3/6/2017
James Davison
Davison storms to 2nd on the streets of St. Petersburg
Alvaro Parente got his Pirelli World Challenge GT title defense off to the best possible start, with a win in Saturday’s opening round on the streets of St. Pete.
Parente took his No. 9 K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S GT3 to a 10.135-second win over a hard-charging James Davison in the No. 007 TRG Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3, who ended up second.
Davison got around the pole-sitting No. 31 TR3 Racing Ferrari 488 GT3 of Daniel Mancinelli on the final lap, with the Italian, in his PWC debut, running wide and nearly hitting the wall.
Mancinelli lost the lead to Parente on the second lap, who charged from third on the grid in the McLaren, behind the No. 4 Magnus Racing Audi R8 LMS of Pierre Kaffer.
Davison, meanwhile, jumped from fourth to second in the closing laps, getting around Kaffer with five minutes to go, prior to a right-rear puncture by the Audi, after contact with the wall.
The late-race chaos promoted the No. 58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R of Patrick Long to third at the end, ahead of Johnny O’Connell in the No. 3 Cadillac ATS.V-R and Bryan Sellers, who completed the top-five in the No. 6 K-PAX McLaren.
Submitted By: James Davison
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