The final race of the weekend at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, for SRO America is upon us. It is time for GT World Challenge America race two. Yesterday, race one saw seasoned veterans and GT3 rookies challenged to their maximum and today, the 16-car field will be challenged once more. It is a homecoming for SRO America, and we are moments away from this race beginning. This is indeed a homecoming for SRO America with 17 cars on the grid. The top of the tower here at COTA shows turn one, 419 steps up.
Eric Filgueiras and Stevan McAleer have the points lead and
we are going to watch Bimmerworld with Chandler Hull and Bill Auberlen and
Racer’s Edge and their Acura NSX GT3 with Ashton Harrison and Mario
Farnbacher. We also are going to see the
Pro-Am contenders like Derek DeBoer and Valentin Hasse-Clot, George Kurtz and
Colin Braun, and in Am, Bartone brothers with Anthony Bartone and Andy
Pilgrim. Race one yesterday was a thriller,
and you have no doubt read about how it all went down. We are looking forward to the second race
coming up in mere moments. After the
accident yesterday, Manny Franco and Alessandro Balzan will not start this
motor race today.
The weather will be a big deal. We might see rain, or it might stay dry. The skies are overcast, and we could see
rain, possibly. Let’s go racing. Boogity, boogity, boogity! Driver’s start your engines! The cars roll off behind the safety car. The Pro drivers start the race in race
two. Chandler Hull starts the motor race
today from pit lane. We have SRO America
President Greg Gill, a decade of racing here at COTA, and Stephane Ratel, the
worldwide founder, the CEO, of SRO Motorsports Group worldwide.
CrowdStrike will be the title sponsor of the 24 Hours of
Spa, coming up soon, for GTWC Europe.
How are Colin Braun and Ryan Dalziel (former teammates) going to
coexist? Dalziel in the #33 Ferrari 296
GT3. Of course, Frikadelli Racing won
the Nurburgring 24 Hours that ended earlier on the same Sunday morning this
race took place of course. So, will
Ferrari have luck here in Austin? We’re
about to find out. A pair of Pro-Am cars
are on the front row. We do have Bill
Auberlen at the end of the pit lane ready to start.
There is of course the mandatory pit stop window halfway
through the motor race with a driver change, new Pirelli P Zero tires, and
fuel. The top ten on the grid in
qualifying were separate by half a second or less. We’re about to turn them loose. Field in two-by-two alignment. The safety car is in the lane. Colin Braun gets the green flag, and we are
underway! Braun gets the jump and Morad
and Skeer are scrapping already. Ryan
Dalziel being hammered by Stevan McAleer.
McAleer and Dalziel, the battle of the Scotsmen. John Edwards in the #38 Samantha Tan Racing
BMW M4 GT3 has Jan Heylen aboard the #45 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R
992 model right on his six. Edwards
makes the move stick. Spencer Pumpelly
and Corey Lewis go side by side as well, look.
Close action too between Hasse-Clot and Bryan Sellers. McAleer and Morad have an uninvited guest
with Elliott Skeer in the 991 Porsche GT3.
He is not shy about coming forward.
He is now in third spot.
McAleer gets crossed over by Morad and Mario Farnbacher is pushing hard
aboard the #93 Racer’s Edge Acura NSX GT3.
McAleer losing places and there’s contact there, look. McAleer flies plummet airways to sixth
spot! John Edwards has rocketed upwards
from 14th spot. Now, a drive
through penalty for the Esses Racing Mercedes car #19 and the #33 Ferrari 296
GT3 in the hands of Ryan Dalziel! My oh
my! Ryan is going to be hot when he
hears about that. He will be steaming!
A cut and dried call from Race Control. Drama ahoy here in Austin, Texas. Colin Braun, a Texan by birth living in North
Carolina and Ryan Dalziel, a Scotsman, living in Florida. Samantha Tan is happy about John Edwards’
progress already for sure. A monster
first lap for Edwards especially when he forced his way by Jan Heylen in the
Porsche. The key for the BMW is to keep
the tires underneath it. Surprising to
see poor old Stevan McAleer in a spot of bother. Into the stadium section they go again. George Kurtz and Colin Braun have worked
together for years.
Braun was coaching Kurtz long before they drove
together. Mario Farnbacher has brought
the #93 Racer’s Edge Acura to fifth.
Ryan Dalziel goes to the lead and the Scotsman knows he must serve the
penalty. If it stays green, maybe they
are getting a pace together to gap the field before serving the penalty. Elliott Skeer makes a move and poor old Mario
Farnbacher is losing steam. Skeer passes
and Morad in the TR3 Mercedes does as well.
