After the first go around yesterday, we are ready to cap off the weekend of racing in SRO GT World Challenge America, here amid the verdant fields and the grazing sheep in the northern California wine country, at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California. Yesterday, we saw a scintillating motor race that led to a victory overall by Wright Motorsports and their #120 Porsche 911 GT3R in the hands of Elliott Skeer and Adam Adelson. You can bet that many of the other top drivers and teams will be nipping at their heels as we get set to kick off the second and final race of the opening weekend of the 2024 campaign for SRO GT World Challenge America.
A new season of Fanatec GT World Challenge America has begun. We are 30 miles north of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. We have a very strong lineup of drivers and cars this season, as we were introduced to yesterday in race one. We have Ryan Myrehn, Calvin Fish, and Amanda Busick, once again, on the broadcast. The Travis Air Force Base Honor Guard is here for pre-race ceremonies as we are set for the National Anthem, plus a drum line. We welcome Maddie B to sing the National Anthem. Now that the Star-Spangled Banner has been sung, we will get to racing in a moment.
Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer will be ones to pay attention to, as well as George Kurtz and Colin Braun, and we will also see Neil Verhagen sharing the #38 ST Racing BMW M4 GT3 with Samantha Tan. Kurtz and Braun in the #04 Riley Motorsports CrowdStrike Mercedes-AMG GT3. Keep in mind, we have a brand-new surface laid down here at Sonoma Raceway and it seems to be settling down after the first race yesterday. This is a completely different track than what we saw a year ago with the massive grip. People are continuing to explore. Many lines possible in different corners on the course.
The grid is soon to be cleared as we hear from a few of the drivers. Elliott Skeer is ready to go. He will be starting up front to defend the race win. Run away from the explosions behind you. That is the plan to keep things clean and hand the car over to Adam Adelson for the second stint. The hot Pirelli P Zero slicks are being mounted on the cars. Greg Gill, President of SRO America, is here. The series is so thankful to their sponsors and the work done to get ready for the weekend. This is a home race, at Sonoma, for CrowdStrike.
Everyone is about to get belted into the cars. We have some weather that could be on the way. There is some cloud cover, and some of it could be rain clouds. Currently, we are over 60 degrees, relatively cool. Because of the new track surface, the notebooks have been tossed out, recycled. The Pro drivers will start this race. Phillip Ellis will be going against the Am drivers in the race's second half, just like yesterday. Samantha Tan tells us that the pace was great yesterday, aiming for the top step of the podium.
With the BMW they have power on the straightaways. This is not necessarily a place where the BMW is the horse for this course. ST Racing have two cars this year. Bill Auberlen and Varun Choksey are in the second car. Last year, Auberlen drove with Bimmerworld in a BMW M4 GT3. John Edwards was Samantha Tan's co-driver a year ago. For Elliott Skeer, he uncorked some flyers in qualifying yesterday. There were so many great new drivers that we are seeing. Justin Rothburg, Luca Mars, they are the two who we are really having a Captain Cook at. Time now for the command to get the race going.
Constella Intelligence's Jason Wagner gives the command. Drivers, start your engines! A few areas of the course have been patched up with epoxy sealant. Kudos to all involved in fixing the track and getting the epoxy laid down. The sealer is working well. This is a two-and-a-half-mile course with 12 turns. The elevation change is the biggest deal here at Sonoma Raceway. This is no longer a one groove racetrack. So much testing was cancelled because of the track surface issues we have seen. Teams can choose which driver starts race one, not set by regulation. The mandatory pit window is gone, 50 minutes stint length maximum.
H.K. Parekh, CrowdStrike guest, waves the green flag, and we go racing, now! GTWC America race two at Sonoma, is underway! Elliott Skeer pulling away. Side by side between Braun and Verhagen who must check up. Bryan Sellers tries but gives it up. Tom Sargent is moving forward. Zach Veach, too settles in behind Robby Foley. Andy Lee starts the #8 Aston Martin sharing with Elias Sabo, but Andy Lee is being harried by Tom Sargent. Adam Carroll, the Irishman, is right behind. Picture perfect start for Elliott Skeer. Good stuff on the opening lap of this 90-minute motor race. One lap now in the bag. Adelson, Braun, Verhagen, Sellers, Foley, the top five.
