Hello, everybody, and welcome to another weekend of SRO America racing. We are coming to you from the picturesque and historic Watkins Glen International Raceway near Seneca Lake in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. Plenty of GT and touring car racing to whet your appetite this weekend, both today and tomorrow. Let's kick things off with the first event, GT America race one for GT2, GT3, and GT4 cars all together on the track at one time in a 40-minute sprint, hearkening back to the early days of what was known as World Challenge in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This weekend's events mark the halfway point in the 2022 GT America campaign. The single sprint races also mean a single driver in each car of course, to refresh anyone's memory who may have forgotten.
So, no driver changes to be concerned with in this specific championship. Again, we will have mostly older or newer generation GT3 cars, as well as GT4 cars entered, with C.J. Moses in the lone GT2 Audi R8 which has brutal horsepower but less downforce than a GT3 car would have. George Kurtz leads Jason Daskalos by 23 points. Jason Bell is the GT4 leader by a single point over rookie Moisey Uretsky. It is time to race in GT America as we join our commentators Ryan Myrehn, Calvin Fish, and Amanda Busick. George Kurtz, as we said, is on pole. It will be a fierce battle for the other podium places. Marko Radisic is on the GT4 pole while Jason Bell is buried in 12th in class, the championship leader. Moisey Uretsky is a wee bit behind.
Radisic has been moved t the back of the grid. OK. It is time to race. It is a spit start for GT3 and then GT4. Green flag! George Kurtz has the jump and Jason Harward is right on his flank. To the first couple of turns and here comes the GT4 field. Seth Lucas inherits pole and Justin Wetherill is off the road in the Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 488 GT3! Oh dear. So, the GT4 boys are having to scramble early on. Gray Newell off onto the escape road. The Heart of Racing Aston Martin, racing with the Audi of Elias Sabo and Mirco Schultis is off the road with massive left front damage to the Callaway Corvette! Deary me!
Kurtz ahead of Harward and Jeff Burton who crashed his GT3 car for GTWC America and they will be using the car he is driving for this race, for the GT3 overall race later today. Sean Whalen is being passed by Gray Newell and he has also been passed by another driver. Can't tell who it is. Through The Boot, Jason Daskalos with damage, and he is trying his best to make a pass on Jeff Burton as George Kurtz uncorks fastest lap of the motor race at 1:53.3. Burton has to win yet this year. But he has to be circumspect. Through turn ten they go, in a fast change of direction, using all of the road, look.
Daskalos has right front corner damage and the downforce is lost and more drag. Daskalos is doing all he can as we see a waving yellow into the Inner Loop for Schultis' Callaway Corvette that is stranded in the firing line. That's not good. Can he move the car out of the danger zone? Kurtz leads the motor race and earlier today he was interviewed. He says that Watkins Glen is such a historic track and all of the Formula 1 races. High grip on the track since the repave and it is a very special place. As GT America develops, the highlight for George is that many drivers are here with different levels of experience and the mixed racing means you must understand how to negotiate traffic. Kurtz says the key is to get the tires hot and get a good start.
GT America does not use tire warmers while GT World Challenge does. Safety car on the speedway as the Callaway Corvette is recovered, put in neutral, and pushed away. Daskalos got stymied before the braking zone into turn one. The Triarsi Ferrari has had electrical woes all weekend. But that is speculation. The headlight on Daskalos' car is hanging on by a thread. Race Control will have a Captain Cook at that, for dead sure. It is a bummer to be behind the safety car and you just don't get track time. Poor old Marko Radisic is going to be buried, even though he has recovered. Gray Newell next in the queue. Jason Bell up to sixth right behind championship rival Moisey Uretsky.
We're ready to go back to green, now. Punch it! Half hour to go. George Kurtz makes good his escape as the Zelus Motorsports Lamborghini's are liner stern. Debris has detached itself from the Daskalos Audi as we watch Elias Sabo in the fight. He is being monstered by Moisey Uretsky and Jason Bell in a battle of three Aston Martin's. Elias Sabo and Andy Lee are both driving well for their team at Flying Lizard Motorsports. Down the chute they go. This is such a wonderful track. We saw racing here for a different championship about three weeks ago. This track is iconic and incredible with the Formula 1 races, the sports car races, and even the NASCAR races we have seen here.
