GT America powered by AWS is ready to race for the first time in 2024 with a mix of GT2, GT3, and GT4 cars all racing at the same time, with only 40 minutes on the clock. We are in the verdant hills of the northern California wine country with Ryan Myrehn, Calvin Fish, and Amanda Busick on the commentary team. Johnny O'Connell and Jason Daskalos are on the front row of the grid. O'Connell has a brand-new race car, and he has been racing now, professionally, for 40 years. Jason Daskalos is very aggressive. Also, look at George Kurtz in the #04 Mercedes-AMG GT3 for CrowdStrike and the #29 BMW M4 GT3 from Turner Motorsports with Justin Rothberg who is also in GTWC America later today. The engines have fired, and we are ready to race in GT America.
Memo Gidley is here to watch. But he is not in a car. Trouble for Kyle Washington. He is late to the grid getting strapped in. Maybe he missed the call. He needs to get ready. Release him soon so he can get into the race in the Porsche. With the lack of practice time, everyone is going to learn during this short race at 40 minutes. The patches put into the track surface have held up so far. Isaac Sherman in the #098 Rotek Racing Porsche Cayman is the GT4 polesitter. Three classes for a 40-minute race. We will have to see how the cars all interact with one another. Tire marbles are around but the track surface is holding up well.
Here we go. The SRO3 cars are off and racing! Jason Daskalos on the pole alongside Johnny O'Connell! Oh my! There's contact with Mirco Schultis into the wall. No. Tim Savage and James Sofronas have both gone off the road. Goodness me! Daskalos ahead of George Kurtz and Johnny "Red" O'Connell. Good getaway in GT4 by Isaac Sherman. But now, Gray Newell has been passed. Ross Chouest makes his move on Justin Rothberg. Rothberg scrambling to get into the fight. The start is indeed under review. What will the stewards say? On an initial start you stay in your column and cannot pass until the control line.
Tim Savages stays on track in the Pro Sport Competition Aston Martin as Rothberg passes Chouest and is chasing Mirco Schultis in the Callaway Corvette. George Kurtz takes second away from O'Connell chasing down Jason Daskalos. In GT2, Adam Farhadi in the Lamborghini is ahead. Isaac Sherman leads GT4. No tire warmers in GT America. Tire warmers are allowed in Fanatec GT World Challenge. Isaac Sherman leads Curt Swearingin. Swearingin qualified in third spot. The Porsche Cayman's are zooming away from Gray Newell in the Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4. This is The Heart of Racing of course, in all kinds of places.
The Heart of Racing will run the new Aston Martin Valkyrie prototype next year. The correlation between sim racing and now, at the track too. 1:35.983, the CrowdStrike Fastest Lap, to Mr. CrowdStrike himself, George Kurtz. Approach turn seven totally differently compared to years past. Visually watching the cars roll speed through the corner, they are much faster even than they used to be. Jason Daskalos could have partnered with Ryan Dalziel in Fanatec GT World Challenge America, but, his crew chief Sheldon Miller, has stage four cancer. Our thoughts and prayers are with him. God Bless.
Justin Rothberg has recovered in the BMW M4 GT3. In GT2, Aaron Farhadi leads. Alan Grosberg is second and battling with Brent Holden. Nose to tail, Lamborghini vs. Mercedes. More power, less downforce, and these two chaps run right into each other! Blimey! Brent Holden made a mistake, and... wallop! That was just not on! So, Daskalos and Kurtz are still scrapping hard. Both of the GT2 cars have begun to move and there is damage to both automobiles. That Mercedes is a GMG Racing entry, Holden's car. We will stay green. Thank heavens!
Jason Daskalos and George Kurtz have raced in GT America since it's inception in 2020, now into the fourth year of the series. James Sofronas, a four-time SRO champion and his history goes back 30 years, in 1994, in Super Production in SCCA World Challenge in an Oldsmobile Achieva, a compact coupe. Sofronas runs wide and is vulnerable to Jason Bell. Bell in the #2 Aston Martin Vantage GT3. Sofronas puts his customers at GMG Racing, first. Sofronas might come back to race the GT2 support race for the 24 Hours of Spa in Belgium later in the season.
Daskalos and Kurtz continue fighting each other and GT4 traffic is coming. Yikes. Someone is off the road. They weave through traffic like slalom skiers. Todd Parriott is the lapped car in the way as Brent Holden is serving a drive through penalty for contact with Alan Grossberg in the Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo. James Sofronas is reeling in Ross Chouest hand over fist. This is Chouest in the Mercedes-AMG GT3. He and Povoledo have moved up to GT3 for 2024 here and in GT World Challenge America. This battle is for sixth and seventh place.
Jason Bell is in eighth place. Bell, Chouest, and Elias Sabo, all fought hard in GT4 and now, they are scrapping tooth and nail in SRO3. They had their testing curtailed and of course practice was stymied this week as well with the track pavement troubles. Memo Gidley on hand at his home track to watch but not racing. Johnny O'Connell not resting on his laurels, and now, O'Connell has reeled in George Kurtz. This is the Audi R8 of course for SKI Autosport. They split one of the GT4 cars! That was a close shave! We are coming to the halfway mark in race one of the year for GT America competition in SRO America.