Something is wrong with Colin Braun.
He is dropping like a stone.
Does he have an electrical gremlin on that car
someplace? He hits pit lane as we
expected he would. They entered the
weekend as the Pro-Am leaders. Ryan
Dalziel is also serving the penalty he was assessed. Elliott Skeer is moving ahead and co-driver
Justin Wetherill is clearly unhappy.
Something amiss with the motor in the CrowdStrike Mercedes. That 6.2-liter V8 may have electrical
trouble. There is a fire in the lane, a
small one. It is unburnt fuel in the exhaust,
no worries. Daniel Morad for TR3 is
really going for it. A very Italian team
who ran Ferrari and Lamborghini now running Mercedes machinery.
The Porsche camp was not terribly bullish on their chances
coming in but they are in the lead currently.
Mario Farnbacher third overall and leading the Pro class. The Acura NSX GT3 struggles over the curbs,
with the team led by Jon Mirachi of course.
A few years ago, Trent Hindman and Shelby Blackstock, Martin Barkey and
Kyle Marcelli were quick. But everyone
has raised their game in GT3 especially with the new cars. Riley Motorsports pushing their car towards
the paddock area. My goodness. You have to do everything possible to get
back in the fight.
Points add up towards the end of the year. The Racer’s Group, now reunited with Aston
Martin. TRG have had a long association
with Porsche, but they have run Aston Martin programs in the past as well. Engine vibration at Riley Motorsports. Game over for the Mercedes. George Kurtz and Colin Braun are out of
it. That’s rough for a team that had
loads of potential. A good battle
between VHC (Valentin Hasse Clot) and Bryan Sellers. Skeer leading over Morad at this stage. Morad is right on his tail and has been for
15 minutes.
John Edwards followed by McAleer, Sellers, Hasse-Clot, and
Jan Heylen, the top eight. Good battle
as VHC passes both Sellers and Heylen.
Hasse-Clot has passed Sellers who is having the blowtorch applied by
Heylen. Mario Farnbacher in a lonely
third spot. He has been quicker than
Edwards. Jan Heylen passes Bryan Sellers
as we said. Hasse-Clot through on
Sellers. Sellers still under pressure
from Jan Heylen of course. The sister
DXDT Racing Mercedes of Lewis and Jeff Burton are a tad behind. Sellers and Lewis shared a car together for
another team in a different championship.
Heylen won the Porsche Cup years ago for the privateer
Porsche drivers where you win a new road legal 911. Bill Auberlen is moving up and Ryan “Razzle
Dazzle” Dalziel uncorks the fastest lap at 2:05.411. He is driving angry but fast. He’ll be kicking himself because the rules
are consistent with both major sports car championships in North America
waiting for the start/finish line before you can pass. It is consistent to both SRO America and
IMSA. Adelson and Skeer won races and
early won a title in Pirelli GT4 America in 2022.
Adam Adelson has a mustache because he won a Porsche Cup
event here at COTA and has grown it ever since as a good luck
superstition. Daniel Morad and Ziad
Ghandour don’t have time to test. Daniel
Morad had not raced here since 2019.
These two are matching each other tenth for tenth. The Mercedes is hanging tough and carving the
turns better than the Porsche. Mario
Farnbacher next in line. Morad taking
time out of Skeer. Edwards, Skeer, Hasse
Clot, and so on. Morad is going for the
lead against Elliott Skeer. Morad’s car
is in its sweet spot.
Ziad Ghandour, looking on.
The Mercedes is planted well whistling through the high-speed sweeper
and Morad can tuck into the turn better than Skeer in the Porsche can. The Mercedes is planted while the Porsche is
a wee bit twitchy. Wright Motorsports
vs. TR3 Racing. Morad is really
committing over the curbs using a later corner entry than Skeer in the
esses. The sparks fly from under the
skid plates on these cars. Mario
Farnbacher too, is doing what is necessary, leading Pro by four and a half
seconds over Stevan McAleer, fifth overall.
He was dropping like a stone but has settled into fifth place.
Andy Pilgrim leading Am in the #43 Bartone Brothers Racing
Mercedes AMG GT3. In short order we will
hear what Bartone Brothers and RealTime Racing are going to do. RealTime has bucketloads of experience with
Acura’s, but they are back with Mercedes now.
Andy Pilgrim drove for Corvette for two decades with Corvette and he
lives now in Bowling Green, Kentucky, right next to the Corvette Museum. Mother nature might have something to say
before this race is over.
