Mars Also Repeats Dominant Victory in GSX Class
August 25, 2024
By Mark Robinson
IMSA Wire Service
Race 2 Results
ALTON, Va. – Jagger Jones was clearly a driver in a hurry Sunday at VIRginia International Raceway.So much so that he once again blew away the competition to win the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge race that kicked off on-track activities for the day, before rushing off to compete in the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin race that immediately followed.Jones built a lead of more than 30 seconds in the VP Racing Challenge 45-minute sprint before a late full-course caution bunched the field for a restart with two laps to go. Unruffled, Jones put the hammer down in the No. 87 FastMD Racing with Remstar Duqueine D08 when the green flag waved again and rolled away to a 2.445-second victory.The win is the seventh in eight outings this season for the promising 22-year-old Le Mans Prototype 3 (P3) driver. He actually crossed the finish line first all eight times but had a win at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park taken away by a postrace technical inspection infraction.“It’s awesome!” Jones said of Sunday’s win before dashing off to hop into the MX-5 Cup car. “I don’t know who made the schedule back-to-back but it’s like complete opposite cars, so now I’ve got to go reset and go drive that (MX-5 Cup).“I’m first really happy with the run today,” he continued. “We made a lot of adjustments from yesterday and the car was so good today. Just an awesome day for the team. Remstar Fast MD gave me a great, great car this weekend. I just had to keep it on track and put it in victory lane again.”For the sixth time in Jones’ seven wins, Steven Aghakhani finished second in the No. 6 MLT Motorsports Ligier JS P320. Because Jones missed the opening two races at Daytona International Speedway, Aghakhani still holds a nearly insurmountable 540-point lead over Jones in the P3 driver standings, with just the doubleheader at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in October remaining.Jones and the FastMD outfit are therefore focused on capturing the team championship, where they now hold a 60-point edge on MLT Motorsports.“The team championship has been the goal all year,” Jones said. “Hopefully, we have two more wins in Atlanta and bring that home for Remstar.”
Mars Cruises to VIR Weekend Sweep in GSX
Just like Jones in P3, Luca Mars raced to a comfortable win Sunday in the Grand Sport X (GSX) class to complete his own weekend sweep. Mars, however, closed in on clinching his class title.Mars pushed the No. 59 KohR Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4 to a lead of nearly 50 seconds before the lone caution flag waved with just under nine minutes remaining. When racing resumed, he eased away to a 4.535-second triumph over Patrick Wilmot (No. 88 Split Decision Motorsports BMW M4 GT4).It was the fifth win of the season for Mars and his first weekend sweep since Daytona in January. He extended his points lead to 550 over Wilmot and – like Aghakhani in P3 – can wrap up the class crown by starting both races at Michelin Raceway.“We knew we had a really good car coming into the weekend; we’ve just been getting better and better,” said Mars, who also finished third in Saturday’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race in an identical KohR Mustang GT4. “Went out there and built an early lead again. The late-race caution kind of pulled the field together, but I knew with my speed I was going to be able to stretch that out again.“I was able to keep the lead, get back-to-back wins and pretty much clinch the championship, so really happy with how the weekend’s going.”The two-race weekend to finish the 2024 VP Racing Challenge season takes place Oct. 9-11 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta as part of Motul Petit Le Mans weekend. |
