Continental Tire Sportscar Challenge at Circuit of the Americas

The IMSA undercard also raced at Austin this week, and as always, we were camera in hand.

By Rip Shaub

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The IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge features showroom-available GT4 and stock production cars with minor racing modifications. This is the series where you can see McLarens and Miatas racing side by side . But the Miatas were the big story line this weekend. McLaren’s new 570S GT4 has been building excitement and at COTA, they claimed their first victory in the IMSA series. The NewChevrolet Camaro GT4.R  also caused a stir with the Chevy faithful.  And it’s not just a looker. It turned in a solid performance with a 5th overall finish. 

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The number 77 C360 McLaren 570S GT4 , driven by Matthew Keegan and Nico Rondet would finish second overall, making it a 1-2 finish for McLaren., © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved
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Volt Racing’s McLaren times its entry into Turn 3 at COTA on Friday., © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved
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A pair of Porsches, An Aston Martin Vantage and a Ford Mustang GT4 crowd into Turn 8., © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved
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The number 76 C360 McLaren 570S GT4 took the overall victory in the feature race. It was McLaren’s first win in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge., © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved
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Murillo’s Porsche Cayman competed in the Sport Tuner class. The class features stock cars with minor racing modifications., © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved
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Bodymotion Racing’s Porsche Cayman GT4 CS chases down one of Freedom Autosport’s Mazda MX5s in the uphill section on it’s way to a 3rd place overall finish., © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved
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The RS1 Porsche Cayman GT4 finished fourth, almost 7 seconds behind the Body motion’s cayman, making it a 3-4 finish for Porsche., © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved
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German vs. German. 3 Series vs. 3 Series. The c360R Audi S3 would finish on the podium in third, while the BimmerWorld BMW 328i would have to settle for 6th in class., © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved
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Motorsports In Action also brought a pair of McLaren 570S GT4s. This one came in 10th overall while their other entry was not able to start the race. , © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved
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Freedom Autosports brought 3 Mazda MX5s. The number 25 was most successful this weekend, finishing fourth in class. , © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved
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Another Freedom Autosports entry. The number 27 dropped out late in the race, but still finished in the middle of the pack for the ST class., © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved
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German vs. German again, but this time a pair of Caymans. They’d finish in the order shown here. First and second…separated by a half second. , © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved
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Track workers decorate their flag stands for televised races. The Turn 20 crew has brought along Mr. Bill and a pink flamingo to enjoy the action., © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved
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The Freedom Autosports Trumpf entry sports a tail (soul patch?) in the pits before the race., © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved
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The Volt energy crew put on a pit stop demonstration for the fans during the pre-race pit walk., © Rip Shaub – All Rights Reserved