Racing phenom Luca Mars won his third race of the 2024 IMSA VP Racing Sports Car Challenge GSX Series, at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, driving the No.59 KohR Motorsports S650 Ford Mustang GT4 on Forgeline one piece forged monoblock GS1R wheels.
Luca qualified his No.59 KohR Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4 in the third place starting position, but contact on the opening lap between the polesitter No.21 McLaren of Jesse Lazare and the second place No.78 Mercedes of Josh Green allowed Luca to quickly slip into second place. At the restart, Lazare lined up in the wrong lane and, a few laps later, was assessed a pit-lane drive-through penalty. Lazare's tour of the pit lane moved Luca into first place, which he maintained to the checkered flag to claim the win with a 5.606-second margin of victory.
Luca's win at Mid-Ohio was his third win so far of the 2024 VP Racing Sport Challenge Series, and it ensured that he remains the 2024 season points leader.
“It’s not a long race out there but it’s really hot, so it’s a battle of who can save the tires, who can stay in front the longest,” Mars said. “I got kind of lucky there at the start. Josh and Jesse had a little incident, let me come into second, then Jesse had to serve that penalty. From then on, I was just managing a gap. I was glad I was able to hold on.”
Luca's No.59 KohR Motorsports Mustang is one of Ford’s new factory-direct S650 Mustang GT4s that are built in partnership with Multimatic Motorsports. It’s powered by a Coyote-based V8 engine developed by Ford Performance mated to a paddle-shifted Holinger dog-ring gearbox and rides on an upgraded competition-approved suspension package, Multimatic DSSV dampers, Brembo brakes, Michelin racing slicks, and 18×11 Forgeline one piece forged monoblock GS1R wheels.
Luca, his KohR Motorsports team, and the rest of the IMSA VP Racing Sport Car Challenge field return to action on the July 12-14 weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
Luca qualified his No.59 KohR Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4 in the third place starting position, but contact on the opening lap between the polesitter No.21 McLaren of Jesse Lazare and the second place No.78 Mercedes of Josh Green allowed Luca to quickly slip into second place. At the restart, Lazare lined up in the wrong lane and, a few laps later, was assessed a pit-lane drive-through penalty. Lazare's tour of the pit lane moved Luca into first place, which he maintained to the checkered flag to claim the win with a 5.606-second margin of victory.
Luca's win at Mid-Ohio was his third win so far of the 2024 VP Racing Sport Challenge Series, and it ensured that he remains the 2024 season points leader.
“It’s not a long race out there but it’s really hot, so it’s a battle of who can save the tires, who can stay in front the longest,” Mars said. “I got kind of lucky there at the start. Josh and Jesse had a little incident, let me come into second, then Jesse had to serve that penalty. From then on, I was just managing a gap. I was glad I was able to hold on.”
Luca's No.59 KohR Motorsports Mustang is one of Ford’s new factory-direct S650 Mustang GT4s that are built in partnership with Multimatic Motorsports. It’s powered by a Coyote-based V8 engine developed by Ford Performance mated to a paddle-shifted Holinger dog-ring gearbox and rides on an upgraded competition-approved suspension package, Multimatic DSSV dampers, Brembo brakes, Michelin racing slicks, and 18×11 Forgeline one piece forged monoblock GS1R wheels.
Luca, his KohR Motorsports team, and the rest of the IMSA VP Racing Sport Car Challenge field return to action on the July 12-14 weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.