Mercedes vs. BMW vs. Acura. Veach has driven a GT3 Lexus before but that is a different car entirely. Now, Neil Verhagen is harrying Colin Braun who is going defensive. Verhagen pokes his nose in on Braun and Elliott Skeer shoots into the overall lead. Colin Braun has driven GT3, LMP2, and IndyCars so far in 2024. Good scrap for the final Pro-Am podium place. Thomas Sargent has climbed to eighth spot and is pressuring Andy Lee. In turn, Lee is right on top of Bill Auberlen. Tom Sargent raced in Porsche Carrera Cup North America last year. He is racing for the season at GMG Racing alongside Kyle Washington. Sargent has won a couple 6 Hour touring car races at Mount Panorama Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia's greatest speed palace.
Braun sets CrowdStrike Fastest Lap so far at 1:33.545. Maybe the BMW gets into the sweet spot on the Pirelli tires a wee bit quicker. He went wide, hugging the radius off The Carousel. Colin Braun won a NASCAR truck race at Michigan Speedway as a Ford development driver many moons ago. Sellers and Foley racing each other. At DXDT they will be testing the new Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R maybe coming up in our next event at Sebring. A flagship customer team for GT3 with Pratt & Miller and General Motors. Jeff Burton is at the back of the pack, the #91 DXDT Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. Phillip Ellis took a massive lead yesterday and now, Jeff Burton is coming from the back.
Keep it clean. When Ellis gets in or right before, they hope for a Full Course Yellow and Ellis is the best in the business. He won the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring earlier this year. Sebring was, about three weeks ago. Jeff Burton is the only Am driver on the road currently. We had the one Full Course Yellow right at the beginning of race one yesterday. Burton is bringing his lap time down, into the 1:36 bracket. Thomas Sargent is on a tear, sixth in Pro-Am and turning up the heat on Andy Lee. Lee has run well in GT4 cars over the years. But he and Elias Sabo have stepped up big to GT3.
Flying Lizard Motorsports have done so well running GT3 cars in the past. Sonoma Raceway has been their home track for years and they are moving to the Apex Motorsports Complex in Phoenix, Arizona, soon. Elias Sabo had three wins and five podiums in GT4 competition last year. Shortcut the learning curve and get as much seat time as possible. No change at the top of the shop. Elliott Skeer leads over Colin Braun and Neil Verhagen. There is an equidistant gap here. More new fast laps pouring in as Robby Foley resets it at 1:33.119 in fifth place. These Pirelli P Zero tires are holding on well, early doors.
Bryan Sellers has now pipped Elliott Skeer for fastest lap of the motor race. In year's past, the fastest lap would be done in the first or second lap of a stint before the tires would fall off a mountain. 1:33.051, 1:33 dead for Sellers. Now, there is no real degradation with this new pavement. Last year, Jeff Burton scored one podium. Driver nominations need to be submitted to the stewards early in the weekend. With DXDT's decisions, maybe other teams will start mixing up their strategies for races later in the season, kind of like the Ryder Cup in golf.
The pit window situation is different than a year ago of course. We will see the pit window open in about 20 minutes. Be on pit lane for 85 seconds I believe. One potential peril of this strategy is the risk of dropping a lap down. The pit lane will close if the race goes to Full Course Yellow. Elliott Skeer has come back and reset the fastest lap again. This is a real rollercoaster ride around Sonoma Raceway if you watch from the onboard camera. Meanwhile, Thomas Sargent is stymied behind Andy Lee. Aston Martin vs. Porsche for top five placings in Pro Am.
For Andy Lee, he finally has a chance to be up in the top class. The GT3 cars are the big brothers of a GT4 car. These are true race cars whereas the GT4 cars are far more based on production automobiles. Flying Lizard has four or five really experienced people on the team, such as Darren Law, Thomas Blam, Tommy Sadler, Steven Costello, and Owen Hayes. A bunch of people who have been in the world of motor racing for a long, long time. An all-star cast. Elias Sabo is mentally preparing for his stint, knowing where his line is and everything will work out. The team are learning the car and so are the drivers, since they have had it for just a few days. The track and the car will both change over the course of the motor race.
