NAGP 4 Report post Posted April 5, 2018 The North American Grand Prix Thursday night GT series travels to northern California this evening for round nine of the championship at Laguna Seca. Matt Leeman stood on the top step of the podium for the first time in his NAGP career last week powering his Mercedes to victory at Watkins Glen. Leeman's pace in the practice leading up to the event came as a surprise to some in the paddock, however, after qualifying on row two, reality quickly set in that Leeman had race winning pace. Leeman got off to a great start in the race, quickly making his way around Matt Taylor for second and nestling in behind pole setter Salem Montgomery Jr. in the McLaren. Leeman kept the gap to first under two seconds for most of the first stint. Montgomery Jr. entered the pits on lap 18 from the lead, after a quick stop, it was looking like Montgomery Jr. would stay ahead of Leeman who pitted on lap 19. An uncharacteristic spin for Montgomery Jr. as he entered the final corner handed the lead over to Leeman, who at this point in the race was being followed by a determined Eiran Parsons, who was three seconds off of Leeman and closing. On lap 31, it was Parsons turn to make a mistake you don't generally see him make, spinning exiting the outer loop and colliding with the wall ending his race. With an over ten second gap to Montgomery Jr. now in second, it was a matter of bringing the car home in one piece for Leeman, which he did, eight seconds ahead of second place Montgomery Jr. Michael Makinde, who was a bit overshadowed by Leeman's run, had a great race himself finishing third in his Ferrari, just ahead of Matt Taylor's Audi. After eight rounds, Kevin Kirkbride has seen his points lead in the drivers championship fall to the single digits. Kirkbride's 132 points leads Peter Szabo in second with 123 points. Zack Hefner is third with 115 points. In the team championship, Podium Hunters Kevin Kirkbride and Zack Hefner lead with 247 points. RPM Extreme's Peter Szabo and Salem Montgomery Jr. are second with 222 points. Gotta Go Bye's Brad Merys and Al Marimon are a distant third with 144 points. Join NAGPTV this evening starting at 9pm eastern for complete coverage of round nine from Laguna Seca. The action begins with 25 minutes of open qualifying followed immediately after by the 200km race. The infamous corkscrew awaits the drivers this evening, a difficult corner at an equally difficult track that is easy to overdrive. Consistency will yield a solid result towards the championship in this all important round nine. Don't miss a second of the racing coverage on Monday and Thursday nights here at NAGP! Follow us on Twitch and get notified when we go live! Missed the race live? Follow us on YouTube and watch the race the next day. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NAGP 4 Report post Posted April 6, 2018 GT Round Nine From Laguna Seca Live in 30 Minutes!https://www.twitch.tv/nagptv Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NAGP 4 Report post Posted April 6, 2018 Replay from last night's GT race at Laguna Seca https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4E7PUuCntE Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
