It is time to kick off the second round of the 2021 season for SRO GT World Challenge America, here at Circuit of the Americas, in Austin, Texas. This venue, a world class racing facility, usually sees the opening race of the championship. This year, Austin, and COTA host round two of the championship. Inception Racing is one of the new teams here in GTWC America racing for McLaren, in a 720S. 3.426 miles with 20 turns, that is the track layout. It is dry now, while we have been expecting rain today on this Saturday.
We will now explore Circuit of the Americas and find out the
best way to drive around the circuit, with a flying lap aboard the #20 Wright
Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R in the hands of Jan Heylen. Out of turn 20 onto the front straight, up to
fifth gear up the hill, braking into turn one, a great overtaking spot,
changing down to second gear. Downhill
through turn two, flat out in fourth gear at 160 miles an hour or so. Change up to third gear through the esses
into turn six. Use all the curb,
transitioning to turn seven, over the curbs into first gear. Uphill, and back down dale again, into the
first hairpin, braking at the 100 meter marker, slamming the gearbox back down
from fifth to first gear.
Watch track limits onto the long backstretch, a good spot
for overtaking. Braking just past the
150 meter marker into turn 12, again, throwing the gears down from sixth way
down to first. Big compression into the
turn. Back to power, in third gear, then
go back down to first gear. Headed to the
slowest turn on the course, turn 15, which is a first gear corner. Yes, you’ve guessed it. Another first gear corner. Into The Carousel, a triple apex right hand
corner. Watch for the car to get a tad
loose here. Go back to power. Into turn 19, watch your track limits. Hard on the brakes, back down to first gear,
through turn 20. Then, you are back on
the front straight to start another lap.
Will we see rain?
Jordan Pepper put the K-PAX Lamborghini on the pole for this race. His co-driver Andrea Caldarelli is no doubt
aware of the tricky conditions. He says
that the more distance you have in front of your competitors, the better off
you are as a driver, should the rain begin tipping down. Caldarelli can sense there might be more rain
on the way here in Texas. So, late
breaking news is here, ladies and gentlemen, we have rain in the area here in
Austin. We were all set to have a 16 car
field for this race.
Unfortunately, we are down to 15 automobiles on the grid
before the start. Compass Racing will
not start this race after an engine malady in qualifying. Matt McMurry and Rodrigo Sales, drivers of
the #77 Compass Racing Acura NSX GT3, are scratched from today’s field. Team owner/manager and birthday boy Karl
Thomson, and his drivers, will be back on the grid for race two, tomorrow. So, they still have a chance to compete.
K-PAX Racing swept the front row in qualifying. This front row lockout comes on the heels of
their dominant victories last time out, in March, at Sonoma Raceway in California. But everyone is going to be fighting the rain
in this race as we look to the start.
The weather forecast here in Austin has been really off the mark. Everyone will be on a full dry race setup
which is going to be a bugaboo. Dakota
Dickerson, will make his first start this weekend in GT World Challenge
America, sharing the Racer’s Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3, car #93 with
Taylor Hagler.
Hagler paired with Jacob Abel last time out at Sonoma
Raceway. Dickerson is looking forward to
racing and has experience racing in the wet even though he is running his first
race. Actually, Dakota Dickerson started
at Sonoma. Correction. Dickerson is here at Austin to support the
team while Jacob Abel is going to share the automobile with Hagler.
The Lamborghini Urus safety car is ready to turn for the pit
lane. So, the top four are Venturini,
Pepper, Michael Dinan in the Turner Motorsports BMW M6 GT3 #96, and of course,
Brendon Iribe in the McLaren. Green flag
for race three of the Fanatec GT World Challenge America championship in
2021! Whoa! Michael Dinan, look, in the BMW, he was shot
from a cannon and he flies into the race lead headed up the hill to turn
one. He lit the fuse, but Jordan Pepper
in the Lamborghini is fighting back immediately on the outside.
