Edinburgh’s Robin Liddell scored his second consecutive class victory in eight days when he steered his Pontiac home to GT honours in the fourth round of the Grand-Am series at the Virginia International Raceway.
Co-driver Andrew Davis started from second place on the GT grid and held position before pitting during a full course caution period 13mins into the 250-mile race and then handing over to Liddell on the one hour mark.
Liddell held fifth place 30mins later, at just over the midway stage, but some canny race strategy by the Stevenson Motorsports team saw Robin pit the Pontiac GXP.R for a quick splash of fuel under “green” race conditions.
This move allowed Liddell to head the GT field with 18-laps to run as his rivals pitted under caution conditions, a position he held to the chequered flag in the 77-lap race around the 3.27-mile, 17-corner VIR.
“Having scored my first class win for almost two years eight days ago in Mexico, this victory is very sweet indeed and proves it was no one-off fluke,” an elated Liddell, who finished over six seconds ahead of his nearest class rival, beamed.
“The Pontiac ran beautifully throughout the race while Stevenson Motorsport’s race strategy was first class. We’re the team to beat and this form bodes well for the remainder of the season.”
The fifth round of the Grand-Am series is staged at Laguna Seca in California on May 17.
JM