PT Autosport with JDX Racing earned a hard-fought second place finish in last weekend’s Porsche Carrera Cup North America, with Alex Sedgwick powering from a 10th place starting position to finish second in race one of the doubleheader at Road America.
The 25-year-old Warwickshire, UK native battled hard all weekend, keeping his No. 98 PT Autosport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Car in contention for the season-ending championship. Sedgwick added a sixth-place finish in race two to remain in second position in points.
Sedgwick came out of the box flying in Thursday afternoon practice, pacing second behind the points leader for much of the session but settling for eighth at the checkered flag.
Qualifying for the pair of 40-minute races took the green flag late Friday afternoon, and Sedgwick wasted no time getting up to speed, briefly in P2 with his first timed lap, but back to P11 and ready to make a charge when a car into the wall in Turn 11 stopped the session. Heading back out, Sedgwick found himself mired in traffic and settled for a tenth place starting position for race one, and eighth in race two.
At the drop of the green on Saturday morning, Sedgwick worked his way into clear air, which served him well in Turn 5 as four cars ahead tangled and went off. With smart moves and quick reflexes, Sedgwick finished lap one in fifth position, then made the move for fourth coming out of the Kink.
The race settled in with Sedgwick staying close to the leaders. With 20 minutes remaining, a car went off track and brought out a full course caution. When the race went back to green, the car ahead went wide on Turn 1, and Sedgwick made a bold move to pass not only that car, but the car ahead of him, surviving a couple of knocks to his left rear to take over second position. By the time Sedgwick had taken the position, the championship points leader had built a substantial lead in the race, and Sedgwick held his ground to earn his fourth podium of the season.
“I benefitted from a bit of chaos on that first lap, but I was able to sneak through,” said Sedgwick. “I was tracking down the top three and that yellow helped me catch up, and I was able to get by the guys ahead on the restart. Not quite enough left in the car and the tires to get close to Loek for the win but it was a positive finish – a good recovery to keep our championship hopes alive.”
Sedgwick found himself in a brawl at the drop of the green in Sunday’s race two, as the car ahead at the green slowed, causing Sedgwick to lose two positions in the usual Turn 1 chaos. He gained them back by the end of lap one. A caution for a car off in Turn 3 stalled the action, and on the restart, Sedgwick pulled alongside teammate Elias de la Torre in Turn 6 but de la Torre had the inside through Turn 7, pushing Sedgwick into the dirt. Refusing to relent, Sedgwick made the pass stick in Turn 1.
Sedgwick continued the charge, taking sixth with 20 minutes remaining, but not without a bit of paint exchanged. He was able to bridge the gap to fifth position, but having used up much of his tire tread after getting boxed in at the start and picking up a push late in the race, he took the green in that fifth spot.
“Could have been better, could have been worse,” said Sedgwick. “We were just missing a bit of rotation and speed that we had yesterday. We’ve got some more work to do now for the rest of the year but I know this team is up to the task.”
PT Autosport team principal Jason Myers appreciated the effort by the JDX Racing team, continuing to keep Sedgwick in the championship hunt.
“What a great weekend – though it certainly had its high and lows – that saw Alex progress more as a driver and also further into his second place position in the standings,” said Myers. “His qualifying was uncharacteristically outside the first few rows, which he immediately corrected, finishing the race P2 after carving through all but the leader of the race. JDX is obsessive about getting the setup on the car just right and giving Alex a Porsche he can really go race for the win with. Our engineer Ryan (Neff) is really standing out in a class of his own, and our car chief Cody Wollenslegel gives this car 110% of the much needed attention it deserves. Definitely looking forward to Indy and seeing Alex close the championship gap some more.”
PT Autosport would like to thank partners STEAM Sports Foundation, Classic Car Club Manhattan and New Jersey Motorsports Park, as well as JDX Racing partners Byers/Porsche Columbus, and Renier Construction.
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