Opened in 1955, Road America is revered and has been since the beginning. Cliff Tufte, local businessman envisioned a circuit to sustain the motor racing heritage here originally raced on the streets of the town. Thank you, Cliff Tufte. $75,000 well spent. It is time for the second and final race of the weekend, and the final race of the day, here at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, for SRO America, and it is the flagship championship. The big boys and girls, and big toys, of the Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS, the GT3 cars are set to come back out of hibernation, and play, for another 90 minutes of motor racing. We join Ryan Myrehn and Calvin Fish in the broadcast booth and D.J. Clark, SRO America series announcer and presenter, in the pit lane.
RS1 and Racer's Edge battling in the Pro class while in Pro-Am we have Wright Motorsports vs. CrowdStrike with Riley Motorsports. This is a 4-mile ribbon of asphalt through the Wisconsin countryside and of course, we talked all about the amazing lap a driver takes here on the circuit, before race one yesterday. Will Hardemann and Adam Carroll will not start today's motor race after their massive crash in race one yesterday. One of the other teams shall use a spare car for race two this afternoon. We saw Conquest Racing with Manny Franco and Alessandro Balzan winning the race yesterday. CrowdStrike Racing with Riley Motorsports, on pole, with Colin Braun, half a second clear, and they won in class yesterday and are looking for the sweep.
The #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R is the car that is the spare that we should also mention, with Elliott Skeer and Adam Adelson. In the Pro field, Conquest came alive and won the first North American victory for the new Ferrari 296 GT3. The new surface is mega quick but if you slip off the road, as we have seen, it is going to be skittish and in the heat of today, with hot weather, the aggregate and asphalt is going to get greasy. After today, only three more races, and some big ones, at Sebring and Indianapolis. Racer's Edge swept Pro-Am in 2022 and Mario Farnbacher drove the wheels off the Acura NSX GT3 as we have the National Anthem, the Star-Spangled Banner.
We are getting close to getting this race started. It is a hot one on this Sunday afternoon. Daniel Morad is confident. Staying cool will be the key. Adam Christodoulou starts the race for Bartone Brothers/RealTime Racing. The Conquest Racing Ferrari, being started by Alessandro Balzan winning the first race for the Ferrari 296 GT3. Alessandro is confident even though the team has had many ups and downs this season, and he credits Manny Franco, his co-driver for giving him a car to take to the end yesterday and is starting fourth overall and on the Pro class pole. Every driver out here is a professional fighting for class honors and will go flat out.
Balzan and Franco are going for a good result and the BMW's have the pace that everyone is looking out for. Bill Auberlen is confident in straight line speed of the BMW. That is what the car has probably over everyone else. They want the points to get the championship after today's race, and after Sebring and the enduro at Indianapolis. The drivers are feeling it with these temperatures in the mid to upper 80s with 66% humidity in an hour and a half race split between two drivers. GT World Challenge America is part of a global championship with mercedes leading from Porsche, Audi, BMW, Lamborghini, and McLaren.
There were races in Japan in the Asia championship at Okayama and we'll have video of those races coming soon for you. The very first races held at Road America was in September 1955 from the SCCA with Sherwood Johnson finishing second in a Jaguar to Phil Hill in a Ferrari. NASCAR raced here in 1956, won by Paul Goldsmith in a Jaguar and then by the great Tim Flock. It is time to put the fresh Pirelli P Zero tires onto the cars right out of the tire ovens before we crank the engines and get ready to rumble. Anthony Bartone at RealTime Racing's home track, the car is back in one piece. Maximize whatever can be had.
Valentin Hasse-Clote starting the Aston Martin for TRG, The Racer's Group, teamed up with Derek DeBoer. It is toasty warm down on the grid. The heat will contribute to high track temperatures on this new asphalt at Road America. It has only been resurfaced twice in it's history and the first was in 1995, 28 years ago. RealTime Racing is based down the road in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with team boss, and legendary driver, Peter Cunningham. They won their 100th race here in 2019 with Mike Hedlund and Dane Cameron. Elliott Skeer and Adam Adelson will be learning on the fly with their new 992 generation Porsche 911 GT3R, a car they only had planned to race in GT America originally but since a crash for the primary car, this is the spare being pressed into service.
