Porsche Portland race summary

PORSCHE TAKES MANUFACTURER'S LEAD OVER CADILLAC IN SPEED WORLD CHALLENGE GT; POLICASTRO WINS ROUND #3 OF IMSA GT3 CUP IN PORTLAND

PORTLAND, Ore. - July 31 -- Despite some bad luck for both leading Porsche 911 GT3 Cup teams in the SPEED World Challenge GT race at Portland International Raceway, Porsche has overtaken Cadillac to leads the manufacturer's points in this hotly- contested series.

Wolf Henzler, from Germany, who started on the front row in his #55 Applied Materials Farnbacher-Loles Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, timed his standing start perfectly, but was unable to hold off the two leading Corvettes, finishing third, but ahead of the Cadillacs, which held the manufacturer's points lead before the start of the event. Porsche now has 43 points, and Cadillac 42.

Henzler's teammate, rookie Ricardo Imery, from Venezuela, was also running in the top five in his Porsche before a transmission problem sidelined his effort.

Robin Liddell, from Scotland, who is third in the driver's championship, suffered from clutch problems on the starting line, and inched over his chalk mark before the standing start signal, earning him a stop-and-go penalty. He was running second early in the event, and would have taken over the points lead with that finish, but ended up ninth after the penalty in his AXA Financial John Groom Racing Porsche. Team owner Groom finished in 12th place in his Porsche.

In the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge presented by Michelin, Jay Policastro, from Latrobe, Penn., outlasted the field of identical Porsche 911 GT3 Cup racers, including his father, to win Round #3 of the championship and take the points lead with two races remaining. Policastro, who took the lead right at the start, had to hold off challengers Chris Wally, from Leawood, KS, and Tom Pank, Walkfersville, MD at the end as a yellow flag with only two laps remaining brought the field together. Policastro's dad Joe finished seventh.

Complete results of the SPEED World Challenge GT event can be found on www.world-challenge.com, while results of the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge presented by Michelin are posted on www.imsaracing.net. The SCCA SPEED World Challenge GT will be broadcast on SPEED Channel at 6 p.m. (EDT) on Saturday, Aug. 7. A one-minute summary of the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge will be telecast during the Road America American Le Mans Series broadcast on The Speed Channel on Sunday, August 21.

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