There are sprinkles in the pit lane, but the eyes will be on
the weather app. It is dangerous to have
oil on your windscreen and you go to the wipers to clean the water off and the
windscreen gets all smudged. The Pro
class mandates a Silver rated driver in GTWC America compared to the other GT
World Challenge GT3 championships worldwide in Europe, Asia, or Australia. The pace delta between the Pro’s and the Am’s
is there but it is not huge.
Filgueiras and Harrison have a history dating back to the
previous race at NOLA. Bimmerworld had
to repair heir car and ST Racing helped with parts and get the car back together. That favor will be returned. Spencer Pumpelly being chased by Trenton
Estep. ACI Motorsports vs. MDK
Motorsports. Ryan Dalziel in recovery
mode and has been flyuing and still has the fastest lap of the motor race thus
far. Teammate Justin Wetherill had a win
and a runner-up in Ferrari Challenge here at COTA in 2020. It has been 20 years since Ryan Dalziel ran
in Formula Atlantic with Sierra Sierra Racing and into Champ Car but has also
run GT’s and prototypes alike in sports cars.
Dalziel has won overall at Daytona and Petit Le Mans and
class wins at both of those races at Sebring, Le Mans, and Petit Le Mans. RS1 are hoping to sweep the weekend. Valentin Hasse-Clot in his first race at
COTA. Sellers has spun off the
road. Was he all by his lonesome? Can he fire the car up? He ate too much curb and spun off the
road. Valentin Hasse-Clot has a
brand-new book being written and he is embracing the VHC initials nickname
too. Edwards’ pace meanwhile, has been
tempered. Mario Farnbacher is still the
Pro class leader.
Heylen thinks about passing VHC. But he knows discretion is the better part of
valor. Skeer and Morad still 1-2 in the
motor race. Morad is closing in. He wants a bite of the cherry but has settled
down. Skeer has an advantage down the
straightaways compared to the Canadian.
We are a lap away from the pit window opening. I doubt we will see too many early pit
callers. We have now run 18 laps. 38 minutes have elapsed, so we are getting
close to halfway.
Edwards, McAleer, VHC, Heylen. Eric Filgueiras wanted to have a face-to-face
conversation with Ashton Harrison. She
is now suited and booted and wondering about the radar. Ryan Dalziel closing on Trenton Estep. Ferrari on Porsche. Circumspect driving from Estep with a Pro-Am
car passing a Pro car. Estep’s co-driver
Seth Lucas is quick. The pit window
opens, and the frontrunners are not hitting the lane just yet. Maintain the balance, drive the car to the
threshold of grip you have.
Degradation not too bad.
So, no one is going to gamble on the undercut and there is no real pace
delta between new tires and old ones.
Daniel Morad closing again on Elliott Skeer. Bartone Brothers Racing with RealTime Racing
pits and Anthony Bartone can have his drive time maximized. McAleer falling back being passed by Heylen
who is now hounding Hasse-Clot. Smoke in
the lane or fire extinguishant, so there could have been a small pit fire. McAleer now in the lane and will hand off to
Filgueiras. Is there something greater amiss with the racing car?
46 minutes to go so we are just about at the halfway
mark. Daniel Morad has now gone around
Elliott Skeer for the overall lead and for the Pro-Am lead! Wow!
He carved the corner and gained half a car length on Skeer running two
hot laps before he pits and hands the car off to Ziad Ghandour. That was a cut and paste perfect pass from
Morad. Edwards and Heylen, some contact
between them and maybe some bodywork came off the Porsche. Heylen getting stronger through the stint
before he hands over to Charlie Luck.
Trimming the car out could cause tire degradation
troubles. No damage to the dive planes
on the nose. Edwards hanging on by his
fingernails as he faded towards the end of the stint as we have gone past the
halfway mark. All the Pro-Am cars are
maximizing the stint. Ashton Harrison
takes over from Mario Farnbacher at Racer’s Edge with the Acura. They are based out of Florida and partnered
with Wayne Taylor Racing/Andretti Autosport.
Pedro Torres is into the #16 ACI Motorsports Porsche replacing Spencer
Pumpelly.
They have caught Chandler Hull who has taken over from Bill
Auberlen in the #94 BimmerWorld BMW M4 GT3.
A delay for the Esses Racing Mercedes, the home team, car #19. Will Hardemann taking over from Adam
Carroll. Now the leaders are in. TR3 vs. Wright Motorsports in the lane. Refueling, tire change, and a driver
change. One rattle gun and one tire
changer allowed compared to two in other championships. Trouble for Adelson and a slow stop for the
#120 Porsche! Ziad Ghandour now in the
car and Ashton Harrison has had a great pit stop from the Racer’s Edge Acura
team.