Stevan McAleer and Eric Filgueiras dominated Pirelli GT4 America in 2022 and they were successful early but still finding their feet in the #28 Porsche 911 GT3R 992 model. Chevrolet will be in the GT3 customer racing capacity starting next year with the C8.R GT3, along with a Ford Mustang GT3 coming online. Corvette and Ford will join with Mercedes, BMW, Acura, Porsche, Aston Martin, Ferrari... you name it. The cars roll off on their formation laps. We have 16 starters as the cars are on their single formation lap.
Maybe someone will find the sweet spot in their race car but the #04 CrowdStrike by Riley Motorsports Mercedes with Colin Braun and George Kurtz might be a contender like yesterday and watch for Valentin Hasse-Clot and Derek DeBoer plus Stevan McAleer and Eric Filgueiras. Safety car into the pit lane. Here we go. They climb up the hill and Daniel Morad wants to go. Pucnch it! Braun gets the jump as we go green! Braun to the lead as Auberlen clears Balzan and Bryan Sellers making an early move as well and a little contact as Neil Verhagen passes Bryan Sleeers as well, look. Kurtz, Morad, Auberlen the top three.
Adam Christodoulou drops a place. Morad was playing mind games with Braun but has taken off. Balzan is on the back foot and will have to push. Neil Verhagen having a great start in his fourth race in Fanatec GT World Challenge America. Three Porsche's running liner stern. Jan Heylen, Stevan McAleer, and Elliott Skeer. Morad way off the road through turn three and Bill Auberlen passes for second while Neil Verhagen passes Alessandro Balzan in the Ferrari, yesterday's winner. Verhagen wants by Balzan on the outside through turn five. No dice, as the Italian slams the door in his face. These two drivers in different classes for driver ratings, with all cars GT3 spec.
Colin Braun leads Bill Auberlen and Auberlen is a tenth of a second up against the Mercedes. BMW was losing time to Ferrari and might be losing time to the Mercedes in sector two, somehow. But that is the beauty of sports car racing, making the same lap times with Balance of Performance but have strengths and weaknesses in different sections of the circuit and a myriad of different engine sounds and body designs as well. Daniel Morad wants Adam Christodoulou to work with him but I don't know if the Brit wants to work with the Canadian through the moraine sweep. Into turn five they go. Balzan's Ferrari is turning it on, now.
Elliott Skeer is up three places and poor old Stevan McAleer has dropped like a stone to caboose on the field. Valentin Hasse-Clot running eleventh in the Aston Martin Vantage GT3. Elliott Skeer is chasing the sister Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R of Jan Heylen in another 992 model Porsche 911. Now, Stevan McAleer is still at speed, and I wonder what is going on at RS1. Bill Auberlen sets new fastest lap at 2:05.4 and VHC passes Corey Lewis. VHC is the 2020 GT4 European Silver class champion and the 2021 French GT4 champion I believe. The Kink is a very challenging corner especially with the new blacktop on the circuit. A year ago, at this time Manny Franco had never raced a GT3 car and made his debut at Sebring and he is chilled out. Nothing fazes him.
The gap has now disappeared and here comes Bill Auberlen right on Colin Braun's six. A naturally aspirated V8 in the Mercedes and a turbocharged inline six in the BMW. Excuse me. I think the BMW is a V6 motor. Bill Auberlen is strong in sector three and now, Daniel Morad is closing on Braun and Auberlen, both. A smooth new surface but there are still bumps you have to watch out for and watch the brake pads so there is still braking force when you get to the corner. The move George Kurtz put on Memo Gidley in GT America this weekend in one of the races, deserves the Chef's Kiss. Tire degradation has not been a concern this weekend.
