Good morning to everyone, from Sonoma Raceway in the wine country of northern California. We are ready to roll with race two of Pirelli GT America. Once again, the format of this series is older GT3/GT4 cars, driven by single drivers, for a short race of just an hour. Just the second race for this championship. 40 minutes only for this race. Yesterday’s motor race was cracking stuff! George Kurtz and Jason Harward start on the front row. We have a diverse field of cars in GT3 and GT4. Again, we start the lap at Sonoma on the front stretch, shifting to sixth gear and the fastest part of the road, braking over the bumps into turn two. Into turn three, watch the compression. Hit the power again as the car gets light. Brake hard for turn four and into The Carousel, uphill, shift from fourth to third, exit onto the backstretch. Speed climbing to 140 miles an hour before the hairpin, take it easy on the traction. Back to power again through the esses, then, brake at the 300-meter marker. Sweep right for the final turn, a tight, first gear hairpin, and we’re back to where we started the lap at Sonoma Raceway.
The track layout is a tad over 2.5 miles with off camber
corners, elevation change, and an abrasive surface that causes plenty of tire
degradation. There are several blind
corners and may different pavements.
There’s bumps and patches and aggregate all over. 19 cars start this race, but ome car in strife
as it is cold out early this morning.
One of the Nolasport Porsche’s is in a wee bit of trouble. George Kurtz says that his rebound win
yesterday was extremely gratifying. It’s
50 degrees ambient temp here at Sonoma, so the tires will be stone cold.
Turns one and two flow together. Again, be alert about cold tires. It could be the #69 car, Dan Miller at the controls, who had trouble with the ST Racing Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport. Working the second of two formation laps. 40 minutes. One driver, and no pit stops. The field forms up in two by two, Noah’s Ark formation. Here we go. Green flag is out, ahnd we are away! Kurtz jumps to the lead and here comes Charlie Luck on Jason Harward already.
The cars are skating around on cold tires as the race begins. Tires will be at operating temperature in a lap and a half as there is some argy bargy between Jeff Burton and Daskalos! Yikes! That was a close shave there, mate. Daskalos had troubles yesterday and so he is beginning to make his move. Burton was held up and Daskalos ducked to the inside realizing discretion was the better part of valor but still make the lunge. One lap in the bag. George Kurtz leads now by 2.5 seconds or thereabouts. Jason Harward in the #88 Lamborghini is second.
Harward will be racing in GT World Challenge America at the next race at Circuit of the Americas first weekend in May. Daskalso, meanwhile is monstering Jeff Burton. No dice this time for Daskalos. Kyle Wsshington in the GMG Racing Porsche is next up as they squeeze through the chicane. Third through seventh on the road are scrapping. Kyle Washington in the Porsche is seventh. The Masters class is GT3 machinery but for drivers 55 years and older.
It’s the reverse of yesterday as Sean Quinlan is not having the race he wanted, and Rob Holland in the Ford Mustang with Roush Racing has moved out quickly. He has raced British Touring Cars and did some racing at The Nurburgring. His team is based with another operation in Europe, at the Nurburgring. Jason Bell, has the Aston Martin in 2021, having also raced Audi’s and Porsche’s over the years. Ross Chouest is next in the Renntech Mercedes. Chouest races in GT America and GT4 America. Most drivers who pull double duty have separate cars.
The big differences between GT3 and GT4 are aerodynamics and horsepower. GT3 cars have ABS and traction control. GT4 cars do as well but they aren’t as sophisticated by any means. Charlie Luck ran in the 1980s in the NASCAR Busch Series, now the Xfinity Series. Jeff Burton leading Jason Daskalos. Daskalos has not run full seasons, but he has been a longtime campaigner in SRO America. This car he is driving is an older Audi R8 LMS Ultra that is a special homologation compared to GT World Challenge America.
Dmitri Novakov is eking out a gap over Jeff Burton, his teammate at Rearden Racing. Many of the west coast teams in this championship race at club level at a track here in California called Thermal Club. Rob Holland in the Mustang leads GT4. Sean Quinlan is second in GT4, five seconds away from Rob Holland in the Ford Mustang. Ten minutes of 40 on the board as Matt Dalton has some argy bargy with Ross Chouest. Eek. They finally sort out their differences. What will the stewards say? No one owns a corner. Be respectful of one another as Chouest loses out another time to one of the Porsche’s, Adam Adelson in the #120 Premier Sportscar Cayman.
Joe Dalton and Tim Pappas as well as Adam Adelson have all moved around poor old Ross Chouest. Meanwhile, Pappas is in this motor race but did not make the first race here in GT America yesterday. He did race in GT4. George Kurtz, meantime, is well on his way but he will be catching traffic as well. George Kurtz is mistake free to this stage. He incurred a penalty in the GT World Challenge America race with the GT3 car yesterday. Race Director Peter Cunningham said that Kurtz was moving back and forth between speeds and that’s why he was penalized.
