The view from a starting grid doesn’t get any better than it did for Matt Powers in GTS4. He was first in class and first overall with a lap time just a whisker faster than the leading GTS5 car. At the green flag, there was nothing ahead of him but clear track — and he made good use of his track position and built a sizeable lead.
While Powers was scampering to what looked like an inevitable win, 2013 GTS4 Champion Mike McAleenan, who started from fourth, was struggling with his car after he and his crew had made some adjustments.
“I think we went the wrong way last night,” McAleenan said. “We somehow lost speed over the evening, and got out there today and didn’t have anything for the guy that won. That was the biggest gap he had all weekend, because we went slower. It’s academic at this point, but I’ve got another race left today in ST3, so we’ll take a look and see what happened.”
McAleenan held on to take second despite a hard charging Ralf Lindackers, who had been DQ’d the day before for high horsepower.
“It was actually quite fun coming from behind,” Lindackers said. “I had to come from back in 20th. Third was the best we could hope for, really, and that’s where I finished. I didn’t have anything for Matt Powers and second place. There was just too much of a gap.”
Up front, Powers’ big lead was still quite comfortable when the checkered flag flew, and he took the GTS4 win and Championship.
“It felt fantastic. We made a couple of changes and the car felt really good, really balanced overall,” Powers said. “We knew we had to get a good start to stay in front. It started to get a little loose in the rear, but other than that it was fine.”