Daskalos now leads the motor race by 3.2 seconds. In GT4, Gray Newell is reeling in Curt Swearingin hand over fist. Car #098 leads the event. That is Sherman in the Porsche Cayman at Rotek Racing. Gray Newell raced with SPS Automotive Performance in a GT3 Mercedes, Gray Newell with Pierre Kleinubing, Darren Turner, and Daniel Mancinelli. Go back through this blog and you will see videos of that whole race should you be so inclined to watch them. I think you will enjoy it. The GT3 cars have more downforce, more power, and more electronic driver aids than the GT4 cars. But the GT4 cars are still stout.
GT3 has more speed and more power. With GT4 they are not so aerodynamically sensitive. Ross Chouest vs. James Sofronas, they are still scrapping, and he is out of sync allowing Sofronas to move in. They crest the hill and plunge down the hill. Sofronas a GT3 veteran while Ross Chouest is in his first GT3 race as we are here talking about it. The stewards have warned Chouest for blocking. Sofronas is probing, looking for a chance to pass the Mercedes racer. You can be proactive but don't be reactive. Don't swerve across the road and chop someone else's nose off. They work past new GT4 racer Isaac Sherman who is really showing his stuff. He was not on the pre-race entry list. We saw Robb Holland earlier in years past in that Rotek Racing Porsche Cayman.
Side by side between Chouest and Sofronas! Holy cow! That was amazing stuff! Argy bargy madness right there! 15 minutes to go. Sofronas is now in hot pursuit of Mirco Schultis in the Callaway Corvette. Jason Daskalos is rebuilding his gap over George Kurtz and Johnny O'Connell. Schultis is now right on Justin Rothberg's six! BMW vs. Callaway Corvette. The tires are not fading to compensate for the fuel usage. Mirco Schultis is passionate about Chevrolet and the Corvette. Schultis, his wife, and his three daughters are all here for the racing this weekend. Oh dear. Grossberg and Holden have found each other again and Grossberg goes wide in the Lamborghini.
You just cannot tell how the sequel plays out when the original story does not have the happiest ending. Jason Daskalos is dominating this motor race ahead of Kurtz and O'Connell. SKI Autosport could entertain a Fanatec GT World Challenge America race or two with Matt Bell. It would be the British Matt Bell and the American Matt Bell is also racing this weekend. Each one has a different CV. Isaac Sherman, he is continuing to push in GT4 in the class lead. Todd Coleman is running well in the Archangel Motorsports entry, and he will be sharing a similar car with Aaron Telitz later on in Pirelli GT4 America.
Meanwhile, Tim Savage tapped the wall earlier, but he has continued on. This is the Prosport Competition entry under team boss Doug Livingston. Sofronas resets the CrowdStrike Fastest lap at 1:35.149 and he passes Mirco Schultis. Uphill and down dale again, Sofronas has the edge. The battle is heating up as George Kurtz has fallen into the clutches of Johnny O'Connell. O'Connell raced Formula Atlantic in the late 1980s in open wheel cars against our mate Calvin Fish. O'Connell has four straight championships in the old Pirelli World Challenge banner. He has won at Le Mans, Daytona, and Sebring, and Petit Le Mans. Overall and in class I believe. O'Connell passes Kurtz. Johnny O is whistling off into the distance ahead of George Kurtz.
Justin Rothberg too has fallen behind. In this replay, accelerating off turn two, Kurtz gets squeezed and O'Connell makes his move. Yikes! Will Turner is bullish on Rothberg, and now, Sofronas dives inside Rothberg and the newcomer spins out! Jeepers creepers! What will the stewards say? Both drivers have put in entertaining races and now poor old Rothberg is on the back foot. In the replay, we see the Sofronas was committed on the inside and Rothberg had the apex. I think Sofronas dive bombed Rothberg and Justin Rothberg did not know the Audi was to his right flank. One lap to go. White flag. Jason Daskalos leads Johnny O'Connell by 4.4 seconds and George Kurtz at 1:41.9 and then 1:40.2, is off the pace.
There is a massive gap back to the next SRO3 entry. So, Kurtz can still get on the podium here at Sonoma. At the top of the shop, Jason Daskalos on his way to winning another race. He won four races and had seven podiums in 2023. Aaron Farhadi leads GT2 with a quiet effort. Jason Daskalos, CRP Racing and team boss Nick Short, are victorious! Aaron Farhadi wins GT2. Isaac Sherman wins GT4!
Overall/SRO3: #27 Jason Daskalos CRP/Daskalos Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3
GT2: #127 Aaron Farhadi TPC Racing Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2
GT4: #98 Isaac Sherman Rotek Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport
We look forward to the second race of the season, tomorrow, right here at Sonoma Raceway in the wine country of northern California. No word yet on the Sofronas and Rothberg incident report. Race Control deems James Sofronas responsible and will cop a time penalty as we cue the dance music for the results sheets. Sofronas will fly Plummet Airways to eighth. Schultis, Chouest, and Rothburg are all promoted. So, we'll see you tomorrow for race two of GT America here at Sonoma Raceway. For now, so long. Looking forward to the second event of the season on Sunday.
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