For the time being, Michael Dinan says, “no you don’t,
sunshine” and slams the door in Pepper’s face.
Now, this is Dinan’s third ever race at the wheel of the GT3 racer. So, this is very impressive! Giovanni Venturini is keeping a watching
brief in the K-PAX sister car, #6. At
Sonoma, yours truly was confused. But
now I, and all of you reading this race report, will get the picture. Car #3 for K-PAX is the matte black car while
car #6 is in the bright green paint hue.
Michael Dinan and the Turner Motorsports BMW have come alive, to be able
to go wheel to wheel with Jordan Pepper, one of the best GT3 racers in the
business.
Meanwhile, we watch from the onboard camera in the #04 DXDT
Racing Crowdstrike Mercedes AMG GT3 in the hands of George Kurtz who is in hot
pursuit of Jean Claude Saada in the Ferrari.
160 miles an hour down the backstretch.
No one knows the grip levels.
Where is the rain? Pepper pokes
his nose inside Dinan. Dinan leaves the
door open while Pepper is going to try the switcheroo before the apex. These two blokes are side by side now. It’s a drag race! So, Dinan has the advantage and Pepper is now
being monstered by Giovanni Venturini in the sister K-PAX Lamborghini, the
green car.
Giovanni Venturini and co-driver Corey Lewis, have been
finding the leftover scraps this season so far and they want a bite of the
cake, frosting and all, here at Circuit of the Americas this afternoon. With a two-car team, don’t hit your team
mate, whatever you do. Pepper wants to
make a move as Dinan is sideways in the BMW.
Pepper wants that frosting. He
wants the bite of the cherry but might end up with the pit if he’s not
careful. Dinan slots into second, the
meat in a Lamborghini sandwich while Venturini is working on consolidating his
lead.
In the background, look, it is Brendon Iribe in the McLaren,
a debutant in GT World Challenge America racing. This is also the North American debut for
Inception Racing. These guys are really
in the fight now, at the sharp end of the field. Brendon Iribe is only in his third season as
a racing driver, first running in GT4 and then last year, stepping up to GT3
cars. He’s used to racing in Europe, so
is used to the track conditions we have right now here at COTA. Michael Dinan is also in the sweet spot in
GT3. He is no slouch as he’s won 17
times in other formulae, meaning GT4.
Last year he raced in SRO America in GT4 Sprint and SprintX. Robby Foley, his co-driver, has taken an
identical path, but Foley has a lot of experience in these GT3 cars as
well. Now we come into the twisty bits,
the esses, and with it’s shorter wheelbase, the Lamborghini should be nimbler
through this section of the course.
Michael Dinan is not letting Jordan Pepper whistle off into
the distance. Dinan is becoming a very
good race car driver, and he was tossed in with the big boys. Michael has to realize he has to do what he
can and won’t win every race out but will gain experience every time. Corey Lewis, Jordan Pepper’s co-driver
looking on. Balance the lap time. This is clearly an example of horses for
courses and the BMW brings some more power, while the Lamborghini has cornering
prowess and handling prowess. This makes
these two automobiles nearly evenly matched.
In the meantime, though, Michael Dinan is still able to put
daylight between himself and the Italian Lamborghini driver, Giovanni
Venturini. Pepper is running nearly two
seconds faster in the lead of the motor race compared to his competition. Pepper at 2:08 while we see the other drivers
in the 2:10 bracket. Jeff Burton, meanwhile,
is seventh overall and third in the Pro Am category. Burton at the wheel of the #91 Rearden Racing
Lamborghini Huracan GT3 that the American is sharing with Bulgarian co-driver
Vesko Kozarov.
This is the battle in the Pro Am sub class. Burton/Kozarov vs. Brendon Iribe in that
aforementioned Inception Racing McLaren, car #70. Iribe is also running ahead of the #33
Winward Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 shared by Russell Ward and Philip Ellis, the
German driver, living in England. In the
meantime, George Kurtz has not had the race he’s wanted so far, and is dropping
like a stone. Kurtz is 15th,
caboose on the field now that we see it is game over for Rodrigo Sales and Matt
McMurry in the Acura. Remember, they are
not in this race and will come back tomorrow.
