It is time now, for the return, after the summer break, of GT America in SRO America, for their first event of the weekend here at Virginia International Raceway. SRO3 and GT4 the biggest classes represented with the lone GT2 car of local AWS administrator C.J. Moses also entering these races with his very rapid Audi R8 LMS GT2. To review the format of these races, it is single driver and will be 40 minutes in duration. Short, quick, and full of action and drama, perhaps. We have Kyle Heyer and Calvin Fish in the broadcast booth, and Amanda Busick reporting from the pit lane to take you through all of the action as we are going to keep a close eye on how this race develops. This is the first of two races for GT America this weekend.
The championship is into rounds nine and ten on this 3.27-mile course at VIR built in 1957 after racing in California and in Texas earlier in the year. It has been hot, and we could see some rain which turned a qualifying session, into a Free Practice 2. We are seeing a shower right now. What tires do you start on? Right now, I think wets is the way to go. I agree with Calvin Fish's assessment. This is not surprising. We anticipated rain moving in and out. Certain teams and drivers may have little to no experience with their race car on this circuit and in the wet to boot. Circuit of the Americas was effectively the halfway mark of the 2024 season.
The conditions are changing, still. Race Control has said go ahead to change to rain tires. We are keeping an eye on the weather radar. Lots of mixed messages from the paddock between the veterans and the rookies. Veteran driver Johnny O'Connell who has been a sports car driver for decades, he is comfortable in the rain. Jason Daskalos will take these conditions as he was fastest in it, in Free Practice earlier this morning. Rain is the great equalizer, but you can lean on drivers who have driven sports cars in the rain for 10-20 years to be the favorites.
Some drivers on the back foot, can use this rain. Other drivers are a little more trepidatious about it. Daskalos and O'Connell are confident, two fierce competitors. Daskalos leading the points. O'Connell wants to take a slice of the pie. Virginia International Raceway is 3.27 miles with 17 corners. Safety is a priority with new safety fences. There are demanding braking zones too. You are trail braking into the corner, which is very tricky, particularly with competitors racing with you. This is not a point and shoot circuit like we will see next time out at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
Make sure the cars are sealed up for the rain. Make sure the defoggers and the windscreen wipers are working correctly. Curt Swearingin and Isaac Sherman are the two title protagonists in the GT4 class. Change your brake bias, your suspension stiffness, your traction control settings. The rain is now beginning to intensify. We need to wait and see what the track is going to do. It is coming down hard. There will be rivulets across the road. Watch out on the formation lap to know where the puddles are where you are heavily loaded into the turns.
We could start the race behind the safety car. We'll see what Race Control tells us. It is now pouring with rain. Maybe we should take a wait and see approach. Isaac Sherman has won every race save for Circuit of the Americas. Jean Frederic Laberge, from Canada, he is a veteran of Porsche GT3 Cup and Canadian Formula Ford racing which he did in the 1990s. He was supposed to race with Fanatec GT World Challenge America, but that has not happened yet. Could we see him and co-driver Alex Tagliani before the end of the year? Watch this space.
SRO3 championship leader Jason Daskalos has done well this year. We are going out on recon laps to see what the track conditions are like. The safety car driver will also provide feedback. There s a ton of standing water right now. The Pirelli wet weather tires may be able to be warmed up in the tire blankets. You need to get temperature before you can load the tires. The grip level will be low. Racing driver Mike Stillwagon is the safety car driver. There is puddling in the curbs as well. The curbs retain the water. Cars are going out trying to see where the water is. Again, we saw the grid set by times from Free Practice 2 yesterday with Justin Rothberg on the pole in the #29 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3.
We have 16 cars. Joseph Catania is making his first start in GT4. He and his son Luca Catania were supposed to race as a duo in GT4 America. Lucas Catania had a mountain biking accident and is recovering so they cannot race as a duo yet. Get well soon, Lucas. It is so tough in the rain with the rooster tails. The visibility is zero, like being in a video game when the screen goes blank and then recycles. Play it safe. Evaluate the track conditions. There is different aerodynamics. The GT3 car has so much more downforce.
Grip comes from the tire to the ground. When it is wet like this, the commitment, the consequences, the rain, if you touch the grass, it is like driving on ice, wherever you start, you will be sliding until you crunch the wall. Understand the grip. Feel the race car. Don't overreact. Stay smooth, be delicate with the steering, the throttle, the brakes. We have started the clock running and have been out on track for six minutes or so. Justin Rothberg is a new driver working his way into SRO America. Justin's father said he and his son are used to it. They are Floridians. They are used to all the rain. There are dips and valleys where water can collect.
