Aurora Straus recovers to 14th at Road America after strong opening stint

Aurora Straus and Kenny Murillo secured another solid points finish in the seventh round of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season at Road America, recovering to 14th place after a race shaped by changing weather conditions, varying pit strategies and multiple caution periods.

Photo credits: Brandon Badraoui / IMSA

Aurora Straus and Kenny Murillo secured another solid points finish in the seventh round of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season at Road America, recovering to 14th place after a race shaped by changing weather conditions, varying pit strategies and multiple caution periods, where both drivers once again demonstrated encouraging speed aboard the #24 Mercedes-AMG GT4.

Straus arrived at Road America looking to continue the steady progress she and Kenny Murillo have made during their first full IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge campaign together. Returning to the championship full-time after making occasional appearances in previous seasons, Straus has teamed up with her husband aboard the #24 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4, with the pairing consistently demonstrating increasing pace despite a series of setbacks that have often prevented them from converting their speed into results.

The duo finally earned a deserved breakthrough with their maiden top-ten finish of the season at Mid-Ohio, where they secured eighth place after a competitive and well-executed race. Although technical issues hampered another promising outing at Watkins Glen, they recovered to finish 19th before again showing encouraging speed at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park despite narrowly missing another strong result. Road America therefore represented another opportunity to build on that momentum at one of North America's most demanding road courses.

The iconic four-mile Wisconsin circuit, presented a particularly difficult challenge after heavy rain before the race weekend created constantly evolving track conditions.

Murillo Racing steadily built confidence throughout practice. Straus and Murillo opened the weekend with a best lap of 2:17.977 in the first session before making a significant step forward in FP2, lowering their benchmark to 2:15.836 and finishing just outside the top ten.

Straus took qualifying duties for the #24 Mercedes-AMG GT4. Her opening representative lap of 2:17.615 provisionally placed the Murillo Racing entry 22nd as the session entered its closing stages. However, qualifying was interrupted by a red flag with four minutes remaining after McAlister's #39 BMW went off at Turn 3.

With the clock continuing to run during the stoppage, the session could not be resumed, denying many drivers the opportunity to improve on their final runs. Straus ultimately secured 21st on the GS grid.

Photo credits: Jake Galstad / IMSA

Saturday's two-hour race began under different conditions; heavy rain earlier in the day had left the Road America circuit extremely wet, making the opening laps particularly treacherous as both the GS and TCR fields navigated the slippery surface.

Starting from P21 for the opening stint, Straus immediately delivered one of her strongest starts of the season: avoiding trouble through the opening corners, she quickly climbed to 16th before continuing her impressive charge through the field. Within the first few laps she had advanced to 14th place, confidently handling the difficult conditions inside the leading midfield group.

The American continued to run strongly until lap six, when a moment at the challenging Carousel corner forced her off the racing line. The excursion dropped the Murillo Racing Mercedes back to 20th place as the field capitalized on the mistake. Goodman's BSI Racing Toyota subsequently moved ahead, while Straus regrouped, as the rain eased and lap times steadily improved across the field.

On lap 13, another incident at the Carousel dramatically altered the race. The Circle H Aston Martin driven by Hampton became stranded in the gravel, prompting a full-course caution with one hour and 22 minutes remaining. Just before the yellow flag was displayed, Straus managed to overtake Samantha Tan to reclaim 20th position.

When pit lane opened, nearly the entire GS field elected to stop for slick tyres as the circuit continued drying. Straus handed the Mercedes over to Kenny Murillo, while the Murillo Racing crew executed an efficient stop that gained the team two positions in pit lane, sending Murillo back onto the circuit in 18th place.

Following the restart with just over an hour remaining, Murillo immediately began making progress.

He overtook both Salas and Taylor to climb into 16th before closing rapidly on Westphal in the battle for 15th. The Mercedes once again demonstrated encouraging pace as Murillo continued to move forward.

Another major strategic twist followed when race leader Liefooghe went off on lap 26. Anticipating another caution period, much of the field elected to pit immediately.

Murillo instead stayed out, briefly climbing as high as sixth overall as those ahead peeled into pit lane. Forced to stop later once the pits officially opened, the #24 Mercedes lost significant track position and dropped to 22nd after rejoining.

Photo credits: Jake Galstad / IMSA

With 37 minutes remaining, green-flag racing resumed under increasingly uncertain weather as light rain once again began falling over the circuit. Murillo responded with another determined recovery drive.

Following the final restart with 22 minutes remaining, he steadily worked his way back through the order, benefiting both from good pace and penalties for several rivals to climb as high as 14th by lap 36.

Weisenberg later reclaimed the position in the BSI Racing Toyota, dropping the Mercedes back to 15th, but Murillo kept it clean as the closing stages unfolded.

The race's final caution arrived with just nine minutes remaining after Sterling suffered a heavy accident in the #4 Medusa Motorsport Aston Martin at the fearsome Kink.

The full-course yellow remained in effect until the checkered flag, freezing the order and confirming 14th place for Murillo and Straus.

With another effective recovery drive, the Murillo Racing pair salvaged another valuable finish and collected 170 championship points at Road America. Straus once again demonstrated good speed in difficult wet conditions with an excellent opening charge through the field, while Murillo recovered strongly after an unfavourable strategy sequence.

The result continues the team's encouraging upward trajectory as they prepare for the next round of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season at VIRginia International Raceway on 20-23 August.