TotalMotorSport All the latest Motorsport news, race reports and photographs from around the world. Alms, Touring Cars, Formula One & Le Mans 24 Hours

<body> <Table Width="550" border="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" cellpadding="0"><TR><TD Width="35"><IMG SRC="//www.totalmotorsport.com/images/spacer.gif" WIDTH="35" HEIGHT="1"></td><td> <CENTER><Table border="0" width="100%"> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="5">TRANS AM</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2">26/10/2003</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="4">Wally Castro Grabs One For The Home Team</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="3">Local Racer Wins Puerto Rico Grand Prix</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="1">  </FONT></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2"><B>Wally Castro Grabs One For The Home Team, Local Racer Wins Puerto Rico Grand Prix </B><BR> <BR> There were many pundits who didn’t expect Puerto Rican racing legend Wally Castro to have a chance at victory during Sunday’s Puerto Rico Grand Prix. Fortunately for Castro, no one told him that. Castro, driving the No. 3 Puerto Rico Lottery Jaguar XKR, came from behind after mid-race pit stop, during the season finale for the Motorock Trans-Am Tour for the BFGoodrich Tires Cup, took the lead from Bobby Sak on a late restart, and led the final four laps for his first Trans-Am victory in just his second start.<BR> <BR> Sak finished second in the No. 10 Revolution Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette, ahead of Tomy Drissi, who posted his first podium finish this year in the No. 5 Stuck on You Jaguar XKR. Dominican rookie driver Luis Mendez was fourth in the No. 03 Manen Racing.Banservas.Dom.Rep Chevrolet Camaro, and Bob Ruman turned in his best effort this season of fifth in the No. 23 McNichols/Cenweld Chevrolet Corvette.<BR> <BR> Jorge Diaz, Jr., who finished 12th in the No. 8 Don Q Rum Jaguar XKR, clinched the Rookie of the Year title. Diaz finished just 11 points ahead of Sak.<BR> <BR> Castro, who started fifth, ran in the top 10 during most of the 55-lap race, but pitted for tyres on lap 31 under caution. He received a drive-through penalty after exiting the pits on lap 34 for an unmanned-pit-equipment violation, which left him 13th. Then, Castro became a man possessed, cracking the top 10 on lap 40, and taking third from Michael Lewis (No. 12 Westward Tools Available at Grainger Jaguar XKR) on lap 48 to set up the winning pass.<BR> <BR> Castro said one of the keys to him winning his first Trans-Am event, was taking four new BFGoodrich g-Force T/A tyres on his pit stop.<BR> <BR> “For us it was a super race,” said Castro, who finished 10th after an axle failure in his previous Trans-Am start, in St. Petersburg in 1996. “My team here in Puerto Rico, joined with the Rocketsports team, and that was great. We came in, we took new tyres and that was the key to winning.<BR> <BR> “We came back after the black flag, but at that moment I was worried,” added Castro, who currently leads the points in the Puerto Rican GTS Series, which uses similar rules to the Trans-Am Series. “The car was so good, and the tyres held. The car really came back to me and we were passing people. The brakes were great and the tyres really held.”<BR> <BR> Sak, who started second, took the lead from Pruett on a lap-15 restart. Pruett took the lead back on lap 28, but Sak inherited the point on lap 50 when Pruett pitted with two sheared right-rear hub drive pins. However, as Sak crossed the stripe on the restart, Castro motored to the inside and took the lead for good.<BR> <BR> “Revolution Motorsports has given me a great car all year,” said Sak. “We are working with older equipment. My car was built in 1994. These guys worked their tails off all year long, and I think it showed since we have finished on the podium in two straight races.<BR> <BR> “I knew I was going to have to manage the car from the start,” added Sak. “It was loose from the beginning. We knew we didn’t have anything for Scott, until that last restart. He got away on the first restart, but on the second, I got a great run down the straightaway and took the lead.”<BR> <BR> Drissi hit a tyre wall early in the contest. He pitted, his team replaced a damaged rear lid on his machine, and changed four tyres. He pitted again under the race’s fourth caution, and again changed four tyres. He drove back through the field, and brought a significantly damaged machine home for his first podium this season.<BR> <BR> “I lost a little bit of concentration,” said Drissi. “We had a little problem with the brakes off of the line. Thankfully, I caused my own yellow. We changed the deck and we changed the tyres. Then we changed tyres again on that fourth yellow. The guys were just so great today. I was focused on so many things before the race, that I didn’t get the car to brake better.”<BR> <BR> Pruett, who finished 13th, won the BFGoodrich Tires “Take Control Award” for leading the most laps. Because he was unable to win the race, the Flowmaster American Thunder Challenge Award, worth $2,000, will be rolled into the season-ending points fund. Pruett also won the Jaguar Pole Award on Saturday.<BR> <BR> Sak, Lewis, Castro, Drissi, and Mendez each earned one bonus point for being within five seconds of leader Pruett on the Fast Five Lap, lap eight here. The timed race ran in one hour, 15 minutes and 45 seconds at an average speed of 69.667 miles per hour. The race was slowed six times by the caution flag for 14 laps.<BR> <BR> </FONT></TD></TR> </TABLE><BR> </CENTER> <BR><CENTER><font size="1" color="#808080" face="Tahoma">Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport</font></CENTER> </td> </tr> </table> </body>