BRASELTON, Ga. — He had to overtake and then hold off the latest member of a great racing family, but Bijoy Garg persevered Thursday at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta to essentially wrap up the Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) championship in the inaugural season of the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge.
Garg took the overall and class win in the No. 3 Jr III Racing Ligier JS P320 and needs only to start Friday’s 45-minute race to secure the title. Meanwhile in the GSX class for GT4-spec cars, Sebastian Carazo notched his first win of the season in the No. 27 Kellymoss with Riley Porsche 718 GT4 RS Clubsport to keep his flickering championship hopes alive.
Garg started second on Thursday to Jagger Jones, the grandson of racing legend Parnelli Jones and son of former IMSA racer PJ Jones. Making his debut in any IMSA series, Jagger Jones put the No. 87 Remstar Racing Duqueine D08 on the pole in qualifying but bobbled going through the Turn 10 A-B section of the 2.54-mile, 12-turn road course on the first race lap.
It opened the door for Garg to pass heading into the final corner — a lead Garg never relinquished despite repeated attacks from Jones. The last such attempt came with just under three minutes to go as the leaders worked around the lapped No. 82 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 driven by Brady Behrman.
As Garg darted right to pass Behrman on the back straight, Jones tried to squeeze between the two but made contact with Behrman, sending the Aston Martin careening into the wall and ending the race under a full-course caution.
Garg avoided the melee to take the victory. Jones was assessed a post-race penalty for incident responsibility and dropped to seventh place in the results.
“Jagger made me work for that one; it wasn’t easy by any means,” said Garg, who won for the fifth straight time and seventh overall this season. “I had to defend quite a few times (and) almost lost the car when the final yellow was called, just defending from him. He definitely had better straight-line speed. (I was) just constantly having to look in my mirrors and break the tow. It was so stressful out there but I’m so glad we got this.”
Jones’ penalty elevated Courtney Crone (No. 99 Forty7 Motorsports Duqueine) to second in LMP3, the best finish of the season for the 2023-24 IMSA Diverse Driver Development Scholarship recipient. Brian Thienes finished third in the No. 77 Forte Racing Powered by US RaceTronics Ligier.
Dan Goldburg (No. 73 JDC MotorSports Duqueine) was the only driver with a shot at upending Garg’s championship bid coming into the weekend. Goldburg finished sixth Thursday after being penalized for incident responsibility for contact with Moisey Uretsky (No. 44 Accelerating Performance Porsche) on lap 10, eliminating any chance for the title if Garg starts Friday’s race.
“It feels really good,” Garg said. “I’ve been working hard for this. I couldn’t do it without everyone at Jr III. It’s amazing for them, it’s their first championship. Every one of the guys has given so much for this this year, and I’m so happy for them.”
Carazo Wins GSX Race
After reaching the podium in half of the first 10 GSX races this season but not winning, Carazo led flag-to-flag on Thursday to collect his maiden series victory. Points leader Francis Selldorff (No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4) finished second to retain a commanding lead in the standings.
The only way Selldorff doesn’t walk away with the GSX championship is if Carazo doubles up on wins in Friday’s finale and Selldorff finishes last in the 16-car GSX field.
“It’s great to be able to get the first win of the season on the last weekend,” Carazo said. “It’s great for the team to be on a high note. It’s been a lot of hard work. Maybe if all the stars align and we can get, I don’t know, another blue moon or a full eclipse, we can probably get the win (on Friday). If we’re on it like we are today and we get the luck we need, we can maybe win it.”