The Great Lakes GTS drivers were out in force, with two dozen drivers taking the track for the first NASA Great Lakes event of the year. With lots of new 911 Cup and Grand Am cars in this year’s mix, the racing promised to be excellent, particularly at the front.
Saturday’s dry race saw an initial surge to the front by Brad Waite in his ex-Grand Am 997 GTS4 car, but by midrace his DOT tires fell victim to Ed Baus in his 996 Cup car and Denny Pedri in his BMW M3, whose full race slicks gave them an advantage as the race wore on. Baus went on to win GTS4 and overall, followed by Pedri.
In GTS3, Sacha Clark finished first after Paul Davison was disqualified for being a few pounds underweight. Clark was followed by Breck Lewis and Ralf Lindakers. John Graber in his GTS2 944 set a new track record on his way to an impressive win, followed by Mike Ward and Todd Sloan.
In GTS1, Margaret Jakubowski in her Porsche 944 triumphed over Jim Ginter in his 325is.
Sunday’s race was run in the rain. GTS2 driver Mike Ward in his Porsche 968 dominated in a flag-to-flag overall GTS win over a field of vastly faster cars. Coming second overall, and with an excellent drive for what may be his first-ever win, was Tim Haines in his GTS4 944 Turbo. Paul Davison took top honors in GTS3, avenging his DQ the day before, and Margaret Jakubowski backed up her previous day’s win to make it two-for-two.
