Tuesday, June 4, 2024 – Highlands, NJ – Vasser Sullivan drivers Frankie Montecalvo and Parker Thompson took home fourth place in the GTD Pro class at the Detroit Grand Prix.
Montecalvo and Thompson, who normally compete and the GTD class in the IMSA WeatherTech Championship, moved up to the Pro class to be able to race in the grand prix. After starting tenth, the duo was able to endure the daunting walls and chaotic traffic that took several of their competitors out of contention and brought the No. 15 Lexus RC F GT3 across the line in fourth place – the highest finish for the duo in the 2024 season.
“It was fantastic to be in Detroit for the grand prix and experience a new street course. It was a great weekend for Lexus with Parker and I finishing in fourth place and Jack [Hawksworth] and Ben [Barnicoat] bringing home second place,” said Montecalvo.
“We decided to go off strategy in the race because we qualified tenth in class. I was able to make it through the start cleanly, get past two cars on the opening lap, and stay out of trouble before handing the car over to Parker. We elected to pit early, and get our driver change done, and then hope the yellows would come and work to our advantage. And like most street races, the yellow flags eventually did come out.”
“The circuit is incredibly tight because of the nature of a city grid system, so passing was quite difficult and was the culprit of most of the yellow flags. Once Parker took over, he was able to run a clean race and eventually work his way into fourth position. Parker was hunting down the third place Aston Martin to try to take the final podium spot but ran out of time before being able to get close enough to make the move.”
“I’m incredibly proud of the Vasser Sullivan and Lexus Racing team for an excellent weekend. While we would have loved to have shared the podium with Jack and Ben, it’s great to come away from the weekend with our best finishing position of the year. I’m looking forward to getting back to racing in two weekends at Watkins Glen where we took the win in the GTD class last year.”
The next race for Montecalvo is the Sahlen’s 6 Hours of the Glen on Sunday, June 23rd. The race marks the sixth round of the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship and the third round of the Endurance Cup. Be sure to follow Frankie on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date with current broadcast times and all of Frankie’s racing news.