So it isn’t game over for them, they just could not start this first
race of the weekend.
Dinan aboard the BMW, in sector one, he is running at least
ten miles an hour faster than anyone else at 136.7 miles an hour which is a
full eleven miles an hour faster than Giovanni Venturini who is at 126.1 miles
an hour and in the middle of that range are drivers like Russell Ward, Brendon
Iribe, and Jordan Pepper. It’s not all
horsepower though. But this is a massive
confidence boost for Michael Dinan. The
esses here at Circuit of the Americas are amazing and are modeled after the
Maggots/Becketts/Chapel complex of corners at Silverstone in England. One corner leads to the next.
If you run wide, get on the racing line. Don’t fight it or you will get behind. Maybe the rain has tapered off. We shall see, as Russell Ward chases Brendon
Iribe. This is a scrap for fourth place
in the overall. Russell Ward is
beginning to apply the pressure. This is
a brand new chassis for Winward Racing, as they have been on a bit of a roll
lately, winning the Rolex 24 at Daytona in class back in January. They will race in DTM and running full-time
in Europe for SRO, which they’ve begun.
Venturini tries to pass Dinan again.
Michael Dinan has surely slammed the door in Jordan Pepper’s face. George Kurtz is running and he is just fine, in sixth place. There was only a transponder issue on the car. Kurtz’s form in a GT3 car is coming to the fore. He did well in GT America last time out, winning the category at Sonoma Raceway and we will see the GT America cars run later on as well. Kurtz is a very busy man, as the CEO of Crowdstrike and Colin Braun, his co-driver, has really helped Kurtz improve as a driver. Once he gets the confidence, he can step it up. Kurtz and company are running a spare car this weekend and not their primary car, and because of the fact they are racing in multiple championships, they have a further spare car they can also rely on if need be.
Jordan Pepper holds the lead of this motor race by 2.2 seconds over Michael Dinan and lurking in the shadows, the Italian, Giovanni Venturini, in the sister K-PAX Racing Lamborghini. Dinan has run the fastest times through sector one. The BMW has the speed and the grip. Robby Foley who will take over later, he will run really quickly. The McLaren and the Mercedes are so different but they are running so close together. No Bentley’s racing in the GT World Challenge America championship this season in 2021.
Brendon Iribe is a businessman who is taking time off to race. He has run Asian Le Mans Series, will race at Le Mans, and lso is running in SRO Europe and SRO America. Venturini, meanwhile, is closing in on Dinan in sector three. Venturini tries to move past the BMW but he’s stuck in no man’s land. Watch out for the argy bargy, the possibility of it. Try to make the run. If you don’t have the horsepower, that’s hard to do. Professional factory drivers want to be the top dog. Run as a team, but you do not want to see your teammate extending the gap too far. The lead that Pepper has over the Dinan and Venturini battle has ballooned to five seconds.
Brendon Iribe is still fending off the challenge of Russell Ward as well. There is no weak link in the chain in the K-PAX Lamborghini. Dinan runs wide off turn 15. The BMW does accelerate more than the Lamborghini on the front side of the circuit. Venturini tries into the final corner and I think he’s stuck it. It’s a K-PAX 1-2 right now. Dinan comes back on the uphill into turn one. Even if he gets the move, he can get the spot back. Venturini had made his one move, stopped, let Dinan in, Dinan slides wide, Venturini does the crossover, and they rub fenders! Venturini keeps the lead.
Wow! What incredible racing this is! Dinan gives Venturini just enough racing room without going too far. Robby Foley says that Dinan’s BMW has the power advantage while the Lamborghini’s corner better. Russell Ward has moved around Brendon Iribe. Giovanni Venturini, yikes! He slides on the front straightaway, towards the pit wall and almost wrecks! Dinan has gone back past Venturini after this kerfuffle on the road. That was a mega size save before he would have speared the Lambo into the pit wall! Too aggressive on the power, even with the traction control.
