SRO GT America: Circuit of the America's Race 1

It is time for round two, race one of the Pirelli GT America championship.  This race is like a candy dish.  Pour in a bunch of different varieties at random and stir it around to see what variety of chocolate you might find.  There are GT2 cars, GT3 Current Generation cars, GT3 Previous Generation cars, and GT4 cars, all rolled into the starting field.  This race is also a sprint format event.  One driver per car, and 50 minutes in which to race. This is the third race in the young history of GT America and for the first time in the series’ history, we have a race in the rain.  George Kurtz broke out the broom and swept both events in the season opener at Sonoma Raceway in California last time out.  Three different classes, as we said, will race.  James Sofronas has the pole in his series debut and his first race since major shoulder surgery last year.  Sofronas is the most experienced SRO World Challenge driver in the paddock.  He is racing a Lamborghini Huracan, a new car for him.

Brendon Iribe in the McLaren is also running well.  He has a leg up on the competition, after competing in the 90-minute GT World Challenge America event, earlier today.  This is our final event of Saturday at COTA before resuming with competition, for Sunday.  George Kurtz starts third.  George Krtuz’s confidence is building in a GT3 car.  He knows the conditions after racing in the 24 Hours of Spa last fall.  Charlie Luck is fourth, on the pole in the GT3 Masters division. Sean Quinlan, for Steven Cameron Racing is on the GT4 pole, alongside Ross Chouest.  Thomas Surgent and Jason Bell are also up there and so is Scott Schmidt in the lone GT2 spec car, a debut for Lamborghini in GT2.  Scott Schmidt is actually using this race to learn the layout here at COTA for an upcoming Lamborghini Super Trofeo race event to be held here.  Drama on the formation lap as Brendon Iribe has spun!  What is the protocol for a spin?  He has to go to the tail end of either his class field or the overall field.

COTA is wet right now.  According to the stewards, you cannot give a position back.  He lost the rear end trying to put the welly down.  Maybe he should ramp up the traction control.  Weaving around back and forth is not the best way to generate tire temperature.  Have your right foot on the gas pedal and left on the brake pedal, simultaneously working the gas and the brake, and generating temperature from the brakes will thus heat the tires.  That is the best technique to build temperature into the tires.  The heat is generated through the wheel, the hub, and into the tire.  Iribe is back in his grid slot.  Jason Daskalos in the Audi R8 was having work done on the transmission.  Daskalos in the #27 Daskalos Motorsports Audi R8 LMS Ultra.  Buckle up.  This is going to be a barn burner.  The Lamborghini Urus safety car is in the lane.  Veteran driver James Sofronas leads the field.  Everyone aligned well.  Green flag!  We are underway!  Jeff Burton makes his move already in this now 40-minute motor race.  Do not cross over the white pit exit line.

Jason Daskalos spins.  It is tempting when you are passing, to out accelerate another driver.  You will exceed the grip threshold.  Sofronas makes a good start but he is already searching for grip on the wet track here at COTA.  Iribe is coming, and fast.  Charlie Luck in the Porsche has dropped back a bit.  He is driving the #45 Porsche 911 GT3R for Wright Motorsports.  George Kurtz is third and there is another Porsche ahead of him.  Kyle Washington at the wheel of the #32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3R.  GMG Racing fielding four different types of car in this race.  A Porsche, an Audi, a Lamborghini, and an Aston Martin.  Charlie Luck keeping the pressure on George Kurtz.  Kyle Washington is moving up as we have synchronized spinning in turn 11 for George Kurtz and Charlie Luck.  Both aim to resume, and do, but they bottle up the GT4 field in the process and drivers are sent scrambling to try and avoid incident!  Yikes!  Look at the spray!  We watch Jason Harward in the brightly colored pale blue and yellow Zelus Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo, car #88.  He is moving in on the #26 Thomas Surgent driven McLaren 570S GT4.  Surgent, driving for Prive Motorsports/Topp Racing. 

