It is time, for the second and final race of the weekend for SRO GT World Challenge America, in their season opening weekend here at Sonoma Raceway in the California wine country. Yesterday, a new season commenced in grand style, and we will once again see 20 GT3 race cars compete in round two of the championship. A very Happy Easter to everybody. Once again, we join Ryan Myrehn and Calvin Fish in the commentary box and Amanda Busick in the pit lane for the race call. Two and a half miles and 12 turns. Sonoma equals four kilometers in metric measurement. Turns two and three are a wild ride. Manage your Pirelli P Zero tires. That is one of the criticl elements as we get set to close out the weekend. Yesterday, Jordan Pepper led the field but Jean Claude Saada spun. Steven Agakhani and Russell Ward scrapped with each other. David Askew plowed into the tires.
The Am class Ferrari battle between Triarsi and AF Corse and the Ferrari's really scrapped. Conrad Grunewald won over Onofrio Triarsi. Robby Foley had a battle with the Lamborghini of Giacomo Altoe. At the front, K-PAX won it with Andrea Caldarelli and Jordan Pepper. Caldarelli and Pepper will have their work cut out for them. Loris Spinelli has pole for this motor race in the #6 US Racetronics Mercedes he shares with Steven Agakhani. Caldarelli qualifies second and this is K-PAX Racing's home base at Sonoma Raceway. Giacomo Altoe and Misha Goikhberg will have a lot to prove. Corey Lewis and Jeff Burton in the #191 Zelus Motorsports Lamborghini is another one of the Bologna cars to keep an eye peeled for.
Again, Loris Spinelli is top of the shop and he wants to keep the Lambo behind the Mercedes. Steven Agakhani says the team did a superb job getting the car prepared for the two races this weekend. They scored pole by a mere seven thousandths of a second. Loris Spinelli will maximize everything he has the 20 GT3 cars fire up. K-PAX Racing are just as confident. Jordan Pepper says that the team at K-PAX can build on their win from yesterday. What will the strategy be? K-PAX plan to run a reverse strategy of some kind. One full service pit stop, 90 minutes, and two drivers sharing the car. Strategy and the undercut will be critical. Come in ASAP when the pit window opens. With tire degradation, we will see what happens. Again, 20 cars starting the race as we are on the formation laps for race two here at Sonoma.
Tire warmers are allowed (blankets or ovens) in SRO GTWC America. The cars are weaving back and forth to clean the tires, riding the brake against the throttle to build heat into the tire as well as pressure. The field has been reversed and the professional drivers qualify. We are going to see fireworks early doors. Trust me. Maintain your professional driver's stint as long as possible before the swap. We have onboard cameras in a Mercedes, a BMW M4, and a Lamborghini. You will be hearing a V6, a V8, and a V10 engine. The safety car is in the pit lane. Race two at Sonoma is set. We've got a green flag and we are underway!
Spinelli gets the jump and here comes Giacomo Altoe almost slamming the pit wall as Mario Farnbacher moves up as Giacomo Altoe recovers but Phil Ellis and Jan Heylen are both coming in a real hurry. RealTime Racing are back in the #43 Acura NSX GT3. Michael Cooper sharing with Erin Vogel as Dirk Muller is sharing the other DXDT Mercedes with David Askew. Corey Lewis is trying to move foeward but rattles over the curbs. Into the chicane for the first time. Robby Foley in the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 is right there, sharing with the legend, Bill Auberlen.
So, we look at the top ten about a lap or so in and it is Loris Spinelli, Andrea Caldarelli, Mario Farnbacher, Giacomo Altoe, Phil Ellis, Jan Heylen, Michael Cooper, Dirk Muller, Colin Braun, and Corey Lewis. Spinelli is motoring ahead. He had speed and then faded in race one yesterday. Colin Braun is carving his way through the field and gains seven places. He had to make hay while the sun shines and by gosh, did he ever. Dirk Muller races with Multimatic and he is teamed up in a Pro-Am duo with David Askew for the 2022 season. DXDT Racing is the team Colin Braun used to drive for in SRO America. GT3 cars echo through the northern California hillsides. Nick Wittmer has fallen back at the back of the queue, the Canadian in the ST Racing BMW M4 GT3 who won at Mugello in Italy a while ago in the Creventic series.
