| The No. 39 Lamborghini Takes Second Place at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca with Pass at Checkered Flag May 6, 2022By Mark RobinsonIMSA Wire Service  DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – It was the happiest of homecomings for CarBahn with Peregrine Racing at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, but not without its heart-palpitating moments. Robert Megennis and Jeff Westphal delivered the team’s first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship podium finish on Sunday at the Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship Presented by Motul. Westphal skirted past IMSA great Bill Auberlen for second place at the finish line – even as the No. 39 CarBahn with Peregrine Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 was draining its last drops of VP Racing fuel from the tank. “I ran out at the end,” Westphal said with a bewildered smile. “I sputtered in (Turn) 6, sputtered out of (Turn) 10, out of (Turn) 11, all the way to the start/finish. I thought he got me because the view was pretty close there, but apparently we crossed the line just ahead.” Westphal out-dragged Auberlen in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 up the front straight to nab second position in GT Daytona (GTD) by 0.037 seconds. It was cause for celebration for the team that struggled in the first three races of 2022 after switching from Audi to Lamborghini this year. “This was awesome!” Megennis said. “I’m so hyped. Thank you to the whole team — they’ve worked so hard all season. We’ve had a few bad races and had to get to grips with this new car, but everyone did an amazing job of executing … and all our efforts came to fruition.” The No. 39 Lambo didn’t finish inside the top 10 in the opening three races, but Megennis qualified fifth at WeatherTech Raceway to set the stage for Sunday’s big result. The New Yorker turned the car over to Westphal in seventh place with just under two hours remaining in the race. It’s where Westphal was still running when the team called him in as the first GTD car to make its final pit stop with 68 minutes to go. The undercut scheme worked. By the time the green-flag pit cycle was complete, Westphal sat in third place. “The strategy was a key piece,” Megennis said. “We ended up so far ahead of all those guys that we were racing amongst (before the final stop).” Westphal briefly advanced to second place before he was passed by Jan Heylen in the No. 16 Wright Porsche that went on to win in GTD. Then it was time to zero in on Auberlen, IMSA’s all-time wins leader in its top-level series and certainly one of the most difficult to overtake at the end of a race. “I had to be aggressive but also save fuel. It was a tricky stint,” Westphal said. “Coming into the final turn, specifically, I was hunting down Mr. Auberlen in the BMW. They were struggling with the rear tires, but they had massive straight-line speed. I needed a little help, and I got it in the form of a prototype putting him off his line in Turn 9. “I attacked in Turn 10 and forced him to go super defensive. I popped back to the outside, opened up the corner, got underneath him (in Turn 11, the final corner) and used a side draft to get past on the straight. I got to his nose, pulled away and was able to make it stick. We almost ran out of fuel.” Cue the celebration for the team based less than two hours away in San Jose, California. “I’m glad that this happened at the home race for the team,” Megennis said. “We had a lot of partners, friends and family here. I’m happy to show what we can do in front of all of them and get everyone excited. If there was one place we wanted to get a podium this year, it was here. “The team deserves this,” Megennis added. “The result provides a lot of momentum and that’s what we need heading into the remainder of the GTD Sprint Cup season. We want to go win some races. I’m excited for what’s to come.” |