Cunningham is a legend in World Challenge as a driver. Quinlan could very well catch Holland. Steve Cameron and Greg Liefooghe looking on. Cameron, the strategist, and Liefooghe is Quinlan’s co-driver in GT4 America. Kurtz’s lead has ballooned to seven seconds. Steve Cameron is Dane Cameron’s uncle and Rick Cameron is his dad. Dane Cameron now races in another series, in IMSA prototypes, but he also raced in SRO America in recent time. Meanwhile, Charlie Luck is reeling in Jason Harward hand over fist. Turns seven and 11 are good passing spots. Turn nine is a shade riskier, as Luck passes Harward. Harward wants it but Luck slams the door in his face.
Harward has had good speed and will develop his race craft, no question. Dan Miller is being passed as the leaders are into the GT4 traffic. Madison Snow is Jason Harward’s driver coach. Jeff Burton wants by Dmitri Novokov. They are teammates at Rearden Racing of course. Jason Daskalos is moving in on these two blokes. GT4 traffic ahead into The Carousel. The Carousel is very dusty and very slick. It is off camber as well. Off camber turns do the opposite of a banked turn say on an oval track.
Turn 11 is slow but it is crucial in the lap as we are halfway home in GT America race two here at Sonoma. Burton will push and we know that indeed from yesterday’s race after he spun. He was in GT4 last year in an Aston Martin. The Aston Martin is a great car, but Burton didn’t mesh with it too well. It depends on your driving style, honestly. The Aston is compliant over the bumps. But if you are coming from high downforce and high horsepower, you need a different package, a different combination. Sean Quinlan is steadily reeling in Rob Holland.
Holland’s Ford Mustang is the only one across GT America and GT4 America combined. The leader, George Kurtz is pushing hard. Drew Staveley and Frank Gannett ran a GT4 Mustang in the past before moving to Aston Martin in GT3 in 2021. This is an old, abrasive surface, but it also has zero grip. Jeff Burton moves around teammate Novokov and Ross Chouest as well. A two for one sale there, look. Daskalos is slicing and dicing through traffic as well. Burton moves to second in master’s behind Charlie Luck.
Kurtz is still leading the motor race by five seconds or so. Kyle Washington in the GMG Racing Porsche is running well. George Kurtz leading overall moves by GT4 leader Rob Holland. Sean Quinlan has made a mistake and lost time to Holland in the Mustang. It is harder to drive a slower car and you cannot sacrifice your performance to a faster car like a GT3 car. The bloke in the GT4 car can’t just push a disappear button. No use for the fabled smokescreen movie car trick. Charlie Luck is pressing on, having raced a Porsche GT3 Cup series machine in recent time.
The Porsche GT3 Cup cars are tougher to drive but they are for building the confidence of drivers who want to move up. Jason Harward has dropped like a stone to fourth spot. Jeff Burton is on the podium in the overall. George Kurtz is finding traffic a real bugaboo. Traffic giveth. Traffic taketh away. Now, we have a Full Course Yellow, and the safety car has been scrambled. Senor Miller with the damaged Porsche is in the lane and he has gone off the road, whacking the sign, the Pirelli sign. Great publicity for the tires, but bad for track safety. The Lamborghini Urus safety SUV is on the road.
It’s a Lamborghini SUV but sounds wonderful and is a gorgeous vehicle. GT America Sprint is brand new. We don’t have any GT2 cars here at Sonoma, but they will come as the season goes on. GT World Challenge America are the 90-minute motor races of course. Sprint races were run with GT4 last year, races that yours truly never had opportunities to cover. Rob Holland is going to get snookered by this Full Course Yellow. Oh no, not a yellow! That’s what Holland had to be muttering inside his helmet. But now, we are back to green.
Kurtz and Luck both get good starts with just over five minutes to go. Kurtz vs. Luck for the victory. The Porsche has the acceleration out of the corners, and top speed. The Mercedes does everything well. Ross Chouest in another Mercedes has spun and will continue. George Kurtz wants to double up and Charlie Luck as well. Quinlan and Bell are in the fight. Through the Carousel again, a long duration heavily loaded corner. Kurtz leads Luck by 6/10ths of a second. George Kurtz wants to sweep the weekend in GT America.
More troubles for Jeff Burton. He was running well, but something is awry on
that Lamborghini and Rob Holland screams past.
The white flag is out. One lap
remains. Will George Kurtz break out the
broom and sweep? He moves to the highest
part of the circuit and dips down. Rob
Holland has a 1.7 second gap over Phil Bloom.
George Kurtz is motoring away from Charlie Luck. DXDT and their team, looking on. It is true.
George Kurtz is going to break out the broom and sweep! It’s a tour de force for George Kurtz! He wins race two in GT America!
#04 George Kurtz
Mercedes AMG GT3
Charlie Luck wins the master’s division. In GT4, it is going to be a scrap between
Luck and Bloom. Pappas and Dalton are
all over the shop and Rob Holland in the Mustang wins it!
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