Laguna Seca Raceway always provides fantastic U.S. Touring Car racing, and this year’s event did not disappoint. Winning the GT class was Swedish driver Carl Rydquist in the Champion/MyRaceShop.com Factory Five Racing GTM.
The big battle was behind Rydquist. Doug Makishima scored yet another victory in the MCS BMW M3 and behind him Larry Bani managed a very strong second place in the KW Suspension/Garagistic BMW M3. Finishing in third place was Viktor Czalpa in the Wob-cars Audi R8.
Art Nersisyan made it two in a row in the GoGoGear.com/Konig Wheels Hyundai Genesis, beating his teammate, Gary Sheehan, in the other GoGoGear.com/Konig Wheels Hyundai Genesis. Finishing in third was Brad Austin in the TNI Racing Mazdaspeed 3.
By far the best battle was in Sportsman class as polesitter Sean Milburn traded the lead with points leader Edgar Lau. Driving the Bay Area Drafting Acura RSX, Milburn took advantage of a small mistake by Lau and took the lead in the final stages, but Lau used his experience to get past the rookie, and it was a drag race to the finish coming out of the final corner. Lau edged his ARG Motorsports BMW 330i about a hood length ahead of the Acura at the finish line. Finishing about two car lengths behind, and actually turning the quickest lap of the race, was the Idemitsu/Raybestos Mazda RX-8 of Michael McColligan.
Sean Milburn’s second place was more than enough to earn the Plastex top rookie honors, and for the third event in a row, Team ARG Motorsports earned the top team award.
After a brutal racing schedule, with three races in the span of five weeks, the teams can relax a bit and take time for much needed repairs until they hit the fast course at Thunderhill Raceway. Follow the action on Facebook and Instagram and be sure to watch the race exclusively broadcast on Final Drive TV on NBC Sports.
