8Star Motorsports capped off a momentous weekend with Luis ‘Chapulin’ Diaz sealing the team’s second consecutive Prototype Challenge (PC) race win in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Oak Tree Grand Prix at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) on Sunday (24 August).
The Pompano Beach, Florida-based outfit took a clean sweep of victories at the ultra-high-speed VIR, bringing to an end a lengthy winless streak and keeping it in the hunt for the TUDOR Championship PC class title.
A superb qualifying effort by young Atlanta charger Sean Rayhall ensured 8Star Motorsports of pole position for the weekend’s two 45-minute PC contests, and Mexico City’s Diaz used this advantage to great effect by leading RSR Racing’s Bruno Junqueira from lights-to-flag in a cool, calm display.
As Junqueira encountered problems, CORE autosports’ Colin Braun and Starworks Motorsport’s Renger van der Zande emerged as 8Star’s chief threats, but Diaz kept his head down and held the initiative until a full-course caution shortened the race with seven minutes to run.
Diaz was undoubtedly the happiest man in the VIR paddock on Sunday afernoon and his celebrations were far from muted as he emerged from the cockpit of the race-winning #25 PC racer.
Diaz said: “I’m really happy and this win is an incredible feat for the Takis-backed 8Star Motorsports team. The guys gave me a great car and this gave me an edge over our rivals to achieve this incredible, well-deserved victory. Sean (Rayhall) deserves a lot of the credit, as he did a great job in qualifying and yesterday’s (Saturday 23 August) race. This win gives us an opportunity to continue fighting for the championship for our great sponsor, Takis, and the team.”
A euphoric Enzo Potolicchio, added: “I’m delighted for Luis (Diaz) and every one of our guys in the 8Star Motorsports crew, as I know how hard thye have worked this season to accomplish these victories. Sean (Rayhall) also did a great job yesterday to put Luis and the team in a position to win. Overall, it has been a great weekend and now we go to Circuit of the Americas (COTA), where we will have another chance to continue adding points towards the championship with more wins.
In the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Championship, which shared the VIR circuit with the faster PC runners, Christian Potolicchio finished fourth to add yet more crucial points to his ever-expanding total, while Lamont Harris overcame early problems to finish in a creditable eighth position and Enzo Potolicchio was forced to abandon his race 15 minutes from the end.
The TUDOR United SportsCar Championship’s next port of call is the state-of-the-art Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas, which hosts the Lone Star Le Mans event (19-20 September).