Kenton Koch leading the start on Sunday at Road America. [Jack Webster Photo]
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (Aug. 9, 2015) – Kenton Koch may be a rookie in the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda series, but you wouldn’t know that to see him on the track.
Kenton Koch at speed on his way to victory #8 in 2015. [Photo by Jack Webster]
Koch picked up his eighth win of the season, a .964-second victory over Robert Alon, in Round 10 of the championship at Road America to continue to stretch his points lead.
Koch, from Glendora, California, led from flag-to-flag in the No. 60 JDC Motorsports entry in the incident-strewn race that ended under caution.
“Definitely the first half of the race was tricky trying to hold off Robert,” Koch said. “I was really having a blast duking it out with Robert. I hate to win like that, but a win is a win.”
The second place finish for Alon, from Encino, California, matches his best of the season in the No. 00 Performance Tech Motorsports entry. He also finished second in Round 6 at Watkins Glen International in June.
Alon’s teammate, Austin Versteeg, from Sandy, Utah, rounded out the overall podium with a third place finish in the No. 16 Élan DP02 chassis powered by a Mazda engine.
Jon Brownson, from Breckenridge, Colorado, finished fourth in the No. 35 Eurosport Racing entry. He was also the top Lites 1 Masters finisher. His Eurosport Racing teammate, Anthony Downs, rounded out the top five in the No. 17 entry.
Lites 2 championship leader Brian Alder, from Dublin, Ohio, earned his second straight class victory of the weekend and fifth on the season in the No. 22 BAR1 Motorsports entry.
The race started with the three JDC Motorsports teammates, Koch, Matt McMurry and Clark Toppe, 1-2-3 on the grid. Misfortune struck early for Toppe, despite his strong challenge for the lead, going side-by-side with Koch through Turn 3.
By the second lap he had to be towed to the pits, triggering the first caution of the race. Alon would inherit second place with McMurry in third. Five laps later McMurry made contact with the tire barrier in Turn 12 to end his day.
Koch pulled away from Alon on the ensuing restart but Alon closed the gap to battle for the victory before another caution would be triggered by two cars off track in Turn 13 and 14 in separate incidents.
“(Alon and I) were side by side multiple times,” Koch said. “I was conserving the tires, and I think he wore off his tires in the beginning of the race. On each restart I was able to pull away.”
Koch once again pulled away on the final restart with eight minutes to go, but a four-car incident in Turn 5 led to a race-ending yellow flag.
Masters
Brownson earned his first podium finish of the season in the Lites 1 Masters class, finishing first in class and fourth overall after starting seventh.
“This feels like my first race of the season,” Brownson said. “I was down in Sebring, but to be here and to podium is special. It’s a wonderful place and we love racing Road America. I grew up coming here. It’s a special occasion to be here. It’s a great place. And the competition in this series is getting better all the time, I love it.”
Joel Janco, from Key Largo, Florida, continued his podium streak picking up his seventh second-place finish of the season in the No. 25 Performance Tech Motorsports entry.
Don Yount, from Dallas, rounded out the podium with a third-place finish in the No. 28 Yount Motorsports entry. Janco and Yount are in a battle for second place in the Lites 1 Masters championship. Janco holds the 152-137 advantage.
Lites 2
Alder increased his Lites 2 championship lead with his second-straight class win to 182-178 over second place Todd Slusher.
“We actually started third, and we were mixing it up with some guys in the L1 class at the end,” Alder said. “On the restart I had a good run and (Todd Slusher) went a little wide and we went side by side in Turn 2 and that was it; I sealed the deal. This is probably one of the most rewarding victories of the season, to have a good battle out there and finish on top.”
Slusher finished second in class for the second straight day in the No. 62 ONE Motorsports entry. Between Alder and Slusher, the two account for nine wins on the season.
Max DeAngelis finished third in the No. 7 Eurosport Racing entry.
Up Next
Rounds 11 and 12 are scheduled for Aug. 28-29 at VIRginia International Raceway in Danville, Virginia.
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