Race Report by Tim Collier
June 3, 2020 – Throughout a season of racing, there are races that go beyond the battle between drivers to include the struggle with the circuit itself. Detroit Belle Isle street circuit is one of those places, with its tight confines, a mix of long straights and fast curves with the lack of run-off and tall kerbs, it only takes a moment to go from the lead to the hauler. For the GTE/GT4 Cup Series, this was race six of the season and set the stage for the final run to the championship.
Qualifying was no surprise once again in the GT4 class with Kurt Polter taking the top spot once again, this time by nearly two seconds! JT Tami would start alongside to lead the Porsche 718 Cayman field to the green.
Ahead of them, the GTE class pole was won by Miguel Antonio Alcrudo with a lap time of 1:27.470, with Drew Lidkea, starting in second place. Alcrudo would have to serve a drive-thru penalty on the first lap of the race from a prior incident ruling, and therefore give up the lead to Lowesky D’oleo who would hold the lead until lap 17 when a determined Alcrudo would charge back to the front. On Lap 21, D’Oleo would retire from the race moving Lidkea up to second place with Rafeal Sosa in third not far behind. As the laps wound down, Lidkea would find trouble dropping him down the order and Sosa would move into second place with Dion Smith now in third. The finishing order for GTE would me Alcrudo, Sosa, and Smith, with Alcrudo’s margin of victory nearly 42 seconds, with zero incidents over a total of 41 laps!
The GT4 class start was clean, with Polter and Tami getting a gap on the rest of the field after the first few laps, then as the GTE class race through the field, the gaps between cars opened up and Polter had pulled out to a comfortable lead over Tami. Behind them, the battle for third place would come down to Steven Spears and Brett Stephens to see who would flinch first. In the end, Stephens would grab third place, his second podium of a short season for him, behind Tami with yet another podium finish, and Polter grabbing his fifth win of the season.
After 6 races, the GTE Driver’s standings have Drew Lidkea holding a slim margin over Dion Smith, with Miguel Antonio Alcrudo not far behind in third. Humberto Roca and Peter Hebron are tied for fourth place only 10 points back of Alcrudo.
In the GT4 Driver’s Standings, Kurt Polter holds a 29 point lead over JT Tami in second, with Jason Lundy only 6 points back in third. Behind them, there’s a tight race for fourth between David Anderson, Douglas Hintze, and Justin Hess.
The next race for this series is scheduled for Wednesday, June 10th at the Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit. The schedule is in the home stretch!
