Taylor and Angelelli score unlikely Grand-Am win in sodden Homstead event

Ricky Taylor and Max Angelelli took an unlikely triumph in Grand-Am's rain-shortened trip to Homstead. Miami Speedway.

The race began in championship order after qualifying was rained off, Enzo Potolicchio (Starworks-Ford) holding the lead in atrocious conditions. Indeed, such was the level of water on track that passing would have been more risk than it was worth during the opening tours.

However the leader was soon under pressure from Richard Westbrook (Spirit of Daytona-Corvette), the Brit putting the extensive experience of wet weather racing amassed in his formative years to excellent use and navigating his vessel past the Starworks car.

Then the race was turned on its head. Hussling to regain the lead, Potolicchio appeared to tip Westbrook around and off into the mud, though the Venezuelan’s ability to stop his car at this stage was at best limited. With Westbrook tumbling into the sodden infield Potolicchio was penalised, handing the lead to Ricky Taylor, who had started dead last in the Sun Trust Racing Corvette he shares with ‪Max Angelelli‬.

A short time later, and with the race now controlled by the safety car, the white flag was dropped to signal the final lap, the rain proving unrelenting and leaving track conditions unjustifiably treacherous. The Taylor-Angelelli machine thus took an unlikely triumph.

Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas claimed the second step of the podium in their Ganassi-BMW with David Donohue and Darren Law completing the rostrum. Wesbrook recovered his very muddy Corvette to P5 while Potolicchio was classified 18th.

GT class honours went to the AIM Autosport FXDD Ferrari of Emil Assentato and Jeff Segal. The rain leveled the playing field significantly at Homstead, allowing the GT machines to scrap with their prototype counterparts more than usual.

The Starworks pairing of Potolicchio and Ryan Dalziel continue to head the standings but have had their advantage cut to just two points. Westbrook and team-mate Antonio Garcia sit second on 58, with Michael Shank Racing’s John Pew level with the Spirit of Daytona duo. The series’ next event takes place at New Jersey Motorsport Park on May 13.


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James Weeks