They watched and they waited, convinced Aaron Telitz would need to stop for fuel in the closing stages of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Four Hours of Mid-Ohio on Sunday afternoon. Instead, Telitz continued at barely abated pace around Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, leading the Grand Sport (GS) class during Round 4 of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season, in the No. 88 Archangel Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT4, confident in the information team manager Mike Johnson was reporting from the pits.
Telitz finally slowed to save fuel in the last couple laps, allowing Matt Plumb in the No. 46 Team TGM Aston Martin Vantage GT4 to slice into his 16-second lead. But Telitz and the Archangel car he shared with Todd Coleman crossed the line 4.
533s to the good in a 1-2 finish for Aston Martin after 152 laps of racing around the 2.258-mile road course. The British manufacturer won for the first time this season and claimed four of the top five spots.
As one of only two four-hour endurance events on the Michelin Pilot Challenge calendar, fuel strategy played a critical role in the race. It’s generally accepted that GS entries can run roughly an hour on a tank of fuel, so the drama level rose sharply when it appeared the No. 88 Archangel Aston would try to complete the final 80 minutes without stopping.
Team TGM was the first of the leaders to commit to a strategy that would guarantee making the finish, pitting Plumb with 49 minutes remaining. That left the No. 88 Aston and the No.
34 JMF.