Seth Lucas, the GT4 leader, the Hattori Motorsports team, Shigeaki Hattori, is a multiple Indianapolis 500 entrant and has branched out into sports car racing after also being in NASCAR. Bell passes Uretsky. Matt Plumb walloped this car at VIR and changed to GT America to help Seth Lucas get seat time. Seth Lucas' family have been in sports car racing and Matt Plumb too, is a top driver on the team. Plumb had a massive accident at VIR last time we saw these cars race last month. Sabo has lit the fuse and is going after Adam Adelson for third spot. This is a brilliant battle. Sabo won in GT America on the streets of Nashville, Tennessee, the venue for the next GT America race on the schedule.
Adelson is only 40 points down in the championship and he has been a stout racer all season so far as they scream up the back straightaway. In the summer heat, the naturally aspirated Porsche struggles a wee bit. Adelson and Sabo are having a real ding dong here, look. There's nothing in it between Aldeson, Sabo, and Jason Bell. Ross Chouest is second behind Seth Lucas. So, we see a batttle and Marko Radisic tags Moisey Uretsky who spins! Uretsky has to get back in the race. He is high sided in the middle of the corner and trying to get back together. In replay, yes, he washes up and gets contact from Radisic. Radisic's car was a couple kilos underweight.
Good grief. He had the red mist down with the visor. Seth Lucas still leads the GT4 class and started in Pirelli GT4 America. He did a little bit of racing in 2021 in Trans Am. George Kurtz is still your overall leader just ahead of Jason Harward who is reeling him in hand over fist. Harward is going to go for it. He is really applying the blowtorch to Kurtz. He is i his second season of professional racing in a GT3 car. He won't be intimidated by George Kurtz and he knows he's there as we come to the halfway mark of race one in GT America. Full Course Yellow, now. Full Course Yellow. Kurtz and Colin Braun will be racing as a duo in GT World Challenge America.
Kurtz is being told to look after his Pirelli P Zero tires. Someone has whacked the tire bundle. I wonder who the bloke was who crunched the wall. That was a massive wallop. Pual Kiebler is the car who went off the road in the Mercedes. He maybe overcorrected and cannoned into the wall. Tough break for Paul Kiebler and the RENNTech Motorsports Mercedes team. The debris field is massive as the SRO marshals are cleaning the track up now so we can go back to green flag racing. P.J. Hyatt is making his debut with Hardpoint which we've seen race elsewhere in GT3 racing in North America. Thi program came together quickly. They are also racing in GTWC America alongside Gunnar Jeanette.
P.J. Hyatt is drinking out of the firehose at the moment. Gunnar Jeanette bought spares from Rob Ferriol, owner of Hardpoint Racing. They had an odd issue and had to go for an engine change before qualifying. P.J. Hyatt is wet behind the ears, a little green, but he is showing himself to be a true racer so far. Zelus Motorsports team boss Tigh Isaac says that Jason Harward's confidence is going up and he is very happy with it. George Kurtz is still looking after his tires and so Jason Harward will be chasing the rabbit in these last moments of the motor race. Jeff Burton, too, is going for it. Jeff Burton keeps his head up and goes forward as well. Cool shades there, Tigh. Tigh Isaac is a speed skater and a racing driver.
He was assisting with rebuilding the transmission on the car. So, 15 minutes left on the board in this one. Some drivers are in that rabbit chasing mode where they have a target ahead to aim for. No different than a fighter pilot chasing the enemy. But a lot more civilized of course. Ross Chouest, he has been quiet today, but he has an ace up his sleeve it seems. Ross Chouest and Aaron Povoledo started their own program and man oh man, they've had boatloads of success, except this year they are still climbing the mountain. But, they might just get there in these waning moments. Alll this time behind the safety car has probably made the tires all wriggly.
