Grand Prix: O'Connell Passes World Challenge Test

Johnny O’Connell had quite the day Sunday en route to the top of the Pirelli World Challenge series championship. O’Connell fell from second to fourth at the green flag, then moved back to second on a restart that positioned him to win the Replay XD Grand Prix of Long Beach presented by Cadillac.

O’Connell drove his factory Cadillac ATS-VR GT3 past pole-sitter Alvaro Parente’s McLaren 650S GT3 on a restart on Lap 16 and outlasted Parente and Manhattan Beach’s Patrick Long for the GT class victory.

It is O’Connell’s second victory of the season. He won the race by virtue of his restarts, which flew in the face of his recent past.

“The first four races," he said, "I pretty much had bad restarts.”

Not so on Sunday. Long, who moved into second place in the championship, had a good look at the race in front of him.

“The fastest driver won and the second fastest driver finished second,” Long said.

There are several fast drivers in the series, said O'Connell, who beat Parente to the checkered flag by 1.1 seconds. "When you look at this podium, Patrick has won at Le Mans and Alvaro is world class," he said. "You're not a factory McLaren driver unless you've got some talent. ... When you see Alvaro or Patrick here, it's a destination (series)."

Long’s Effort Racing Porsche 911 GTR3 R teammate Michael Lewis of Laguna Beach, coming off back-to-back victories at St. Petersburg, started and finished sixth after getting shuffled back to ninth after a restart.

The driver who put on the best show, however, was Michael Cooper. Also in a factory Cadillac, Cooper started last in the field of 22 because he didn’t post a qualifying time.

Cooper drove his way to fifth by Lap 19 and fourth by Lap 25 while being the only driver in the field to complete the 11-turn, 1.968-mile circuit in less than 1 minute 20 seconds.

The timed 50-minute race went 30 laps, but Cooper lost the back end with three laps remaining and hit the wall. He finished 15th.

Martin Fuentes piloted a Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 to his fifth of five races this season in the GTA class. He finished eighth overall. Santa Monica’s Tim Pappas took second in a Dodge Viper and Newport Beach’s Brent Holden was third in an Audi R8.

STADIUM SUPER TRUCKS

Sheldon Creed took first place, Robby Gordon second and Matt Brabham third in the Stadium Super Trucks that closed the race weekend. Gordon's hometown is nearby Orange.

Photo: Alvaro Parente (left), Johnny O'Connell (center) and Patrick Long finished second, first and third in the Replay XD Grand Prix at Long Beach presented by Cadillac. Photo/Martin Henderson