RS1’s Heylen, Mars Hold On for Laguna Seca Win

Photo: Perry Nelson/IMSA

Jan Heylen survived a series of late race restarts and hard-charging Robin Liddell to claim victory in Saturday’s WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca 120.

Heylen, in the No. 28 RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport, edged out Liddell’s No. 71 Rebel Rock Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 Evo by 0.676 seconds, who came from fourth on the final restart with 15 minutes to go.

The second-placed No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Daniel Morad was given a stop-and-hold plus 60-second penalty for contact with Michael Cooper’s Ibiza Farm Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4 that sent Cooper into a spin and into the No. 59 KohR Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4 of Billy Johnson.

It resulted in the race’s fourth full course caution in an incident-filled two-hour IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge contest.

Heylen moved into the lead by virtue of co-driver Luca Mars making his first scheduled stop prior to the first yellow, for debris. Heylen then pitted under the caution for fuel only.

The pole-sitting No. 39 CarBahn with Pergrine Racing BMW M4 GT4 EVO of Sean McAlister had led the race up until that point.

It marked the RS1 duo’s first victory of the year after scoring runner-up finishes at both the season-opening rounds at Daytona International Speedway and Sebring International Raceway.

The No. 54 Panam Motorsport Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 of Caio Chaves and Thiago Camilo completed the GS class podium in third, followed by the No. 27 Auto Technic Racing BMW that was driven to the line by Stevan McAleer.

Jeff Westphal, in the pole-sitting CarBahn BMW, completed the top-five.

Bryan Herta Autosport maintained its undefeated record in TCR so far this season, with Denis DuPont and Preston Brown scoring their second win of the season.

DuPont led home a podium sweep for BHA, after the No. 7 Precision Racing LA Audi RS 3 LMS TCR of Ryan Eversley, which started from the rear of the 16-car field due to a ride height infringement in qualifying, was handed a drive-through penalty for jumping the final restart.

Mason Filippi came home second in the No. 98 BHA Hyundai Elantra N TCR, with Bryson Morris completing the podium in third.

The No. 33 BHA Hyundai Elantra N TCR of Mark Wilkins took the lead early on after both the No. 98 BHA Hyundai of Harry Gottsacker and LP Montour’s No. 93 MMG Honda Civic FL5 TCR both received drive-through penalties for passing under local yellows.

Wilkins swapped over to Morris during the race’s only pit stop, which saw fresh front Michelin tires only, but was caught in a heated late-race battle between multiple cars.