Neil Verhagen has the run, on Alessandro Balzan and backs it off, deciding discretion is the better part of valor. The BMW M4 GT3 has the straightaway speed. Alessandro Balzan answering Neil Verhagen's riddle. Many of the brake zones have a curvature to allow you to position yourself in a defensive position. Balzan is keeping Verhagen in sight. Colin Braun is 4/10ths of a second clear of Bill Auberlen. 2:04.972, CrowdStrike Fastest Lap to Colin Braun in the CrowdStrike car. Bill Auberlen is still pushing and was so consistent chasing Balzan in race one yesterday. BMW seem to have the davnatage over everyone else in sector one and the Mercedes comes to the fore in sector two. Braun has a real advantage in the down force areas of the track. In sector three it is a mixed bag between BMW and Mercedes for the most part.
Colin Braun wonders where Elliott Skeer is, the closest competitor in Pro-Am, and he is 13th. Valentin Hasse-Clot is 11th dropping a place to Jan Heylen. Colin Braun leads the motor race by two seconds ahead of Bill Auberlen, Daniel Morad, Adam Christodoulou, Alessandro Balzan, Neil Verhagen, Brian Sellers, Trenton Estep, Mario Farnbacher, and Corey Lewis. The rest of the field is Jan Heyelen, Valentin Hasse-Clot, Elliott Skeer, Stevan McAleer, Jeroen Bleeekemolen, and Jon Branam. Balzan scrapping with Christodoulou and fending off the challenge from Verhagen and neither of them are in his class.
Bill Auberlen, new fastest lap at 2:04.968. The Pirelli P Zero tires are performing wonderfully on this new track surface at Road America. The field storms through turn five and up the hill. Samantha Tan getting in the zone upping her game. Her driving coach is Niclas Jonsson, the experienced Swedish driver. Balzan can be aggressive or play defense and now, Daniel Morad has caught Bill Auberlen whole Mario Farnbacher is harrying Trenton Estep. Acura vs. Porsche. McAleer still stymied at the tail end of the field with Racer's Edge Acura ahead in the Pro ranks. Verhagen passes Balzan. It is clear the BMW drivers have pace, and so does the car. The pit window will open in another 17 minutes for a ten minute window with a minimum pit delta of 86 seconds pit in to pit out including the service.
Auberlen putting the moves, the sums, the calculations together. Look for every possible advantage you can to try and win. They are demanding to the crew and engineers because they always want more, and Adam Christodoulou passes Neil Verhagen. These two have raced against each other at the Nurburgring Nordschleife in GT3 cars. Smoke could be coing out of the back of the Wright Motorsports #120 Porsche! Oh dear. Is the bodywork or diffuser rubbing on the deck? Is it a drivetrain issue? Morad closing up on Auberlen as Colin Braun inches away, four seconds to the good over Bill Auberlen. Morad matching Auberlen's lap times.
Mario Farnbacher is pushing Trenton Estep who has a loose rear diffuser on the MDK Porsche 911 GT3R. Late on the brakes, "Super Mario" throws it in and takes the eighth spot away. Estep is porpoising at high speed at 170 miles an hour plus. Corey Lewis nursing right front damage in the top ten and will hand off to Jeff Burton in the second stint. Valentin Hasse-Clot has lost some positions. Verhagen working over Christodoulou. Two BMW M4 GT3's having placings in the top five. The Nurburgring 24 Hours will be a part of the Intercontinental GT Challenge series powered by Pirelli next year.
The pit window will open in ten minutes, and everyone will push as deep into the window as possible to maximize the speed of the Pro drivers. Alessandro Balzan is reeling in Adam Christodoulou hand over fist. Don't sleep on Bryan Sellers either. He is closing in. Balzan pokes by Adam Christodoulou who is losing the handling and he has trouble. Maybe he has a cut down tire, eight minutes before the window opens. Heartbreak from RealTime Racing and team manager Nathan Bonneau. No urgency. I wonder if this car and team are headed for retirement. They actually are sending him back out. Maybe it was a loose wheel. Never mind the doom and gloom. McAleer passes Elliott Skeer.
