Duncan Ende Mid-Ohio Race Report

Ende leaves field behind as he and Pumpelly take second straight win at Mid-Ohio

August 7, 2011 (Los Angeles, Calif.) - In stark contrast to his race two weeks ago at Mosport, Duncan Ende was relatively untroubled throughout his stint at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge. Starting from pole position in the no. 66 TRG / Racer's Roast Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, Ende checked out from the rest of the GT-C field, building a ten-second gap on the next car before pitting at roughly the one-hour mark of the race. You would have never known his Cool Suit failed and Ende was cooking inside of his Porsche.

In stark contrast to his race two weeks ago at Mosport, Spencer Pumpelly was relatively untroubled by the other GT and GT-C cars as he finished out the race. While he fell to third as two other GT-C cars improperly passed the pace car during one of the many full course caution periods, those cars were eventually brought in for penalties, leaving the Racer's Roast machine with a healthy lead. Pumpelly survived the deluge that fell at Mid-Ohio in the final hour, as well as a late-race surge from the Magnus Racing Porsche, to stay in the lead until the Red Flag that ultimately ended the race came out.

#66 TRG Porsche 911 GT3 Cup: Duncan Ende, Spencer Pumpelly

Photo by: Adriano Manocchia

Ende and Pumpelly's performance has established the no. 66 TRG/Racer's Roast Porsche as the most dominant in the competitive GT-C class with four races remaining in the 2011 season. With two wins and two second-place finishes on the season, Ende and Pumpelly have closed the gap to the championship leading no. 54 Black Swan Racing Porsche to a mere 8 points. The win was also Ende's third in eight ALMS starts.

"That was one of the wildest races I've ever been in - the pace car broke down, a bunch of cars in GT-C got penalized, and the conditions with the rain were so bad cars were spinning off everywhere," said Ende. "I am very glad that my stint didn't have any of that craziness! The TRG guys gave us a mega Porsche and I just put my head down and clicked off laps, and then Spence did his thing and finished it off. I'm a pretty worn out because my Cool Suit didn't work, but that's a small price to pay when the car is that good. I can't wait to try and do it again and get our third win of the year at Road America."

The next American Le Mans Series race is in two weeks at the Road America circuit in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The Road Race Showcase will be shown live on ESPN3.com on August 20 at 2:45 PM CT, with a television broadcast on ABC on Sunday, August 21 at 4:30 PM ET.