In front, it sounds like an Italian race to me with Loris Spinelli and Andrea Caldarelli. The three- pointed star of Mercedes Benz vs. the raging bull of Lamborghini. The Pirelli P Zero tires are beginning to hit their sweet spot. Each sector will see cars, team,s drivers, having advantages over the others. A good battle here, look, for third place as Giacomo Altoe in the Lamborghini is monstering Mario Farnbacher, the rapid German, known as "Super Mario". He is sharing the Racer's Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 with Ashtyn Harrison, a Honda development driver who we have heard a lot from already in 2022. This team is under the direction at Racer's Edge of team boss John Mirachi. Farnbacher deep into the corner. These two have swapped places, both factory drivers.
Farnbacher at Honda Performance Development and Altoe for Lamborghini Squadra Corsa. Altoe's family are racers and own a track in Italy. Use all of the road over the crest in turn three. Now, look at this, folks. We already have someone who has gone fastest of all, has gone purple, in the sector. Caldarelli uncorks a 1:37.266. Fire the car over the top without seeing the exit. Downhill through The Carousel, in turn six, you are playing chicken with the throttle. Through turn seven, it is a wide corner. Racer's Edge out of Florida and K-PAX on home soil at Sonoma Raceway, right in their own backyard. Colin Braun takes a lot of curb, make sure the suspension is compliant to handle the bumps.
High speed is achieved down the front straight and into turn one at around 144 miles an hour. Spinelli in the Benz is not as quick running second. Tire management a big deal. We harp about it. But it is the honest truth. Get the tire to it's sweet spot. On Friday in Free Practice, the tires dropped off, but got better with rubber on the road for more traction as Loris Spinelli leads the motor race while Andrea Caldarelli continues to push hard. The gap is 8/10ths of a second between Spinelli and Caldarelli as Mario Farnbacher is doing all he can to hold off Giacomo Altoe. Altoe is a Pro class car and Farnbacher is a Pro-Am entry.
Lurking and probing in the background is Jan Heylen racing with Charlie Luck in the second place Pro-Am Porsche 911 GT3R. That is the #45 Wright Motorsports entry. Spinelli brakes deep into turn 11 and so, we can see Caldarelli might have a bite of the cherry here. He is going to do everything to make the move on Spinelli for the race lead. Caldarelli fights the Lambo over the bumps and into turn three the elevation change as the world falls away off the edge of the road. Spinelli is missing an apex here or there, just going all out and trying to hold the race lead. That Lamborghini for K-PAX is Darth Vader's car. It has a very sinister look. You know who is in your mirrors if you see that stealth racer coming. Darth Vader, or Racer X from Speed Racer.
Caldarelli taking a tight entry into the turn, while we see Spinelli opening the radius of the turn to gain more space on the road. Caldarelli and the stealth fighter Lambo are really beginning to hit their stride. We can see he is closing up on Spinelli hand over fist already. Yesterday we saw Spinelli scrapping with another Mercedes in the hands of Philip Ellis, and then, they faded as the race went on towards it's conclusion. Farnbacher has to be the cork in the bottle here and has to have Mario Farnbacher seeing red just like the paint on that Acura. He must be thinking, "why won't this bloke just let me by?!" Altoe is more patient than that.
We will see his co-driver, Misha Goikhberg, the Canadian, with a good bit of prototype experience but not so much in GT cars, take the wheel in the second half. Watch for the aero wash with the aerodynamic appendages on then front of these cars. Wright Motorsports was the Pro-Am champion team last year sharing with Fred Poordad. Yours truly was saddened that he could not cover all the races last year in SRO America. This year, that could very well change. Sonoma is an amazing track and we might just see a similar character at the new Ozarks track in Missouri for the next round of the series and you will hear more about that at the conclusion of the race today once we find out who the winners will be.
Everyone is wondering about how the Ozarks track will look. In mid-May we'll find out as everyone who has seen the drawings and so forth of the place is calling it a miniature Nurburgring. Farnbacher runs wide and Altoe is staying in the picture. Altoe can get more aerodynamics. He scraps his way over the curbs. A sharp front end will be a hinderance over the bumps and the curbs. Bill Auberlen is currently fending off the challenge of Am class leader Conrad Grunewald in the #61 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 he is sharing with Jean Claude Saada. They were the team to beat in Am in yesterday's race. Bimmerworld are making their GT3 debut with Bill Auberlen and Chandler Hull, the driving duo. They were on the Pro Am podium yesterday.