Braun leads Auberlen by 5.6 seconds. Everyone chasing Braun has laid down their fastest laps of the motor race with 55 minutes to go. So, in ten minutes we will be at the halfway mark. Colin Braun leads by 5.6 seconds and now, Stevan McAleer passes Adam Christodoulou. At Bimmerworld, they are confident and not concerned about Balzan. They want the overall victory. It will be up to Chandler Hull in the second stint vs. Manny Franco, George Kurtz, and many others. George Kurtz looking for the Road America clean sweep. Jeroen Bleekemolen and Jon Branam at the back of the field. Bleekemolen sharing with Kyle Washington and Jon Branam sharing with Paul Kiebler.
Colin Braun is inching away from Bill Auberlen. The pit window will open next time by I believe. Initially, the leader would get first dibs at the pit window but that is not the case anymore. Neil Verhagen fourth on the road and Samantha Tan is suited and booted, getting set to go. A couple of pit callers in the Pro class. Trenton Estep who won Porsche Carrera Cup here in 2022. The rear diffuser is askew. Seth Lucas will get into the car. Tires being changed, fuel addedd, and the driver change. The pit window is open. They tear the diffuser off and chuck millions of dollars over the wall, well, thousands.
Buckle up, Seth Lucas. You are now riding a bucking bronco. The four wheeled cowboy. 2:04.1, another CrowdStrike Fastest Lap for Colin Braun. It's hammer time. Lay down quick laps before changing tires. 2:04.196 for Braun. Wright Motorsports #45 in the lane as Jan Heylen turns it over to Madison Snow. Halfway home in this motor race. Colin Braun angling the car in the middle of the corner, maintaining the line where the grip is. George Kurtz was doing likewise in the GT America race this morning.
Ziad Ghandour and Samantha Tan will be scrapping in Pro-Am here in a wee while once Neil Verhagen reels in Daniel Morad. Samantha Tan has driven three different GT3 cars. The BMW M4 GT3, the old Ferrari 488 GT3 and the Ferrari 296 GT3. Pit lane is about to get busy, like Grand Central Station. Madison Snow has a huge twitch through the middle of The Carousel. Coolin Braun is on his in lap to pit and hand off to George Kurtz. Braun to the lane. He leads by 8.4 seconds and Bill Auberlen, Daniel Morad, and Neil Verhagen all pit. 86 seconds, the perfect stop. So we will see Chandler Hull, Ziad Ghandour, and Samantha Tan along with George Kurtz.
Fuel, tires, and a driver change the order of the day. Riley Motorsports win the race off pit lane. Good stop at Bimmerworld as well and ST Racing bang on the money. 40 minutes of racing remaining, the pit window is closed. The race is now into it's second half. George Kurtz has a decent lead over Chandler Hull. Everyone loves the cherry on the cake with the overall win and then focus on the gold cup, the championship. Ziad Ghandour being harried by Samantha Tan and her she comes, trough Kettle Bottoms and into Canada Corner. Ghandour protects.
Third and fourth overall and second and third in the Pro-Am class. Samantha Tan moves to P2 and here comes Manny Franco. He is chasing down Ghandour and Tan to try catching Chandler Hull after his first ever overall win in Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS, yesterday. Manny Franco is off and on in turn six and might have damaged the undertray. Don't push too hard. Neil Verhagen is steaming and has done a lot of racing in SRO Europe on the same Pirelli P Zero tire. He is happy to be back at the U.S. tracks that have no runoff and no track limits unlike the tracks in Europe.
Verhagen was worried at the start of the weekend but is now in the zone after a gteat opening stint today. Samantha Tan has passed by Ziad Ghandour, and she is running far quicker than George Kurtz. SRO GT World Challenge Europe, with Rowe Racing, they are seventh in points with one race left at the 3 Hours of Barcelona in late September, early October. Derek DeBoer gets passed by Eric Fiilgueiras in the Porsche passing for ninth overall. Porsche on Aston Martin. There was smoke from the Wright Motorsports Porsche which has gone away.
