SRO America kicks off their season a wee bit earlier than expected in 2022. Yours truly regrets he could not find the time in 2021 to blog a lot of the races. Maybe there will be time in the coming weeks to do so. But, with that out of the way, we begin the season today for the GT America championship which is not typical of many sports car racing series in the world today. The reason is this is a format meaning races with only one driver behind the wheel of each car. The races will be 40 minutes in duration, and we begin today with race one of two, as GT America supports the IndyCar season opener here at the St. Petersburg, street circuit, in St. Petersburg, Florida. Three classes of automobile are open to run in GT America and those include cars from GT2, GT3, and GT4. 27 cars begin the second season of this series.
We have nearly 30 cars entered for these first two races of the season, here at St. Petersburg. Jason Harward starts fourth. He wants to lead out of the first corner. Third, George Kurtz, the champion of GT America 2021. The front row includes Scott Smithson, and Jason Daskalos. Daskalos podiumed last year on the street circuit in Nashville, Tennessee, last summer. Turn one lap one will be mega important. Turn one is part of the airfield runway. Don't lock the tires up. Watch your tire pressures. Be patient. This is indeed a street circuit.
This is a teomporary circuit using part of the airport runway for the straightaway. The championships here this weekend paddock outside the track. They are gridding up now. A street course is very intimidating if you have not driven one. Don't carry too much speed and don't get scared of the walls or you will spin. Process the information, but in race conditions it is a totally different kettle of fish. This is multi-class racing as always in sports car racing. One GT2 car, and a bunch of both GT3 and GT4 cars entered in this motor race.
The new Porsche Cayman's are here, but they are not entirely homologated by the SRO. Adam Adelson and Rob Holland are faster than the homologated GT4 cars. The folks at SRO are going to be studying the cars before the next race at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California, in April. Our GT4 champion from 2021, Jason Bell, he has qualified on pole at his home track. Bell said that the first corner is going to be the key factor. Maybe the Indy Lights open wheel cars dulled the paint in their race before the sports cars. Chris Cagnazzi aboard a Mercedes AMG GT4, he is on the pole in the class.
Watch for the painted lines. Chris Cagnazzi is driving the #39 entry for Cameron Racing. Watch for the compression of the field at the start. We cannot lose time in a 40-minute event. Ziad Ghandour is back with TR3 Motorsports who raced well in the Rolex 24 in a different championship. The fourth car we have is a Callaway Corvette GT3 which is back in sports car racing for the first time in the United States in four years, since 2018. So many cool cars are mixed and matched in GT America. It is a real assorted candy dish. We are going to see massive growth in this championship, so yours truly really hopes he can cover these races this yuear along with the other mega sports car championships out there.
The cars are on track behind the safety car. Mirko Schultis of Germany will be driving the Callaway Corvette. Watch for him. We have issues here for Nick Shanny aboard the #21 Toyota Supra GT4. This is his first professional race in the #21 Accelerating Motorsports Toyota Supra GT4 with Steve Hallam at the helm, former McLaren Formula 1 team engineer. Toyota could be building a GT3 car. Watch this space. We could hear more. OK. Time to get this race going as safety car driver Mike Stillwagon heads for pit lane and the green flag is up and away we go!
Who leads to turn one? Jeff Burton is scything his way through the GT4 field and Chris Cagnazzi careers into Jeff Burton! Good grief! We might see a Full Course Yellow. Yikes! Poor old Jeff Burton, it could be game over. Daskalos leads the motor race as David Askew is chasing rookie Justin Wetherill in the #37 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 488 GT3. Heavy damage too, for the Aston Martin GT4 entry of one of the Aston Martin's, car #15. That is the B-Sport Racing entry, Bryan Putt at the wheel of it. Jason Daskalos on cold tires also clouted the barriers! Ouch! Daskalsos gave that wall a major thud.
