After two thrilling races as a standalone support series for IMSA and IndyCar on the streets of Long Beach, California, SRO GT America returns to the full championship slate of competition at Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Florida, for SRO3, GT2, and GT4 cars. Race one of the weekend is coming your way. Strap in and hold on tight for a 40-minute sprint! It's live and it's next!
Alright, everybody. With that wild, over the top, in your face, 1990s style race intro out of the way, it is time to get down to business. George Kurtz is the pole man here in race one aboard the #04 CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3 as we join the commentary team of Ryan Myrehn and Calvin Fish topside in the broadcast booth, and Amanda Busick reporting from the pit lane. GT America powered by AWS has made it's return here at Sebring in the middle of the Florida Everglades. We have SRO3, GT2, and GT4, and top automotive brands, to write another chapter of Sebring's storied history. It is a pleasure to have your company on a sunny, warm day here at Sebring.
This is the fifth race of the season and the third round. George Kurtz missed the pair of races at Long Beach due to a family emergency. Now, he is in the top spot. Watch though for Jason Daskalos who swept both rounds at Long Beach. Johnny O'Connell, too, will be one to watch. There's cloud cover, heat, and humidity. Johnny O'Connell is an eight-time 12 Hours of Sebring win. Curt Swearingin is the polesitter in GT4. One car in the pit lane and it is Jason Bell, who did not set a representative lap time. His qualifying time was far slower than in practice.
He may be starting the race from the pit lane on this 3- and 3/4-mile raceway with bumps all over, track surface changes, and this is a unique circuit, as overused as that word is. We have the single formation lap here. Alright. We are set to go. No tire warmers in GT America. Green flag, and away we go! This is the SRO3 and GT2 field and we go green as they are still side by side, Kurtz, Daskalos, and now, Justin Rothburg in the BMW M4 GT3 for Turner Motorsports as the GT4 cars start and there's pressure already between Curt Swearingin and Isaac Sherman.
Sherman pressing for the lead against Curt Swearingin. Two different teams with the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 platform. Isaac Sherman going for a fifth win on the bounce. Curt Swearingin is learning to be more aggressive as a driver. Jason Bell's Aston Martin had a throttle issue and he was rolling but is now stopping. This is Bell's home circuit. I think he is in a bad spot. Now, Isaac Sherman in the Rotek Racing Cayman passing the example from ACI Motorsports. Sherman looking for five straight but you know Curt Swearingin is going to push incredibly hard.
There was a local yellow there in turn one as we watch Gray Newell in the #25 The Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4. He has the speed and is working on the consistency. Isaac Sherman who has an oval track and road racing background in Legends Cars. Safety Car deployed to rescue Jason Bell's stranded Aston Martin. Game over for Jason Bell. That is gutting for Jason Bell, hoping for a full weekend but I don't know if he will have one. Will he be back for race two tomorrow? This is not the day he was looking for. He was assisted by newly minted Aston Martin factory driver Henrique Chaves.
Bell, the two-time and defending GT America GT4 champion. So, we are under safety car conditions five minutes into the race. This is Isaac Sherman's first time racing at Sebring International Raceway. Rob Holland, team manager for Rotek Racing, helping Sherman through. Holland is giving Sherman tips about how to handle situations under the safety car and keep Curt Swearingin behind him. Robb Holland will be racing in Pirelli GT4 America later this afternoon. Again, Isaac Sherman is a rookie, and he got introduced to Rotek Racing by GT3 driver Jason Daskalos. We are closing in on a restart now. Isaac Sherman won a Legends cars championship at Sonoma Raceway back in 2010.
Green flag. George Kurtz steps on it trying to pull a gap over Jason Daskalos, a three-time race winner in 2024 as Tim Savage in the Aston Martin has Mirco Schultis in the Callaway Corvette C7 GT3.R right on his six and Kyle Washington in the Porsche 911 GT3R is going for it as well. A spin and at the back of the picture, Tim Savage spins his Aston Martin Vantage GT3, car #007. There was a broken camber shim for this previous generation Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and he just lost the tail in the braking zone for the hairpin with too much rear brake bias.
Justin Rothberg battling for second spot. Rothberg is really going for it, monstering Jason Daskalos. Robby Foley is Rothberg's co-driver in Fanatec GT and his mentor. The BMW is very good over the curbs and it translates to the bumps here at Sebring and has good top end speed. The Mercedes' are running 1-2 and they are the whole package with being able to fit every single track on the schedule, the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo. Give a call too, to Ross Chouest, who has been showing speed. He was disqualified from a race win at Sonoma at the start of the season.
Chouest has stepped up from GT4 and leading the legend, Johnny O'Connell in the #3 SKI Autosport Audi R8 LMS Evo II. O'Connell has scored many podiums. No wins yet, but many podiums. O'Connell had a downshift issue at Long Beach in race one and contact as well as tech issues in race two. Giving away points is not good. So, they woll be looking to make gains. Last year they campaigned an older generation Audi R8 and a Ferrari 458 Italia. The new Audi has air conditioning in it so O'Connell will be very comfortable, ramping up his fitness again. He is so passionate about racing and is with a team, a group that does the same thing, at SKI Autosport. Fastest lap of the motor race for George Kurtz at 2:03.253.
Rothberg too puts in his fastest lap with 15 minutes now completed, coming to halfway in five minutes. George Kurtz is steady up front, starting on pole, and he had a good qualifying run in GT World Challenge America, too. Jason Daskalos is being coached by champion racer in sports cars, Ryan Dalziel. You cannot overdrive the car in the heat of the day here at Sebring or the tires will overheat and begin fading. The top four lapping within a handful of tenths of one another. The Miami Formula 1 Grand Prix is happening this weekend in Florida as well at the Miami Autodrome.
