Full qualifying for the Indianapolis 8 Hours for SRO Fanatec GT World Challenge America and SRO Intercontinental GT Challenge on SRO GTWorld. Ryan Myrehn, and Calvin Fish call the action from the broadcast booth and Amanda Busick reporting from the pit lane.
The race broadcast of SRO GT America race one from Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on SRO GTWorld. Ryan Myrehn and Calvin Fish call the race action from the broadcast booth with Amanda Busick reporting from the pit lane.
Justin Rothberg picks up third GT America win in penultimate round of season...
https://sportscar365.com/sro/gt-america/rothberg-takes-win-in-sro3-points-swing-at-indy/
The final doubleheader of races for SRO GT America are upon us for the 2024 season here at "The Brickyard" at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Today's race on Friday and the finale which will take place on Sunday morning. The season that began in April in Sonoma, California, has led us here to "The Brickyard". Isaac Sherman signed, sealed, and delivered the GT4 class crown already. However, the SRO3 class for the GT3 cars still sees a three-way title fight yet to be decided with Jason Daskalos, Justin Rothberg, and Johnny O'Connell, the three contestants aiming for the trophy. Hello, and welcome to the Circle City in Indianapolis, Indiana. We have SRO GT World here providing the coverage with Ryan Myrehn and Calvin Fish calling the action from the broadcast booth, and Amanda Busick reporting from the pit lane.
GT3, GT4, and GT2 cars are all ready to race. Without beginning to crunch all kinds of numbers, it is possible that if Jason Daskalos finishes ahead of Johnny O'Connell, then, he will be the champion in SRO GT America for 2024. Jason Daskalos was stymied in traffic during qualifying for race one. Let's get ready for some fabulous multi-class and single driver racing. As we look ahead to 2025, we could very well see, this weekend, the last two single driver GT America races. Next year, SRO America has some plans for this class that will change the dynamic. So, stay tuned. This championship battle could come down to the wire. If Daskalos were to win the race and gap by seven points. We need to see but things could go down to the wire tomorrow. Excuse me, on Sunday.
We have some interlopers who want to upset the apple cart even though they are not championship contenders. Watch out for James Sofronas starting in second spot aboard the #14 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3. Mirco Schultis will start fourth aboard the #70 Callaway Corvette Z06 GT3.R. Will Johnny O'Connell come to life aboard the Audi? That is the big question. At races earlier this season we have seen the tires on the Audi take time to hit their butter zone, their sweet spot, as these short races play out. Again, the drivers have just 40 minutes of clock time to work with. Daskalos has his eyes right on O'Connell as the cars roll off.
Justin Rothberg on pole, he is an outsider in the championship fight, 33 points in-arrears. What he needs to succeed is for both Johnny O'Connell and Jason Daskalos to be trapped in a world of pain in order to capitalize and take victory both today and in the season finale on Sunday. 50 points on offer. Justin Rothberg has had an incredible rookie season. For the first time in quite some time we have GT2 cars entered in a GT America event. Dan Knox with his #10 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT2 and C.J. Moses with his #58 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT2. At the start, the GT2 cars have boatloads of horsepower and speed but over the lap they don't have the downforce compared to the GT3 cars.
Dan Knox has won in GT2 here at Indianapolis before. So, it will be a mano e mano battle in GT2 between Knox and Moses and we will keep an eye on it. In the GT4 class, Isaac Sherman has had an amazing rookie season. Sherman has had an incredible season, and he is on pole over Curt Swearingin who has won and kept Sherman honest. Sherman is cool, calms, and collected. We will see tomorrow in the first Pirelli GT4 America race, Isaac Sherman making his class debut, and he is slated to share a GT4 Porsche Cayman in that event with Indy Next open wheel rookie sensation Myles Rowe. Rowe is the reigning U.S. Formula 2000 open wheel racing champion.
