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GRAND-AM: Starworks Wins Mid-Ohio, Brumos Takes GT Title
Ryan Dalziel, Enzo Potolicchio take first DP win for Starworks Motorsport, Stevenson Motorsports scores top honors in GT...
John Dagys  |  Posted September 17, 2011   Lexington, OH
Starworks Motorsport celebrated its maiden GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series win, but the story in Saturday's season-ending EMCO Gears Classic at Mid-Ohio was a thrilling down-to-the-wire championship battle in GT, that ultimately went in favor of Brumos Racing.

A late-race caution for the stationary BMW of Paul Dalla Lana set up a two-lap shootout to the finish. The No. 59 Brumos Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car of Leh Keen, mixed in a fierce fight for the class lead, managed to hold off the No. 70 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 of Jonatham Bomarito for a fourth place finish in the race.
Leh Keen and Andrew Davis gave Brumos its first championship in nearly 20 years. (Photo: John Dagys)

It was enough to give Keen and co-driver Andrew Davis the GT title in dramatic fashion.

"It was obviously quite a nail-biter," Keen said. "I had a handful. Watching in the mirror, [Jonathan Bomarito] had maybe a little more speed than me. There were Mazdas in front of me, Mazdas behind me. I was hoping that none of the other cars would appear... It was a total battle."

Keen and Davis picked up the first GT title for the legendary Jacksonville, Fla.-based team in its debut Rolex Series season in the production-based ranks. It came on the heels of a remarkable rebound, which saw the Porsche start from the rear of the field after not setting a time in qualifying due to a fuel feed issue

A storming opening stint by Davis, strategy and also a bit of luck played into their benefit.

"We were saying yesterday, 'Can we wake up from this nightmare?' Now we're saying, 'Can we wake up from this dream?'" Keen said.

Championship leaders heading into the weekend, the No. 88 Autohaus Motorsports Camaro GT.R suffered an early race incident in the hands of Bill Lester. While co-driver Jordan Taylor managed to make up a lap, their eighth place finish wasn't enough for the title.

Stevenson Motorsports scored back-to-back class victories in GT, following Robin Liddell's late-race move on the No. 41 Dempsey Racing Mazda RX-8 of Dane Cameron, who was suffering from a slowly deflating tire after contact with the No. 69 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 of Jeff Segal late in the running.

Segal, who held command of the race before making a mistake of his own, managed to take back second on the final restart.
Stevenson Motorsports took top honors in the ultra-competitive GT class. (Photo: Brian Cleary/GRAND-AM)

However, it wasn't enough for Liddell and Bremer, who gave Stevenson its third victory of the season and also Chevrolet the coveted manufacturers' championship.

"We actually made a very small change to the car in the final pit stop because I was quite unhappy with the balance of the car," Liddell explained. "I honestly think that was enough to give us a car that was good enough to win. Because I didn't think we really had that in the first stint I drove. We were able to put some pressure on these guys.

"I was aggressive on a few of the restarts. They were battling the Mazdas so it gave us the chance to slip by one or two spots. I saw Dane was struggling at the end with his car. We just had a slightly better car at that point. We were able to get ahead."

After running 1-2-3 at one point, the final laps turned upside down in Mazda's quest for the manufacturers championship, notably with two of its potential race-winning cars coming together and ultimately derailing both hopes of a win.

Cameron and co-driver James Gue managed to hold onto third at the end, while the No. 70 SpeedSource machine of Bomarito and Sylvain Tremblay came home fifth after also leading at one point.

PHOTOS: Mid-Ohio Race Gallery



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