Egad! That was a mega save! Not good if you see the wall coming at you at triple digit speed numbers! The track here at COTA is getting slicker, greasier. Maintain tire temperature and make sure those Pirelli P Zero tires are hot. Venturini and Dinan continue their battle. This isn’t letting up in spite of the lurid skid for Venturini we just saw. This time through turn 20 for Venturini is more copacetic. He has lost time to Jordan Pepper who is really motoring right now. Last year, at the Indianapolis 8 Hours, driving a Bentley, we saw Jordan Pepper ace it in similar conditions where it is somewhat dry but rain is in the vicinity, and on slick tires, Pepper kept things under control in the early going.
Pepper was incredible in that Intercontinental GT Challenge/GTWC America race last fall. Pepper knows what he feels in the seat of the race car and can maximize an advantage. He is also able to instinctively catch the car if it’s sliding around to avoid trouble. We look at the top speeds in the Pro Am classes through the esses here at COTA and right now, the fastest bloke continues to be Brendon Iribe at 129.8 while Jeff Burton is next at 127.3 miles an hour, and at 126.7 miles an hour, identical speeds for George Kurtz in the Mercedes and Fred Poordad in the #20 Wright Motorsports Porsche.
Frank Gannett is the next fastest in tenth place, at the wheel of the #12 Ian Lacy with G3 Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 he shares with Drew Staveley. Be committed to extract top speed and make wise decisions. Jeff Burton still holds third place in the Pro Am category in the Rearden Racing Lamborghini. With the painted curbs next to the racing surface, the water does not dissipate and soak back into the ground as quickly. When you are on a loaded tire, it’s fine, but on the outside of the turn, watch your step.
Jeff Burton is really stepping up, once again, like Michael Dinan, moving from GT4 to GT3. Burton is bang on the money here at COTA so far and he also ran well in GT America at Sonoma, recalling those races that ran back in March for the opening rounds of SRO America for 2021. So much finesse is needed to tiptoe your way through the corners in the wet. Don’t make any errors. Get the car back to the pits when the pit window opens, hand the car to Colin Braun, and let him drive. These cars have rear view cameras because it is so hard to see out of the rearview mirrors due to all the aero foils and aerodynamic widgets on a GT3 car.
Corvette Racing invented a radar camera to use at Le Mans and since then other manufacturers have adopted this system and it’s the same as a rearview backup camera on your street car. Because of the uphill braking zone through turn one here at Circuit of the Americas, you can brake incredibly late and still make that work fine. You pick up a lot of grip under braking after that uphill turn. Two more of the DXDT Mercedes cars are in a scrap of their own, look. Erin Vogel driving the #19 car, is pursuing the #63 of David Askew.
Askew sharing the car with Ryan Dalziel and Erin Vogel sharing the #19 entry with Michael Cooper. Vogel makes her way past Askew while Taylor Hagler has moved past Fred Poordad as well. Acura, passing Porsche. Hagler in the #77 Compass Racing Acura NSX GT3 and Poordad at the wheel of the #20 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R he shares with Dutch ace Jan Heylen. The Poordad/Heylen team are running well. Poordad and Max Root shared the car last year and crashed here at COTA. Hagler is at her home track. Hagler won out over Erin Vogel in a scrap the two ladies had last time out at Sonoma Raceway.
Erin Vogel is another driver who steps up from GT4 to GT3 along with Michael Cooper who was also her co-driver and driver coach in GT4 in 2020. Cooper is a four-time champion in GT World Challenge America. Ollie Milroy for Inception Racing says their strategy will be determined by what the weather is going to do. If it gets wet, wet weather Pirelli P Zero tires will be the order of the day. You can pit early but typically, get the professional driver into the car ASAP. Michael Dinan, in the meantime, has his hands full with Russell Ward. Mercedes vs. BMW.