The McLaren is well suited to the wet.  No pit stops in GT America.  It is a single driver, sprint format, just like Pirelli World Challenge used to be.  It gives drivers opportunities for more seat time.  James Sofronas was right when he said that many entrants would come into this.  Sofronas wanted to go into GT2 as well, so he wants to also find single drivers.  That is his client base as someone who prepares cars.  Brendon Iribe, he has done a lot of spinning, but he is right in the wheel tracks of James Sofronas.  Incredible.  Meanwhile, George Kurtz, who swept last time out at Sonoma in March, he is in the pit lane with heavy damage.  Broken left rear suspension, look, on that Mercedes AMG GT3.  Luck whacked the left rear corner of Kurtz’s car and bends the toe link, the toe in on the alignment of the automobile.  The toe link is really a vulnerable place even though these GT3 cars are stout, durable machines.  70% of the race distance is required for points with 35 minutes left in the race.

We watch the lead battle and Sofronas now, the veteran of this series, he is falling into the clutches of Brendon Iribe who is on the move.  He has uncorked the fastest lap so far at 1:28 dead, 1:28.008.  GT4 is also hot and heavy, look.  Surgent moves past Chouest for the lead in class.  Lamborghini vs. Mercedes.  Check that.  McLaren vs. Mercedes.  Harward in the Lamborghini is very much the meat in the sandwich.  Surgent leads Chouest.  Jason Bell is third in GT4 and another driver to take note of, for RENNTech is Chris Cagnazzi, team mate to Chouest.  Chouest in car #89 and Cagnazzi in #39.  Brendon Iribe has been pinged by the stewards for improper driving procedure and has to do a drive through.  You have to go all the way back to the tail end of the line, this, according to GT4 Race Director, Brian Till, himself, a former racing driver.  George Kurtz is looking ahead to tomorrow’s race.  He says, at the start of the race, drivers are all over the map, and they got hit in turn 11 and broke the suspension.  Iribe has not served the penalty yet.  Sofronas will be in the clear.  Improper starting procedure, according to the official penalty notification.

How much will Iribe lose?  Kyle Washington and Jason Harward, both are closing in.  The time delta down pit lane is at least 30 seconds.  Iribe has the fastest lap of the race so far at 2:28 dead, 2/10ths quicker than Sofronas has run.  Charlie Luck will also receive a 30 second stop and hold penalty for causing a collision in which the other car could not continue driving.  Luck in the Porsche has been dropping like a stone already.  Rob Holland is fifth in class.  Holland is an American driver but has raced in Europe in the British Touring Car Championship, and in the NLS at the Nurburgring.  Holland has also had GTWC experience as Kyle Washington is being chased by Jason Harward.  Iribe is back on track after serving his penalty in fifth ahead of Jason Daskalos.  Chouest is running very, very well so far.  He had a podium in Pirelli GT4 America earlier on.  Jason Bell is really committed to learning race craft.  He ran 7-8 races in different cars in 2020 during the pandemic.  Stop and hold for Charlie Luck and he serves the penalty.

The Master’s lead belongs to Flying Lizard and the #460 car of American Andy Wilzoch who did not race at Sonoma.  Wilzoch is driving a 2017 spec Porsche 911 GT3R.  Iribe has Harward and Washington to negotiate.  Iribe is really dedicated to racing in the next couple years, committed to SRO America for the rest of the season.  Optimum Motorsports can run competitively in many GT series around the world.  The McLaren’s strength is in low-speed corners.  Zelus Motorsports is a new team out of Utah, that Harward is driving for.  We look at the top speeds through the esses and Daskalos is a full ten miles an hour faster even in the rain than anybody else while other drivers such as Luck, Gray Newell in the Heart of Racing #25 Aston Martin, James Sofronas, and Kyle Washington, they can run at 100-101 miles an hour.  Zelus Motorsports has Madison Snow as a co-driver, with team manager and former speed skater, Ty Isaac also from Salt Lake City.  He raced speed skating in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in Red Bull Crashed Ice like roller derby on ice skates.  This team will have a new chassis, the chassis from TR3 Racing, and they will be getting an new chassis before the next race at Virginia International Raceway.

