Hello again from NOLA Motorsports Park, which has started to come to life as a few, dedicated spectators have already begun to file in to watch a full day of practice.
It’s still plenty hot, and humid, at the track today. The latest weather forecasts suggest that qualifying sessions tomorrow morning will be run in the dry, but that there’s a 50 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon when GT World Challenge America and GT4 America run their first races.
The track is being well-received by drivers and participants alike. While not nearly as bumpy as Sebring, NOLA’s bumpy surface is putting some teams’ shocks and struts through a pretty tough time all the same.
Race 1 of GT World Challenge America goes green at 1:15 PM local time (19:15 BST), and then GT4 America Race 1 begins at 3:10 PM local time (21:10 BST).
Minimum pit times for the weekend have been set: 79 seconds for GT World Challenge America, and 84 seconds for GT4 America.
A pleasant surprise was there to greet everyone who walked by the Events Centre: It’s the 2003 Daytona 24 Hours winning Porsche 911 GT3-RS!
The authentic car as driven by Jorg Bergmeister, Timo Bernhard, Michael Schrom, and Kevin Buckler appears in its original livery, as does Buckler’s helmet…
…along with the overall and GT class winners’ trophies. Special thanks to Adobe Road Winery for bringing this, along with a mobile winery for the spectators to enjoy.
Here’s my first encounter with a DSC sponsored car in the wild.
NOLASPORT brought more of their toys out from their race shop a few hundred feet away, including these two vintage Porsche racing cars.
But they’re not the only GT4 America team with ties to New Orleans.
Ross Chouest, the first namesake of Chouest Povoledo Racing (with his coach and co-driver Aaron Povoledo), is a Louisiana native from the nearby town of Cut Off.
Chouest is an accomplished amateur racer with championships in Lamborghini Super Trofeo and Ferrari Challenge competition to his name. Last season he and Povoledo raced in a partnership with RENNtech Motorsports – this is their first season as a stand-alone outfit. Chouest was 16th in Practice 2 today.
Here’s where to watch all of this weekend’s SRO America action, live and free:
Saturday – GTWCA Qualifying
Saturday – GTWCA Race 1
Saturday – GT4A Race 1
Sunday- GT4A Race 2
Sunday – GTWCA Race 2