Until we get a letup in the rain, there is so much water, I don't believe the track is drivable. We will need to clear up the track for other races later this weekend. Jason Daskalos swept the standalone round of racing for GT America at the Long Beach Grand Prix earlier in the year, back in April. We have lots of racing to go. Both O'Connell and Daskalos had horrible races at Circuit of the Americas in May. Johnny O'Connell has the experience. He has faith in the engineering crew at SKI Autosport. We need to see if we are going to go to green, or not.
With Jason Daskalos and Johnny O'Connell's points rivalry, Daskalos said that his aggressive driving style, and his focus on consistency. Maybe he will let up on the aggression and do everything he can to finish and not make small mistakes. The car balance in the wet, the Audi with the rear mounted motor might hit the sweet spot more vs. the front engine cars like Mercedes and Aston Martin. More rivers are being formed here in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Now, the rain has let up although there is still a lot of standing water. Plenty of time to go with 27 minutes. The best thing is to dry the racing line with the race cars along with the track sweepers to move the water.
If drivers having misting up on the windscreen, come to the pit lane and work on it. Get set for the start. Everyone is getting a feel for what is happening. Drivers are testing lateral and longitudinal grip. Work the accelerator against the brake to heat the tires, dragging the brake to get the brake temperature into the tires. This heats the core of the tire through the braking system, into the suspension, and into the core of the tire. One of the sweepers is moving the water away well. There's still standing water and puddles all over the shop. Rothberg with huge pressure. He is the guinea pig, the pioneer, trying to find out what the track can handle.
Rothberg is not fazed by pressure. Let's see how he deals with the conditions. He has had two third place finishes in race two at both Sebring and Circuit of the Americas. Robby Foley who he co-drives with, will be coaching him on his lines and everything. Robby Foley has a lot of experience racing here at VIR. But it is a tough situation that can make a racing driver nervous. The racing line has more oil on it. I think that is the rain line. Being off that line is more ideal. It looks like the drivers might be racing the race track. Isaac Sherman does not have the experience in the rain. Don't push. Figure the car out and the track too.
Protect the championship. Make sure he scores points. Rotek Racing knows their competition and so does Isaac as their driver. He is continuing to figure out how to race in the rain, playing around with the electronics, the antilock brakes, the traction control. This is on the job training. Isaac Sherman successfully climbed the mountain at the Pikes Peak Hillclimb with a GT4 Trophy Porsche Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport just like he is racing on the track here at VIR now. Curt Swearingin won the round last time out. Four more rounds, eight more races to go in the 2024 season. Damir Hot in the #05 Nissan Z NISMO GT4, he has done well in GT America and Pirelli GT4 America.
We are halfway through the duration of what this race should be and remain under the safety car. We could get half of the race in. Everyone is still getting the feel for the track conditions. The sweep is displacing a lot of water. These are more raceable conditions. When the rain was pouring 20 minutes ago it was far worse. These laps help drivers feel out the car with the tools, with the traction control. I think everyone has made the right calls. It is not tipping down with rain like it was a wee while ago. The cars are removing the water from the track surface with the low pressure physics under the car.
Safety Car lights off. A single file restart for safety's sake. It is all about hitting your marks and a split start between SRO3 and GT4. We'll have about a 16-minute race to see and have a race tomorrow with weather not as likely but still possible for tomorrow on Sunday. There is lots to consider. To finish first you must first finish. Green flag! We're racing! Tons of water and the rooster tails everywhere! Squirming under power, look. Johnny O'Connell is trying to make his move. Curt Swearingin is the GT4 leader as Isaac Sherman wants by Damir Hot but no dice this time. Sherman able to carve the corners through Left Hook. Now he runs the cushion past Hot who slides wildly through The Snake!
Trhough the Climbing Esses they go as Elias Sabo is being very cautious. Yikes! Daskalos slides off the road and... bang! He is off and hard into the tire wall! Oy vey! Gray Newell under fire from Isaac Sherman at Oak Tree corner. Justin Rothberg doing well with Johnny O'Connell in second. The safety car has been deployed, as the track drops downhill over South Bend. Damage to Daskalos' Mercedes-AMG GT3. Is there radiator damage to the car and the body panels are flying and the bonnet is up. It is damage limitation for Daskalos. He can't see anything.
