SONOMA, Calif. – Michael Cooper and Michael Dinan continued their Pirelli GT4 Sprint winning ways at Sonoma Raceway on Friday afternoon.
Cooper won his third Pro division race in a row, while Dinan scored his fourth Am division victory in a row. Spencer Pumpelly finished second, while Drew Staveley finished third.
The 50-minute sprint contest was held under sunny, 75-degree Fahrenheit weather conditions. From pole Pumpelly, in the No. 66 TRG-The Racers Group/LaSalle Solutions Porsche 718 Cayman GT4, led the field to the green and was immediately challenged by Cooper.
Cooper attempted a drag race pass of Pumpelly around the outside of turn one, but Pumpelly effectively closed the door only to have Cooper come back to go side by side with him through turn two.
Cooper was able to then slide by through turn three and into the lead. From there he grew his lead up to as much as four seconds over Pumpelly during the race. Behind the two, Drew Staveley slotted into third, while Jarett Andretti moved into fourth overall around Dinan.
The leaders essentially settled in, hitting their marks and at the checkered Cooper crossed the line 2.6 seconds ahead of Pumpelly. Staveley finished third ahead of Andretti. Dinan finished fifth overall ahead of fellow Am competitors Paul Terry and Jeff Burton.
“I was able to cross over and make it stick on the outside of turn 2, my car’s pretty good on cold tires,” said Cooper after the race. “I’ve won in everything (since I started coming here in 2012), I can be beaten on any given day, but it’s pretty tough to beat me here at Sonoma.”
“I was told not to take any risks and maintain the gap on Terry behind me,” said Dinan. “It’s a long weekend, this is the first of six races (between Sprint and SprintX) so it was important to keep the car in good shape and take care of it for the remaining races.”