Iribe is pressing, the long way on the triple apex turn modeled after a turn at Istanbul Park in Turkey.  Jason Hrward is chasing the Porsche of Kyle Washington as Brendon Iribe is pushing hard.  The crew chief must really look at the monitors and be a spotter, almost.  Touring Car driver Jeff Ricca, who just won that race, said it is diabolical and like a skating rink on this wet surface.  Fortunately, drivers are not making mistakes and the tire grip has been great.  Harward remains third.  The top three in GT4 has not changed.  Surgent, followed by Chouest, and Bell, in that order.  In GT Masters, the leader continues to be Andy Wilzoch, running ninth in the overall.  In 18^th overall, it is the GT2 spec Lamborghini in the hands of Scott Schmidt.  That Lamborghini Super Trofeo car has brutal horsepower, little downforce, and not many driver aids.  So, Scott Schmidt is earning his money out there during this motor race which is nearly half over.  Sean Quinlan is another man who has dropped like a stone, from 12^th overall to 21^st, after starting from the class pole in GT4.  Jason Bell, meanwhile, has caught Ross Chouest in the Mercedes Benz.  Andy Wilzoch is the highest placed competitor in GT America Masters ahead of Jeff Burton and Charlie Luck who are both farther behind.  Flying Lizard as a team has quite the CV across sports car racing in both sprint and endurance events.

A little too much power and Brendan Iribe spins the McLaren, again.  Daskalos moves through and poor old Kyle Washington had a heart in mouth moment there, look, where Iribe rotated in front of him.  Undaunted, Iribe continues.  Iribe overocooks it, getting on the paint f the curb which is wet.  There is a lot of runoff room at COTA.  You can continue with no damage to the race car.  Brendon Iribe won in Pro Am in GTWC America with Ollie Milroy earlier.  Iribe is fast tracking his racing career having started later in life.  Chris Cagnazzi is coming fast in another RENNTech GT4 spec Mercedes AMG.  He is sharing the car in SprintX GT4 with Guy Cosmo.  Again, this is car #39, the Cagnazzi/Cosmo entry.  They will be with us for most of the season sans Watkins Glen.  15 minutes to go in this race.  RENNTech are a topnotch team.  Cagnazzi was quicker than his competition.  Chouest may be looking for water, for puddles, for the tires.  Sometimes braking in the middle of the road in the wet is easier.  More grip, more polish on the racing line.  Cooling the tires is not a factor.  Iribe wants third from Daskalos.  But Daskalos wants the podium.  The McLaren could have more pace as Jeff Burton spins the #191 Rearden Racing Lamborghini, 17^th overall, third in the Masters class.

The loaded tire, looking for grip, takes some grip away.  A finite margin there for how he entered the corner.  Because Circuit of the Americas is an FIA Grade 1 circuit (for Formula 1, World Endurance Championship, and more) the curbs are painted with a tacky, sticky paint.  It is supposed to be grippier but that does not really matter in the rain.  Interesting idea, as Tim Pappas leads Adam Adelson.  Pappas aboard the #54 Black Swan Racing Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR.  Adelson driving the #120 which is an identical car, for Premier Sportscar.  Pappas cuts across Adelson, but not in a malicious manner, going through turn one at the top of the hill.  Pappas is making a great recovery after having a horrible crash in 2020 at Mount Panorama Bathurst before the 12 Hours.  He is back at it though.  Pappas, after his experience, he may never race at Mount Panorama again, because it is too dangerous and too scary, too much of a risk.  He ended up suffering major injuries in The Chase, one of the highest commitment corners in all of racing and poor Pappas had a broken leg and a broken foot after the accident.  Ouch!

Chouest is covering the outside and here comes Jason Bell, but no dice.  He is making notes in his mind with less than 11 minutes to run.  Andrew Davis knows he has stiff competition.  Jason Bell’s patience is wearing thin to stay in the fight.  Turn on the pressure!  Sofronas still leads the race.  Nothing has changed.  Daskalos is recovering from a spin of his own.  The team had the car in pieces yesterday.  He ran two events in GT Sports Club.  He ran too with CRP in Dodge Viper’s and Nissan GT-R’s.  He is doing it with an older generation Audi GT3 car as well.  He did the same in GT Sports Club in 2020 mixed in with GT World Challenge America.  GT America as a formula is working very well.  GT and GTS used to run together as well.  We used to see standing starts in the series.  I wonder if that will come back.  So, James Sofronas, winner last year in a GT3 car with Jeroen Bleekemolen, he is going for it.  400+ Lamborghini Huracan GT3’s has been sold.  This team got their chassis from Orange 1 FFF, from GT World Challenge Europe, and in Road To Le Mans.  Brendon Iribe is fourth on the road, uncorking his best lap at 2:24.4. 