It is now Mercedes vs. BMW with almost 1/3rd of the race done and dusted. This is a new Evo spec Mercedes AMG GT3 compared to what the team at Winward raced at Sonoma Raceway back in March. K-PAX could very well dominate. But the battle for the podium between Turner Motorsports and Winward, this is going to be the mega scrap to watch, and Ward moves around Dinan but Michael Dinan isn’t throwing in the towel. He’s going to try coming back by the Mercedes driver. That was a close shave as Ward moves to third overall and in class.
Ward and Dinan are still learning what GT3 racing is all about. In the meantime, J.C. Saada, the lone Am racer in the field, the white AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 is running much better now than they were at Sonoma when they had a practice incident. Now, they were able to race both events at Sonoma. But this is a brand new car for the duo of Jean Claude Saada and Conrad Grunewald. More Am class entries will come into the championship later in the season. Grunewald is an interesting driver who has raced in drifting before. Grunewald will mentor Jean Claude Saada. Saada is a Ferrari Challenge racer. We have run for over a half hour and the pit stop window will soon open, as Jordan Pepper is bish bash boshing it right now, holding a ten second lead, 15 laps of this motor race gone.
Giovanni Venturini, though, he has pulled out a margin over Russell Ward and Michael Dinan who we saw in that fantastic positional scrap earlier on. Pepper is taking no chances as we watch the weather before the pit window opens. Don’t pit and then get out when the rain begins falling. Teams might want to extend how long they stay on track so they can avoid making a second and unnecessary pit stop because of the nature of these hour and a half GTWC America events.
Continuing to watch what Brendon Iribe is doing, he is an impressive driver. He ran a spec McLaren championship and met Oliver Milroy through that championship and so, Ollie Milroy has become a driver coach for Brendon Iribe in a way. Seat time is critical for Iribe, different tracks, conditions, series’, and rules. George Kurtz has had a decent run so far after being tagged by his team mate and car owner David Askew at Sonoma in race one while they came back and won race two at Sonoma the next day. Jeff Burton, meanwhile, continues to run a strong third in the Pro Am class at the wheel of the #91 Rearden Racing Lamborghini that he is sharing with Vesko Kozarov.
Experience in a Lambroghini Super Trofeo car, Jeff Burton became really comfortable with it, having also raced an Audi R8 and an Aston Martin Vantage. Successful businessmen who have become drivers, are doing remarkably well. They are very resilient as well. Maybe business success gives them a mindset of doing well in motor racing as well. George Kurtz is in pursuit of Fred Poordad at the moment. Check that. It’s Erin Vogel who is in pursuit and Taylor Hagler has moved to fifth in the Pro Am category. Michael Cooper is next into that #19 Mercedes.
Cooper could very well move to a higher level in sports car racing and he has shown he dserves it. The pit window will open in mere seconds and be open for ten minutes. Maybe delay the tire decision. But, perhaps, let’s roll the dice and make hay while the proverbial sun shines. Pit Window Open, now. Maybe give up a few seconds before coming to the lane. Vogel is pressing Poordad and has to know that discretion is the better part of valor. K-PAX also, are prepping for a pit stop and the rain has begun. The Mercedes seems more compliant and here comes the rain. Crank up the traction control. Jordan Pepper is waiting it out.
Ah. Giovanni Venturini is the first man to blink for K-PAX Racing while teammate Jordan Pepper stays on the road. Michael Dinan is in the lane in the BMW as well. Monkey see, monkey do, apparently. Turner and K-PAX both in the pit lane. The minimum pit stop delta is 77 seconds. Driver changes, refueling, and changing tires. K-PAX will use the wet weather Pirelli P Zero’s. This is strategfy for the wets and they could be delayed. Also, Corey Lewis should get into the car for the second half of the race as Giovanni Venturini’s work for the day is done and dusted.
