- Dakota Dickerson, Taylor Hagler recover from opening lap contact to score third Pro/Am Class victory of season for Racers Edge Motorsports
- Acura NSX GT3 Evo teams earn double-podium Pro/Am finish in Sunday’s GT race
- Compass Racing duo of Rodrigo Sales and Matt McMurry take their Acura to third
The Racers Edge pairing of Dakota Dickerson and Taylor Hagler snatched victory from the proverbial jaws of defeat Sunday at Sebring International Raceway to score the team’s third Pro-Am win of the 2021 Fanatec GT World Challenge America Powered by AWS season.
Following up on a Saturday effort that saw the Racers Edge #93 Acura NSX GT3 come home a close second in the Pro/Am class, the team was poised to move another step up the podium as Dickerson took the first stint in Sunday’s race.
The optimism didn’t last long as Ryan Dalziel initiated contact with the Compass Racing Acura NSX GT3 of Matt McMurry on the opening lap, sending McMurry into Dickerson and pushing the Racers’ Edge car into the Sebring sand. Dickerson recovered and was able to continue but did so only after dropping to last in the field.
Undaunted, Dickerson battled his way towards the front, climbing to fourth overall before handing the #93 NSX over to Hagler. Trailing class leader Fred Poordad on a restart with 28 minutes remaining in the race, Hagler took advantage of traffic on the restart and slipped past the Poordad, taking a lead she would not relinquish. She fought off a late advance from the Mercedes of Erin Vogel but was equal to the task in taking the team to its third win of the year.
Meanwhile, Rodrigo Sales and McMurry placed fourth in Saturday’s opener in their Compass Acura, and did that one better on Sunday, to complete the Pro/Am podium.
Despite significant damage to the rear of the #77 Compass Acura in the opening-lap contact, McMurry continued to run with the Pro/Am leaders throughout his opening stint. After the mid- race pits stop and driver change, Sales passed early leader Poordad and chased Vogel to the finish – putting a second NSX GT3 Evo on the podium with a third-place Pro/Am result.
Fanatec GT World Challenge America Powered by AWS Sebring Saturday Race Results
- 2nd Pro/Am – #93 Taylor Hagler and Dakota Dickerson, Racers Edge Acura NSX GT3
- 4th Pro/Am – #77 Rodrigo Sales and Matt McMurry, Compass Racing Acura NSX GT3
Fanatec GT World Challenge America Powered by AWS Sebring Sunday Race Results
- 1st Pro/Am - #93 Taylor Hagler and Dakota Dickerson, Racers Edge Acura NSX GT3
- 3rd Pro/Am - #77 Rodrigo Sales and Matt McMurry, Compass Racing Acura NSX GT3
Quotes
Taylor Hagler (#93 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 Evo) 1st Pro/Am on Sunday: “Honestly, I don’t know if [Pro-Am leader Fred Poordad] had an issue, or if he just got startled at the start with all the Pro-Pro drivers. I was able to follow another car through, and made a pass on the outside of Turn 7 and made it stick. From there, that was it.”
Dakota Dickerson (#93 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 Evo) 1st Pro/Am on Sunday: “We’ve made a lot of progress this season, and it’s due to the support of the Racers Edge Motorsports team and Honda Performance Development. They’ve built a program (the HPD Academy) that enables young drivers like myself and [teammate] Taylor [Hagler] to come up through the ranks of the sport. It’s been a pleasure working with them, and I’m hoping we can continue this success into the [season-ending] Indianapolis Eight Hour.”
Next
The Acura NSX GT3 Evo teams will head to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the season-ending Indianapolis 8-Hour race on October 17.
Social media content and video links from this weekend’s Fanatec GT World Challenge America races from Sebring are available on Instagram (www.instagram.com/hondaracing_hpd), Twitter (www.twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD). Additional features and long-form videos can be found on the Honda Racing/HPD YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV).
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