Welcome back to Austin, Texas, America’s live music capitol, the world’s live music capitol. Today, the music we are hearing is mechanical, motorized music, as we are set for day two of action at COTA for SRO America, beginning with the second race of the weekend for the GT America championship. Yesterday we saw George Kurtz, the reigning SRO3 champion, win. Ross Chouest won in GT4. 21 cars geared up and set to race. We are joined by Ryan Myrehn and Calvin Fish in the broadcast booth and Amanda Busick in the pit lane. We had some rain this morning, and it might be a wee bit sketchy over the curbs here at COTA this morning.
It has been a conundrum with the dampness in the air and tire choice is a big gamble. Some teams are on wets, some on slicks, and some have no idea. Everyone in the GT3 spec cars is now on slicks. In GT4, the front row is on slick tires. Race winner from race one, Ross Chouest, as well as Robb Holland, they chose to keep the wet tires on their cars. Some teams spoke to the drivers from the single make Toyota GR Cup Series about tire strategy. This is a single driver, 40 minute sprint race of course. The engines have fired up.
This is such a difficult deal. We might just be in the clear. The tread blocks disintegrate in the dry though if you have wet tires bolted onto the car. We have the drivers going on a recon lap, ramping up the traction control. These tires are stone cold with no tire warmers allowed in GT America. Wind the brake bias to the rear because your front brakes could easily lock up. George Kurtz notched his first GT America win of 2023 yesterday after nine wins and 12 podiums in 2022. Elias Sabo starts in his Aston Martin at the top of the shop in GT4. Todd Coleman withdrew from the races this weekend and will not take the start of the race.
The weather is the big question mark, currently. Moisture in the lane right now. Jay Logan is starting caboose on the grid at his home track in GT4. Logan says, “I know this track and this track eats up the wet tires.” That is true. Circuit of the Americas was built and opened over a decade ago and in that time the pavement has really been worn down. 19 degrees Celsius, 67 degrees Fahrenheit. It is humid and cloudy. Race cars can dry the racing line at speed. Unfortunately, you want grip on the slick tires so you run outside the polished, smooth racing line. You run the cushion.
If the debris hits your fenders, you are on the rain line. Lots of different kinds of corners, some tight and twisty sections, and two very long straightaways. If you are leaning into a turn, your traction and stability control, the electronics on the race car, are of no help. So many different sections of different world renown racetracks went into the design of Circuit of the Americas such as the carousel and the stadium section including from tracks like Istanbul Park in Turkey and the Hockenheimring in Germany. Two distinct starts for SRO3 and for GT4.
As you know, the SRO3 class is a nice mix of newer and older generation GT3 machinery. The safety car pulls to the pit lane. We’ve got a green flag and we’re underway in Austin! It’s GT America race two! Let’s go! George Kurtz gets the jump. Three wide for third, fourth, and fifth, and Adam Adelson settles into second. No argy bargy early doors. Good job keeping your noses clean, everyone. So, now we move back to see the GT4 start and it is Elias Sabo in the Aston Martin, car #8 leading the field. Ross Chouest, yesterday’s winner following through. Robb Holland wants by Jason Bell, and there, look, it is Gray Newell giving it everything he’s got to try to have a go around the outside! Bell must be careful. We have a four-car breakaway at the top of the shop. Mercedes, Porsche, Audi, Mercedes. Kurtz, Adelson, Sofronas, Daskalos.
Adelson to the inside of Kurtz and now Sofronas is also hassling George Kurtz for second place. Daskalos keeping a watching brief. Everyone is racing hard, feeling out the conditions and now, Sofronas is into the lead while Adelson and Kurtz are monstering him. Kurtz loses a spot out on the wet kurbs. Adelson off and on as Daskalos takes the spot away. Jason Daskalos from sixth to second already! James Sofronas out in front. The racetrack is delivering good grip. Slick Pirelli tires they way to be. But we could see weather before the checkers fall this morning.
Everyone else is still exploring for grip. Gray Newell is making it an Aston Martin 1-2 in the GT4 ranks and he is putting the pressure on Elias Sabo. Newell might not have the qualifying pace, but you better believe he has the race pace. Leaning on the car in these damp conditions puts more temperature and energy into the tires and that will allow the drivers to really step up their performance game. Drive through penalty assessed to Jason Daskalos for jumping the start. Oh dear. A wee bit aggressive. There weren’t two straight lines in Noah’s Ark formation before the green flag.