This circuit is legendary having been around since the 1980s. But it is very unforgiving as well. Under the safety car, these drivers are collecting themselves, but they will have to get it together here when the green waves again. Derek DeBoer in the Porsche Cayman GT4 for TRG in car #66, he is a lucky luck boy to get out of that opening corner shemozzle. TRG team boss Kevin Buckler will be telling his driver to just go for it. We've lost time for this race from behind the safety car. All the shards of carbon fiber on the road will cut down a tire in a heartbeat. Jeff Burton has changed over from Rearden Racing to Zelus Racing for 2022.
Burton had his breakthrough season in 2021 stepping up from GT4 to GT3. With these doubleheader races, it is going to be hard for Burton to catch up. Burton has raced a few different cars through the years. We see C.J. Moses in the GT2 Audi. That motorcar is a hotrod. But it does not have the downforce of the GT3 entries. C.J. Moses is an experienced driver in GT4. They needed a new steering wheel for the car. Jeff Burton walks back to the lane under his own steam, but he has to be gutted. The steering wheel is the nerve center of a modern race car and not just a sports car but also an open wheel car.
We see the Callaway GT3 car which was shipped over from Germany after the program for ADAC GT Masters ended. Mirko Schultis from Freiburg, Germany, is a NASCAR Euro Series driver in Chevrolet's. He is a GM guy. He wanted to transport his dirt bikes and bought a Chevrolet Tahoe sans a roof for a thousand Deutschmarks. Oh no. Rob Holland in the new spec Porsche GT4 Cayman is out. Schultis has fallen in love with Chevy and has been racing them for years. He lives here in Sarasota, Florida. The Callaway has been around in Europe since 2007. They have been in the game for a long time. These teams in SRO GT America are top notch efforts.
Driver/owner David Askew for DXDT Racing is back for more. This is the #63 Mercedes AMG GT3. They had five cars last year and this year have backed it down to a few less cars. Askew is becoming a faster driver since they have shrunken their customer program. Askew will race with Dirk Mueller in GTWC America. Bryan Sellers is going to co-drive with Scott Smithson. Many people from the Starworks team will be helping the DXDT boys out. They had excellent professional drivers in the past like Michael Cooper and Ryan Dalziel. Multimatic is connected with AMG Mercedes.
Justin Wetherill in the #37 Ferrari runs fifth for Triarsi Competizione. They made their debut in GTWC America at Sebring last fall. Ryan Dalziel will now co-drive in the Ferrari with Justin Wetherill, a businessman who is now focused on racing. He bought a Ferrari from the Triarsi Ferrari dealer in Orlando. The GT3 cars have more momentum than the Ferrari Challenge event. The Ferrari won the Kyalami 9 Hours a couple weekends ago. Green flag with just over 20 inutes to go. Jason Daskalos leads the motor race. Daskalos is being monstered by Scott Smithson, a touring car veteran in SRO. Smithson raced in the Indianapolis 8 Hours last fall with DXDT.
At the tail end of the line is Jason Harward and we have seen a spin for Jason Harward who tried to pass George Kurtz and got crossed up. Smithson wants the lead from Daskalos. Daskalos had brake fade in Free Practice yesterday. In GT4, Derek DeBoer leads in class for The Racer's Group and team boss Kevin Buckler. Moisey Uretsky is next up in the dayglow yellow Toyota Supra and Ross Chouest next in the serial in the Aston Martin being harried by Marco Radisic in his BMW M4 GT4. Kurtz dives inside Smithson, can't hold it, and Smithson takes the place back.
Daskalos now, he must be up to snuff unless he is wrestling the car around as Kurtz goes wide again, look. Halfway through this motor race. Scott Smithson is really giving him fits. He is biding his time with Bryan Sellers on the radio. Daskalos well aware Smithson is right on his six. This circuit goes around Pioneer Park and to the shorefront in St. Petersburg. Marko Radisic has moved 'round Moisey Uretsky. Uretsky in the Toyota on the other line. Now, Radisic is going to reel in Derek DeBoer. Marko Radisic races a 24 hour karting race but goes Marco Solo for that event at NOLA Motorsports Park in Louisiana.