Tom Sargent and Andy Lee, in a game of cat and mouse. It is nip and tuck. Colin Braun and Elliott Skeer are volleying fastest lap back and forth right now. The Pro drivers are setting the scene for what the amateur drivers will do in the race's second half. At the 55-minute mark, we should see pit stops and scheduled driver changes. Bryan Sellers has dropped Robby Foley and has caught Neil Verhagen. Sellers is a champion in IMSA and won in class in 2023 at the 12 Hours of Sebring. Bryan Sellers and his co-driver in IMSA, Madison Snow, won five races a year ago in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship, a beneficiary of Jeremy Shaw's Team USA scholarship.
Philip Ellis of course is a top factory driver at Mercedes-AMG. The team is looking for the possibility of a safety car scramble. Is there a risk of him going a lap down, Jeff Burton that is. The answer is no. Elliott Skeer is showing his talent and that he is a quality racing driver. Colin Braun leads Pro-Am. Four seconds behind is Neil Verhagen with Bryan Sellers and Robby Foley next. Bill Auberlen is next up. Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley, were definite partners as mentor and mentee. Skeer and Braun, the lap before this one, they ran identical lap times. Under an hour of the motor race now remains. We watch again, the scrap between Andy Lee and Thomas Sargent.
Andy Lee started working as a mechanic at a racing school. He was the Pirelli World Challenge GTS champion years ago, what is the modern-day Pirelli GT4 America class I believe. At a racing school you get seat time and can network with wealthier individuals who are connected to the motor racing community. Zach Veach's father was a tractor puller. Sarah Fisher, the former IndyCar driver, her dad, Dave Fisher, discovered Zach Veach. He was also associated with Andretti Autosport and then ran for a year with the Vasser Sullivan Lexus program in IMSA racing. He also does simulator work at McLaren with their IndyCar team.
He was Felix Rosenqvist's spotter last year, and Veach has been an IndyCar pit reporter. Adam Carroll making his lone scheduled start for the year. Alan Metni will take over the car whenever they are ready to race again. They will be racing at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, in about a month, in their home race. Esses Racing have done well this weekend. Chouest Povoledo Racing are now in GT3 after being in GT4 for many years. Aaron Povoledo, a talented Canadian open wheel prospect. He never got to IndyCar but has found a home in sports car racing and is teamed with Ross Chouest.
Ross Chouest won the GTA race earlier this morning of course. Aaron Povoledo staffs this team. They are based on the bayou in New Orleans, Louisiana, by NOLA Motorsports Park I am sure. Ross Chouest and his family are from New Orleans. Indianapolis, Indiana, and Charlotte, North Carolina, are the motorsports hubs in the United States. We are closing in on halfway, closing in on the opening of the pit window. Jeff Burton will need to do one more lap and he is in the lane now by a second! Holy smokes!
You can do a longer pit stop if you need to. The car is refueled, and tires are changed. Phillip Ellis is getting into the car and he will have loads of speed. They need a reset. The car has been released. Do not run afoul of the pit lane minimum delta. They are bang on 87 seconds. No penalty. It is hammer time on fresh Pirelli P Zeros. Don't drive to a fuel number or save tires. Just go for it. Racer's Edge Motorsports in the lane. Zach Veach set to hand off to Luca Mars. Luca Mars might end up going GT3 racing with Ford next year in a Mustang GT3. Watch this space.
Racer's Edge Motorsports have won championships with a few different driver lineups under the guidance of team boss Jon Mirachi. Bill Auberlen has to check up and pass Luca Mars by. That is the traffic overlap after the pit stops while we are nearly to the halfway mark. Thomas Sargent also passes by Luca Mars. Other than Philip Ellis, everyone is maximizing their stints before they turn it over to their co-drivers. Philip Ellis is right on the pace in the #91 DXDT Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. The racing all weekend with the other SRO America championships has been fabulous.
Halfway home. Get into the pit lane in the next five minutes, or at least break the beam. Big compression up the hill off the frontstretch. Adam Carroll to the pit lane to turn the car over to Texan Will Hardeman. Sargent not letting go of Andy Lee. Esses Racing now in the lane and now, Robby Foley brings in the #29 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 to hand off to Justin Rothberg. Bill Auberlen in the lane as well, to hand off to Varun Choksey. They scored a podium in race one yesterday.
