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| March 15, 2012 News |
| Prototype Lites: Nunez Goes Flag-to-Flag at Sebring |
 | Tristan Nunez captured the Round One win with a perfect flag-to-flag run at Sebring International Raceway
(Photo: Prototype Lites) |
Tristan Nunez scored a dominant win in the opening round of the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda on Thursday (March 15), converting the pole position into a victory at Sebring International Raceway. Standing alongside the Performance Tech Motorsports racer on the podium were his teammate Dan Goldburg, JDC Motorsports' Mikhail Goikhberg, and Lites 2 winner Scott Tucker of Level 5 Motorsports.
Driving the No. 16 Performance Tech Motorsports/Uncle Jim Elan DP02 prototype, the 16 year-old driver from Boca Raton, Fla., started on the pole and led every lap on his way to a convincing 20.864-second margin of victory over Performance Tech teammate Daniel Goldburg, from Delray Beach, Fla.
With his win, Nunez set a record for being the youngest winner in Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda Series history. His pole time of 1:59.563 (112.636 mph) was also an event record for Prototype Lites around Sebring’s 3.74-mile road course.
“This is a very exciting day for the No. 16 Performance Tech car, and I owe a big thank you to my team for working so hard to get the car ready,” said Nunez. “We were able to find incredible speed as we made minor adjustments after each session this week and took advantage of any time we had on the track to learn new things.”
A pair of JDC Motorsports Prototype Lites driven by Mikhail Goikhberg, from Vaughn, Ont., and Gerry Kraut, from North Oaks, Minn., finished third and fourth, respectively. Daniel Mancini, from Parkland, Fla., placed the third Performance Tech Elan DP02 in the top-five with his fifth-place finish.
With Nunez winning the L1 class and overall race, Scott Tucker from Madison, Wis., won the L2 class with his ninth-place overall finish in his Level 5 Motorsports West WR 1000 prototype. Alan Wilzig, from New York, NY, finished second driving his own West WR 1000 in the L2 class and 10th overall.
“It was good race,” said Tucker. “The car ran pretty well. We have to work on a few things, but overall it was great. I have some improvements I want to make to the car and we’re going to make those changes, and I’m looking forward to it.”
There was only on caution period during the race when the yellow flag came out on the first lap for a spin by Dan Weyland in the No. 88 Eurosport Racing Elan DP02. Weyland recovered to finish 12th.
The Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda cars returns to action at Sebring International Raceway on Friday (March 16), with Round Two at 1:55 pm local time. Nunez will lead the field to the green flag.
The top-three will be posted following every session on the ESR Facebook page and ESR Twitter page.
Prototype Lites
Round 1 - Race Results
March 15, 2012
Sebring International Raceway - Sebring, Florida
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Diff. | Fast Time| 1. | Tristan Nunez | Performance Tech Motorsports | - | 2:00.425 | | 2. | Dan Goldburg | Performance Tech Motorsports | 20.864 | 2:01.700 | | 3. | Mikhail Goikhberg | JDC MotorSports | 30.156 | 2:02.436 | | 4. | Gerry Kraut | JDC MotorSports | 38.105 | 2:02.555 | | 5. | Daniel Mancini | Performance Tech Motorsports | 56.494 | 2:03.905 | | 6. | Ritchie Holt | Performance Tech Motorsports | 56.820 | 2:03.746 | | 7. | Owen Kratz | Ferrari of Houston | 1:06.594 | 2:05.726 | | 8. | Jim Garrett | Eurosport Racing | 1:34.741 | 2:05.904 | | 9. | Scott Tucker (L2) | Level 5 Motorsports | 1 Lap | 2:10.915 | | 10. | Alan Wilzig (L2) | Wilzig Racing | 1 Lap | 2:12.068 | | 11.* | Jon Brownson | Eurosport Racing | 1:59.014 | 2:03.876 | | 12. | Dan Weyland | Eurosport Racing | 1 Lap | 2:09.426 | | 13. | Antonio Downs | Eurosport Racing | 2 Laps | 2:08.677 | | 14. | Alain Nadal (L2) | Ansa Motorsports | 7 Laps | N/A | | 15. | Lamont Harris | Acadia Racing | 9 Laps | 2:13.780 | |
(L2) = Lites 2 class
* Penalized two positions for avoidable contact |
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