Westbrook/Valiante seals close-fought Grand-Am triumph in Mid-Ohio

Richard Westbrook held off Scott Pruett to take his second Grand-Am victory of the campaign by the narrowest of margins at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Westbrook and Spirit of Daytona team-mate Michael Valiante led 87 of the race's 111 laps but their advantage at the chequered flag - a mere 0.236 seconds - was as slim as is likely to be seen in Grand-Am this season.

A late race caution period bunched the pack up and led to a seven-minute dash for victory. Westbrook held out - just - to add to the win he took with Antonio Garcia at Barber.

“It’s really satisfying,” said Westbrook afterwards. “I’m really relieved. This is where we should be. We came off the grounds a bit after Barber. Now we’re back on.

"A big thanks to Mike (Valiante) - he drove awesome today. He put the car into the lead and then I just had to finish off the good run that he had done. He put us in this position today; really, thanks to Michael.”

Pruett brought the Ganassi-run Riley-BMW he shares with Memo Rojas home for its fourth podium of the campaign, promoting the reigning champions to the top of this year's standings. Mark Donohue and Terry Borcheller completed the podium in their #9 Action Express Racing Corvette

Alex Popow and Lucas Luhr took fourth in the #2 SolosonRiley-Ford with erstwhile points leaders Enzo Potolicchio and Ryan Dalziel a munted fifth in their Starworks machine.

Pruett and Rojas now hold a slender two-point advantage atop the standings, with Donohue and the Starworks pair tied for second. Westbrook is just a further point behind them in what is shaping up to be a titanic title battle.

Meanwhile the #94 Turner Motorsport BMW of Bill Auberlen and Paul Dalla Lana took GT honours, the duo's first triumph in over a year. Jeff Segal and Emil Assentato were second in their FXDD Ferrari 458 and lead the GT standings by 11 points from Robin Liddell, who finished third alongside co-driver John Edwards.

Grand-Am's next encounter will be a trip to the stunning Road America facility on June 23.

Watch LIVE Grand-Am action on Motors TV throughout 2012


James Weeks