Sebastian Priaulx kept his Porsche Carrera Cup North America title hopes alive at Road America, finishing in second place in the latter of the weekend’s two, 45-minute races. Priaulx arrived at Road America with a 10 point deficit in the championship standings to his Kelly-Moss team-mate, Kay van Berlo. He leaves with a seven point deficit and plans to close that gap.
Qualifying was cancelled for the Porsche competitors when bad weather hit Elkhart Lake and, with grid positions decided by championship standings, Priaulx lined up in second place for Race 1.
As the pack of Porsches rolled out for the start, Priaulx was hung out to dry on the outside and slipped back to fourth place. A Full Course Yellow slowed the cars at the end of Lap 1 and it wasn’t until the clocked ticked past the 15 minute mark before the cars were unleashed.
Unable to make inroads during the furiously paced race but equally successful at not being passed, Priaulx crossed the line in fourth place, a result that also set his grid position for Race 2.
The start of Race 2 was even more aggressive than the first race. Seb came out unscathed but stuck in fifth place after Leh Keen managed to slip past. This race also saw another lengthy Full Course Yellow, which enabled the recovery team to rescue a Porsche that had gone pirouetting through the Kink.
With 27 minutes to go the race restarted, Priaulx inherited fourth place when Van Berlo and Dickinson clashed up ahead, sending Dickinson down the order. He then took third by passing Leh Keen at Turn 5, returning the favour from the start of the race.
As he caught Van Berlo who was running in second, the Dutchman received a drive through penalty for his earlier contact with Dickinson. With only a lap remaining the drive-through was converted to a time penalty, which gave Priaulx second place.
“I’m happy to come away with a podium finish at Road America. Since I lost the championship lead at Road America my mission has been to get it back. I’ve made inroads this weekend but I still have a lot of work to do. This series is ferociously competitive so I need to push hard and take every opportunity.”
Priaulx will have more chances than ever to score points next time out when the Porsche Carrera Cup arrives at Indianapolis in five weeks for a triple-header race weekend.
