Newport Beach's Sofronas Finishes Second in World Challenge at Long Beach

James Sofronas rebounded from a first-lap setback to finish second Sunday in the Pirelli World Challenge at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Sofronas, of Newport Beach, lost control of his GMG Porsche 911 GT3 exiting the 11th and final corner on the 1.968-mile course built on the downtown shoreline streets and dropped from fifth, his starting position, to eighth.

“I had a tank slapper in the hairpin and the car swung back and forth,” Sofronas said. “The race became a battle to make up the positions I lost. A podium here at Long Beach means a lot. We wanted to win, but we’re happy with second.”

Rob Morgan, of Ladera Ranch, drove his TruSpeed Motorsports’ Porsche 911 GT3 to a sixth-place finish. Newport Beach resident Brent Holden dropped out early with a wheel failure on his GMG Porsche 911 GT3 and finished 16th in GT, the top class, and 34th overall.

It was the third consecutive podium for Sofronas, the owner of Global Motorsports Group, who was second and third in the season’s previous races at St. Petersburg, Fla. He climbed to fourth by the seventh lap, third by lap 15 and second by 18.

“I was picking off cars under-braking left and right,” Sofronas said. “The car was great.”

Sofronas was 2.7 seconds behind leader and eventual winner Brandon Davis, of Huntington Beach, when he moved into second. Sofronas chopped the deficit down to .378-second in two laps, but he never got any closer.

“I was driving the wheels off,” Sofronas said. “I was scrubbing the walls a little. The traffic was tough and I had to make some risky moves. I got caught out by traffic, but we [Davis] both had to deal with traffic.’

Davis won by 2.4 seconds in the 31-lap race. Sofronas, 42, didn’t know he was racing Davis for the lead, but said it didn’t make any difference.

“I had no radio contact the entire race and no idea what position I was racing for,” Sofronas said. “But I couldn’t have driven any harder than I did.”

Sofronas, originally from Pound Ridge, N.Y., is second in the championship. He trails Patrick Long, 417-346, in the GT championship.

Morgan, 37, started from eighth position. He passed Johnny O’Connell’s Cadillac CTS-V for fifth on the 29th lap.

“I was running behind Johnny [O’Connell] and could see he was trying too hard,” Morgan said. “I started to back off a little and let my brakes and tires cool off so I’d have something at the end.”

Teammate Long, who was on the pole but was penalized for jumping the start and fell to 12th, passed Morgan on the next-to-last lap for fifth.

“I didn’t put up too big a fight,” Morgan said. “Even if I had, Patrick was coming. He’s amazing. The penalty was a little bummer for our team.”

Morgan, originally from Little Rock, Ark., ranks eighth in GT points.

Holden, 54, was blocked in at the start and the frustration from it cost him in the hairpin on the first lap.

“The car in front of me stalled,” Holden said. “I had to let a few cars by. At the Turn 11 hairpin, I cut the corner too tight and the right rear fender knocked the wheel out of alignment. It was a self-inflicted mistake.”

Holden, who has lived in Newport Beach for 25 years and is originally from Los Altos, Calif., completed six laps.

“The lesson I learned was to be more patient,” Holden said. “If I’d been patient, I’d have finished in the top 10.”