Johnny Mowlem was able to celebrate a fine fourth place finish for the second race in a row after the American Le Mans Series headed to Long Beach for the third round of the year.
Having taken fourth place alongside Gunnar Jeannette in the Corsa Motorsports Ferrari 430 at St Petersburg in what was effectively the teams first race of the year, the pair built on that result at the famed Long Beach circuit to finish just shy of the podium as the second Ferrari on the results.
“Today's finish was much more competitive than the fourth-place we earned at St. Petersburg,” he said. “The result today was earned; we weren't so much the benefactors of others' misfortunes. We were really close to the pace of the fastest Ferraris.
“It was a solid effort by everyone with Corsa Motorsports and I'm delighted for Steve Pruitt and the whole crew who have worked so hard and long to get us here.”
Mowlem had started seventh in the GT2 order, but he soon climbed up to sixth after a few laps, overtaking the #61 Risi Competizione
Ferrari. All his hard work came to nothing when there was an early yellow and he got held up at the hairpin at the re-start and slipped back to seventh, but he fought his way back up to fifth before pitting during a caution period 59 minutes into the race.
The team didn't change tires when Jeannette took over from Mowlem and the time saved in the pits figured into the team's strong finish.
“Considering we still haven't done a proper test session on these Dunlop tyres, and the fact that they're not even the latest evolution of tyre that Dunlop has to offer, makes our performance all the more pleasing,” Mowlem added. “Of course I am satisfied with the result, but I am more pleased with the constant progress we are making in terms of lap time.
