GT America powered by AWS finished off its Road America race weekend Sunday morning as the field took to the tarmac for the final time. Two full-course yellows flew during the race’s duration, with one occurring due to a disabled GT4 car, the second due to contact made between several GT4 cars. The latter ultimately brought the race to a premature end.
SRO3
After a fantastic battle between Andy Pilgrim (No. 56 SKI Autosports Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) and George Kurtz (No. 04 CrowdStrike with Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3) in race one, the two took off when the green flag waved, without giving the rest of SRO3 any chance of catching up. Pilgrim hung with Kurtz for the race’s entirety, even after returning to green after the first yellow flag. Unfortunately for Pilgrim, the Ferrari couldn’t quite catch and get around the newer Mercedes-AMG.
Jason Harward (No. 88 Zelus Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan GT3) started from pit lane due to a penalty given in race one. This didn’t impede him too badly, as he made quick work of the lesser GT4 cars and was up to the back of SRO3 in no time at all. He made his way past CJ Moses (No. 58 Audi R8 LMS GT2) and Kyle Washington (No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3-R) to secure a fifth place finish. Harward also earned the CrowdStrike Fastest Lap after setting a blazing 2m09.178s.
Mirco Schultis (No. 70 Mishumotors Corvette Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R) and Jason Daskalos (No. 27 Daskalos Motorsports Audi R8 LMS) put on a show, with Daskalos crowding up on Schultis’ bumper, but couldn’t quite get past.
Kurtz took the checkered flag, followed by Pilgrim and Schultis. This was the third consecutive podium finish for Schultis.
This was the sixth win of the season for Kurtz, who extended his championship points lead over Daskalos with four races remaining.
“Luckily we got a gap, and I was trying to manage the tires in that good scrap with Andy,” Kurtz said. “We came in, did what we needed to do, controlled the race, and wanted to finish under green of course, but got the win.”
GT4
After a picture-perfect win in race one, Robb Holland (No. 99 Rotek Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport) started off at the front of the pack for race two. He suffered a minor mechanical issue just before the first yellow flag, which then put him at the back of the GT4 field for the remainder of the race, giving Elias Sabo (No. 8 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4) the lead. Watkins Glen-sweeper Seth Lucas (No. 016 Hattori Motorsports Toyota Supra GT4) started in third but was able to move up to second and maintain it for the majority of the race.
Just behind Sabo and Lucas, Adam Adelson (No. 120 Premier Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport) got into a great scrap with Gray Newell (No. 25 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4) early in the race, with both cars door-to-door for more than a lap.
Later on and shortly after returning to green after the first full-course yellow, Sean Whalen made contact with Jason Bell (No. 2 GMG Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4)—both vehicles incurred damage and luckily both racers walked away. Further up the road, Newell and Lucas were involved in an incident as well, which shut down the front straight and start/finish line. Both incidents brought out the full-course yellow and put an end to the race.
After the stewards reviewed the final incident, the GT4 class final results were announced as follows:
Adelson won, followed by Moisey Uretsky (No. 55 Accelerating Performance Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4) and Todd Coleman (No. 69 Smooge Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4).
Newell’s involvement necessitated bringing him to the infield medical care center. He was awake and alert before being transferred to the local hospital for standard post-incident evaluation.
The next rounds will be at Sebring International Raceway on September 23-25. The SRO Motorsports America season will conclude at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on October 7-9.
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