Tunjo tops wet Sunday VP Challenge race at Mid-Ohio

Rain changed the conditions and the winners in Sunday’s second 45-minute IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge race of the weekend at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

For overall and LMP3 winner Oscar Tunjo, Sunday’s 45-minute race marked his first trip to victory lane on an IMSA weekend. In the two GT classes, Adam Adelson (Grand Touring Daytona X, GTDX) and Kiko Porto (Grand Sport X, GSX) resumed their winning ways from earlier in the season.

Tunjo in the No. 31 Gebhardt Intralogistics Motorsports Duqueine D08 started second but completed an immediate pass of polesitting teammate Valentino Catalano in the No. 30 Gebhardt Duqueine at Turns 4 and 5 and set sail on his teammate.

He built the lead to over 10s, a number fresh in the Colombian driver’s mind after a 10s post-race penalty assessed on Saturday for changing columns prior to the race start. 

Tunjo had a battle to conquer after a restart, with the field closing and Catalano now just one car length behind rather than multiple seconds behind as it had been most of the race. But Tunjo extended the gap to 1.279s at the checkered flag to become the fourth different P3 winner in the last four races (Jonathan Woolridge, Catalano and Corey Lewis). 

“I saw the gap in the first corner and, yeah, I just broke a little later and got the leap,” Tunjo said. “When the safety car came, I put my foot down. Super happy to get my first win in IMSA and (VPRC).” 

Michael Levitt/IMSA

The GTDX battle showcased the ability of the drivers and the GT3-specification cars in these treacherous conditions, since they have both ABS and traction control available to them.

AJ Muss in the No. 66 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 passed polesitting Jake Walker in the No. 6 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 for the lead, and a lap later Adelson in his No. 24 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R passed Walker for second.

Wright's driver then uncorked an excellent pass for the lead on lap nine out of Turns 4 and 5 and into the rhythm section of the track, Turns 6, 7 and 8 around the outside of Muss for the lead. As also shown in the rain in round two at Daytona International Speedway, Adelson’s and the Porsche’s abilities in these conditions shone through on a gray day.

Adelson had contact in Turn 2 with Lewis’ No. 36 RAFA Racing Ligier JS P320 P3 car after the last restart, which sent the Saturday P3 winner’s car spinning around like a top. Because the contact was incidental, race control reviewed the incident with no further action and Adelson took home the win by 5.019s over Muss with Walker third. It’s Adelson’s third win of the year after sweeping the season opener in Daytona.

“I feel like I was really able to rely on my experience there,” Adelson said. “I've been very lucky to do a lot of racing in the rain and I absolutely love racing in the rain. For me, there’s no better car to drive than a Porsche 911 in the wet; you’ve got great performance under braking and great power down.

“The wet is a great equalizer, and I feel like I was able to showcase that today and I'm so proud to bring it home for Wright.”

On the Lewis contact, Adelson noted: “It was just kind of one of those racing incidents where I was able to carry the tight line. He had a lot of understeer and couldn't really do the late apex. It was maybe one millimeter too close.” 

Samantha Tan rebounded to take the GTDX Bronze Cup win in her No. 38 ST Racing BMW M4 GT3 ahead of Saturday winner Vin Barletta in the No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW. She also highlighted her rain experience at round two in Daytona as a key learning point to aid her success this race, securing her class-leading third Bronze Cup win of 2025.

Michael Levitt/IMSA

GSX also saw an early-race lead pass, with Kiko Porto in the No. 8 RAFA Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 getting around polesitting teammate Ian Porter in the similar No. 68 RAFA Toyota for a lead which he wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the race. 

The Brazilian scored his fourth GSX win of the year by 3.122s over Chris Walsh, who won the Bronze Cup in class in his debut weekend with the No. 22 TWOth Autosport Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS. Like Adelson, Walsh also hailed the Porsche’s pace in the wet.

“It was definitely very slippery,” said Porto, who had rain experience on Mid-Ohio’s old surface but not this one. “With the new pavement, they completely changed the lines. So it was pretty tough for me as well adapting for what knowledge that I had, but not get so stuck with that information and try different things.”

Saturday winner Steven Clemons finished third in the No. 76 BSI Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2, bouncing back after a spin after Porter contacted him and was assessed a drive-through for incident responsibility.

The VP Racing SportsCar Challenge season continues with round four, races seven and eight from Canadian Tire Motorsport Park as part of the Chevrolet Grand Prix weekend, July 11-13.

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