They had another car they were testing at Virginia International Raceway, crashed it, totaled it, and now they have another new car that seems to be working and of course due to what everyone knows we are gojng through in the world these days, supplies are an issue. Different classes for the two drivers, but Auberlen and Grunewald run 14th and 15th in the overall classification of 20 cars. Colin Braun is chasing after Dirk Muller in identical cars, two Mercedes AMG GT3's. Muller has run with Porsche, Ferrari, Ford, Mercedes... you name it. Altoe off in the dirt, slices past Farnbacher and Ellis says "thanks a bunch", and tries to make a move after Altoe probably got junk all over his tires.
Look at this! This is a double whammy, because Ellis is to Altoe's inside and likewise, Farnbacher is just about to be passed by Jan Heylen as well! Hip and shoulder. Argy bargy between Altoe and Ellis into turn 11! Ellis is pinched down to the inside on Altoe and kills two birds with a single stone, picking up two places. Man oh man! Did you see that?! Altoe is not finished yet. The Italian will now run down the German and make Ellis feel the heat! Heylen now demotes Farnbacher as well, look. Heylen overtakes for the lead in the Pro-Am class. Ellis will be cackling like a madman inside his helmet after seeing this ruckus.
Hard to see if Altoe was square into the corner and we shall see what the stewards think of that one. Loris Spinelli leads Andrea Caldarelli at the sharp end, but only by 3/10ths of a second. Those two have broken away from this hammer and tongs battle. Trap speeds into the slow braking zone at turn 11 see Heyklen the slowest at 45.3 miles an hour, Farnbacher at 47.8, Caldarelli at 49 even, Michele Beretta at 49.7, and at the top of the shop in cornering speeds it is indeed Phil Ellis running 52.1 miles an hour. The Mercedes is one of the well rounded GT3 cars and performs every task a driver asks of it, extremely well. The brakes are good. It is compliant over bumps. It has good mechanical grip as well. Altoe in fourth place right now.
Spinelli and Caldarelli are the leaders, it should be the other way 'round. Ellis and Altoe are now allowed to scrap amongst themselves and have drawn away from Jan Heylen and Mario Farnbacher. Farnbacher losing ground just slightly. Caldarelli has uncorked the fastest lap of the motor race so far at 1:37.208. Caldarelli has a Captain Cook into turn one but no dice there. It's a rodeo ride through turns one and two while Loris Spinelli slams the door in his face. Cresting the hill through turn three, plunging downhill into four. The Carousel has road continually falling away as Jordan Pepper looks on. He is up for the challenge for the next stint. Pepper bish bash boshed it in a rainy qualifying session.
He was faster than anyone in the dry, during the wet Q1. Unbelievable. Pepper said "not bad for a guy who comes from a country where it doesn't rain all that much." South Africa does have a rainy season as we have seen in Intercontinental GT Challenge at the Kyalami 9 Hours. But, for the most part, the man is spot on. Pepper's career blossomed in Europe and is now racing in North America. Caldarelli continues monstering Spinelli. Spinelli's second and a half lead has evaporated. Spinelli may not quite have a car on the same level as Caldarelli but, by gum, he is hanging in there expertly right now. In Am, Conrad Grunewald has gone by Bill Auberlen's Pro Am BMW M4 GT3 and now we see Bryan Sellers also doing his level best to move in on Auberlen.
Sellers, who drives an M4 BMW in a different GT3 championship, he is at the controls of the #08 Qelo Capitol/DXDT Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 sharing the car with Scott Smithson. Grunewald passing a legend and veteran like Bill Auberlen, you can bet your bottom dollar that is a feather in his hat. Auberlen may be piloting an unhappy BMW at this moment or maybe he is not content with the setup on the car. Once again, it is early days for the M4 GT3 being in this realm of competition although we have seen the car in other championships including the European part of SRO which opened their season a wee while ago at the Imola circuit in Italy.