#3 is still on track feeling out the conditions and we see the #91 Rearden Racing Lamborghini in the lane as well and BMW is back in front of the Lamborghini with Robby Foley now at the wheel of it. Turner Motorsports also changes to wets and Russell Ward, as well as Brendan Iribe. As I say that, Brendan Iribe, has that McLaren on the whirligig! Oh dear. 700 horsepower on slick tires on a wet track. He just loaded the car and lost grip. The traction control is only working under acceleration. It was a slow, lazy spin for Iribe.
The question now is, what was Jordan Pepper’s in lap like on slick Pirelli tires compared to Robby Foley’s out lap? Andrea Caldarelli is now into the car wet tires being bolted on. Russell Ward, too, is in the lane in the Mercedes. The wet weather tires are 50 degrees cooler in peak temperature compared to the slicks. Don’t overheat the wet tires because they just cannot be heated the same way a slick can. Halfway through this race. Pepper is going for being the guinea pig as Phil Ellis is now at the wheel of Mercedes #33.
Corey Lewis is seventh right now replacing Giovanni Venturini. Ellis’ experience will pay dividends. Andrea Caldarelli has the advantage, but he will have his hands full. Jordan Pepper says that he stayed out just to see what would happen with the tires but down the backstretch he was aquaplaning in fourth gear. Pepper is confident in his teammate. Caldarelli can be more cautious, letting the car have it’s head if it is sliding around on the road. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Foley is moving in on Ellis which tells you that the BMW M6 GT3 is really in the zone in these conditions.
Foley has won in these conditions with the BMW M6 in other sports car racing championships. So, therefore, he knows exactly how to handle the car. The car wasn’t in its sweet spot at all at Sonoma. But it could be taco Saturday for the Turner team if they do well. George Kurtz has finally brought the #04 DXDT Mercedes to the lane and Colin Braun should be taking over the car. Wait and see what the weather does. It is getting wwetter here at COTA. No driver change for the #04? We’ll see. There was a gamble for slicks. Maybe there is a second pit stop we have just seen. Maybe the transponder on that car is still acting up. Ah. Colin Braun is now in the car.
A boatload of opposite lock from Colin Braun. Now we see a scrap between Jan Heylen and Vesko Kozarov. Do these two chaps have history? Oh, no, no, no. Just kidding. They do. These chaps are somehow magnetized to each other out on the track. So, this is a healthy rivalry in Pro Am. Kozarov has third in class and Heylen wants it. The classes of course are for driver ratings as everyone is driving GT3 cars. Kozarov is a tough cookie. No dice. Heylen is right in it and Kozarov knows discretion is the better part of valor.
Caldarelli now leads Ward by just under 14 seconds with Robby Foley third followed by Corey Lewis in the Pro class. That is the delayed green #6 Lamborghini. Indecisiveness in the pit lane is a killer. Phillip Ellis should be in the #33 Mercedes AMG GT3. He is, drifting the car off the corner. Ellis has experience racing in Europe in the rain as Ellis hydroplanes the car! Drew Staveley is running well in the #12 Ian Lacy Racing Aston Martin, who did in fact test here at COTA in the rain. Staveley sharing with Frank Gannett of course. They have assistance from Aston Martin.
Foley is moving in on Ellis. Offline grip might be available. He is rim riding the outside on the rain line, staying off the polished line where the oil and gunk is. Visibility is tough because of the spray being kicked up. 35 minutes to go as the #19 DXDT Racing Mercedes pits. Michael Cooper was sent out on slicks but has changed to wet weather Pirelli P Zero tires. The Ellis and Foley tussle has allowed Andrea Caldarelli to scamper away and build his lead of the motor race. Since the rain has begun falling, the top speeds in the esses have also done the same. Such a difference. 113.7 miles an hour for both Jan Heylen and Russell Ward. Robby Foley running at 110.6 miles an hour. 109.3 MPH for Ollie Milroy. 108.7 MPH for Andrea Caldarelli. Be careful. Tiptoe a little more in the esses. 15 seconds a lap slower. You lose seven or eight tenths through each corner.
