It is time for the second and final race of the opening weekend of the SRO GT America powered by AWS season. Yesterday in race one we saw victory for Memo Gidley as we get ready to race on a brisk, 46 degree morning. Adam Adelson on pole again today, and two consecutive poles. This is Adam Adelson's debut weekend and he did not race the first time on the streets at St. Petersburg in Florida. Adelson and George Kurtz on the front row followed by Memo Gidley in third spot. It is frigidly cold here at Sonoma Raceway and no tire warmers in GT America. The GT3 cars on cold tires are going to be tricky. We welcome Ryan Myrehn and Calvin Fish in the broadcast booth and Amanda Busick in the pit lane.
This race was run in the afternoon yesterday. On a brisk morning, these cars might handle differently. Memo Gidley is ready to go, hanging out earlier with his two-year-old daughter. Jason Daskalos starts alongside Memo Gidley. SRO3 is a catch all for previous and current GT3 cars and GT4 cars are in the class as well. So, we are set to race in race two for GT America as the cars roll off behind the safety car. Two formation laps before we get started. Prepping the tires and the brakes in the cold is key. Robb Holland and Jason Bell are on the front row in GT4.
Lots of top drivers in that class. We will mention their names throughout this race, a short sprint. Traffic is going to continue playing a role. If this race goes green the whole way, traffic management will be a big deal. These prep laps are so important to build temperature into the tires and the cars. Run the gas pedal and the brake pedal at the same time. That is how you build heat into the brakes, tires, and suspension. Again, 46 degrees ambient temperature. #043 Alex Vogel off the road in his Porsche 911 GT3R. We have been drenched with rain here in California lately and there is mud under all that wonderful green grass.
Alex Vogel has to be rescued by the safety crew before we can go racing. Vogel raced the 24 Hours of Dubai earlier in the year in a 992 Cup Porsche for MRS Racing. This is the OnlyFans Racing with P1 Group by MRS Porsche. Ramp up the traction control on the recon laps. Vogel still stuck in the mud and so we are going to have a delayed start and might start the clock. We are going to have to just trundle 'round behind the safety car. The older generation Porsche has as much if not more speed than the new 992. Adelson and Elliott Skeer were fabulous in the GT3 race in GT World Challenge America. Robb Holland, Jason Bell, Todd, Coleman, and Ross Chouest are the top four in GT4. The clock has indeed started so hopefully we can go green soon.
Watch George Kurtz and Memo Gidley scrapping with each other. That is what will be a key point of reference to take a good look at. The tire conservation is less of a worry now. We saw tire drop off at three seconds a lap because of the abrasive surface here at Sonoma Raceway. Safety car lights off. Here we go. It is effectively a single file restart. Adam Adelson punches it and we're away. Adelson, Kurtz, Gidley up the hill for the first time of asking. Robb Holland leading Jadson Bell in GT4. Gidley pushing hard trying to plot a course around George Kurtz.
Get a run out of the Carousel. Jason Daskalos is pressing Memo Gidley too. We saw Daskalos win a month ago at St. Petersburg, Florida. Gidley has to protect the line. Anthony Bartone is also in this fight. Adam Adelson is putting daylight between himself and George Kurtz. RealTime Racing overseeing the Bartone Brothers Racing effort. This is a learning curve for Anthony Bartone. Meantime, George Kurtz is reeling in Adam Adelson as Nick Shanny rotates through The Carousel in his Toyota Supra. Andy Wilzoch down the order in one of the SRO3 cars, the #460 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R.
Ziad Ghandour did not start in the Mercedes-AMG. Right now, the Aston Martin boys are pushing each other as Todd Coleman wants by Ross Chouest. Don't get into the ABS too quickly. Chouest is the reigning GT4 champion in GT America. Into the hairpin under braking it is ahard thing to do as we watch the scrap for fourth between Daskalos and Bartone. Anthony Bartone shares a Mercedes in GTWC America with Andy Pilgrim. Through the esses, the cars are working well in these mild conditions.