In replay we can see that Grunewald tried the slingshot move on Auberlen and he absolutely stuck that pass like glue. Truth be told, Auberlen probably let Grunewald go and realized the fight was not for a class position. Bryan Sellers though, is coming, and fast, chasing down Auberlen. We saw Smithson race in GT America on the street course in St. Petersburg, Florida, earlier in the year, and of course, Smithson is a former SRO Touring Car competior. Sellers is coming off a massive win about a week or ten days ago here in the state of California at Long Beach, in another sports car series.
Sellers coached Smithson in TCR. We run onboard with Colin Braun chasing Jorg Muller and Michael Cooper. Braun, the Texan, now living in North Carolina. As far as Acura are concerned, the RealTime team had success here in SRO at Sonoma in 2019 at a time when yours truly was not really following the series, but back then Dane Cameron shared a GT3 spec NSX with Mike Hedlund in SRO racing. Great to see true legends of the World Challenge form of sports car racing in RealTime, back. RealTime and Racer's Edge will be scrapping hard to see who is top dog at Acura, not unlike Acura's prototype efforts in a different championship.
Loris Spinelli, holy mackerel! He is taking it like a champ here against the absolute mind games that a GT3 world champion like Andrea Caldarelli must be playing with him. Spinelli has not cracked like an egg under all the pressure. He is holding his own brilliantly. Up the hill you can see Spinelli uses more of the road entering the turn and Caldarelli takes a shallower line going into the corner. With the elevation changes here at Sonoma, with the massive rear wings on these GT3 cars, you can lose your sight line over the crest of a hill as you speed uphill and down dale. It is a bit of a trick on the old eyes of these drivers.
Ashton Harrison has faith in her teammate Mario Farnbacher that he can come back into the game. Harrison is racing her first event here at Sonoma. The car has run very well in all conditions here at Sonoma. She started off in Mazda MX-5 Cup, became the first female driver to win in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Final. In recent years, Ashton Harrison graduated from the HPD GT3 Academy and that punched her ticket into the highly competitive world of GT3 sports car racing after running in a single make championship or two where all cars are equal and it is down to the skill of the driver. But we continue to watch this intriguing battle between Caldarelli and Spinelli.
We are close to the one hour to go mark as we watched third in the Pro class, Philip Ellis, the German who is now racing under a Swiss license. He has had a solid but somewhat quiet run in the Mercedes he is sharing with Russell Ward at Winward Racing. They are early in their development as a team and Russell Ward along with his dad Bryce are overseeing the team. Wowzers. More action at the top of the shop as we can see Spinelli nearly clattering into Caldarelli! Loris Spinelli has the bit between his teeth right now. Caldarelli wants to put the old squeeze play on Spinelli and create a buffer ahead of his teammate in the sister K-PAX Racing Lamborghini.
The next stint with these two cars will see Stephen Agakhani (who is nowhere near as experienced), racing against the very experienced South African who we heard from earlier, Jordan Pepper. How hard do you push in stint one, before stint two and that hand off of the car to your co-driver? Stephen Agakhani in spite of limited experience has had the pace all weekend and so it shall be a fascinating matchup. The Lambo is very strong on corner exit compared to the Mercedes as we can see Spinelli defending with everything he's got. The fight is on and the shark is right on the back of the minnow. Cue the "Jaws" music.
One hour to go. With each passing lap, Spinelli's task of fending off this menacing stealth Lamborghini is becoming more and more of a challenge. Caldarelli wants to get to Spinelli before the pit window opens. K-PAX chasing US Racetronics. Where has Corey Lewis gone? He has dropped three places giving way to Ryan Dalziel, Robby Foley, and Michele Beretta. The two Italian's are keeping the racing clean. K-PAX race strategist Thomas Blom is calling the strategy as poor old Corey Lewis has a cut down rear tire. He and Jeff Burton on a new team. The sister car is next up with Madison Snow at the controls sharing with Jason Harward, the GT America winner from earlier this morning, his first GT America triumph.