GT4 is seeing a battle of Aston Martin’s. Sabo, Newell, and Bell the top three on the road with Ross Chouest in another Aston Martin in fourth but back just a bit. Bell pokes his nose inside Newell. He makes the pass and keeps it together, reading the situation. He made a mental error laste in the game yesterday. Poor old Memo Gidley in trouble again after a bad race one yesterday and now he is back in the lane again. This weekend at COTA is pear shaped for Gidley. #27 serves his drive through penalty. This championship could be turned upside down before the next race weekend.
We’ll hear more about that after this event concludes today. So, stay tuned. Gidley knew he had to box, and he is in the lane now. No rush for Gidley and it could be game over. Bell must be patient and right now he is trying to make a move on his Flying Lizard teammate. Gray Newell watching all this and looking to pounce if these two blokes make a mistake. Let me tell you, if you are on wet weather tires you are dealing with a king size ice cream headache right now because the car is squirming around and there is nothing you can do. You are looking for moisture, for water, but there’s none on the road.
The car just won’t settle down. You’ve made your decision rolling the dice and have to live with it. Slick tires are the way to go. Meanwhile, back up front, Sofronas has run off like a rabbit escaping the hound dog and is scampering away from Adam Adelson who has a decent gap as well over Anthony Bartone and meanwhile, Bartone has George Kurtz right on his six. Bartone has gone around Kurtz. This is a battle of the two Mercedes AMG GT3’s of Bartone Brothers with RealTime and CrowdStrike Racing with Riley Motorsports.
At TKO Motorsports mum is the word with the tire issues they are dealing with. We only award points to tenth place and poor old Memo Gidley will be dropping like a stone in the running order. Sofronas not doing the full championship and Adelson is down the points tabke. Kurtz is being harried by Bartone while chasing down the Porsche with Adelson at the wheel of it. Daskalos is second in points and boy oh boy, he didn’t need that drive through penalty. Johnny O’Connell, too, in the far older Ferrari, the 458 Italia which is generations old, from the late 2000s to early 2010s or so, is still running competitively.
O’Connell had contact with Daskalos in yesterday’s race and Robb Holland is trying hard to stay on the lead lap after heading for the lane to swap over to the slick tires.
Poor old Holland is doing all he can to fight to stay on the lead lap but the problem there, too, is that he is the cork in the bottle and Sabo and Bell in the Aston Martin’s are going to be fuming if he doesn’t move over ASAP. Holland has bucketloads of experience but the Porsche Cayman he is driving, I don’t know if it has the ultimate pace of the Aston Martin’s. But he is hanging right with them. He is not giving up without a serious fight. Jeepers creepers! Adding insult to injury for the TKO Motorsports team, the stewards and pit marshals are now putting their pit lane procedure under review.
It could be something as simple as putting blocks under the car to work on it in the pit lane but will put the TKO team on the back foot for dead sure. Sabo leads the motor race in GT4. But the battle is on in SRO3. James Sofronas thought he could whistle off into the distance, but Adam Adelson says, “no way, sunbeam” and is going to make a lunge down the inside! A counterattack from Sofronas slamming the door in Adelson’s face! Oh boy, oh boy. This is hot racing and we have only ten minutes on the board of 40 scheduled!
Do not run to the fridge, folks. You don’t want to miss what we may have in store in GT America race two here at COTA. Adelson pushes to the inside trying to force the issue on Sofronas. Sofronas gets on the power through turn two. Adelson in line. We saw Elliott Skeer make a similar move in GT World Challenge America race one yesterday. You can soften up the suspension on the car for wet weather. It makes the car more compliant. But we can see that if Sofronas tried softening the shocks for the weather conditions, maybe that adjustment just ain’t workin’ right now. Sofronas this weekend is making his 350th appearance in SRO America.
Adelson late on the brakes and is in way too deep! He got off in no man’s land on the wet paint. Sofronas held out the bait, Adelson took it, and now, poor old Adelson is falling once again into the clutches of George Kurtz. When the antilock brakes kick in it takes away braking force from under your foot and causes the car to wash out wide. Sofronas warned for blocking by Race Control. Be proactive in racing. You can’t react to your rival behind you.
Kurtz is right on Adelson’s back door as they move past the GT4 Toyota Supra with Nick Shanny at the wheel of it. That is the Carras Callas entry with TripAdvisor sponsorship. We are closing in on the halfway mark in this motor race. Kurtz was duking it out with Anthony Bartone but has escaped the clutches of Bartone. James Sofronas has the lead and has experience of having raced in this championship since 1994. He is also the owner of the GMG Racing team. He is still under pressure from Adelson. Adelson opens the door and now, Kurtz is going to try stepping right through it.
