The Jr III Racing Driver Benefits from Others’ Misfortunes to Win Race; Carazo Wins Again in GSX but Selldorff Secures Championship
By Mark Robinson
BRASELTON, Ga. – Bijoy Garg has been dominant on the way to winning the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Championship’s Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) title in this inaugural year. But even the 21-year-old Californian admitted he was lucky to win Friday’s last race of the season.
In a race with no championship ramifications once it started, Garg appeared destined to finish in third with two minutes left in the 45-minute battle at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. As races do sometimes, however, things changed quickly when both cars ahead of him encountered issues.
First it was Jagger Jones, who owned the race and was cruising toward the overall and LMP3 victory in just his second outing – until his No. 87 Remstar Racing Duqueine D08 came to a halt crossing the start/finish line with two laps to go.
That handed the lead to Dan Goldburg in the No. 73 JDC MotorSports Duqueine – but not for long. As Goldburg moved to overtake the lapped No. 47 Forty7 Motorsports Duqueine of Jon Brownson on the final lap, the two cars made contact and Goldburg slid into the Turn 6 gravel. By the time Goldburg returned onto the track, Garg was bearing down in the No. 3 Jr III Racing Ligier JS P320, successfully completed the lead pass in Turn 7 and went on to win by 0.862 seconds.
“With one (lap) to go, I saw the yellow (local caution) out in (Turn) 6 and I saw Dan,” Garg said. “I knew I had to get by him at that point. We made a little contact but just racing, in my opinion, and was able to hold on and get the win.”
It was Garg’s eighth win in 12 races and sixth straight to close the season. He only needed to start the race to lock up the LMP3 championship over Goldburg, ending the season with a 210-point advantage.
“Really proud of the whole team for the amazing job they did,” Garg said, “not just today but the whole year. It feels really good, and especially to end it off on a win. I didn’t even think it was going to be possible. I thought Jagger and Dan, with the Duqueine, I just wouldn’t be able to pass them down the straight, but I’m so glad it happened.”
Carazo Completes GSX Sweep but Selldorff Clinches Class Crown
In the GSX class, Sebastian Carazo did everything he could to overtake points leader Francis Selldorff, but two wins this week weren’t enough.
Carazo jumped from third to first in class at the start on Friday and led every lap in the No. 27 Kellymoss with Riley Porsche 718 GT4 RS Clubsport to complete a sweep of GSX wins at Michelin Raceway. But like Garg in LMP3, all Selldorff needed to do was start Friday’s race to clinch the GSX championship in the No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4.
Carazo won by 3.223 seconds ahead of Gregory Liefooghe (No. 19 Stephen Cameron Racing BMW) on Friday, with Selldorff taking third place.
“It’s an amazing feeling to bring two wins to the team on the last weekend to close out the season,” said Carazo, who finished second to Selldorff in the points battle with a class-leading seven podium finishes. “It was a great season, all in all. We had some misfortunate events but we made the best out of it. We still got second place in the championship and it’s great to put a Porsche finally on the top step (of the podium) two times.”
Selldorff, the 22-year-old from Boston, finished with just one win but reached the podium six times. He held off Carazo by 150 points for the championship.
“It’s such a relief,” Selldorff admitted. “We just had to make the green flag today and then it was all fun after that. We were consistent all year and I had an awesome car with Turner. They’re great role models for me, I really can’t thank them enough. It’s a first everything for me: first year in IMSA, first year racing, really, so it’s just been like perfect.”
A recap of the VP Racing Challenge weekend at Michelin Raceway airs at 10:30 a.m. ET Sunday, Oct. 22 on CNBC.