Engineering) crossed the line first amongst Masters Class competitors, but a penalty issued during the race for blocking cost him 10 seconds post-race.
Walker kept Cirone (ACI Motorsports) at bay, but officials deemed his defense too aggressive and assessed him the penalty with just a few laps remaining. Walker pushed hard to extend his lead, pulling out a six-second gap, but ultimately dropped behind both Cirone and Scott Blind (Ruckus Racing) in the standings.
“There was so much happening in that race,” Cirone said. “Rob Walker was in front of me and he had such good pace and he drove so well. There was a lot of battling going on, I wasn’t even aware of the penalty afterwards. I think we got a little bit lucky, but I have to thank my team and my sponsors back home.”
No wait for Race 2 later today.
The field is back in action later this afternoon for Race 2 at America’s National Park of Speed. The green flag flies at 2:45pm CT, with Hedge and Kleck on the front row.
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RESULTS.
Race 1
Mobil Pro Class:
- Tyler Maxson, #77
- Aaron Jeansonne, #24
- Jared Thomas, #96
Solairus Aviation Pro-Am Class:
- Patrick Mulcahy, #54
- Josh Conley, #29
Solairus Aviation Masters Class:
- Marco Cirone, #88
- Scott Blind, #45
- Rob Walker, #53