Kurtz is not close enough to pull alongside Adelson. Bartone and O’Connell are both coming in a hurry, as the leaders work traffic in the esses. Kurtz tries a lunge on Adelson once more and here comes Anthony Bartone into the picture once again. Bartone has not put a foot wrong yet. Sofronas is playing defense and still needs to hold on for 23 minutes. We have over half the race still to run. Bartone and O’Connel both going for it. Feel and experience are what these drivers are going for it.
Johnny O’Connell may cop a penalty for missing the time cutoff for getting the tires on the car too late. Adam Adelson is pals with IndyCar driver Callum Ilott. Adelson said of his friendship with Ilott “we met in Monaco.” The wet tires gamble for Marc Austin has not paid off and now he has the #011 Lone Star Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo in the lane. Those tires have turned to treacle in the dry. Treacle of course is molasses. The same thing. We can see on camera, there is your treacle Pirelli, your Pirelli tire that has turned into a sticky, liquefied, gummy mess.
Look at those tread blocks on the right side of that tire. Ugh. That one has seen better days. Any wet weather tire is going to do that in dry conditions, and they are not designed to do that. 300 mini tread blocks coming apart. Kurtz in the meantime is the aggressor in this battle he is having with Sofronas and Adelson and of the three German supercars there, the Mercedes is probably the most solid platform in comparison to the Porsche and the Audi. Sofronas has dialed the car in with subtle adjustments. Yesterday, Kurtz crushed the field by 16 seconds but today it is not the same story being written as we are halfway home.
The rain is beginning to pick up a bit. Memo Gidley just served his drive through penalty for running over an air line in pit lane running tenth in the order. Adelson on the offensive again and Sofronas is able to answer those riddles. Daskalos is pressing his way through the field and a bit of contact with the Porsche #043 with Peter Pejasavich at the wheel of it. That is the OnlyFans Racing with P1 Groupe by MRS Porsche 911 GT3R. Alex Vogel had done previous races in that car.
For the lead, Adelson to the inside of Sofronas. Kurtz sends it for second, but he cuts the corner and cuts now to the inside of Sofronas and the two make contact and Kurtz spins while Sofronas has a bit of aggro off in the gravel trap! Yikes! Talk about turning things upside down with 17 minutes of racing remaining! Anthony Bartone moves to the lead past Adam Adelson, and we may see a safety car scramble. GMG Racing cannot believe it. Kurtz and Sofronas are stuck! Johnny O’Connell in the SKI Autosport Ferrari in the fight.
Adelson, meanwhile, is going to try the crossover move on Bartone! Bartone to the lead, keeping it clean and now O’Connell is closing. Kurtz can continue. We don’t know if his car is damaged, but he has fallen down the order at least three places. Safety car on the circuit to neutralize the field with 16 minutes to go. Is this a racing incident? Is the onus on anyone’s shoulders? Robb Holland is a lucky luck boy and stays on the lead lap as Sofronas I believe is still buried in the gravel. Adelson to the inside of Sofronas, in replay, and then, Kurtz tries the outside on Sofronas, gets tipped, and both are off the road.
Sofronas had to back out of it to coexist. Maybe Sofronas’ Audi has damage to the suspension. He is running only a partial schedule and not in it for the championship. Amazing to see the Ferrari 458 Italia mixing it up with modern Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo’s and Porsche 911 GT3R 992 models. Johnny O’Connell has some good insight on track conditions from his son Canaan O’Connell who is racing in the Toyota GR Cup spec series. Tony Bartone, Anthony Bartone’s father and drag racing legend, is very proud of his son and is crossing his fingers.
Andy Pilgrim’s full-time commitment to the project has helped Anthony Bartone’s development as a driver. Tony Bartone is the 1996 NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car champion. The drivers are cleaning and heating their tires under yellow. Work your feet together on the accelerator and the brake to keep temperature in the tires as we see Adam Adelson has set the Crowdstrike Fastest Lap of the race so far at 2:06.983. Maintain temperature from the brakes to the upright to the wheel and into the tire.