Todd Coleman made contact with The Heart of Racing in the Pirelli GT4 America race yesterday. The second car suffered damage but there is a spare car. Coleman will have to preserve this particular car. Gidley and Kurtz second and third. Adam Adelson leads. Gidley is picking up time, half a second, on George Kurtz. Bartone sends it tot he outside of Daskalos. Two Mercedes AMG GT3's. Again, the Mercedes is a perfect race car. We have seen it across many GT3 based championships. Anthony Bartone has been mentored greatly by a road racing veteran like Andy Pilgrim. These two chaps are keeping Adam Adelson and George Kurtz honest.
Alex Vogel is a back marker after getting stuck during the formation lap. So much elevation change here at Sonoma Raceway but there are curbs that are usable. A hammer and tongs battle, look, as Bartone tries a lunge on Daskalos and can't quite make it. Nicely controlled scrapping. 28 minutes left on the board. Bartone really did well in St. Petersburg and of course they are running an Am class Mercedes in Fanatec GT World Challenge America too. Kyle Washington is catching these two hand over fist aboard the #32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3R. Bartone has a run on Daskalos.
He is coming in a hurry but has to settle in and wait. Bide your time. But then again, time is of the essence. Get on the power early. In replay, Robb Holland crunches into Todd Coleman and Holland has a cut tire! Oh man! The race one winner is in a load of trouble! Jeepers creepers! From the lead, Robb Holland has dropped like a stone and he will have to trundle around for a whole lap. No damage however, for Coleman. Coleman does have the lead. Holland strugggles out of turn nine and Coleman has a good head of steam.
Left front suspension for Holland, on the Porsche, busted. Adelson is loving the step up to GT3. George Kurtz in second spot. You just never know about the transition between GT4 and GT3. George Kurtz did the same thing, winning a GT4 title and then came to grips with the GT3. The GT3 car has more downforce. George Kurtz has passed Memo Gidley and is now chasing down Adelson for position, for the lead in the motor race. Bartone passes Daskalos and now, Kyle Washington tries it on Daskalos but he went deep on the downhill corner through turn six, I believe that is The Carousel. Drivers in the way cannot push a disappear button.
Tony Gaples in the #5 Chevrolet Camaro has to run wide and let Tim Savage pass in the Aston Martin. Black Dog Speed Shop are putting this Camaro together. Incident under reveiw, the Coleman and Holland shemozzle. It was a subtle move by Coleman and Hollna did nothing wrong. Not enough racing room. That review hangs over Coleman, the sword of Damocles. Jon Branam is really going for it in the TR3 Racing Aston Martin. Branam started tail end Charlie, 25th in the overall ad he is flying. Bartone makes his move on Gidley! Holy cow! His confidence is showing indeed.
James Walker Jr. has had a clatter with Savage. In the meantime, Anthony Bartone is orking traffic through the GT4 field and Anthony Bartone has driven a GT4. Kyle Washington running in P6 cutting some great lap times as Jason Daskalos is protecting his line. Bartone tries to get by Kurtz and he washes out. He has been balked by two GT4 cars. Adam Adelson scythed his way through traffic and has a lead that has ballooned to three seconds. Great to be here at Sonoma Raceway in the springtime with the green grass. Kurtz under pressure from Bartone! Holy cow! This is a massive battle and Adam Adelson is cackling like a madman saying, "I've got you jokers covered!"
Todd Coleman, incident responsibility penalty. Jon Branam has passed Jason Bell for second in GT4! Wow! Branam, Bell, and Elias Sabo. The battle is joined between Jason Daskalos and Memo Gidley in the SRO3 class. George Kurtz has regrouped well. Jon Branam and Jason Bell still squabbling for GT4. Todd Coleman was in the lane for the drive through penalty. Bartone wants the bite of the cherry but do not get into the ABS. Tight but clean racing. Bartone is a road racing neophyte but he knows how driving these cars works. It is amazing that he has taken to this sprots car racing thing like a duck to water.