Jan Heylen continues to lead Pro Am at the keyboard of the #45 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R. Heylen and Charlie Luck are father-in-law and son-in-law and both coming off of 2021 championships. Phil Ellis cuts across the grass at turn nine. Now, what will the stewards have to say about that? We shall see. Tire degradation a major deal here at Sonoma. That is the one corner track limits will be called. Don't slingshot through that turn. Wow. Caldarelli is still hounding Spinelli and hammering his way over the curbs! Their engineer at K-PAX is ill and so he has to do the engineering remotely from the hotel room. Andrea Caldarelli has racing in his genes, in his family. His father was a driver. His brother-in-law is former Formula 1 driver Vitantonio Liuzzi.
Andrea Caldarelli tested a Formula 1 car a couple of times but has now found a fabulous career in sports car racing. Spinelli has been handling the pressure like a professional and hasn't cracked yet. We are getting ready for the driver changes. How will Stephen Agakhani run? How will he do against Jordan Pepper? Can Loris Spinelli hang on until the pit window opens? In the meantime, Philip Ellis is steadily closing in, little by little. Caldarelli will be able to see Ellis and Altoe to catch up as Spinelli is backing Caldarelli up. Dirk Muller passes Michael Cooper for the final Pro-Am podium place. Now, Cooper is falling right into the clutches of Colin Braun. Cooper and company stated they can roll the dice on tire strategy. If he has to take scrubbed tires that will work, to help co-driver Erin Vogel out.
Caldarelli is doing all he can to get onto terms with Loris Spinelli in the Mercedes Benz and Spinelli is just having none of it. Ellis is flying and keeping Giacomo Altoe behind. Jordan Pepper waits as Loris Spinelli has Caldarelli right behind and here comes Philip Ellis. He is really pressing hard and gaining ojn the leaders. Caldarelli knows his teammate will do well, but risk is nothing something the Caldarelli/Pepper team wants to deal with. What will K-PAX do? #1 will have to duck to the pit lane and where will we see the #3 of Altoe fall in place? He too will have to hand the car over on the pit stop to Canadian Misha Goikhberg of course.
Less than 50 minutes remain. Pit window is open. Caldarelli has a sniff but there is no way Spinelli will let him go past. Poor old Caldarelli is the meat in the sandwich because if he does not duck to the pit lane, then Philip Ellis will be all over him like the proverbial cheap suit, and he does not want el cheapo suito there, giving him an ice cream headache. We know Stephen Agakhani has good pace. Loris Spinelli has desired track position right here and right now. When Pepper has fresh Pirelli P Zero's on that Lambo, he will be a monster on the outlap. That ought to be worth admission in a ringside seat when Pepper gets behind the wheel of the Lambo and punches it. What will these three teams do? Ellis, a DTM man, in an identical GT3 car as the German championship runs to these exact regulations just like in SRO.
Spinelli and Caldarelli dive for the lane, while Ellis and Altoe stay out. Clean pit stops the order of the day and eke into the one second joker if you can. 87 seconds is the minimum pit lane delta from pit in to pit out including the service with four new Pirelli tires and the driver change. If you are too long or too short, you will be pinged with a penalty. Most of the Pro-Am field if not all stay out. Driver change, tire change, and fuel. Jordan Pepper into the car. Four mechanics allowed to work on the car. Two tire changers and a single rattle gun. No muss, no fuss. Don't panic. Fuel, driver change, tire change, done. Car stationery. Good deal. K-PAX, bish, bash, bosh, right to the front in 86.5 seconds just under the 87 second minimum with use of the joker.
Poor old Spinelli was three seconds slower. So, this will indeed vault K-PAX and the boys into the pound seats as are almost halfway home in race two here at Sonoma. US Racetronics were a tad too conservative in their execution. They will be scrambling to play catch up here. We watch Ellis. What will the undercut vs. the overcut be? Oh. Wait, wait, wait. Folks, we've got trouble with a capital T. Phil Ellis is the Pro leader but the #6 car is hobbling. Three wheels on me wagon for the #6, look. That right front for Steven Agakhani is cattywampus. The right front tire is cut down. The erstwhile leader has hit trouble.
Wow. That happened in one of the worst spots on the track it could, right in the middle of The Carousel. Holy moly Martha! There's not much damge. This is a bizarre incident right out of lane on the outlap and now he has to trundle 'round two and a half miles to get back to the lane and be home and hosed. Altoe does another spot of agricultural racing, and he too is off the road just a smidgen but recovers. The dominos are falling as the pit window is about to close. Don't slam your fingers in it. We can see Ellis and Altoe diving for the lane. It's the overcut for these two. Where will they shake out compared to the overall leader? Jan Heylen now leads in Pro-Am.