Madison Snow brings the Zelus Motorsports car to the lane. That is the Pro Am #88 Lamborghini he is sharing with Jason Harward. The forecast has been difficult to believe here in Austin, Texas. There’s boatloads of standing water on the road. The drivers will have to manage their wet tires for the last half hour of this race. Stay in touch with Phil Ellis. Use your available tools in the car. Work with the traction control, brake bias, and suspension rollbar settings to soften the car up. Colin Braun has to make quick corrections in the rain. Braun and Kurtz ran the Total 24 Hours of Spa which was a rain soaked event as well.
The two of them plan to be back at Spa this year. The blue riband race for the SRO GT World Challenge. Feel the grip, see if you must maximize anything, but also know where the threshold is. Traction Control or brake bias can be adjusted from the cockpit. Let the car roll around and be more compliant for the bite on the tires. It is an art form to adjust the car in real time which is just as important as steering the car. A GT3 car is so much more complex than a GT4. The operator's manuals written for the systems on these cars is incredible.
Sometimes poring through the data is hard to do. Keep It
Simple, sunshine. This is why
manufacturers embed themselves within the privateer teams to help run the
cars. Phil Ellis is building a gap on
Robby Foley. The lap times between Foley
and Ward are pretty evenly matched.
Meanwhile, Ollie Milroy is moving in on Corey Lewis as Milroy leads Pro
Am over Jan Heylen. It’s not abnormal to
run in the rain in Europe. Ollie Milroy
has been a stunt driver in movies like “Transformers” and he has also raced in
single seaters and started in go karts.
Milroy passes Corey Lewis for fourth spot. Milroy has good experience in British GT with
GT3 cars as well. Get the power to the
road with the traction control. Bas
Leinders, a great FIA GT Champion and former driver, and a reserve driver for
Minardi in Formula 1 in 2005, running sports cars and touring cars, and being a
team boss, he has loads of experience he brings to the table to guide the
younger drivers as well. The perfect
combination is the racing background and also the administrative
background. Optimum Motorsports will be
back in GT World Challenge America running also in GT World Challenge Europe
and GT Open.
The doors are opening in terms of the situation with the pandemic that were curtailed in 2020 due to the travel regulations and restrictions. Vaccinations have been welcome news. Jacob Abel, has not been in a GT car in a while, even though he is also running in open wheel feeder series as well. But he is back in a GT car for his first ever GT race, in the rain. Abel will be racing in a couple other events coming up in SRO America later in the year.
Inception team boss Bas Leinders says the McLaren has always been a good car in the rain. Ollie Milroy from the United Kingdom knows how to drive in the rain and the team anticipated rain, so they were able to compromise. McLaren joins the global Fanatec GT World Challenge championship based on class and how many cars are in your class with GT World Challenge Europe, America, Asia, and Australia. It is easier to adjust the rear wing compared to the front nose. In the wet, change the settings for the suspension and the downforce. Adding downforce with the rear wing, is hard to have equilibrium with the front. Run softer springs as well in the wet. We watch a battle between Jacob Abel in the Acura, chasing, while Ryan Dalziel in the Mercedes is the bloke being pursued.
Abel was ahead last time by according to timing and scoring and Dalziel has made the pass. This is for tenth overall and sixth in Pro Am. Corey Lewis has dropped back in the #6 K-PAX Racing Lamborghini. Word from the team at K-PAX is that the antilock brakes are not working on the car and that will make these wet conditions even trickier for the boys at K-PAX to negotiate with just over 20 minutes remaining on the board before this first motor race of GTWC America is complete. ABS in these conditions is a major safety net. GT3 cars are designed for ABS use.
