Friday the TCR class made its official debut in the IMSA Continental Tire Sportcar Challenge and Compass Racing’s Tom Long and Britt Casey Jr. took the first victory in the 4-hour BMW Endurance Challenge at Daytona.

A late addition to the entry list, Long and Casey in their #77 Audi RS3 LMS battled all afternoon with teammates Kuno Wittmer and Rodrigo Sales in the #74 sister car who took second to complete the 1-2 finish for Compass Racing after starting from the pole position.

Rounding out the TCR podium was the #53 Murillo Racing team Audi of Matt Fassnacht and Justin Piscitell.

For the whole race the three teams were running in the same lap. Eventually, the winning margin of Long and Casey was 1.9 seconds ahead of Wittmer and Sales, while the gap between cars #74 and #53 was of eight tenths only.

The class winning Audi covered 105 laps during the 4 hours and was classified 19th overall, only one lap behind the race winning Porsche Cayman GT4.

“I’m impressed with how well the chassis and the manufacturer does with this car,”said Long. “It’s just incredible. Coming to a front-wheel-drive car, it’s not really my forte but I guess I’m just very thankful that it all is being put forth and having the opportunity that I’ve got here. I think this starts us off for the championship, which is what our goal is. I couldn’t be more proud of how this came together in a short period of time and how prepared we became in that short period and I think that shows here.”

The next round of the championship will be a 2-hour race at Sebring International Raceway on March 16, as a prelude to the famous 12 Hours.

Picture: courtesy of IMSA