Where now is the #28 RennSport 1 entry? Ziad Ghandour is now leading the race overall
with Ashton Harrison closing. Watch out
for the green paint. No grip and a
skating rink with moisture in the air.
Adam Adelson is closing up and now Samantha Tan also wants to make a
move but gets balked by both Charlie Luck and Derek DeBoer! Eric Filgueiras has work to do to get back
into the picture. Charlie Luck vulnerable to DeBoer. Ashton Harrison passes Ziad Ghandour for the
lead. There could be a problem with the
pit lane speed limiter on the #120 Porsche.
DeBoer passes Luck for third in Pro-Am and the track is
getting slick. Tiptoeing to find grip is
a bad idea. Keep the tire loaded through
the corner to gain bite. Samnatha Tan s
tiptoeing, trying to feel it. Adelson is
closing up on Gahndour and Adelson is feeling it! He sends it past Ghandour! Ghandour will have to regroup. 34 minutes of racing remaining. The Pirelli P Zero wet weather tires may come
into use. Seth Lucas scrapping with
Justin Wetherill. I think Lucas passed
him and we see Pedro Torres too in the #16 ACI Motorsports Porsche. The pass we just saw was Pro on Pro Am. Filgueiras has 33 minutes to work with and is
praying for a yellow to make up time.
Derek DeBoer forces his way past Ziad Ghandour. Derek DeBoer is in fine form and the Aston
Martin is running great in these slippery conditions. Charlie Luck is all over Ziad Ghandour with a
loose race car and Luck goes late to the inside and he just barely holds on! Yikes!
That is a scrap for the final Pro-Am podium place! More windscreen wipers are coming into
use. Rain on some parts of the track,
dry in others, still on slick tires!
Holy cow! GT3 cars have tons of
horsepower to work with.
Samantha Tan has more pace than Charlie Luck. Ashton Harrison leads. The Acura NSX has a legacy of being good in
the rain and so does the Porsche. The
BMW can use so much more curb than the Porsche.
If the Porsche straddles the sleeping policemen, it can do damage to the
car. Charlie Luck in the middle of the
road on a shallow angle and here comes Samantha Tan! She is going for it, pushing like mad. Here she comes. Luck gives her just enough room! Holy smokes!
Charlie Luck could have spun!
Samantha Tan started in touring cars, made her way into GT4 and now is a
GT3 driver, and very successful.
Scott Smithson under review by the stewards for
something. Samantha Tan has run
extremely well, running up against Wright Motorsports, the benchmark in
Pro-Am. Samantha Tan right on the flank
of Charlie Luck who leaves the door open!
She wants a bite of the cherry.
She seems to have more pace than Luck.
Derek DeBoer is catching Adam Adelson hand over fist, although he has
now lost a bit of time. Charlie Luck
taking a shallow line into the turn.
Samantha Tan can straighten her hands out and go back to power sooner.
Less drizzle around than what we thought. Use the flow and the rhythm of this
track. Tan on driver’s right on Charlie
Luck. Luck holding her off. ST Racing BMW vs. Wright Motorsports
Porsche. Filgueiras takes advantage of
this battle, not for class position.
Luck getting defensive on Filgueiras and he runs wide does Filgueiras
and then Tan makes the pass as well, look.
That scenario played out just as we thought. Refocus and reset. Harrison leads overall by five seconds over
Adelson, DeBoer and this battle. Enter
Jeff Burton into the picture sharing with Corey Lewis.
Simon Morley and Stefan Pfeifer are working to unlock the pace of that Mercedes and now Luck comes back on Tan and Filgueiras does not want to play anymore and wants to barge through on Tan and Luck both. Jeff Burton can smell blood in the water. Seth Lucas is beginning to make inroads as well. This is a five-car queue. Identical spec Porsche’s in different classes based on driver gradings. Wright with a ton of GT3 experience compared to RS1.
Jeff Burton looming large against Samantha Tan and here
comes Seth Lucas as well. Multi class
racing but all GT3 cars. Filgueiras
wants points and wants more wins.
Filgueiras is closer and Luck lets him go or so it seems. The real art of managing the ABS brakes. Don’t wash out wide. Adam Adelson is closing up on Ashton Harrison
gradually. Burton in a battle with Seth
Lucas and this motor race, ladies and gents, stay tuned. This is going to come down to the wire.
