Turner Motorsport wins GT World Challenge enduro at Road America

GT World Challenge America powered by AWS wrapped up its weekend at Road America with a three-hour race shaped by changing strategies, multiple cautions and close battles throughout the field. Turner Motorsport emerged with the overall and Pro class victory as Justin Rothberg and Robby Foley took the No. 29 BMW M4 GT3 EVO to the top step of the podium. In Pro-Am, Brayton Williams and Daniel Morad claimed the class victory for TR3 Racing, while Jon Morley and Mitchell Green earned the Am class win for Scuderia Corsa.

Pro Class

Matias Perez Companc led the field to green from overall pole position aboard the No. 12 AF Corse USA Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO and retained the advantage through the opening stages. Justin Rothberg remained close behind in the No. 29 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO, keeping the pressure on the Ferrari from second place.

Following a restart with two hours remaining, JMF Motorsports' Michai Stephens made his move, finding a way past Rothberg to take over second overall in the No. 34 Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO.

The race then took a difficult turn for the polesitting AF Corse USA entry following its pit stop and driver change. Miguel Molina slowed dramatically after exiting Turn 5 and pulled to the left side of the circuit. Although he was able to get the Ferrari moving again, the car circulated slowly before eventually heading behind the wall for repairs.

With different strategies beginning to unfold, Alex Sedgwick inherited the lead aboard the No. 6 Dollahite Racing Ford Mustang GT3 EVO after remaining off-sequence compared to his rivals.

Mikael Grenier had taken over the No. 34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG from Stephens before the halfway mark and began closing the gap to Sedgwick, while Turner Motorsport's Robby Foley was also making gains to create a three-car fight at the front.

Another full course caution emerged shortly before the final hour. Sedgwick remained on track as part of Dollahite Racing's alternate strategy, while Grenier and Foley dove into pit lane for their final scheduled stops and were able to rejoin the field before racing resumed.

Once back under green, Grenier and Foley went wheel-to-wheel, with Foley completing the move to place himself in position to inherit the lead once the remaining pit stops cycled through.

Sedgwick eventually brought the Ford into pit lane to complete the final driver change to Cameron Lawrence, promoting Foley into the outright lead. From there, the Turner Motorsport driver began to stretch his advantage, opening a gap of approximately three seconds over Grenier.

Foley and Rothberg went on to seal the overall and Pro class victory for Turner Motorsport, with Grenier and Stephens taking second for JMF Motorsports.

The final position on the Pro podium remained undecided until the closing laps. Lawrence came under heavy pressure from Zach Vanier in the No. 8 McCann Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R EVO but held his position through the final charge to secure third place for Dollahite Racing. 

“Turner Motorsport put together a great car,” said Robby at the podium. “The car was on fire today, and that made my job pretty easy. All the credit goes to the Turner Motorsport guys and girls. It was a crazy start to the race, but we came through with the win, and hopefully we can put together a little championship run from here.”

“My stint wasn’t the most exciting for most of the race, but we finished first, so I’m really happy,” said Justin Rothberg. “My first coach, Cédric, who really set me on this path, passed away last week. I really wanted to win this one for him, and we were able to do that, so it means a lot.”

Pro-Am Class

The Pro-Am field faced an interrupted start to the three-hour contest, with the No. 88 Kellymoss Porsche going off track on the opening lap, bringing out an early Full Course Yellow. Racing resumed with two hours and 49 minutes remaining, but the green-flag running was short-lived when another incident involving HP-TECH Motorsport's Tony Davis triggered another neutralization.

When the field returned to green with two hours and 32 minutes to go, Nicolai Elghanayan led the Pro-Am category for Chicago Performance and Tuning Co in the No. 64 Lamborghini Huracan. However, another major incident soon brought the race under caution once again, with the No. 13, No. 32, No. 017 and No. 71 entries involved in a multicar accident that resulted in an extended neutralization period.

The race finally resumed with just under two hours remaining, and the Pro-Am order looked considerably different as varying pit strategies began to play out.

Derek DeBoer initially emerged at the front of the class aboard the No. 99 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO, but Danny Dyszelski was quickly on the attack in the No. 28 RS1 Porsche 911 GT3 R EVO. Dyszelski closed the gap and completed the pass to take over the Pro-Am lead.

Behind them, Brayton Williams began applying pressure in the No. 9 TR3 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO, while Sebastian Mascaro joined the battle aboard the No. 18 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO.

A wave of driver changes shortly before the halfway mark once again reshuffled the order and produced another tightly packed battle when the cars returned to the circuit.

Having committed to an off-sequence strategy earlier in the race, Chicago Performance and Tuning Co. emerged at the front with Mads Siljehaug behind the wheel after staying out while the majority of the field pitted. Jan Heylen followed in the No. 28 RS1 Porsche, with Wright Motorsports' Ryan Yardley running third in the No. 31 Porsche and Daniel Morad giving chase in the No. 9 TR3 Racing Mercedes-AMG.

Morad began his charge with just under 45 minutes remaining, first making his way past Yardley for third in class before immediately setting his sights on Heylen. He soon completed another move to climb into second.

When Siljehaug was forced to make his final stop with approximately 35 minutes remaining, Morad and Heylen were left to settle the victory between themselves. Heylen closed back onto the rear of the TR3 Racing Mercedes-AMG, but Morad responded and ultimately pulled clear to secure the Pro-Am victory alongside Williams.

RS1's Heylen and Dyszelski finished second, while Ryan Yardley and Dave Musial Jr. completed the Pro-Am podium for Wright Motorsports, taking over the Pro-Am championship points lead in the process. 

“The team did a great job. We’ve had an opportunity to win three weekends in a row, and this time we finally put everything together. For Brayton to get a win in only his sixth GT3 race, in just his second year of racing, is incredible. He did a great job setting everything up for me, and the TR3 guys were excellent all weekend,” explained Daniel Morad.

“Jan is an incredible driver and one of the hardest guys to pass, but he’s always very fair with me,” he continued. “It was a great battle. We were racing right on the edge, but we managed to get the move done. I’m glad the officials let us race wheel-to-wheel, because that’s what this is all about. It was unbelievable to come away with the win.”

Am Class

The Am class battle saw both entries running nose-to-tail in the opening stages, at times challenging their way toward the overall top 10. The No. 163 AF Corse USA Ferrari initially held the advantage, with Benny Simonsen running comfortably in tenth overall after taking over from Jay Schreibman. The No. 67 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari, meanwhile, was forced to serve a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility earlier in the race, dropping Jon Morley and Mitchell Green to 15th overall by the halfway mark.

The complexion of the class changed with one hour and eight minutes remaining when the AF Corse USA entry suffered trouble and pulled off to the side of the circuit, triggering a Full Course Yellow and ending its race. That handed the Am class lead back to Scuderia Corsa, with Morley and Green going on to secure the class victory and overall 9th place. 

“Obviously, we’re thrilled with the win,” said Jon Morley. “The goal was to get through the race without any penalties, and we didn’t quite manage that, but this was Mitchell’s first endurance race. I told him before the start that it’s a long race and a lot can happen, so you just have to stick with it and see how things play out. We’re very happy to come away with the win.”

The GT World Challenge America powered by AWS field will return for the penultimate round of the season at Barber Motorsports Park from Sept. 25-27.