Neil Verhagen is now in the #38 ST Racing BMW M4 GT3. Elias Sabo will take over from Andy Lee and Kyle Washington will take over from Thomas Sargent. Samantha Tan takes over the #38 ST Racing BMW M4 GT3 running against the likes of George Kurtz and Scott Smithson as Elliott Skeer was held up in traffic and he is in the pit lane now to hand over to Adam Adelson. It's a drag race off the pit lane, look, between Kyle Washington and Elias Sabo! Yikes! That was very, very close. A loose wheel outside the pit box at CrowdStrike Racing by Riley Motorsports. Not an issue I don't think.
Wright Motorsports also completes their pit work. These are the Pro and Pro-Am leaders, as Phillip Ellis is doing all he can to get back on the lead lap with 38 minutes left on the board. Ellis needs to be in front of Adelson to unlap himself if the safety car is dispatched. Adelson up to speed quickly and he has not had any weaknesses whatsoever. Ellis has to force the issue but cannot take out the race leader, being Adelson. Ellis is slower in traffic and must pull the pin and push it. Scott Smithson in the #08 Mercedes-AMG GT3 is up to second in class in Pro-Am.
DXDT have played this strategy well. Luca Mars is all over Kyle Washington like a cheap suit. Porsche vs. Acura. Luca Mars is not in the same class of course. Mars is in hot pursuit of Varun Choksey as Elias Sabo spins out of sixth place. You can see the skid marks from where he spun off. Kyle Washington closing in hand over fist. Sabo needs to settle down and refocus. The Riley CrowdStrike team's pit stop with the loose tire is under review by the stewards. Sabo got in hot and went offline. It is a little dusty where some of the track repairs were made.
Learn where the threshold is so you don't cross too far over it. DXDT's strategy is not working the way they'd like it to. He looks to the inside of Adelson and Adelson gives it up. No risk. No risk. The pit stop at Riley Motorsports is under review after a tire rolled right into the middle of the pit lane. Pit stop under review for the #04 Mercedes-AMG GT3. The sword of Damocles hangs over George Kurtz leading Pro-Am with Scott Smithson behind by five seconds in the #08 DXDT Mercedes-AMG GT3. Smithson cannot afford to make any mistakes. Keep pushing but do not step over the line.
Half an hour to go. Alberto Pena at CrowdStrike by Riley Motorsports, he says it was a mistake and nothing intentional. It is an unfortunate mistake for the boys. He is expecting a penalty to come their way. Kurtz has to push, push, push, and mitigate the time loss. Samantha Tan is flying now in the #38 ST Racing BMW M4 GT3. She just went a second and a half quicker than Scott Smithson. Smithson is ahead, for second spot. This could be for the Pro-Am victory, this battle we are now watching. The two cars were leaving side by side, Flying Lizard and GMG. It is hard to tell. Meanwhile, Samantha Tan is taking chunks out of Scott Smithson.
Phil Ellis is making a pass on Ross Chouest for 11th overall. It is also a class position. For Ross Chouest, his first weekend in a GT3 car has yielded a GTA win, GT America of course. Do not fall into the cadence of the car ahead of you. Make the pass clean and quick and escape. The GT3 cars are very aero dependent. This is something to really remember. Again, the GT4 cars are not at all at the same aerodynamic level as the GT3 cars are.
Varun Choksey closing on Justin Rothburg and that pass by Choksey was like taking candy from a baby. Out on those marbles, in the clag, it is like ice. Samantha Tan still harrying Scott Smithson and while they are scrapping, they are turning good lap times in the 1:35 range while George Kurtz is in the 1:36 bracket. Kurtz still has the sword of Damocles over him. Will he cop a penalty, or won't he? Luca Mars has been quick in the Racer's Edge Acura NSX GT3 and we could see Luca Mars chasing Varun Choksey down. 20 minutes of the motor race remaining. Race Control: Car #04 five second post-race time penalty.
Game on. 20 more minutes before we finish the motor race/. Luca Mars has caught Justin Rothburg, not in the same class. Rothburg in his first GT3 starts this weekend. Ellis, by comparison is running in the 1:33.2 range. Ellis' car is not handling the same as it did yesterday. Maybe the setup was changed, and they missed the tire pressures on this specific set of Pirelli P Zeros. Surprising that Ellis cannot scythe through traffic after this strategy play. Luca Mars just uncorked a 1:33.5, the fastest lap of the race for the #93 Racer's Edge Acura. Kurtz leads Pro-Am over Smithson and of course he has that five second time penalty.
etwee these two it is 2.8 seconds. That is not enough but Smithson was just halfway spun 'round! Yikes! I wonder if he was trying to reset the Traction Control. Holy mackerel! Egad! Samantha Tan is in position to win this motor race with the time penalty ahead of George Kurtz. Tan has plenty of a gap to take the lead but where is Scott Smithson after that massive wriggle? Samantha Tan easily inside the five second window. George Kurtz passes lapped traffic without getting stymied. Samantha Tan three seconds down on Kurtz, and Tan six seconds down. Utter domination from Elliott Skeer and Adam Adelson, who have been controlling the motor race from the drop of the green flag.
