Ferrari continued its dominance of GT World Challenge America powered by AWS competition, scoring its 10th consecutive victory in the Am class on Sunday at Watkins Glen International.
AF Corse teammates Jean-Claude Saada and Conrad Grunewald led start to finish for the second-consecutive day in the No. 61 Cambridge Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020, placing 10th overall in multi-class competition. Grunewald started the race in 11th and ran a smooth opening stint. Electing for the overcut, he pitted near the end of the 10-minute pit window near the 50-minute mark, running fourth overall at the time. Saada then took over and ran in the top 10 throughout the final 40 minutes to wrap up the victory while adding to the team’s insurmountable point tally.
The win capped a weekend of consecutive wins as the team also swept to a convincing victory in the Saturday race as well. “I had the most fun today,” Saada said. “The first 15 minutes of the race were amazing. I felt the car, I felt the track, and everything came together. I was calm. Conrad kept talking in my ear and giving me some guidance, but at the end, it was just magic. Everything was very, very cool.”
Saada qualified first in Am and eighth overall in Saturday morning’s red flag shortened session, turning a lap of 1:51.362-seconds on a damp track. Grunewald began his stint in 13th overall, and worked his way up to 11th for the finish. “I cannot be more proud of Jean-Claude,” Grunewald said. “His qualifying was astounding – I haven’t seen him drive like that for years. He left us in a great position, strategy-wise. Our competition was way back, and they ended up having a mistake, so we asked Jean-Claude to take it easy, to bring the car back in one piece."
Next up for the GT World Challenge America competitors is a visit to Sebring International Raceway for a pair of 90-minute races on Oct. 2-3. The season concludes with the Indianapolis 8 Hour, an Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oct. 17. World Challenge Competitors collect double points at the three-hour mark. While that concludes the season, teams are then encouraged to complete the eight hours of racing.