Curt Swearingin and ACI Motorsports have had a great middle segment of the season. They are on the verge of a title in Pirelli GT4 America as well. Sherman looking strong gapping the rest of the GT4 field by 8/10ths of a second. Just under two and a half miles with 14 corners using part of the 2.5-mile oval and a 3,000-foot frontstretch. Give your competitors space. You need downforce for the corners and for the braking zones. We do have some new contenders in GT4 to tell you about before we get going. The first of these is in SRO3. Scott Dollahite makes his return to SRO competition having raced in the old Pirelli World Challenge series that predated SRO America.
Dollahite will be driving car #46. The Dollahite Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3. In GT4 we have GT4 debutant Alan Teo aboard the #085 Orlando Motorsports Services McLaren Artura GT4 and Tim Savage, who we have previously seen this year in a GT3 spec Aston Martin in SRO3. Well, the #007 car is a GT4 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 at Indianapolis this weekend. This is car #007. They had a fire on their GT3 Aston Martin based at Indianapolis. Alright. Green flag. Away we go! Flagman Tom Hansing has flagged Indianapolis 500s and he waves the green and away we go.
Justin Rothberg gets a good jump but just as predicted, Johnny O'Connell is pouring on the steam already. James Sofronas into the first turn says, "no you don't, sunshine" and tries taking the spot away. Sofronas late on the brakes but he might just avoid overcooking the entry to turn one! He saves it but loses places hand over fist! Mirco Schultis in the Callaway Corvette is now up to third spot. He has his GMG Racing customer and teammate Kyle Washington right at his elbow in the #32 Porsche 911 GT3R (992). Here's the start for the GT4 cars as Daskalos is up to third.
Isaac Sherman leads. But Damir Hot, the Canadian, is very aggressive right off the start, looking, "hot", pardon the pun. Hot gets to the flank of Curt Swearingin in the Porsche Cayman but gets the door slammed in his face. Gray Newell now takes the place away from Damir Hot in this battle between the Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 and the Flying Lizard Motorsports Nissan Z NISMO GT4. A bold, decisive move for Newell. A busy couple of days we have for you in multiple championshops and multiple series.
Justin Rothberg takes the lead over the yard of bricks one second ahead of Johnny O'Connell. O'Connell has had a bugbear trying to get to the head of the field but he seems to be on the spot right now. Rothberg lays down a new best opening sector time and now Mirco Schultis wants by O'Connell. Jason Daskalos and the CRP Racing Mercedes team led by Nick Short, they know that they need to keep an eye on Johnny O'Connell and the SKI Autosport Audi for the championship, so they are keeping him close in the title fight. The two drivers are definitely keeping each other honest. Lots of time on the board yet.
Daskalos fighting understeer as the car is washing out in the front end and they had a fuel pump issue tracing it to a wiring harness. There's tons of bragging rights on the line. Daskalos has been the runner-up in GT America in 2022 and 2023. He has gained confidence and is driving well. Of course, their crew chief, Sheldon Miller, is also battling cancer. God Bless. Ryan Dalziel is Daskalos' driver coach. Sofronas turned the fastest lap of the race s far but short cut the chicane and has been warned by the stewards. In the GT4 class, the battle is afoot for second place with Curt Swearingin already being monstered by Gray Newell.
Meanwhile, Damir Hot has fallen into the clutches of Nick Shanny. Shanny always seems to find a sparring partner and has done so with Damir Hot here. So, it is the #05 Flying Lizard Motorsports Nissan Z NISMO GT4 vs. the #21 Carrus Callas Raceteam BMW M4 GT4 G82. Touring car TCX champion elect Chris Walsh is his co-driver in Pirelli GT4 America. OK. O'Connell is being chased by Schultis and is a buffer to Daskalos as well as Sofronas as Rothberg is scurrying away by a second and a half. James Sofronas has not raced in every event this year but has had many podiums including a long -awaited win.
His son, Jenson, kept hassling him, saying, "dad, when are you going to win?" James Sofronas was a proponent of this GT America championship and using it as a springboard, to double up their weekend in either the two Pirelli GT4 America races or the Indianapolis 8 Hours. Jenson Sofronas is actually racing in the Toyota GR Cup final races this weekend at age 13. Traffic overlap beginning to show. The antilock brakes have an advantage as long as you have the real estate to work with on corner exit. Rothberg looking good, 1/4 of the way through down Hulman Boulevard. It is named for Tony Hulman who saved the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at the end of WW. II. It was set for demolition because of the housing boom that sprang up in America after the war.
