Having started the season way back in late January at the opening four-hour round at Daytona with a P3 podium for drivers Plumb and (then) Owen Trinkler, the #46 pairing would end the season today with another (P2) podium finish to clinch the drivers title for Plumb as well as the Manufacturers title for AMR and the Teams title for TGM. Birthday boy Holton had to make do with a third placed finish within the GS class by virtue of having only stepped into the #46 car after Trinkler had to step away from racing after Daytona due to injuries sustained during an earlier testing accident.

Going into what was still always going to be a tense finale, the #46 car of Holton held the upper hand having secured another class pole position yesterday but had the #28 car of Steven McAleer close by on the third row although that would quickly become right alongside soon after the race started.

Early positional exchanges saw the race lead come and go for the #46 as the combined thirty-three strong grid of GS and TCR based cars completed the opening laps just as the first caution period hit just seven minutes into this two-hour race. Back to green and unfortunately back to another FCY as two other GS cars made contact at the restart leaving one buried into the outer tyre wall. Fraught for the #28 crew who needed to make up a points deficit but all the time, the race clock counted down for the #46.

Almost fifteen minutes lost, and it was finally back to green but the #28 made the best restart, taking the race lead from the #46 but with the #19 Van Der Steur car playing shotgun close behind although they were obviously racing a race of their own having finally lost any championship aspirations last time out at Indianapolis.

As the race finally settled, the new #50 Toyota to the grid had already moved up to take the lead but had already pit entrance as another GS car off track brought out the third FCY just as the minimum drive time had elapsed. Luckily for some, both the #28 and #46 had just made it into pit lane before that offering was closed by Race Control allowing both to refuel, tyre and driver change before getting back out without having lost too much time on track.

The #19 car would suffer front end damage as Van Der Steur misjudged the car in front slowing for its pit box, breaking off dive planes that would have affected the cars handling just as AMR factory driver Valentin Hasse-Clot was about to get in from P7 whilst the #88 Archangel car of Todd Coleman was next in P9, the #82 Ruckus Racing car of Brady Behrman P11 and the #64 Team TGM car of Ted Giovanis P14 at that point.

Getting ack to green with little over an hour to go, another brief FCY for debris on track again counted that race clock down just a little bit further for the #46 and that would eventually give all a final fifty-four-minute sprint to the flag. Fastest on track at the time was the #88 Archangel car of Aaron Telitz but he was struggling to move up higher than fifth at the time as the second half of the leading GS cars split strategies with the rest and pitted early within their stint for that final top up of fuel that would see them to the end (of which both the #88 and #19 Aston Martins were two of them).

Forty minutes, thirty minutes – the race was counting down but still the #46 car of Plumb held the upper hand as brother Hugh was leading the race within his #64 Team TGM AMR but there was no way he was ever going to make the chequered flag without stopping again or another long caution.

Having finally broken through the front TCR runners, it soon became a Team TGM 1-2 in the race as the #46 car followed the #64 until that had to pit for fuel with just ten minutes remaining. Getting pushed by the #91 Porsche behind, prospects of a final race win of the season where dashed when it was proved that the #91 was just too fast for the #46 car to risk everything with as a P2 finish in front of the #28 Porsche behind was always going to be enough anyway.

And that is how the 2024 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Series finished for the Team TGM crew – P2 in the race with enough points to win not just the GS Drivers Championship for Plumb but also the Teams and Manufacturers titles to add to their Bronze Cup Championship won by Hugh Plumb and Ted Giovanis earlier in the season.

The #19 Van Der Steur crew ended what might be their final GT4 race (before moving up to GT3 (GTD) next season within the Weathertech Sportscar Championship Endurance Cup next season with a P4 finish, P5 for the dogged #88 Archangel crew, the #71 Rebel Rock AMR P9, P16 and another Bronze Cup win for the #64 crew P16 overall with the #82 Ruckus Racing with Van Der Steur finishing a busy weekend for them in P23.

And that was IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge 2024 before it starts again at Daytona early next year!!

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

Racing the infield section of the famous banked circuit it was to be a quick Full Course Caution as one TCR entry faltered within the opening corner sequence but the now fifty-five strong grid were soon back to racing before further contact within the TCR class and contact for the #64 Team TGM AMR of Ted Giovanis brought out the Safety Car again in quick succession.

With twenty minutes lost, the race finally got underway with the #46 car of Holton taking second place on the restart and with the #19 Van Der Steur of his namesake up two positions in sixth but it was the championship threatening #28 Porsche of Trent Hindman holding the overall lead.

Todd Coleman was also having a good start to the race within his #88 Archangel prepared AMR as he climbed from his P11 starting position to P7 as the race eventually settled into something of a rhythm.

Just forty minutes in and just over the minimum drive time for the gentlemen drivers of the grid, it all started to unfold for the Aston Martin Racing runners as first the #88 car of Coleman slowed and soon stopped on track within an apparent electrical issue before eventually recouping himself into pit lane for the attention of his team. Then the sole 2024 Vantage GT4 Evo of the #71 Rebel Rock Racing team saw their car of Frank DePew strike the rear of the TCR class leader into turn one – effectively taking himself out of the race as the Safety Car was again required to clear the debris field.

During that caution period, many of the GS class pitted for service and driver change but at least a problem for the #28 Porsche in pit lane saw them exit well outside of the top ten having lead the class into pit lane but having stayed out, the #82 Van Der Steur with Ruckus Racing entry of Brady Behrman and Scott Blind held the lead at the restart although that didn’t remain the same for long.

Benefitting from a pit lane penalty for the then leading Ford Mustang, the #46 Team TGM car of Plumb soon inherited the overall lead with the #19 VDS car of Premat in fourth as the #88 again faltered on track with the re-occurring electrical issue. It was game over for the green Archangel car as the race clocked half distance.

It was not all easy pickings for the #46 car however, as they soon came under pressure from three charging BMW’s from behind, steadily dropping form first to third overall just ahead of their final scheduled stop but he lost time trying to get the car re-going again.

Running differing strategies, both the #46 and #19 Aston Martins fell outside of the top ten before the #46 worked its way back up into contention again with just thorty minutes remaining. At that point the #82 VDS with Ruckus Racing AMR of Blind was shown a black flag which took them out of the race with (unseen) mechanical issues leaving just the #19 and #46 still in contention.

Overall disaster soon came knocking at the Van Der Steur pit wall as an off and later apparent front quarter damage saw the multi-coloured #19 into pit lane where a simple check by the mechanics saw them sidelined for the remaining thirteen minutes of the race – and possibly their championship aspirations. 

Last man standing saw Plumb having to race hard to retain the final step of the GS podium but that wasn’t to be as the championship contending #95 BMW also got past the #46 car by the end for the crew to pit up the points from a P4 finish.

Despite that, the #46 Team TGM of Holton and Plumb extend both their Championship lead as well as the Manufacturers Title hopes over the #28 Porsche crew going into the final round of the season form Petit Le Mans in three weeks’ time.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media