Derek DeBoer is running ahead of Adam Adelson and now, Chandler Hull is taking seconds out of George Kurtz and Samantha Tan is at 2:06.6 and closing on both Hull and Kurtz. Adam Adelson chasing Derek DeBoer for fifth spot in Pro-Am. Running through the Hurry Downs section of the course here at Road America with just over half an hour to go. Ziad Ghandour has Ashton Harrison all over him for fifth overall and Ghandour relinquishes the place. Paul Kiebler in the sister TR3 Mercedes has spun into the grass. He is getting back on the road and the leader George Kurtz clobbers him! Safety Car dispatched!
Kurtz had no place to go. The CrowdStrike Mercedes all torn up and Samantha Tan was jolly lucky to not get involved in that mess. No clean sweep for Kurtz, Braun, and CrowdStrike Racing. Jeepers creepers! BMW 1-2. We hope for the best for Paul Kiebler and George Kurtz, both. My gracious. This race is being completely reset with 28 minutes to go. George Kurtz and Paul Kiebler out of their cars under their own steam after wrecking in the exit of The Carousel. Debris is strewn all over and so is fluid. So, I don't know yet if we are going to go back to full green flag conditions.
Watch for the debris so that no one cuts down a tire on a shard of carbon fiber. Break out the leaf blower. Track cleanup continues under the safety car with a BMW 1-2 for Chandler Hull and Samantha Tan. Drivers are told to use their in-car tools and tweak on the cars. ST Racing are fine and they are very confident as Samantha Tan has come right back to Chandler Hull and she did a fine job to avoid that massive accident. Poor old Kiebler was an innocent bystander there and so was Kurtz. The question becomes, she is the leading Pro-Am driver surrounded by ori class cars.
Get out front and control your destiny. Racer's Edge have moved from ninth up to fourth place. What can Ashton Harrison do? Like yesterday, they are third in class. Chandler Hull is going to have work to do to try and fend off the challenge. Car #21, the Conquest Racing Ferrari has a post-race time penalty for missing the pit lane delta time. That is not ideal for Manny Franco and Alessandro Balzan. Scott Smithson will be going for the final podium place in Pro-Am. Closing in on a restart here at Road America with about 15 minutes left. Make it ten minutes, in all honesty.
We shall restart next time around. Conquest Racing are beginning to figure out the deal with the Ferrari 296 GT3 having tested at Indianapolis and run well here. Next time at Sebring International Raceway in Florida will be a brutally hot set of races and Conquest debuted last year with the Ferrari 488 GT3 there last year. Bill Auberlen and Bimmerworld in the lead. Chandler Hull told to start early and work on corner exits. Line the car up and get a good exit, like a drag racer. We'll have about 11 minutes of racing on the board.
Bill Auberlen still has joie de vivre for racing. Both Paul Kiebler and George Kurtz are fine. But now, it is a shootout at the OK Corral. Anthony Bartone has caught up in the RealTime Racing Mercedes. Punch it. Green flag. The TR3 Mercedes #9 of Ziad Ghandour to the pit lane and now, Samantha Tan is pressing Chadnler Hull and hee comes Manny Franco passing Samnatha Tan and Ashton Harrison too, losing place for Samantha Tan! Oh dear. Madison Snow and Eric Filgueiras swamp Tan as well and Madison Snow makes his move on Eric Filgueiras.
Adam Adelson also recovering and troubles for Chandler Hull! Manny Franco has rocketed by. Something is wrong with the Bimmerworld BMW! Can Conquest go back-to-back? We still have jine minutes to go. Madison Snow poised for a podium. Harrison and Snow should know Franco has the sword of Damocles hanging over him. A broken axle for Chandler Hull and Bill Auberlen! What do they have to do to get the victory?! Criminy! Franco is motoring ahead of Harrison and she could inherit the win. Franco is gapping both Harrison and Snow.
