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Corvettes Battle to 1-2 in GTS
Ron Fellows and Johnny O’Connell won the GTS class while Oliver Gavin and Olivier Beretta finished second. Corvettes placed third and fourth overall. The third place finish matched the existing ALMS record for the highest finish by a GTS car.
Fellows and O'Connell extended their lead in the series point standings with their second consecutive GTS class win of the season, having also won the season-opening Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. The 18th career ALMS win for both drivers moved them into a tie with Lucas Luhr for second place on the series' all-time wins list.
The two have also won all three years that the ALMS has raced at Mid-Ohio.
Fellows, who drove the first stint, chased the Corvette Racing team car driven by Oliver Gavin in the first hour of the race, occasionally closing but maintaining a consistent presence.
The race was decided in the pits as Gavin's car pitted first, under green, and Fellows remained on the track and benefited when the full-course caution came out shortly after. He handed the car and a large lead over to O'Connell, who then withstood a charge by Olivier Beretta (replacing Gavin) for a 33.470 seconds win.
"Sometimes getting a big lead like that can play on your mind," said O'Connell. "You're just thinking ‘don't mess this up' and then you do mess up. Olivier had some clear laps and gained on me, but then once we both got into traffic it evened out."
"We got a lucky break when the yellow came out," said Fellows. "It was just strategy that the 4 was going to pit sooner. A win is a win is a win, like I always say."
