at Chevrolet Sports Car Classic
After a promising start from the tenth grid position in the IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship GT Daytona (GTD) class at Detroit's Raceway at Belle Isle Park, the No. 30 MOMO NGT Porsche 911 GT America (Type 991) had to retire just 30 minutes into the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic after an early-race incident.
MOMO NGT Motorsport's Henrique Cisneros started Saturday's Prototype and GTD combined classes showdown in Motor City, after Kuba Giermaziak qualified the MOMO NGT Porsche in tenth position. Giermaziak had been running third in qualifying before he clipped a wall and was not able to put in his fastest flying laps late in the 15-minute session.
Early on in the race, Cisneros made big moves, had a great pace, and was able to move up four positions into sixth place by the quarter-mark of the 100-minute race. However, just 15 laps and 29 minutes in, Cisneros came up on a slower car going around turn six and reacted to the suddenly decreased pace. Once he reacted, the car lost grip and went into one of the close walls that always accompany a tight street circuit such as Belle Isle. With the damage to the team's Porsche, the car was forced to retire after the incident.
MOMO NGT Motorsport Porsche during Friday's qualifying sessionHenrique Cisneros, MOMO NGT Motorsport Partner/Driver, No. 30 MOMO NGT Motorsport Porsche 911 GTD:
"The car had amazing pace and it was a perfect set up for the race. We were slowly making our way up through the field, passing cars and got up to sixth place. A Flying Lizard car ahead of me was running a little slow. I came up to him in turn six and he had a much slower speed then I did going in, which took me a little off guard. I had to correct around him going into the corner, which took me off line, and I lost my front grip and went into the wall in front of me and ricocheted into the other wall. The hit broke the radiators in the car and that meant the end of our race. Although we didn't get the result we had hoped for, the progress we were making is very encouraging and the team did a great job giving us what we needed to make this a race."
Ramez Wahab, NGT Motorsports Team Owner, No. 30 MOMO NGT Motorsport Porsche 911 GTD:
"The car came out of the truck, the first time it's been to a street course and we ran up front right away. We were very confident with minor set up changes on the car before the race and everybody was happy. Henrique started today and did an awesome job. He was passing cars, running very good lap times, like the top guys were running. Unfortunately, he got up to lap the Flying Lizard car and it caught him by surprise because the driver was going very slow. He tried to correct to get past the slow Audi, but the car snapped on him, he hit the wall and damaged the car. That ended our race. The car was very fast and very easy to drive, and everyone did a great job this weekend getting up to speed. Now, we're going to get the car ready for the next race. That's racing and we're moving forward with high hopes."
MOMO driver and partner Henrique Cisneros also competed in the SPEED Energy Stadium Super Truck Series (SST) this weekend at the Raceway at Belle Isle Park, alongside fellow MOMO SST competitor EJ Viso. Viso took the win during Friday's 30-minute event, where Cisneros was leading the first laps of the race until a sideways landing off one of the 36-inch tall jumps took him out.
The next IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship race for MOMO NGT Motorsport, Round Seven of the TUDOR Championship and the fifth event for the GTD class, will be held at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, N.Y., on June 27-29, 2014.
