Page 15 - 2020CalSpeedMagazineAug

KRound 5 - Aug 9
icking off day 2 for the 2020 Classico GP weekend would be the 5th round in the IronMan Series championship, the event also the start to the second half of the season. The points
championship was closer than ever heading in, with Ayrton DeMoss leading the way over Sean Fite and Michael Hazlewood, the three separated by just 5 points...
Celso Pierre would lead the field up the main straight on the Classico layout for the first time, leading lap one, but immediately coming under fire from round #1 winner Chris Huerta on lap 2. He would only keep the lead for a single lap before point leader DeMoss claimed the top spot, with Huerta dutifully taking on the role of pusher. Chris had started P2 while Ayrton P4, both looking for a bit of a rebound after tough races at round #4. This pairing would hold onto the top two spots until they each pitted at about the 1/3 mark of the race, relinquishing the top spot to Sean Fite on lap 25. This would actually be the turning point in the race, as Fite would continue what he had started, taking the green flag from the 11th starting spot, before methodically working his way through the field up to third, some via on track passes, but a few others via drivers ducking down pit lane early. From there it was all Fite; staying out until the last handful of minutes, he built up his lead and would not only go on to win the race by a healthy margin, but also claim the most laps led to score a perfect 105 point haul.
Elsewhere the strategy differed, and while Huerta and Demoss ducked out of the lead as a pair after 20+ laps, other drivers pit much early, including Patrick Britain. He elected to come down pit lane on lap 2, and while he ran on an island for much of the first part of the race, when he made his second stop on lap 25, he would come out just behind another driver who just finished his stops: Ayrton DeMoss. This new pairing was enough to not only catch Huerta -who would actually exit from his second stop in front of the two- but eventually pull away to a battle of their own.
Too far back to challenge Fite for the win, but having pulled away from the once-top-three runner Huerta, Britain pushed DeMoss for the entirety of the second half of the event, building up said advantage to make it just a 2-horse race at the end. And in the end is when he struck; waiting until the final lap, Britain made his move past DeMoss heading through Kimbrell, and then stayed just defensive enough to lock up the spot, and steal away 2nd from the point leader.
And speaking of points, the win and bonus points were enough for Sean Fite to take over as the point leader, with DeMoss dropping only to 2nd, while round #4 winner Michael Hazlewood held onto third in the standings after a solid 5th place finish behind Huerta. Round #6 is already sold out, and with just three rounds to go, the championship battle is getter ever more exciting!