Madison Snow drives a BMW M4 GT3 in another championship and now is getting comfortable again with a Porsche 911 GT3R. Filgueiras and McAleer are moving up and Harrison has spun! Right out of turn 13. This is ugly. Bartone and Smithson almost both go off the road. Franco might just be able to hold on for a sweep. He is four seconds ahead of Madison Snow with Eric Filgueiras and Stevan McAleer set to get on the podium while Samantha Tan leads Adam Adelson in Pro-Am by 1.2 seconds. Manny Franco still has a two and a half second time penalty. Even if they don't finish first on the road we could see Madison Snow or Eric Filgueiras win this thing.
Five minutes to go with only two races at Sebring International Raceway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Indianapolis 8 Hours. Seth Lucas runs sixth with no rear diffuser on the back of the #53 Porsche 911 GT3R for MDK Motorsports. Madison Snow gapping Eric Filgueiras but a drive through penalty for incident responsibility for Snow for the Ashton Harrison shemozzle! Oh man! So, Eric Filguieras is going to inherit a place and in replay, Snow tagging Harrison, that was just not on. Snow and Heylen in Pro, have no chance for the championship title as they started the season at Wright Motorsports with Charlie Luck in Pro-Am.
In Pro-Am, Braun and Kurtz will score very few points today in spite of their victory yesterday and Adelson too is now flying Plummet Airways! Oh dear! Conquest Racing are staying steady and have not put a wheel wrong except for this possible time penalty. He is now five seconds to the good over Madison Snow. Does anyone want to win? Franco runs wide through The Carousel. White flag next time by. Don't count your chickens. Balzan is still nervous. One more lap to go. Milwaukee, Wisconsin native Manny Franco. Madison Snow stays on track and will have his penalty converted post-race to a time penalty for Snow but also for Franco there will be one. Pro-Am leader, Samantha Tan, with Jeff Burton second in the #91 DXDT Mercedes AMG GT3.
One other scrap for the final step of the Pro-Am podium as Anthony Bartone has caught Derek DeBoer. Can RealTime Racing, the hometown team, get on the podium? Manny Franco through The Kink for the last time. Franco and Balzan, two corners to go, they will make it a sweep for Ferrari and the 296 GT3, and Conquest Racing conquers Road America! Madison Snow finishes second on the road. Eric Filgueiras will inherit second and Samantha Tan and Neil Verhagen win Pro-Am. Jeff Burton and Corey Lewis second followed by Anthony Bartone and Adam Christodoulou. Bartone shoved Derek DeBoer out of the way in turn 14 on the final lap.
All is fair with that one I think. Last lap, last turn. Hello, world. Welcome back to the winner's circle, Manny Franco and Alessandro Balzan. All that action, the definition of argy bargy. Incident under review between #43 and #007. I didn't coin the term argy bargy but use it a ton. Bartone and Christodoulou, incident reviewed, and no further action. Okie dokie then.
Overall/Pro: #21 Balzan/Franco Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3
Pro-Am: #38 Verhagen/Tan ST Racing BMW M4 GT3
Cue the house music for the results. If the race had stayed green, we could have seen ST Racing winning the overall. What a bonkers event. Another edition of the "Wacky Races" cartoon in real life. If you are not familiar, check it out and look it up. What a race. From here at Road America, this place always delivers the thrills. Love this track and I would love to go there in person someday. The new racing surface is getting wider and wider and coming into it's own.
Next up, a trip to the fabled bumps of Sebring International Raceway, the tradition and the roughness on the course. We are going to be at Sebring, coming up in another month, from September 22nd to 24th. Well done to everyone on the podium. Go celebrate at a couple of the watering holes locally in Elkhart Lake and have an awesome time. This is a classic track. Get to Road America at some point. I know I want to. This has been a wonderful weekend of racing.
The Pro class has become more and more competitive in the recent races we have seen.We've had a wonderful weekend here at Road America. Thanks for your company. We'll see you next time in Sebring, Florida. So long from Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, everyone. Bye bye.
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