Karting is extremely physically demanding. Yikes! 16 minutes left on the board. Radisic reeling in DeBoer. Porsche vs. BMW. Radisic dives in on the brakes and DeBoer slams the door in his face. This is cat and mouse. Dog eat dog and cat eat mouse. Smithson too, he is pressing Daskalso side by side. Smithson wants it! Traffic ahead. This is where you earn your money. GT4 traffic cleared. Kurtz smells blood in the water. He is the shark chasing the two minnows here. No vanish button on the steering wheel. Poor old Jason Bell has dropped like a stone to tenth spot.
Jason Daskalos followed by Smithson and Kurtz. Smithson needs to plan a move but Daskalos is still pushing hard. Kurtz gets stymied and now has to press on. Kurtz has an evil handling Mercedes along Bayshore. He has clag on his tires. Marko Radisic moves past the Porsche of Derek DeBoer. DeBoer is being monstered by Moisey Uretsky, the driver from Russia. He raced in Mazda MX-5 Cup in 2021. John Geesbreght did the same thing in 2021. That Toyota Supra is a great GT4 platform. Daskalos is still being pressured by Smithson!
Ten minutes of motor racing to go. The Benz is more planted. Kurtz and David Askew are pressing hard. Marko Radisic continues leading GT4. SRQ Motorsports is the airport code in Sarasota, Florida, and so that is the name of this new team. TRG are going to do everything to maintain a podium place. DeBoer has the edge on Uretsky in the Supra. Here come the leaders, dicing through traffic as Smithson is keeping Daskalos honest, passing C.J. Moses and Paul Sparta. Daskalos goes deep. He is surely on defense. Daskalos raced a Dodge Viper here in 2010 at St. Petersburg. Daskalos wants to race a GT3 car for 2023.
Many new drivers in this championship. You have no clue how they will race. Trust is key especially on a street course as Jason Bell is moving up and chasing Ross Chouest. GT4 leaders are lapped traffic for the leaders and Daskalos nearly parks it in turn nine. Smithson needs a run on Daskalos through traffic with just five minutes on the clock. George Kurtz in third place. Smithson and Sellers, watch out for those boys in GT World Challenge America. David Askew is pressing hard as Sean Whalen spins the GT4 Zelus Motorsports car.
Marko Radisic leads Derek DeBoer and Moisey Uretsky in GT4. Ayrton Senna backed off at Monaco and lost a Grand Prix there. Ross Chouest is still on guard to fend off with his rivals. Meantime, Smithson is still chasing Daskalos but needs better timing. Read the taffic and get through the turns at normal pace. Smithson does have experience racing in multi-class racing. He drove touring cars and did so in a touring car against GT4 machines. George Kurtz for Riley Motorsports, up against his old team boss David Askew at DXDT Racing. Kurtz and Colin Braun are both at Riley Motorsports for 2022.
St. Petersburg is much like Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland, Ohio combined with Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan. Final lap. DeBoer vs. Uretsky for the podium in GT4. Jason Bell is flying right now too after his first lap shemozzle and has been moving up. He may run out of time. Jason Daskalos is going to win race one here at St. Petersburg! Winner, winner, chicken dinner! Scott Smithson and George Kurtz complete the podium. In GT4, it is Marko Radisic in the BMW winning the race with Derek DeBoer, the runner up.
Overall/SRO3: #27 Jason Daskalos Daskalos Motorsports Audi R8 LMS
GT4: #22 Marko Radisic SRQ Motorpsorts BMW M4 GT4
GT2: #58 C.J. Moses GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT2
There is an Invitational division in these races, but with only one car. Pole to the checkers for Jsson Daskalos despite brushing the wall out of turn three on lap one. We look forward to more action in GT America at St. Petersburg tomorrow. So, tomorrow morning, we will be back to race again. Street course racing is fun and thrilling, but when things go wrong, risk management is number one. So, congratulations to Jason Daskalos. See your tomorrow morning for race two here at St. Petersburg. Should be another thrilling 40-minute sprint. So long, from St. Pete, everybody. See you in the morning for more GT racing action.
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