3GT Racing’s No. 14 Finishes Top Ten at Road America
ELKHART LAKE, WI (Aug. 5, 2018) – 3GT Racing finished sixth place in the GTD class at Sunday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Racing Championship at Wisconsin’s historical Road America.
Kyle Marcelli finished the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase in the No. 14, calling it a “difficult race.”
“The entire GTD field was nose-to-tail today. At the end of the day the race was a lot closer than I imagined it would be,” Marcelli said. “The final stint was a dog-fight. The car was strong in the fast corners, so I had to make the most of the fast corners to open a gap. At the end of the day it was nose-to-tail, door-to-door. I think every car on the grid had some contact. It was probably really exciting to watch. My heart was pumping the whole time.”
3GT Racing at Road America
Paul Gentilozzi, 3GT Racing’s Managing Partner called it “a great, hard-fought battle between a lot of cars.”
“Unfortunately, when they had a pass-around they decided to go green with fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth in the field 45 seconds in back of their class leaders,” he said. “Which at that point ruled us out from leading or winning.”
Marcelli’s co-driver, Dominik Baumann, qualified P2 in the No. 14 and started the race with the day’s first battle for position.
“I took the start and I lost a position. Then I was a bit stuck behind the GTLM’s and took the wrong line,” Baumann said. “But, I got the position back at the end of the straight on the second lap, which was good for us. I gave the car to Kyle (Marcelli) and we lost some time on the pit stop. But we came out in seventh and then, it was hard to come back.”
John Gentilozzi, the team’s Technical Director said the race was a little different than most that have occurred in IMSA this year.
“We had a lot of yellow flag periods, a lot of interesting strategic decisions throughout the field,” he said. “I give a lot of credit to Kyle, he took the best punch that everybody else in the field had for him and ended up coming out on top. There was a lot of contact in the last few laps of the race, everybody was driving hard. Unfortunately, that was all our car had today. So, we’re going to go back and keep working as we get ready to go into Virginia.”
The No. 15 Lexus RC F GT3 did not race. An incident during the warm-up session caused more damage than could be repaired in the paddock. Both Lexus RC F GT3 cars will return to the race shop in East Lansing, Michigan and be readied for the Michelin Challenge on Aug. 17 at Virginia International Raceway.
About 3GT Racing
3GT Racing was formed to race the Lexus RC F GT3. Owned and operated by five-time Trans-Am Series Champion, Paul Gentilozzi and his longtime partners, Tony and John Gentilozzi, the East Lansing, Michigan-based team principals have been involved in motorsports for more than 48 years and have claimed more than 75 victories and 15 manufacturer and driver championships.