Heylen is going as deep into the window as he can before turning over to teammate and father-in-law, Charlie Luck. Altoe motoring into the pits on the rev limiter. Fuel and tires for the #3 K-PAX Lambo handing over to Misha Goikhberg. Winward and the #33 in the lane as well as Philip Ellis hands the car to Russell Ward. Pepper in the #1 Lamborghini slithers wide in the hairpin turn at 11. He still needs tire temp. Those Pirelli P Zeros are still cold. Russell Ward beats Misha Goikhberg out of the pit lane as the race resumes for those two chaps. Pepper goes by, so the miscue is no harm no foul. We will see Pepper, Ward, and Goikhberg, the top three once timing and scoring recycles itself.
This is all about in action, how the undercut works on these pit stops. Pepper quicker on the out lap than Ellis on the in lap on worn Pirelli tires. Jan Heylen will make one more lap before ducking to the lane from the Pro-Am lead for Charlie Luck to take over. Mario Farnbacher moves to second in the Acura with Jorg Muller in third spot. Just about everybody staying out on track for as long as possible here. Samantha Tan has taken over from Nick Wittmer at ST Racing in their BMW M4 GT3, car #38. Heylen will dive to the lane on this lap but don't cut it too fine. Dirk Muller, third place in Pro-Am is being harangued by Michael Dinan on fresh tires aboard the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3. Dinan of course, sharing with Robby Foley.
Dinan has just taken over the BMW and he gets stymied on the out lap being a lap down to Dirk Muller as he will hand the car to David Askew I believe. Colin Braun has just pitted and I believe George Kurtz could very well have just handed over to him. Muller to the lane to hand over to David Askew and the Pro-Am leader at Wright Motorsports is in. Family ties as Jan Heylen married Charlie Luck's daughter last November. Wright Motorsports won in Pro-Am in the race yesterday and are looking to defend their 2021 title they earned with Jan Heylen and Fred Poordad sharing the car. Also to the lane is the #93 Racer's Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3.
Mario Farnbacher handing to Ashton Harrison. Scott Smithson has spun off the road in the #08 DXDT Mercedes. That is the Qelo Capital sponsored entry he is sharing with Bryan Sellers. Poor old Smithson has spun on the outlap as the #93 Racer's Edge Acura is released with Ashton Harrison at the wheel of it. She has had much seat time in an Acura NSX GT3 and ran in a Pro/Pro class at the 12 Hours of Sebring last month. Ashton Harrison is embedded within the Wayne Taylor Racing organization and so she is learning from a top team. She is learning the importance of the debriefs with the engineers and what information is critical to be aware of during the races.
Jordan Pepper scything his way through lapped traffic going around the Ferrari for Triarsi Competizione. Cannot tell which of the two cars on their team is being passed. Triarsi has the #13 Ferrari 488 GT3 for Scotsman Ryan Dalziel sharing with American Justin Wetherill, and the sister car is shared by the team owner Onofrio Triarsi, and Charlie Scardina. Pit stops for race two have cycled through. They are done and dusted. Just 38 minutes left on the clock. These races have been 90 minutes for a long while and there will be one lone enduro for GTWC America, the Indianapolis 8 Hours at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Intercontinental GT Challenge in the fall.
K-PAX has a notebook on the Lambo even after racing with Bentley in the past. The wheel has been machined and something was trapped in there, lathing the wheel in half causing the tire puncture. Scott Smithson is still sutck in the grass. Victory chances for Scott Smithson and Bryan Sellers are no more. He spun out on cold tires. This is going to reset the entire field and we shall see how the final half hour turns out. Jordan Pepper's lead has been erased and he will have Russell Ward, Misha Goikhberg, and others bearing down on him. This is the first safety car of race two after Scott Smithson's spin and being stranded in the culvert at the side of the speedway.