It would be only a one-point advantage for Daskalos over Johnny O'Connell before race two tomorrow. There's bodywork damage and you have to wonder about the suspension. Putting duct tape on a wet bonnet is going to be hard. Look out for radiator damage. Radiator damage will end your race instantly. The car did roll away under it's own steam. We could possibly get a restart and still 11 minutes to go. The safety barriers need to be moved back into place. In this replay, we see he locked up and couldn't stop before clouting the tire barriers. He was on the left side of the road and never turned in.
Hard to say if it was brake bias or an issue in the ABS system. Things are looking grim for Daskalos and Tim Savage in the #007 Aston Martin might be having trouble as Justin Rothberg slides into the braking zone and Johnny O'Connell is piling on the pressure! Jason Bell and Ross Chouest scrapping for third, Aston Martin vs. Mercedes-AMG. Jason Bell getting to grips with a GT3 car. He and Ross Chouest have had great GT4 battles and now stepping it up to GT3, SRO3. Rothberg has the hammer down gapping Johnny O'Connell. Curt Swearingin leading GT4 on the heels of Elias Sabo. Gray Newell feeling the pressure from Isaac Sherman. Swearingin has a healthy lead in this motor race with eight minutes left on the board.
Isaac Sherman is now up to second. Rotek Racing chasing ACI Motorsports. Isaac Sherman has a good setup on the car, and he is carving the corners well, chasing his GT4 class and Porsche Cayman mounted rival. Tim Savage in the ProSport Competition Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3. The GT4 cars have more traction and less power. They are easier to manage as we have just seen Todd Parriott spin way off into the wet grass and hit the puddles. Kyle Washington is using his existing Fanatec GT3 car in this race and has a new one for the upcoming SRO GTWC America race.
Rothberg in deep, O'Connell to the other side of the road with more aggregate, more bite. Running in the rain can be very interesting and both Laberge and Washington dirt track it into the grass and Laberge has a lazy spin and lightly clonks the tire barrier with the right rear corner. Laberge is back on his way out of turn three. We will stay green. It is so treacherous out there right now. Rothberg is a very impressive driver. The BMW M4 GT3 has struggled in FIA WEC but not in other championships. Down Madison Avenue, down the frontstretch, and up through the esses, you hit top speed. O'Connell is exploring, trying to find the grip.
Isaac Sherman looming large in Curt Swearingin's mirrors. Swearingin is feisty and will get his elbows out. Through The Snake, Sherman is tucked under Swearingin, right on his six. This is a bare knuckle brawl with two minutes to go. Sherman is looking to make his move out of Oak Tree. He powers down Madison Avenue and into the Rollercoaster and Hog Pen, the white flag is out. it is Rothberg vs. O'Connell for the victory! O'Connell lunges under braking and he is carving it to the inside. In turn three he runs the cushion, hits the puddle, and there's contact! O'Connell spins! Rothberg had no place to go and here's Jason Bell into second and Ross Chouest wants it.
The stewards are going to look at this and big damage still for Jason Daskalos in limp home mode but with O'Connell's spin, maybe Daskalos' bacon has been saved. The GT4 battle is not going anyplace. Swearingin vs. Sherman! This is wild! Don't make a mistake. Get a clean exit. Back to power down Madison Avenue into The Rollercoaster, or into Hog Pen, excuse me. Rothberg wins this motor race and in the GT4 class it is Swearingin vs. Sherman! Can Swearingin go two on the bounce? The answer is... is... yes! Swearingin gets his second win of the year!
How will the stewards rule on the contact between Rothberg and O'Connell? Cue the dance music for the results.
Overall/SRO3: #29 Justin Rothberg Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3
GT4: #7 Curt Swearingin ACI Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport
We are setting up for a dry race tomorrow with Johnny O'Connell's fastest lap at 2:07 dead, giving him pole for tomorrow and Isaac Sherman I believe, will be on pole for GT4 for race two. So, we will see you tomorrow for the second race. It was only bodywork damage for Jason Daskalos, and they will be working on the car this evening. They don't have a spare car and will have to fix it for tomorrow's race. Rothberg says the racing with Johnny O'Connell was a racing situation with no worries. Join us tomorrow for more GT America action. Excited for race two.
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