The braking pressure and performance sans ABS is really different. Drew Staveley in the Ian Lacy Racing Aston Martin is a champion in Pirelli GT4 America in the Am division in 2019 where he competed against his current co-driver Frank Gannett. They’ve both really stepped up. For Ian Lacy Racing, Ian Lacy himself was a great open wheel driver who realized he had limited opportunities to race, but now he is the team owner/team manager. Third in Pro Am and seventh overall is Giacomo Altoe, the Italian aboard the #9 TR3 Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 he shares with American Ziad Ghandour.
Altoe was a great qualifying driver and he is a factory Lamborghini driver. TR3 have had a lot of success in this championship but are relatively new compared to K-PAX and others. Corner speeds are interesting to see as Michael Cooper has the fastest at 85.7 miles an hour fllowed closely by Giacomo Altoe at 85.1 miles an hour, Ollie Milroy at 84.5 miles an hour, Ryan Dalziel at 82.6 miles an hour, and Russell Ward at 82 miles an hour even.
Corey Lewis is now falling into the clutches of Jan Heylen
and Heylen is coming in a hurry. Top
speeds at the esses have also dropped.
Equal speed for Caldarelli and Ward at 109.3 miles an hour followed by
Millroy at 108.7, Heylen at 108.1, and Braun at 107.4. Andrea Caldarelli is trying to find grip on
coarser blacktop. The residue and oil
under all the water is like glass or ice.
Look for the aggregate in the pavement to get more traction. Going from relative grip to polish surfaces,
breathe the throttle, and keep the car straight. Square the car up so you can keep the car straight.
Some drivers do love racing in the rain. You cannot be fearful of the rain. Go out and drive even if you are not comfortable. Sometimes, you have no choice if you do not like it. Do not just stay home and watch the races on TV waiting for the sun to shine. Altoe is pressing hard running down Corey Lewis. Altoe is six seconds behind Lewis and he was six seconds quicker than the American driver on the previous lap! Blimey O’Reilly! Giacomo Altoe is hauling the mail in the wet!
Heylen has moved to fifth. Ollie Milroy continues to lead Pro Am over Milroy and Altoe. Altoe is closing in on Lewis, and fast. Corey Lewis could be a shot duck here before the race is done. Full Course Yellow for unsafe track conditions with all the water, with 14 minutes left on the clock. The rain has been unceasing since it started. Andrea Caldarelli will be fuming. He will have to follow the Lamborghini Urus safety car. If we do go back racing, Caldarelli will have to fend off some major challenges. The water is beginning to puddle here at Circuit of the Americas and with the elevation changes, there will be gullies and rivers on the road.
Watch out for hydroplaning. The bravest drivers will not even risk themselves to race in rain of this magnitude. We are under safety car conditions. K-PAX Racing and Corey Lewis are in damage limitation mode as far as their points positions. They might hang on if we don’t go back to green. Giacomo Altoe was flying so he cannot be happy about this Full Course Yellow and safety car for all the rain. Points will be awarded based on positions in class. Going back to the old Pirelli World Challenge days, the overall classes were scored together, but the Pro classes are scored individually in the overall order.
Bring the car home.
Do not risk it. Ah. Red flag.
The race is over. This is also
the checkered flag with ten or so minutes to go and we have a winner! Andrea Caldarelli and Jordan Pepper pick up
the victory in race one for GT World Challenge America here in Austin,
Texas. The win in Pro Am goes to the new
blokes on the grid, Inception Racing and the McLaren shared by Ollie Milory and
Brendon Iribe. The Am class victory
belongs to Ferrari and the 488 GT3 for AF Corse driven by Jean Claude Saada and
Conrad Grunewald.
Overall/Pro: #3 Caldarelli/Pepper K-PAX Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3
Pro Am:
#70 Iribe/Milroy Inception Racing
McLaren 720S GT3
Am: #61 Grunewald/Saada AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3
Andrea Caldarelli and Jordan Pepper, stay perfect to start
the 2021 season. GT World Challenge
America race one is in the bag here in Austin, Texas, as the rain falls. We’ll see you tomorrow, on Sunday, for race
two. So long, for now.
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