The third and final restart came with less than ten minutes to go in the two-hour, forty-minute race. Consequently, there was a very tight finish in all four classes, with the three fastest cars separated by just two seconds. Dane Cameron, in the #31 Corvette DP for Action Express Racing, managed to stay in front of the sister #5 car driven by Joaõ Barbosa. The final podium spot place went to the #10 Corvette DP raced by the Taylor brothers, both third drivers in the two Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs fielded by Corvette Racing at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Michael Shank Racing #60 Ligier JS P2, which made its debut in the La Sarthe this June, was just behind in fourth place.

In the PC (Prototype Challenge) class, the difficulty was actually staying in the race, with almost half of the teams forced to retire early after spinning off track. In fact, all three caution periods were caused by Formula Le Mans cars. Nonetheless, there was a nail-biting finish for the surviving competitors with Tom Kimber-Smith, victorious in LM P2 at Le Mans in 2011 and 2012, first over the line with teammate Robert Alon in the #52 car for PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports.

The astonishing finish in the GTLM (the US equivalent to LM GTE Pro) class came after the #8 FLM fielded by Renger van der Zande ran into the gravel trap. Until then, Tommy Milner and the #4 Corvette C7.R were stuck in fifth place but, when the green flag was waved again, the American driver made the most of a spin by the #911 Porsche driven by Nick Tandy, 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours winner. Milner, who triumphed in the LM GTE Pro class at Le Mans in 2015 with teammates Oliver Gavin and Jordan Taylor, then got by Frédéric Makowiecki’s #912 Porsche and moved up the field again when the #62 Ferrari 488 GTE, raced by Toni Vilander, made contact with the pole sitting #55 Mazda. That just left the #67 Ford GT with Richard Westbrook at the wheel: a mere formality for Tommy Milner, who slipped past the Ford on the last lap to take the chequered flag. Richard Westbrook managed to hold on to second place while John Edwards finished third in the #100 BMW M6 for RLL.

There was less drama for competitors in the GTD (GT Daytona) class, dominated by the #33 Viper driven by Jeroen Bleekemolen, seen at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Oreca 03R-Nissan for Murphy Prototypes in LM P2. He finished ahead of the #73 Porsche raced by Jörg Bergmeister, one of the German constructor’s works drivers who raced in the LM GTE Pro class at Le Mans, and the #63 Ferrari 488 for Scuderia Corsa, the outfit that took victory in LM GTE Am at Le Mans.

Competitors in GTLM and GTD will meet again on 28 August at the VIRginia International Raceway, while the others will have to wait until 17 September and Lone Star Le Mans, held at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin (Texas) the same weekend as the sixth leg of the World Endurance Championship (WEC).

Results

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