The right front wheel of Steven Agakhani on the Mercedes, has split. DXDT and Winward stopped and checked. Maybe there was a stone that sheared the wheel away from the tire. The holes in the center of the wheel are where the drive pins from the hub locate. Maybe something was trapped between the brake caliper and the wheel itself that would cut the tire to shreds. The Mercedes teams will be relieved this is a fluke incident. That's for dead sure. There was no real panic at K-PAX. Bad luck though for US Racetronics who have fallen like a stone. Steven Agakhani is 18th in the overall a lap down. Half the field on the same lap. Nine cars, including Michael Dinan. Everyone will be bunched up. This is anyone's motor race.
It will be a spicy end to the race today at Sonoma to cap off the weekend. The Pro-Am battle will see a contest between Charlie Luck, Ashton Harrison, David Askew, and George Kurtz. They were team- mates in the past, (Askew and Kurtz), but no longer. Erin Vogel in fifth for RealTime Racing, she was also a former teammate at DXDT Racing and Mercedes during 2021. With this yellow, the drivers will now have the impetus to push it and go hell for leather in the last half hour. The 2022 schedule has massively challenging tracks with no free passes. We are looking forward to the Ozarks track in Missouri for the next races. Blind elevation changes at high speed. It will be a rollercoaster ride. It will be a thrill for everybody. Scott Smithson's Mercedes is now out of the ditch, but he is stone last on the field in 20th place.
This becomes a test session for Smithson for the final half hour. Jan and Margaret Heylen are very happy. Ozarks Raceway, the next track on the schedule is amazing and we will have that race soon. It is a truly challenging and brand-new circuit. The green flag flies at Sonoma Raceway and we are in for the final 26 minutes of racing. Jordan Pepper leads and Russell Ward runs really wide allowing the door to open, possibly, for Misha Goikhberg! A massive stack up there as Charlie Scardina just wanted to move out of the way. Pepper scampers away as Goikhberg will now be pressing Ward in second place for all he is worth. Misha Goikhberg has both prototype and GT3 experience and so he will be right on the button for the whole rest of the way.
Race Control doles out a drive through penalty for a pit stop violation to the #94 Bimmerworld BMW M4 GT3 of Chandler Hull. He will have to ht the lane to serve the penalty. Erin Vogel has her hands full now with Stephen Agakhani and George Kurtz among others. Agakhani has a fast race car but is a lap down. He is in damage limitation mode. Hull to the lane to serve the penalty. Michael Dinan picks up three places and has two Pro-Am cars to clear before getting to the top three in Pro. Samanta Tan, too, moving up three places, 11th overall and seventh in Pro Am. She has Niclas Jonsson working with her as a driver coach and a mentor. ST Racing and Samantha Tan, her goal in the next few years is to be able to compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Pepper extends his lead as Russell Ward, too, has breathing room over Misha Goikhberg. The Pro-Am fight is still hot and heavy. Charlie Luck leading Ashton Hsrrison. George Kurtz is still trying all he knows to run down his former team boss and teammate, David Askew. Michael Dinan is now closing up on Ashton Harrison as we have just over 20 minutes of this race remaining. Things are a tad awkward for both Harrison and Dinan now. Jason Harward behind these two in the Zelus Lamborghini is 16th, one lap down. Dinan will be quicker than Harrison. Can she chase down Charlie Luck for the Pro-Am win? Samantha Tan is gaining hand over fist passing both Justin Wetherill and Erin Vogel.
George Kurtz has caught David Askew and Samantha Tan is within striking distance through The Carousel, using all the road on corner exit. Watch the surface change into turn seven. She is chasing Am class leader Jean Claude Saada. Tan is chasing down George Kurtz. Jordan Pepper leading the race by 7.8 seconds as we watch the two Mercedes AMG GT3 Evos battle each other as George Kurtz has the advantage over David Askew. Michael Dinan passes Charlie Luck. Ashton Harrison is coming in a hurry. Dinan and Goikhberg are fighting for the final spot on the podium. Kurtz is right on Askew's gearbox coming to the hairpin at turn 11.
Askew on guard on the inside as Kurtz is maneuvering for a pass. These two know each other very well. Samantha Tan is closing in on both of them. He has to go for it otherwise Samantha Tan will be right on his six. 16 minutes of racing to go. Kurtz closes on Askew and Samantha Tan closes on them both. Kurtz is trying hard to move by his former teammate in an identical car. Crowdstrike Racing with Riley Motorsports vs. DXDT. Top corner speeds at turn six, dominated by the Mercedes AMG GT3. Identical speeds at 93.8 miles an hour for George Kurtz, Bryan Sellers, and Dirk Muller. Then, David Askew is next at 91.9 miles an hour followed by Russell Ward at 91.3 miles an hour.