Tony Hulman was a businessman from Terre Haute, Indiana, who made his money with many products he sold including Clabber Girl baking powder. He purchased the track and was the custodian of the track along with his family through 2020 before Roger Penske bought the speedway. Be creative with big, wide radiuses into these corners. Mirco Schults chasing Johnny O'Connell. He has the experience knowing when drivers are right on his six. Schultis is looking stout even though he has not run all the races in GT America. Whoa! Jason Daskalos clatters into the side of the McLaren Artura of Alan Teo, the Orlando Motorsports Services entry, car #085.
165 miles an hour top speed down the fronstretch. Let's have a look at the replay. Teo ran late into the corner. Jason Daskalos is a tad flustered. Excuse me. I had said it was Teo spinning. It wasn't. It was the other McLaren Artura GT4 of Alan Grossberg, the #102 TPC Racing entry. My apologies. Sofronas is going to force the issue and not wait for Race Control to do anything. So, Johnny O'Connell may have a buffer here if he can steal fourth place away. Daskalos passes Nick Shanny and now, Sofronas is causing Daskalos to go on the defensive.
Audi inside Mercedes into turn one. Daskalos knew he was vulnerable and now he is pushing hard. Be very careful so you don't slice the tire and cut it down. Kyle Washington is now right on Daskalos' back door. Washington bobbing, weaving, darting. He gives it up losing grip i the gray area of the road. The points are tightening up. There is just a ten-point gap between Daskalos and O'Connell and 18 points between Daskalos and O'Connell. The GT4 traffic is in the way and he forces his way inside Damir Hot.
No action taken for the incident between Daskalos and Grossberg. Crew Chief Sheldon Miller on the radio. Any time they succeed they dedicate their result to Sheldon Miller, fighting cancer. O'Connell has eased away from Mirco Schultis. Rothberg just set fastest lap of the motor race with traffic flummoxing James Sofronas between Curt Swearingin and Gray Newell. The Porsche Cayman and the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4. Great to hear the echoes of the engines with all the different engine notes of these sports cars. Kyle Washington not forcing it, feeling out the conditions. Best laps in the GT4 ranks are between the 1:30 and 1:33 range.
Isaac Sherman controlling GT4. Swearingin and Sherman in a battle. Gray Newell could wrap up his GT4 career this weekend as he hopes to begin racing GT3 cars next year. Jason Bell coming through traffic. He and his wife celebrated the birth of their baby girl, Louisa. This GT4 battle is fabulous between Swearingin and Newell. Gray Newell has had four podiums in a row and 11 total podiums in 2024 still looking for a win. He finished fourth in the 2023 championship standings. The Porsche and the Aston Martin seem evenly matched down the straightaways and they are evenly matched on the straightaway. Halfway home in race one for GT America at Indianapolis.
Set up the corner and he runs wide almost getting into the grass! Great save there by Gray Newell now in hot pursuit of Curt Swearingin, as now a new battle emerges in SRO3. Mirco Schultis being hounded by James Sofronas. SRO3 competition, Callaway Corvette vs. Audi R8. In the background, look, Kyle Washington passes Jason Daskalos. Rothberg leading the motor race and we are going to see a real humdinger in the finale on Sunday. Now we see the points standings tightening up even more. 16 points in it between the tpp three and only eight between Daskalos and O'Connell.
Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R quickest in final session prior to qualifying...
https://sportscar365.com/sro/world-challenge-america/heinrich-tops-pre-qualifying-at-the-brickyard/
Pre-Qualifying from the IGTC & Fanatec GT World Challenge America 2024 from Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Ryan Myrehn, Calvin Fish, and Kyle Heyer call the action from the broadcast booth with Amanda Busick reporting from the pit lane.
All three Intercontinental GT Challenge champions will be crowned at the Brickyard this weekend when the 2024 season concludes. But who can win them? This is your guide to IGTC's finale.