The top six in GT4 are all Aston Martin's. It is a user friendly car for the Am drivers and gives them the confidence much like the Mercedes is in GT3. Branam ran the Indianapolis 8 Hours with Corey Lewis and Jeff Burton. He has teamed up with Paul Kiebler too in the past. Branam has run Mercedes GT4 cars over the years. Adelson leading the motor race with 11 minutes on the board yet. Wright Motorsports one of the best in North America prepping GT3 class Porsche's. George Kurtz is fending off everything from Anthony Bartone. He was champion in 2022 but he realizes that the championship is going to be a dogfight. It will not be a cakewalk for any one driver.
Not much in it between the Mercedes AMG's. The Porsche's are coming to the fore but they are the bread of the Mercedes sandwich right now. Climb the hill through turn one, crest it, and then go back down. The opening sector has a lot of blind corners. The tires are starting to wriggle around later in the stint. Kyle Washington has been part of the GMG team for many years and has gained bucket loads of experience. He has been an off road and trophy truck racer. Now he is a sports car racer as James Sofronas and Joe Foster at GMG Racing have been helping him with race craft.
Eliminate the mistakes and stay focused. That is how you become competitive as Anthony Bartone is regrouping but there is just over seven minutes to go. Kurtz is staying neat and tidy but Daskalos is coming and Jason Bell has gone off the road nosing it into the concrete barrier. Will we see a safety car? That would end the race very much so. He is not in a truly dangerous place except if someone else loops it. Full Course Yellow. Safety car scramble. Bartone has passed Kurtz. Did that happen before we went to yellow? Bell spun off all by his lonesome.
Bell caught Jon Branam and was pressuring him for the lead in GT4. The esses flow well but the sight lines are different. New traction control system on the Aston Martin, a linear system with ten settings and not so on/off. Bartone, in replay, he went by Kurtz on the inside and it ought to be a legitimate pass. He had to go and has done that. He kept it clean as well. Heads up driving too by George Kurtz. He had to give it up. Play the long game over the season to get after going for the title. Memo Gidley though is the championship leader.
Were there green flags at the corner stations? I think so. Anthony Bartone did take second place from George Kurtz with three minutes to go behind the safety car. I don't think we are going to go back to green. There are three safety vehicles still cleaning up the wreckage. Kurtz is pulling alongside Bartone to tell Race Control to take a look at that pass. Order correction. 427 behind 04. I just don't think we are going to see a restart. There is just no way. We did have a spin on the recon lap, the formation lap. Stranger things have happened. Jon Branam is a racing coach and stunt driver who started up the open wheel ladder, but is now a driver coach and a GT4 driver.
He will now be a race winner in a short time, with TR3 Racing based in Florida. Checkered flag. Adam Adelson scores his first career GT America win! Two poles, two podiums, and a race win.
Overall/SRO3: #120 Adam Adelson Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R
GT4: #77 Jon Branam TR3 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4
Memo Gidley in fourth with fastest lap at 1:40,195. Putting points on the board important for the championship. #120 looks sharp, and goes fast, and we know now, Adam Adelson, is a wheel man! Holy mackerel! Team boss John Wright and the pit crew are extremely happy about this win. AA does it again. Call him A+. Adelson said he was born to drive a GT3 car and he is proving that. He really is. Wright Motorsports has the right stuff too, pardon the pun.
Jon Branam says that Paul Kiebler his co-driver and teammate had a family emergency. Our prayers go out to him whatever it may be. The next race in the championship is at NOLA Motorsports Park in Avondale, Louisiana, in the bayou country, at the end of this month. We will see you in The Big Easy, ladies and gentlemen. For now, so long from the wine country of northern California. More racing still to come on this Sunday. Please do, stay tuned for the rest of the day. We'd love to have your company. Thanks, everyone.
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