ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — On a wet but drying Grand Prix of St. Petersburg street course, Bobby Gossett (No. 44 BSI Racing) displayed a patience beyond his years all the way to the checkered flag on Saturday.
Gossett took his first Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin race win ahead of two-time series champion Jared Thomas (No. 96 JTR Motorsports Engineering).
Torrential rain pounded St. Petersburg, Florida Friday night and into early Saturday morning, leaving the 1.8-mile temporary street circuit soaked for the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup race at 7:30 a.m. ET. As a result, the race director declared a wet race and all 40 cars started on rain tires.
Gossett started third but was quickly into second and into the lead by Turn Six. Shortly afterward, the first full-course caution came out.
The time under yellow was lengthy due to track repairs, so Gossett continued to rack up laps led behind the safety car. He had 10 laps to plan how he would hold off defending champion Jeremy Fletcher (No. 22 McCumbee McAleer Racing) behind him.
Fletcher was on the attack when the green came back out, but his attempts to get around Gossett only gave Thomas a chance to take over second. A lap later, Fletcher was able to re-take the spot before a full-course caution returned for a stranded car on track.
There were only four minutes left on the clock when green racing resumed, and Thomas knew he had to make his move. He was around Fletcher and into second by Turn 3. Thomas chased down Gossett and when the white flag came out, he was filling Gossett’s mirrors and forcing him into defensive positions.
Thomas ran out of time though, because a full-course caution came out before he could make a pass happen and Gossett got his first race win after 16 Mazda MX-5 Cup starts.
“The conditions were a lot better than I thought they were going to be when we were on the pace lap,” Gossett said. “There was actually a lot more grip than I thought. Going into turn three on the first lap, I even sent it in on Justin [Adakonis] because where he was braking, I thought ‘wow, I’ve got way more than that.’
“I was very nervous for this [race]. To be honest, I wanted to go home, but I didn’t, so that was good! I was getting a little nervous again toward the end, when the track started drying up, because I think my advantage was lessening. I think Jared [Thomas] was definitely better in the dry, or dry-ish conditions, you could say. But overall, it was very fun.”
Thomas was pretty sure if they had another lap, he could have gotten around Gossett.
“Racing in the rain is always tough because you are always trying to find the limit, but if you go over the limit, it can be really detrimental,” Thomas said. “I just tried to ease into it and picked up some spots. I knew I had a good car underneath me from all the guys at JTR Engineering and I just got into a good groove for the last run. I fired off well but just came up a little bit short (for a win).
“It was definitely the right call to start on the rain tires. The Michelin tire will hold up even on a dry race track for a reasonable amount of time. And this track was slick, especially where there was paint, that is something you don’t have as much in other places so the extra soft, grippy Michelin tire in the rain helps a lot with that.”
The Motul Pole Award winner, rookie Matt Novak (No. 11 Advanced Autosports), finished third. He was far from disappointed about a third-place result, his first MX-5 Cup podium.
“I wanted to have an open and conservative mindset, but then obviously people are going to be making passes on you,” Novak said. “Obviously there’s going to be risky moments. I just wanted to run the best race that I can. I mean, I’m completely okay with how it ultimately turned out. It was a good way for me to improve. I’m happy for the risks that I did take, and ultimately being able to pass the cars where it was necessary. I can’t wait to do it again tomorrow, especially when it’s going to be dried out.”
Fletcher ended up fourth at the checkered flag, followed by Frankie Barroso (No. 48 Spark Performance) in fifth.
Out of the two guest drivers participating in the event, Earl Bamber (No. 21 Hendricks Motorsports) finished eighth and Sebastien Bourdais (No. 38 McCumbee McAleer Racing) finished 11th, on his birthday.