Prepare the tires and make sure the tires are clean. Get the clag, the marbles off, like eraser shavings on your drawing pad if you are a doodler. If you haven't cleaned those shavings off your tires, it is like driving on ice. George Kurtz leads ahead of Jason Harward who won his first race in race two at Sonoma Raceway in April. Time is of the essence. Green flag. Harward right near Kurtz who maintains the lead and here come the GT4 cars. A couple cars under investigation for passing under yellow. Lucas, Chouest, Adelson and more. Radisic has not been dinged for the argy bargy with Uretsky yet.
Daskalos is keeping a watching brief on the top three. H ei son the attack and dives to the inside of Jeff Burton. Through turn seven they go. Daskalos closing up hand over fist. Burton not unraveling under pressure and Daskalos makes his move! Holy moly! Burton had a massive wallop in GTWC America qualifying. He stays on track, and we thought he was headed for the pit lane, but no. Daskalos set for a fifth podium place in 2022. Seth Lucas motoring ahead and Adelson is the cork in the bottle holding up both Sabo and Bell in the Aston Martin's. Seth Lucas in the Hattori Racing Toyota Supra is acing this event and he could be a first-time winner in his first GT America race.
Sabo take s a peek but no. Poor old Moisey Uretsky is 15th. He's dropped like a stone. Poor old Sabo slows down too. It's hot and about 90 degrees. Sabo has an incident responsibility penalty! Stop and 90 second hold! That will take him right out of the picture. Meanwhile, Gray Newell has Jose Da Silva right on his six. Aston Martin vs. Toyota Supra. Da Silva sliding wide through the Inner Loop! Egad! George Kurtz has a bit of daylight over Harward, and the Toyota of Jose Dasilva has spun off. He has junk on his tires. In replay he drops the rightside tires onto the gras on turn in and spins the car, the Puerto Rican driver.
He will get back on track and keep us clean and green as we are coming to the end of GT America race one here at The Glen. If Kurtz has a bobble, Harward can pounce. Kurtz has to hit his marks. Oh dear! Harward spins out of second spot! Jeez! Daskalos up to second and Kurtz leads. Burton will be on the podium. Does that Zelus Lambo have fire in the hole? Harward is able to continue. He was really pushing it uncorking his fastest lap of the race through traffic. In GT4 Seth Lucas continues on his merry way in the lead. He is 1.3 seconds ahead of Ross Chouest and Adam Adelson. Seth Lucas could win his debut event. Team manager Chris Lucas says everything is cool, calm, and collected right now.
His GT4 co-driver, Matt Plumb, is assisting him. They are solely focused now on GT America and poor old Harward is off the pace and Daskalos in the pit lane for stop and hold for incident responsibility! They are dropping like flies in the last two minutes and George Kurtz can cruise. Jeff Burton second is quite a ways down. With Harward's woes, can he get back around Daskalos? The plot has thickened as we get the white flag this time by. George Kurtz is the points leader and he will extend that, one lap away from a hat trick.
He and Colin Braun at Riley Motorsports, they are finding the sweet spot on the Mercedes AMG GT3. Daskalos is back on track but has lost heaps of time. George Kurtz will be going to Belgium to be a part of the 24 Hours of Spa coming up next weekend and we will have that race for you. White flag. In GT4 Seth Lucas will be the winner I am sure. Just a couple turns to go. A hat trick for George Kurtz! Jeff Burton second and P.J. Hyatt in third spot on debut.
Overall/SRO3: #04 George Kurtz Riley Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3
GT4: #016 Seth Lucas Hattori Motorsports Toyota GR Supra GT4
Lucas and Hattori Motorsports,m victorious! What a motor race! What a motor race! Bell passes Adelson on the last lap. Ross Chouest has three starts at The Glen and now, three podiums. Kurtz grabbing tire debris for minimum ride height purposes just like his compatriots for Mercedes in Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. The drivers who kept a cool head had the advantage today. Although Seth Lucas in GT4 drove like a true veteran. The podium runners surely kept their noses clean. We were close to having a GT4 car on the overall podium as Lucas finishes fourth.
Seth Lucas is amazed and proud of his win, keeping it together. Cool as a cucumber, but for sure, extremely happy to be a first-time winner. TC America racing is coming up next. Then we will see Fanatec GT World Challenge America. Stay with us for more racing on your Saturday.
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