Adam Adelson had to let Phillip Ellis go. Hit your targets and keep going. Samantha Tan puts a lap on Ross Chouest. Her co-driver Neil Verhagen started well. Samantha Tan has the ability to understand the data and getting the feeling for improving as a driver. She pressured Scott Smithson into a mistake. Keep your head down and go for it. George Kurtz and Samantha Tan just ran identical lap times at 1:31.921. Phillip Ellis reeling in Kyle Washington for ninth and tenth overall with Elias Sabo ahead. Ellis inside Washington, done and dusted. E
Ellis has just broken into the 1:32 lap time bracket. Ellis has reeled in Sabo in the 5.11 Tactical liveried Aston Martin, and again, Ellis sweeps past Sabo. Justin Rothburg is 20 seconds up the road from Philip Ellis. The gap is now 19 seconds. George Kurtz has responded to Adam Adelson and to Samantha Tan. This is not an on track battle but it is in Pro-Am class order. Kurtz might just be safe even with the pnalty looming. Will Samantha Tan respond? This is going to be very close.
If Luca Mars can reel in Varun Choksey, this will be a fight to the bitter end. Mars does not have the race experience in a GT3 Acura NSX. Ellis scores fastest lap, just ran a 1:32.5. Justin Rothburg is now in play for fourth place. 1:32.580 for Philip Ellis. The final minutes tick away in the second race of 2024. Luca Mars continuing to pursue Varun Choksey. Choksey is rock solid and has run extremely well. Can Varun Choksey hold on for a runner up? Luca Mars really showing what he can do as well. George Kurtz leads Samantha Tan by 6.2 seconds.
Philip Ellis is closing in on Justin Rothburg. Ross Chouest just ahead of this battle. Oh dear. Ross Chouest has lost his victory from GT America. Darn. We will follow up on that in a wee while. Kurtz now leads Tan by seven seconds. So he could save himself and can weather the storm of the penalty and hang on for a class victory. Rothburg right in front of Ellis. Two laps to go. Ellis resets fastest lap at 1:32.336! Wow! Adam Adelson, white flag. One lap to go, looking to break out the broom and sweep the weekend.
Superb performance by Wright Motorsports. Kurtz and Tan still have 7.3 seconds and Kurtz has that penalty but it won't mean squat. Ellis has caught Rothburg. They have a couple laps to go, or just one. White flag. This will be a battle to the wire. Ellis vs. Rothburg. This is for P4 in Pro-Am. Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer, and Wright Motorsports Porsche win and sweep the weekend at Sonoma Raceway. George Kurtz and Colin Braun may be winners, and they are. Tan second. Smithson third. Choksey holds off Mars for second in the Pro class. Ellis shrotcuts the chicane. He keeps his foot in it.
This one might be changed. He won't give it back. Rothburg goes deep. What will the stewards say? He tried around the outside. Did he shortcut the circuit? Hmmm.
Overall/Pro: #120 Adelson/Skeer Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R (992)
Pro-Am: #04 Kurtz/Braun CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3
Cue the dance music for the results sheets. A solid race for ST Racing in both classes, Pro and Pro-Am. DXDT Racing also had great pace all weekend with both cars and of course, Jeff Burton and Philip Ellis went with the alternate strategy, and it seemed to work for better or for worse. Well, well, well. There you have it. The opening races of SRO GT World Challenge America for 2024 are in the bag. Next on the calendar is the famed, fabled, rough, car breaking concrete runways of Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Florida. That doubleheader of races will take place, less than a month from now, the first weekend in May. Join us at Sebring for more SRO America action. For now, so long from Sonoma, California, Sonoma Raceway, the land of the grazing sheep, and the northern California wine country. We'll see you soon. Bye bye.
No comments:
Post a Comment