Ashton Harrison continued her impressive form in the GT World Challenge America Pro class at Road America, scoring her sixth podium of the season. Harrison and teammate Mario Farnbacher secured vital championship points as the team remain second in the championship standings with two rounds remaining.
Ashton Harrison continued her impressive form in the GT World Challenge America Pro class at Road America with a pair of top-5 finishes. Alongside Mario Farnbacher, the Racers Edge Motorsport duo finished race one in third and looked set for another trip to the rostrum before contact from a competitor dropped Harrison down the order. Recovering to fourth in class, Ashton secured vital championship points as the team remain second in the championship standings with two rounds remaining.
Having recently competed at Road America in the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship, Ashton and Mario had good circuit knowledge heading into the weekend where they once again aimed to challenge for Pro class honours.
“I’m super excited to be back at Road America for the second time this month, especially being back with Racers Edge Motorsports with WTRAndretti in our Acura NSX GT3", Harrison said before the weekend. "This is a track that I really feel is special for Mario, Racers Edge and myself, and our success here this weekend is important to the championship hunt."
"We’re more motivated than ever to get back to the lead, in the position I know we should be in, but with this strong competition, it’s never easy. So, Mario and I are going to keep fighting every session on track to get better, and I know we have the capability to have another winning weekend."
It was an encouraging start for the Racers Edge Motorsport duo as they finished opening practice fifth in the Pro class.
Second practice saw further improvements from both drivers despite the session disrupted by a red flag, with Ashton in particular showing her speed. The #93 Acura NSX finished the day fourth in the Pro class, just two tenths away from second.
Both Ashton and Mario were looking for further improvements in their respective qualifying sessions on Saturday morning, with Harrison driving the Racers Edge Motorsport Acura NSX in Q1. Ashton enjoyed a positive session and set the sixth fastest time in the Pro class, building on her performances from practice. Farnbacher drove in Q2 and once again showed excellent improvements, finishing the session third in class.
Taking the start for the opening race of the weekend, Ashton made a brilliant start with a great move around the outside of turn 1 gaining her four positions and moving her into the top-5 of the Pro class by the end of lap one. After dropping a spot to sixth on lap two, a safety car period allowed Harrison to close up to her rivals and she moved back into the top-5 as a second safety car was brought out at Road America.
Upon the restart, Ashton gained a further place in the overall classification to move into sixth, holding superbly with the frontrunners in the Pro class as her stint progressed. As the pit window opened on lap 16, Harrison brought the Racers Edge Motorsport Acura NSX to pit lane for Mario Farnbacher to take over for the second half of the race.
With a podium finish still well within reach, Mario knew a smart stint would allow him to make inroads on the drivers ahead. Despite losing out to Pro/Am class runner Neil Verhagen on the out lap from the pits, Farnbacher’s times were quick as he began closing in both Jan Heylen and Stevan McAleer ahead.
After catching his rivals, Mario ran nose-to-tail with his Pro class competitors for a number of laps, before overtaking Heylen on lap 31 and McAleer a lap later to move into third position. Setting a personal best time on lap 33, Farnbacher pulled away from the drivers behind and extended this gap in the closing stages to claim a well-earned podium finish in the Pro class.
“That was a wild stint. It’s so fast you have to be so specific when you make a pass", Ashton said after her stint. "I knew what my job was, my whole goal was to let it come to me and make an aggressive move when it was ready. I really capitalized on that start.”
Lining up third in the Pro class, Mario made a great initial start to race two before dropping back to fourth at the conclusion of the opening lap.
Overtaking Pro/Am class driver Corey Lewis on lap two put Farnbacher back into ninth overall as he chased down Trenton Estep for the final spot on the Pro class podium. Slowly making inroads on his rival, Mario made the move on lap 13 and immediately began to catch Pro/Am runner Bryan Sellers. A strong end to his stint with a number of personal best lap times saw Farnbacher hand over to Ashton third in class, eighth overall.
Ashton’s stint began impressively as she got up to speed quickly and overtook the Pro/Am class drivers of Scott Smithson and Ziad Ghandour. Following a safety car period for an incident ahead, this promoted Harrison to fourth overall and allowed her to close up to her Pro class rivals. The Racers Edge Motorsport driver had a strong restart and moved into second place overall, also second in the Pro class as the overall victory became within reach.
On lap 34, contact from a competitor dropped Ashton to 12th overall, fifth in class with less than ten minutes remaining to make up for lost time. Harrison charged through the field in the closing stages to move from 12th to seventh in the final four laps, with a penalty for a rival elevating her to fourth in the Pro class at the checkered flag.
“Sunday was a disappointing finish for the Racers Edge Motorsports with WTRAndretti team", Harrison commented. "The Harrison Contracting Acura NSX and the crew got us in the mix for an overall win on the restart from the full course caution. I felt really happy with my performance all weekend."
"It’s unfortunate that we were spun in the last four laps of the race and in a position to gain championship points, which is our goal right now. So now we will put our head down and push forward for Sebring, which is a track Mario and I have success at."
"We walk away from Road America with a podium and still in the fight for the overall championship lead and we will keep pushing forward.”
Although the potential for a Pro class victory was there at Road America, Ashton and Mario still scored crucial championship points with a third and fourth place finishes. Ashton drove two good stints and should feel unlucky to receive contact in race two which took the team out of a podium position.
Claiming their sixth podium finish of the season, the Racers Edge Motorsport team have performed consistently well and will be looking to add to this tally at the penultimate round of the season at Sebring on the weekend of 23rd/24th September.