That AMG Mercedes is suited through The Carousel. The Mercedes performs well throughout the duration of the whole lap here at Sonoma Raceway. I'm not a betting man. But, let me tell you, dollars to donuts, George Kurtz is going to send it very soon. Jeff Burton in the Lamborghini for Zelus Motorsports being warned of quicker cars coming from behind by the blue flags. Whoa! Paint traded there, look, between Kurtz and Askew! Askew is driving in a proactive manner as opposed to a defensive one. This is bound to end in tears if Jeff Burton does not move over for these two. Burton balks Askew. Burton wisely moves over knowing discretion is the better part of valor. Samantha Tan will try making the same move and Burton gets chopped by a Ferrari! That would be Jean Claude Saada I think.
Tan also was the cork in the bottle there. ST Racing have gone around the globe with races lately. Andrea Caldarelli still holds the fastest lap of the motor race at 1:37.208. Jordan Pepper leading the race to the tune of 14 and a half seconds. Charlie Luck leading in Pro-Am as Ashton Harrison in the Acura for Racer's Edge is in hot pursuit. Less than ten minutes remaining. Troubles for Jeff Burton in the Zelus Motorsports Lamborghini who has spun. David Askew too, could have gone off the road. Askew has dropped down the order. Maybe he had an off course excursion. George Kurtz is third and on the final podium step.
Samantha Tan continues shadowing George Kurtz. Samantha Tan is new to GT3 relatively while George Kurtz has been running GT3 for some years now. Under seven minutes to go and Ashton Harrison has caught Charlie Luck. Luck runs wide through turn nine. Is the handling fading on the Porsche? Harrison fires it into turn two but can't quite make it, letting Charlie Luck know she is there as Jordan Pepper is 20 seconds ahead of Russell Ward. Michael Dinan though, is consistently reeling in Misha Goikhberg. Michael Dinan is coming, fast.
Goikhberg continues managing the gap. Bumpy into the turn seven brake zone and a change of surface powering down and up through the esses and back to power to get through the esses with three and a half minutes to go. Jordan Pepper, Andrea Caldarelli and K-PAX Racing are looking to sweep at home at Sonoma Raceway like they did last year. Harrison is closing up but you can't dive deep into the turn. Just close in inch by inch with not lots of time left on the board. Keep it clean. Ashton Harrison, she has to try putting Charlie Luck under pressure. In Pro-Am Ziad "Z Hog" Ghandour moves by Erin Vogel. Ziad Ghandour from Lebanon, driving with Italian Michele Beretta for TR3 Racing in a Lamborghini Huracan GT3.
Jean-Claude Saada leading in the Am class sharing the #61 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 with Conrad Grunewald. They got a reprieve over the Triarsi Am class Ferrari which went a lap down. Those two were at it hammer and tongs yesterday. Pepper, a great driver, a true stud driver here, running with Bentley. Now he is fully employed by K-PAX. K-PAX will be racing the 24 Hours of Spa later this summer. One lap to go. Ashton Harrison will have anchance to attack for the lead, but Charlie Luck will have to defend. One lap to go. White flag this time by. Harrison closing on Luck.'
Jordan Pepper through turns ten and 11 for the last time. The home team, K-PAX will deliver a victory! Pepper and Caldarelli break out the broom and sweep!
Overall/Pro: #1 Caldarelli/Pepper K-PAX Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3
Pro Am: #45 Heylen/Luck Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R
Am: #61 Grunewald/Saada AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3
So, a sweep for every team and driver pairing that won the Saturday race and they all win on Sunday as well! Wow! K-PAX come out of the box at the top. The next event will be at the brand-new Ozarks International Raceway which is going to be quite the circuit. It is built as a miniature version of the Nurburgring in Germany or that is what it looks like. Yours truly hopes to give you a view of what the circuit will look like. We will see SRO America there in mid-May, so, in another month. Join us in the Ozarks. It should be a fun weekend of motor racing. For now, so long from the wine country in Sonoma, California.
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