Acura Motorsports Race Report
Sunday, June 28, 2015
DeVilbiss Grand Prix of Road America
Circuit: Road America (4.048-mile road course) Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Weather: Partly Cloudy, mild, 74 degrees F
Acura, RealTime Racing Score Top-10 Results In Three Road America Races
• RealTime Racing Acura TLX GT has finished in top 10 in 11 of 13 races this season
• Eversley wins Best Standing Start and Hard Charger Awards in two races
• Cunningham runs as high as fourth in Sunday’s race
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (June 28, 2015) – Wisconsin-based RealTime Racing celebrated its return to the team’s home circuit by taking their Acura TLX GTs to a trio of top-10 finishes over a three-race Pirelli World Challenge GT weekend at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
GT rookie Ryan Eversley came from 19th on the starting grid both Friday and Saturday to finish ninth on Friday and 10th on Saturday. The Acura TLX GT’s all-wheel-drive technology helped Eversley gain four positions at the standing start of each of the weekend’s races, and the young driver did the rest, gaining 19 spots over the first two races of the weekend. These efforts earned Eversley the “Best Standing Start” and “Hard Charger” awards in both Friday and Saturday’s races.
“This weekend was a little bittersweet for me,” Eversley said. “While we did score another pair of top-10 finishes for Acura and the team, I struggled with my car throughout the weekend. We had mechanical issues in the first two races and some contact in Sunday’s race that eventually led to our DNF [Did Not Finish]. It was nice to see [Peter Cunningham] run in the top five for a while at his home track, but we are still searching for a bit more speed to really take it to the front runners. Hopefully, Mid Ohio will be a strong track for our Acura TLX program.”
Team owner and seven-time PWC champion Cunningham qualified 10th for each of the first two races of the weekend, but had strong performances blunted by misfortune. His #42 RealTime Acura was running a seventh before mechanical problems forced him onto pit lane in Friday’s race, and a minor electrical issue on the formation lap Saturday forced Cunningham to start that day’s race from the pits. But the veteran stormed toward the front, making up more than 10 places on his way to a 13th-place finish.
“We were very optimistic coming into this weekend with three races at our home track,” reported Cunningham. “The team made some great progress in testing and we were feeling strong. Unfortunately, we had a couple of mechanical issues with my No. 42 TLX that kept us from achieving a more representative finish on either Friday or Saturday. It felt good to cap off the weekend with a solid race and top-10 finish today for the home crowd!”
Cunningham finished strong on Sunday, coming from 12th on the grid to finish ninth for his fourth top-10 finish of the 2015 campaign. Cunningham battled hard with the Audi R8 of Mike Skeen and ran as high as fourth during the event before coming home ninth. Eversley was also running in the top-10 before having to retire after 11 laps.
The team now will have a nearly a month to prepare for its next event, which takes place July 31 – August 2 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course as part of the Honda Indy 200 race weekend.