It was a bittersweet race day in Miami for ACI Motorsports, with Yves Baltas emerging with victory in Race 2 for a weekend sweep at Miami International Autodrome.
In front of the Formula One Miami Grand Prix crowd, polesitter and Baltas’ teammate, Jimmy Llibre, took off at the start and built an early Pro class lead in front of what Libre considers his home crowd.
An unexpected twist came in the final five minutes when Llibre was issued a 10-second penalty for track limits. Not having time to make-up the penalty, Llibre fell down the order but Baltas inherited the lead and eventual win for the second consecutive day.
“This is great for the championship this early on,” said Baltas. “This is what we were hoping for. We want to carry this momentum into Montreal and it’s a great start to the season for us.
“All of ACI – Curt, Adam, Andy – I can’t name them all, but everyone at ACI and all my sponsors on the car. Without them, this wouldn’t be possible and I wouldn’t be here, so I really have to thank them for trusting me to do a second season.”
The victory is Baltas’ third Porsche Carrera Cup North America. He won his first race last year in Montreal.
Throughout the 40-minute contest, Ryan Yardley (Topp Racing) and Zachary Vanier (JDX Racing) had a back-and-forth showdown that would end up deciding the remaining podium spots. Yardley finished ahead in second with Vanier in third, but both would consider the results a victory – in a challenging Race 1 on Saturday, Yardley was spun late and Vanier had retired early to pit lane.
A pair of hometown heroes stood on the Pro-Am class podium, with Angel Benitez (FMS Motorsport) earning top honors in Race 2. Benitez cycled into the lead after JP Martinez (ACI Motorsports) was issued a drive-through penalty while running first.
Benitez did not have an easy run to the finish line, however, with Saturday’s winner, James Sofronas (GMG Racing) attached to his bumper. Sofronas was so close in fact, that he broke his front splitter off Benitez’s car and suffered aerodynamic issues as a result.
“It’s a dream come true,” expressed Benitez, who just completed his season-debut weekend in the series. “The amount of effort that we had to put together to be here, I really have to say thank you to my sponsors and my team, my dad. It certainly was a family effort, I’m so happy and so glad to be here.
“(To be on top of the F1 podium) is a feeling that I can tell is incredible. I look up, I look down, I felt like (Max) Verstappen or (Charles) Leclerc. You have to be there to really actually feel it.”
Sofronas held on for second place while Martinez, another Miami native, bounced back from his penalty to finish third on the podium.
In the Masters class, Scott Blind (Ruckus Racing) overcame a trying race on Saturday to finish first on Sunday. Blind, the class championship leader, was caught up in a Lap 1 incident in Race 1, but kept his Porsche clean in Race 2 for his third win of the season.
“It really feels good,” Blind said. “Yesterday, we had some bad luck and we hit the reset button today. I was in front of these crazy fast Pro-Ams, and I thought I just need to survive this one and have a good finish. It feels great to be back up here and get that first-place trophy.
“It was just a super weekend. The guys did a great job with the car and we really prepped for it. It was just a good weekend.”
Race 1 winner, Todd Parriott, followed behind Blind for a runner-up finish on Sunday.
Another Formula One event awaits Porsche Carrera Cup North America, as the one-make series’ next round takes place at Canadian Grand Prix. The pair of races will run at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, and will be shown live on IMSA & Porsche Motorsport North America YouTube Channels, IMSA TV, Peacock, and the Porsche Motorsport social channels on Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads, and X.
RACE 2
Pro:
- #15 Yves Baltas
- #78 Ryan Yardley
- #9 Zachary Vanier
Pro-Am:
- #5 Angel Benitez
- #14 James Sofronas
- #4 JP Martinez
Masters:
- #45 Scott Blind
- #13 Todd Parriott