Both blokes are chasing Jason Harward, moving past the lapped car of Jeff Burton.  Surgent leads Chouest and Bell are 1-2 in their respective category here in GT America, in GT4.  Cagnazzi is still in the fight too.  Brendan Iribe has caught Jason Daskalos.  Daskalos has to focus forward, chasing down Jason Harward.  He cannot ignore the McLaren, looming large behind.  Iribe uncorks a 2:24 dead!  Wow!  Daskalos is really pushing, and he has lapped traffic to deal with, one of the GMG Racing Audi’s, either Elias Sabo or Alex Welch.  It has to be Elias Sabo.  Welch is with a different team in 2021.  Iribe catches the curbing and hangs onto it.  Good driving!  I’ll say it again.  Good driving!  Chouest has been defending and seeking out grip as Jason Bell is pushing, pushing, pushing, evenlyu matched in the straightaway drag race.  Chouest goes to the apex later on the brakes.  Wow!  Thomas Surgent, meanwhile, leads GT4 in the McLaren 570S.  The McLaren is really running well.  Surgent is flying and Charlie Luck is making up ground as well.  He is second in the Masters class, a battle for seventh in the overall.

Andy Wilzock leads Masters.  Luck is faster than overall leader, James Sofronas as well.  Charlie Luck has raced since the 1980s in the NASCAR Busch Series, now the Xfinity Series.  The Masters division is for drivers 55 years of age and older.  Luck had a great drive at Sonoma, and today he has done well even though he had contact with George Kurtz.  Iribe, late on the brakes, loses a couple car lengths.  James Sofronas has not run a full season in a few years, but he has made opportunities for himself.  His winning percentage has been extraordinary.  He was in a lean period with championships but has won more lately.  We’re on the last lap.  Harward and Daskalos have really done well, and unfortunately, the McLaren of Sergent is on fire, stuck on the side of the road in GT4!  Oh dear oh dear!  Full Course Yellow right at the end of the motor race.  Iribe has moved around Daskalso, but did he do it before the Full Course Yellow?  Iribe snags a place on the overall podium as James Sofronas wins over Jason Harward and Brendon Iribe.  In Masters, it’s Wilzoch winning.  We will go through the winners in a moment.

Luck is second in Masters.  Wilzog and Bell first and second in GT4 with Cagnazzi third.  Jeff Burton is third in the Masters division.  James Sofronas wins it, and another one at Circuit of the Americas and in SRO racing.  He handles the pressure and the way to keep his clients, his customers, happy.  He races primarily for fun.  He had shoulder surgery in the off season.  GMG will have a new facility at the Thermal Club, a track in California.  Ross Chouest fought hard for second spot, holding off Jason Bell with Chris Cagnazzi next.  A 1-3 finish for RENNTech.  The manufacturers are making great turnkey race cars as well. 

Overall: #14 James Sofronas     GMG Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo

Masters: #460 Andy Wilzoch     Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R (2017)

GT4: #89 Ross Chouest RENNTech Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT4

Invitational: #381 Scott Schmidt     TPC Racing Lamborghini Super Trofeo GT2

We expect a dry race tomorrow for GT America.  James Sofronas’ racing feeds into his racing parts aftermarket sales business.  Doesn’t that give you more credibility?  The GT2 cars will race much better in the dry with all the horsepower.  The idea brings high horsepower cars back into the fold.  Ross Chouest has won his first race in SRO America as well.  A great win too in GT2 invitational racing for Scott Schmidt.  Chouest has run well in Ferrari Challenge and Lamborghini Super Trofeo.  Congratulations to the class winners today and excited for race two tomorrow.  See you then.  Good night, everyone, from Austin, Texas.