By: Bryan Herta Autosport
March 18, 2024
March 18, 2024
The Alan Jay Automotive 120 at Sebring International Raceway concluded with all four BHA Hyundai Elantra N TCR's finishing inside the top-ten. A yellow flag fell 38 minutes into the two-hour race. Drivers are required to complete 40 minutes of the race to receive championship points. The caution period was just long enough that some teams chose to pit and complete their driver change, while others held on, creating a split strategy race.
Harry Gottsacker earned his ninth TCR pole and extended his own series record when he qualified first. Gottsacker had a strong start and led 14 laps in his stint. The #33 team finished third and jumped from 12th to fourth in the championship standings.
Preston Brown and Denis Dupont followed up their second-place finish in the season opener at Daytona with another top five at Sebring. They gained an impressive 10 positions to finish fourth and remain second in the standings.
Coming off a podium at Daytona and sixth at Sebring, Mason Filippi and Mark Wilkins' consistency keeps them third in the standings.
Taylor Hagler had her best qualifying result since joining BHA in 2021. She started fourth and ran strong until mid-race contact resulted in a punctured tire. Bryson Morris took over mid-race and recorded the fastest race lap en-route to their eighth-place finish.
Hyundais led 21 of 47 laps at Sebring resulting in a $2100 for the Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Childrens Hospital by Hyundai Hope on Wheels (HHOW). HHOW has committed to donating $100 for every race lap led by a Hyundai in 2024.
Car/Drivers Total Laps Led in 2024
#33 Gottsacker/Wickens 26
#98 Filippi/Wilkins 3
#76 Brown/Dupont 2
#99 Gonzalez/Gonzalez 2
#80 Chase/Burkhead 2
#98 Filippi/Wilkins 3
#76 Brown/Dupont 2
#99 Gonzalez/Gonzalez 2
#80 Chase/Burkhead 2
2024 Total Laps Led 35 $3500
#33 Elantra N TCR 2023 CHAMPIONS
Started: 1st Finished: 3rd 2024 Standings: 4th
Harry Gottsacker: "It was nice to grab another pole and lead 14 laps for Hyundai’s Hope on Wheels campaign and raise funds for Arnold Palmer's Childrens Hospital here in Florida. The strategy just didn’t go our way to get back up to the lead, but it was great to get a strong finish for the points. We are looking forward to another shot at executing a win at Laguna Seca."
Robert Wickens: "Not the result we were looking for after a really strong qualifying. Harry led most of the opening stint but an untimely yellow basically split the field 50/50 on strategy. It could have gone either way, but today we didn't get the breaks we needed. It felt good to get our season up and running but can't help but feel a little disappointed."
#76 Elantra N TCR
Started: 14th Finished: 4th 2024 Standings: 2nd
Denis Dupont: "We finished fourth. It's a decent place for the championship race, but I feel our race wasn't perfect and we'll want to correct those detials for the next round at Laguna."
Preston Brown: "Sebring was one of the closest TCR races I've participated in while racing in IMSA. While we had hoped for a higher finish, I'm happy with where we sit in the championship and I'm looking forward to the newly repaved circuit at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca."
#77 Elantra N TCR
Started: 4th Finished: 9th Standings: 8th
Taylor Hagler: "A disappointing end to an otherwise good weekend. The BHA team gave Bryans (Morris) and I as fast car and I am proud to have had my best qualifying result with Hyundai yet (4th). Unfortunately, our race did not go as planned as I battled for the lead and was not left with racing room. We will regroup and learn from this weekend as we prepare for our next race at Laguna Seca."
Bryson Morris: "It was a difficult race as we had unfortunate contact with another car which cave us a flat tire and caused us to go a lap down. On the bright side, our 77 Hyundai N TCR was very fast and allowed me to set the fastest lap of the race! Hopefully we can take that pace into Laguna Seca and have a great result there!"
#98 Elantra N TCR
Stared: 3rd Finished: 6th 2024 Standings: 3rd
Mason Filippi: "Sebring was all around a tough weekend for us, but Hyundai was able to raise money fro Hyundai Hope on Wheels by leading lots of laps and I'm proud that Mark and I contributed to that.Team 98 is stoked to bag some points and we are going to head into Laguna Seca seeking a win, just like last year."
Mark Wilkins: “A solid points scoring day for us on the 98 team, but certainly not the result we were looking for. The race didn’t pan out in our favour and we had to take what we could get points-wise. We’ll regroup and focus forward defending our win at our home race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in May”
Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian
Founded in 2009, Bryan Herta Autosport has grown from a single car Indy-Lights team into a multi-championship winning auto racing franchise. Led by IndyCar and Sports Car star Bryan Herta, Bryan Herta Autosport has won races in every discipline they have entered, including Indy Lights, Indy Car, Global Rallycross, and championship titles in Pirelli World Challenge and IMSA.
BHA rose to prominence after winning the 2011 Indianapolis 500 in what was the final race of the Centennial Era, a celebration of 100 years of racing at The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with driver Dan Wheldon. Five years later, BHA partnered with Andretti Autosport, and defied the odds again, winning their second Indianapolis 500 with rookie driver Alexander Rossi. In 2018, BHA entered the American Sports Car scene beginning its immensely successful partnership with Hyundai. Together, BHA and Hyundai have won five consecutive team and driver championships, and four consecutive (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023) manufacturer's titles in IMSA's Michelin Pilot Challenge. For more information, visit: www.BryanHertaAutosport.com.
BHA/Hyundai Customer Support: Bryan Herta Autosport is the U.S. sales agent and part support representative of Hyundai TCR race cars for customer teams. The BHA/Hyundai Customer Support Team offers trackside engineering support, setup and tuning advice, and part and order fulfillments for the Hyundai Veloster N TCR and TCA teams and drivers from the BHA’s headquarters in Speedway, IN. in 2024, there are five BHA Customer Support Teams racing Elantra N TCR cars in Canada, The USA and in Mexico.
Hyundai Motor America
Hyundai Motor America focuses on ‘Progress for Humanity’ and smart mobility solutions. Hyundai offers U.S. consumers a technology-rich lineup of cars, SUVs, and electrified vehicles. Our 830 dealers sold more than 724,000 vehicles in the U.S. in 2022, and nearly half were built at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama. For more information, visit www.HyundaiNews.com.
CANADIANS IN BOLD