Kurtz is racing himself, more or less, to be honest. He does hold himself accountable. Balance of Performance equalizes these disparate automobiles. Daskalos seems to be closing little by little on Kurtz. Kurtz is not defending though. He must feel that he isn't vulnerable as Daskalos is weighing a passing strategy. Kyle Washington has flown Plummet Airways to the bottom and made contact with the wall, sustaining damage. Washington damaged his main chassis, and they are utilizing his Fanatec GT World Challenge race later today. A quick turnaround time between this race and the Fanatec GT race this afternoon.
Past the halfway mark. The first ever United State Grand Prix Formula 1 race was run here at Sebring back in 1959. The damage to Washington's Porsche is superficial wing damage and the car is good to go for the Fanatec GT World Challenge event later this afternoon as Isaac Sherman leads Curt Swearingin in GT4 by three or so seconds. In fourth place in GT4 it is Todd Parriott in the Flying Lizard Aston Martin vs. Nick Shanny in the Carru Callas Racing Team BMW M4 GT4. Alan Grossberg of course is the sole GT2 car in the Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo as Tim Savage has spun. Nick Shanny had no sports experience whatsoever, but Terry Borcheller has tutored him to eb a racing driver and he is doing a good job.
Tim Savage spun off the road and is now back at it, from Naples, Florida, not far from Sebring. Isaac Sherman has fastest lap in GT4 by a long way over everyone else. Sherman can start from pole for tomorrow if he earns fastest lap. Justin Rothberg now feeling the heat from eight-time Sebring 12 Hours winner Johnny O'Connell. Rothberg is a Ferrari Challenge driver who has now stepped it up to GT3 in SRO America. Sherman has made his move on Todd Parriott in the Aston Martin #13 for Flying Lizard Motorsports. Justin Rothburg, one of the taller drivers in the paddock, trying a few different GT3 cars and found the BMW M4 GT3 was the best of the lot.
George Kurtz has the edge over Jason Daskalos with a quarter of the race to go, with 12 minutes and change on the board. Judging from fastest laps it may be Kurtz and Daskalos could start on the front row tomorrow as they did for race one today. It is incredible to see how late in the game the drivers set the fast laps with tire degradation and the SRO3 cars being so weight sensitive. Kurtz is a lucky luck boy, running in clean air the entire time compared to Johnny O'Connell. O'Connell has indeed been mired in traffic as we have ten minutes of racing now remaning. O'Connell right in Justin Rothberg's tire tracks.
Tim Savage in a spin again, in turn five and this is going to be a close shave. Isaac Sherman should have been aware, and I know he was, of a spun car. Nick Shanny and Todd Parriott battling again as Johnny O'Connell is trying to pass Rothberg and Rothubrg and O'Connell both off in the dirt! Rothberg is really pushing! This is the run to turn ten, the Collier Curves. Holy mackerel! Johnny O'Connell takes the lead while Todd Parriott holds Nick Shanny at bay. With multiple classes, sports car racing is such a chess match compared to single car type championships with things like stock cars or open wheel cars.
Daskalos held a seven-point lead coming into this round of the championship. I don't think O'Connell will catch Daskalos or Kurtz. Kurtz did not race at Long Beach while Daskalos swept both races. Again, Kurtz missed Long Beach due to a family emergency. Tim Savage, all over the shop, and his car had mechanical issues earlier in the weekend. George Kurtz though is more determined than ever, and they need to win races to go for the championship here in GT America. Five minutes of racing to go before this race is completed. Rothberg and O'Connell putting it on the line through Kristensen Corner.
Mirco Schultis in the Callaway Corvette under pressure from Ross Chouest in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 in Bishop Bend. The Callaway Corvette C7 GT3.R is still in there on this weekend where the C8 GT3.R is debuting with DXDT Racing. The oldest car on site is the Callaway Corvette and the old girl still has pace. The Callaway Corvette is one of the best sounding cars. Balance of Performance is not popular to talk about, but without it, we would not have the soundtrack, the symphony of different engine noises which is what makes sports car racing so fabulous. Schultis and Chouest circumspect through traffic passing Gray Newell in the Aston Martin GT4.
White flag. One more lap to go at Sebring in GT America race one. Kurtz seeking his first win of the year. Alan Grossberg, the lone GT2 entry, keeping it on the blacktop. Grossberg also raced a Mini in TC America earlier today, too. A huge transition between the Mini in TCA and this beast, the Lamborghini Super Trofeo GT2 entry. The gap to Jason Daskalos is 2.2 seconds. Daskalos has three wins in 2024 already. He can still come back for victory and is now focused on the overall championship in GT America.
George Kurtz under control. Coming through Sunset Bend for the final time, and the former SRO3 champion is the race winner ahead of Daskalos and O'Connell with his fifth top three finish in five races. Rothberg fourth and Schultis. In GT4, Isaac Sherman wins the fifth race of the year and his fifth professional race with Curt Swearingin in second and Gray Newell third in GT4 completing the podium. Wow.
Overall/SRO3: #04 George Kurtz CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3
GT2: #102 Alan Grossberg TPC Racing Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2
GT4: #098 Isaac Sherman Rotek Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport
Cue the dance music for the results. Some disappointments for a few of the drivers who have not finished this event this afternoon. So, that's a wrap for race one of GT America at Sebring this weekend and we look forward to race two tomorrow. For now, so long from Sebring. But we are not done. We still have Fanatec GT World Challenge America and Pirelli GT4 America first races of the weekend yet to come today. So, stay tuned.
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