The Guernseyman and racing partner Mike Rockenfeller have climbed to fourth in GTD Pro with three rounds remaining, having outperformed all those above them in the 2hr 40min. Motul SportsCar Grand Prix on the famously fast 4.0-mile circuit in Winsconsin.
It did not always look that way. The No 64 Ford Mustang had set off in eighth after being significantly off the pace of the top Ferrari and Corvettes in qualifying.
It had been a drama-filled race, taking less than 30sec. for the first full-course yellow to hit and indeed much of the duration spent under caution.
But Rockenfeller had put in a strong opening stint to get up into third ahead of handing off to Priaulx with 1hr 34min. left.
On a restart 7min. later, both Corvettes were caught up in separate incidents almost simultaneously and Priaulx suffered contact as a consequence, damaging the car.
By the last restart with just under 38min. remaining, Priaulx had got himself into a close third.
He had made the critical move into second when the depleted ‘Rexy’ of former teammate Laurin Heinrich was forced into a late pit stop, and he maintained that position to finish within 3sec. of Neil Verhagen’s winning BMW.
‘Wow P2 at Road America, this one means a lot,’ Priaulx wrote on social media after his third podium of the season.
His team had posted that second place ‘feels almost like a win after the weekend we’ve had’ and also praised the performance of their No 65 sister car, which placed fifth.
‘Execution is everything and nobody put a foot wrong today.’
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