Tony Davis breaks through Sebring heat to claim first GT America win of the season

The Sebring sun was unforgiving, the heat was brutal, and the battles on track were even hotter as GT America powered by AWS took on a 40-minute sprint at Sebring International Raceway. It was a hard-earned fight throughout the field, but it was ultimately Tony Davis who walked away with bragging rights, delivering a stellar performance to claim his first victory of the season in the SRO3 class and put an end to Memo Gidley’s winning streak.

SRO3 Class

Tony Davis led the field to green from pole position in the No. 04 HP-TECH Motorsport Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO, immediately coming under pressure from a hungry pack behind him. Memo Gidley, behind the wheel of the No. 56 SKI Autosports Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II, wasted little time making his move, getting past Kyle Washington to take over second place ahead of the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3-R (992) EVO.

Further back, Ross Chouest was on the charge in the No. 50 Chouest Povoledo Racing Corvette Z06 GT3.R, applying pressure to Mirco Schultis in the No. 70 MISHUMOTORS Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R. Chouest completed the pass to move into fourth and quickly shifted his focus toward Washington in the fight for the final podium position.

As the race approached the halfway mark, Washington responded by setting the fastest lap, keeping himself firmly in the hunt. Meanwhile, Gidley continued to close in on Davis with 16 minutes remaining, pushing the Ferrari driver to the limit as the race began to build toward a tense finish. Washington used the battle ahead to his advantage, closing the gap and joining the fight at the front.

Davis rose to the pressure, fending off repeated attacks from Gidley and holding firm through the final laps to claim his first win of the season. Gidley crossed the line in second, while Washington remained within striking distance but ultimately had to settle for third.

“Memo is not only an awesome driver, but he’s an awesome human being,” said Davis. “Everyone loves him, and everyone respects the hell out of him. I knew I couldn’t make any mistakes, and we talked about how he was going to pressure me. He’s a professional driver, so I just had to take it all the way to the end.”

“It’s pride that we came in first,” he added. “The team brought it together. HP-TECH has truly risen to the occasion, the entire team. They gave me a great car to drive, so that’s what I’m proud of.”

Cup Class

In the Cup class, David Lecko kept it clean and controlled to claim the win in the No. 89 RacingSupport Ginetta GTP8. Corey Deeds made his debut in the series, bringing the No. 8 5.2 Motorsports Ginetta GTP8 home in second place to stand on the podium in his first GT America appearance.

GT4 Class

Jason Bell marked his return to the series in strong fashion, taking the GT4 class victory in the No. 2 Racers Edge Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 EVO. Craig Lumsden completed the class podium in second place, driving the No. 610 Flying Lizard Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 (G82) EVO.

The GT America powered by AWS will return to the track for Race 2 on Sunday morning, May 10th at 10:10 AM ET.