Adelson is second behind Bartone with O’Connell, Treffert, and Kurtz next up. Kurtz was trying to coexist and I think Sofronas made a mistake. It is hard racing through the esses with the quick direction change. We have rain on the circuit here at COTA. Not a mist, not a drizzle. The tires are getting cold and everyone has swapped to slicks. Turn the brake bias to the rear as we get going again in these last nine or so minutes. Cinch down the belts. A race win on the line.
O’Connell’s Ferrari 458 Italia does not have all the electronic gizmos the newer GT3 cars do but he will have plenty of driving experience at his disposal. Memo Gidley has been able to stay on the lead lap, another veteran driver. It is crunch time here at COTA in GT America. George Kurtz, too, is still in the fight. O’Connel tries closing on Adelson and oh dear! Bartone has a lazy spin and collects Adelson! Local yellow flag. But, the green flag is out. New top three! O’Connell leads over Treffert and Kurtz! Well, well, well.
Any yaw in the car can cause you to spin off the road. In GT4, meanwhile, it is also on. Johnny O’Connell slides and now, here comes Jason Daskalos making a move on Kurtz! Daskalos successfully makes the pass! Safety car is out. The field is frozen. I don’t think we’ll get back into racing as Peter Pejascevich has spun the #043 Porsche but he continues on and so racing looks as if it is continuing. We are still racing as Johnny O’Connell leads over Jason Daskalos. Treffert, Kurtz, and Adelson complete the top five places.
This opportunity has fallen into Johnny O’Connell’s lap. There are local yellows and we have green flag conditions. CRP run 2-3 with Daskalos and Treffert. Ross Chouest is going for it and here comes Tony Gaples. Bell, Newell, Chouest, Gaples. Tony Gaples is making his move. Bell throws the block on Newell. It’s a drag race to turn one. Sabo leads the motor race in GT4. For second in class it is again a scrap between Bell and Newell. Traffic ahead is of no help to Bell. Sabo leads in class with traffic ahead. He has to go for it. Sabo tries the inside of Shanny. No dice.
Sabo cannot quite clear Shanny as Bell fades to the left and Newell goes back to the right. Shanny still racing with Elias Sabo. Sabo chops across Shanny. Can he bring Bell and Newell with him? Shanny holding station. Newell dives in on Shanny in the Toyota Supra. Not much grip on the wet paint. Gaples trying everything he can. A big spin there through the corner! Boom! That’s Paul Kiebler clobbering the barriers and destroying the front end of the #77 TR3 Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4!
This is sure to end the motor race. But the battle is on under geen. No safety car yet. Safety car deployed. The field is frozen. O’Connell, Daskalos, Addelson. Sabo, Bell, Newell, the top three in GT4. That was frantic! As good as a strong cup of coffee to wake you up in the morning! This was wild! There are a handful of cars being looked at for pre-race protocol and procedure. Car #56, ten second post-race penalty. That will drop O’Connell down the order.
Another penalty is James Sofronas but that is a moot point because he is out of the race. But then Daskalos would be the race winner. Poor Johnny O’Connell cannot do a thing about it. He needs to back way off from the safety car and do a quali lap to the checkers. No. No. You can’t do that. That won’t work. We’ll have to sift and sort through things here. Ski Autosports absolutely crushed! They will contest the penalty understandably. Such unusual circumstances due to the weather.
Rosella, the team manager, speaking to the officials. Jason Bell did not win. Elias Sabo will win GT4, but Ross Chouest only manages to finish seventh. We believe Jason Daskalos is the presumptive race winner. Adam Adelson will be promoted to second place. One more lap around behind the safety car to the checkered flag. O’Connell has a ten second post-race penalty for a pre-race procedural error. Jason Daskalos and CRP Racing win GT America race two in Austin, Texas.
In GT4, Elias Sabo wins the class. A shoutout too to both Andy Wilzoch in SRO3 and Robb Holland in GT4. A decent day for Robb Holland. Jason Bell, Gray Newell, and Tony Gaples next in the order. Tony Gaples earns fastest lap of the race in the GT4 class. Johnny O’Connell and Tony Gaples are two of the veterans of this series. Adam Adelson at 2:08.983 keeps the overall fastest lap. He used this race of course as seat time for the Fanatec GT World Challenge America second race later on today. A tough day for the teams this morning.
Overall/SRO3: #27 Jason Daskalos CRP Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo
GT4: #8 Elias Sabo Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT4
Nick Short and company, at CRP Racing will be celebrating this one tonight! The next race for GT America is coming up soon at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia. Join us there. So long for now, everybody. Plenty more racing to come here at Circuit of the Americas. Stay tuned throughout the day for more action.
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