Charlie Luck is a savvy racer, who cut his teeth in the
NASCAR Busch Series in the 1980s. Luck
co-driving with his son-in-law Jan Heylen.
Jan is a dad and Charlie a grandfather.
Can #45 bring home a podium?
Samantha Tan has dropped back a wee bit.
Samantha Tan was really working over Charlie Luck and in the aero wash
maybe her tires have gone away. However,
she is half a second quicker than Luck is while she was trying to solve the
riddle posed by Charlie Luck. Luck is ¾
of a second quicker than Tan! Oh
my!
Will Hardemann is also moving quickly. 15 minutes remaining on the board. Wright Motorsports could lose seven points to
the Racer’s Edge team. Filgueiras trying
to erase a 14 second deficit to try running down Ashton Harrison. Pedro Torres in tenth overall has gone around
Justin Wetherill for ninth. ACI
Motorsports have really shown well after a longtime presence in single make Porsche
racing while this year racing in GT3 and GT4 competition. Mario Farnbacher and Ashton Harrison are both
very successful drivers. Harrison is
associated with the Wayne Taylor Racing team.
Harrison 3.8 seconds to the good with 13 minutes of racing
to go yet. Ashton Harrison is beginning
to eclipse Adam Adelson’s lap times. Adelson
equal on pace with Harrison, truly, up the 130-foot hill to turn one. Jeff Burton in the #91 Burton Lumber Mercedes
AMG GT3 Evo sharing of course with Corey Lewis.
We are waiting to see DXDT break through. Derek DeBoer third overall and second in the
Pro class. He is very new to the Aston
Martin and to GT3 racing. But he loves
it.
The Racer’s Group is a strong, experienced team, led by
Kevin Buckler. Filgueiras is coming in a
big hurry! Will he have time to get
there? Filgueiras has closed on Derek
DeBoer. Keep it clean. Now, Filgueiras will be closing on Adam
Adelson and getting closer to Ashton Harrison.
DeBoer opens the door and lets Filgueiras go by. Under eight minutes of racing to go. Adelson now closing on Harrison, look. The gap is eight and a half seconds between
them.
No mistakes. Ashton
Harrison has to keep digging deep, grinding out the laps. Be focused and go for a target lap time. Wright Motorsports want to sweep the weekend
in Pro-Am. Filgueiras really making up
time on Ashton Harrison in sector three.
Time is beginning to run out for Eric Filgueiras. Filgueiras is lapping faster than
Harrison. 2:09.2 to 2:07.1. Filgueiras is really going for it. Filgueiras passes Adelson with no
dramas. That was efficient and clean. Head down and go after Ashton Harrison. The rivalry between Harrison and Filgueiras
rekindling a wee bit but don’t be silly.
Maintain the pace. Filgueiras might be a lap or so shy unless there is a wobble from Ashton Harrison. Harrison leads the motor race and time is of the essence. The gap is down to 4.9 seconds with two laps to go. Harrison and company are looking for their second win of the season after winning race two at Sonoma Raceway in the opening event of the year. Racer’s Edge vs. RS1. Filgueiras has the carrot in sight. Burton goes inside of Samantha Tan and Tan might be dealing with the same tire wear John Edwards was experiencing in the opening stint.
Tan is also racing internationally in Fanatec GT World
Challenge Europe. Burton moves past
Samantha Tan. White flag. One lap to go as Harrison leads Filgueiras by
3.7 seconds. Final lap. Hit your marks. Keep your head in the game. Derek DeBoer is closing on Adelson for the
Pro-Am class lead as well. Ashton
Harrison through the stadium section for the final time and the Racer’s Edge
team has managed this race to perfection.
Ashton Harrison hit her target and everything has gone swimmingly. Racer’s Edge win race two at COTA!
Pedro Torres off the road on the final lap! Heartbreak for ACI Motorsports!
Overall/Pro: #93 Harrison/Farnbacher Racer’s Edge Motorsports with
WTR-Andretti Acura NSX GT3 Evo 22
Pro-Am:
#120 Skeer/Adelson Wright
Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R (991.II)
Am: #43
Pilgrim/Bartone Bartone
Brothers Racing with RealTime Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo
Racer’s Edge will relish this victory for a long time to
come. Wright Motorsports succeed in
Pro-Am and Bartone Brothers Racing in Am.
The next race has already happened as well, at Virginia International
Raceway in Alton, Virginia. But no
worries. We will have the coverage of
VIR coming up very soon. For now, so
long from the live music capitol of the world in Austin, Texas. Take care, everybody. We’ll see you soon. Bye bye.
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