The SRO America series are in Sebring International Raceway this weekend – and so is DSC, as the 2022 seasons for GT World Challenge America, GT4 America, and GT America begin to wind down.
Today may be the final day of summer, but deep in the heart of central Florida, it still feels a lot like the dog days of the season are still ongoing!
And that’s not expected to change Friday, with hot and humid conditions and ambient temperatures expected to surpass 30°C during the weekend, even as it cools off during Saturday and Sunday. Rain isn’t expected to be a significant factor, outside of the slight chance of a few traditional Florida summer showers.
What you see is what you get for this weekend's weather at @sebringraceway for @gtworldcham action. Hot and humid on Friday, but Saturday & Sunday will be a little cooler. Only a small chance of an isolated shower each afternoon. https://t.co/1Uc6GYkUiB. @PirelliUSA pic.twitter.com/Nt15znPy3F
— Scott Martin (@RaceWx4You) September 22, 2022
The sun was beaming down hard on the paddock space, but there was one new face worth checking out in GT World Challenge America.
Conquest Racing have arrived with their brand-new Ferrari 488 GT3, with Manny Franco making his GT3 racing debut alongside the experienced and decorated Alessandro Balzan.
More on this new entry to come after meeting with and speaking with their team owner, Eric Bachelart.
K-PAX Racing arrived with both of their cars, knowing that they only need to have one car finish Race 1 on Saturday to wrap up the Teams’ Championship.
And with the #33 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 (Russell Ward/Philip Ellis) not arriving and declared a late scratch, a K-PAX driver is guaranteed to win the Drivers’ Championship before the weekend begins.
Currently, Andrea Caldarelli in the black #1 K-PAX Lamborghini leads the standings by 47 points over Jordan Pepper in the green #3 car. Caldarelli can clinch the title if he gains a total of three points over Pepper across both races. If Caldarelli and Michele Beretta win their class in both races, that will be more enough to clinch a second consecutive American drivers’ title for Caldarelli.
And then there’s the Pro-Am title fight, with local favourites Racers Edge Motorsports currently leading the Teams’ Championships on countback.
Drivers Ashton Harrison and Mario Farnbacher are just two points behind the Wright Motorsports duo of Charlie Luck and Jan Heylen in the Drivers’ Championship, and they’re two points ahead of George Kurtz and Colin Braun of CrowdStrike Racing with Riley Motorsports.
Don’t overlook the #94 BimmerWorld BMW M4 GT3 (Chandler Hull/Bill Auberlen) though – they’re just 24 points back of Luck and Heylen, and Hull will be motivated to perform in his 100th career start as a BMW driver.
Triarsi Competizione began their GT World Challenge America programme as a one-off one year ago. Fast forward to today, and the Orlando-based outfit returns to their home race having already won the Am Cup Championships for the #23 Ferrari of Onofrio Triarsi Jnr and Charlie Scardina.
It’s also good to see the #13 of Ryan Dalziel and Justin Wetherill back after an early exit from the Road America weekend.
Miami’s TR3 Racing have arrived with two Lamborghini Huracan GT3s: This red and white #91 of Jeff Burton and Corey Lewis, that first appeared in Road America, as well as a black and gold #191 which Burton will drive in GT America this weekend.
After a season that’s seen three driver crew changes and a brief in-season stoppage of activity, a member of TR3 Racing told us that they are working to finalise plans for the 2023 season.
In total there are 15 cars on the final entry list for GT World Challenge America, with three late withdrawals.
Along with the #33 Winward Racing crew, the #61 AF Corse Ferrari (Jean-Claude Saada/Conrad Grunewald) were a late scratch – but not a surprising one as they’ve been out of action since their VIR Race 1 accident. Zelus Motorsports’ #88 Lamborghini Huracan GT3, driven by Jason Harward, will only run in GT America this weekend.
Also, Conquest Racing have been moved from Pro to Pro-Am, with Franco being given a conditional Bronze rating.
The #59 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT2 (CJ Moses) and #79 RENNtech Mercedes-AMG GT4 (Chris Gumprecht) are late scratches in GT America, bringing their entry list to 25, while there are no withdrawals in the 32-car GT4 America entry list released last weekend.
Here’s a rundown of how testing went in our series of focus.
One of the major Pro-Am title contenders led the way in the first test session for GT World Challenge America. The #45 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3-R of Luck and Heylen led test session 1. Heylen set a time of 2’00.729, ahead of the #93 Racers Edge Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 of Harrison and Farnbacher, and the #04 CrowdStrike with Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Kurtz and Braun.
Fastest of the Pro Cup cars and second overall was the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 (Michael Dinan/Robby Foley). Foley set a 2’00.827, less than a tenth off Heylen’s top time. In fifth overall was the #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari, a strong first session for the newcomers.
The afternoon test session 2 closed out today’s track activities, where the new #34 Conquest Ferrari of Franco and Balzan set the quickest time in the final minutes of the 60-minute session at 2’00.829. Second-fastest was the #93 Racers Edge NSX of Harrison and Farnbacher, followed by the #45 Wright Porsche of Luck and Heylen.
Michael Dinan was eighth-quickest in the #96 Turner BMW, fastest of the Pro Cup cars once again.
In GT4 America, the #18 RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport of Eric Filgueiras and Stevan McAleer was quickest in the morning test session, with a best lap time of 2’12.162 recorded by ace driver McAleer.
The #69 Smooge Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 of Aaron Telitz was second overall on a 2’12.778, best of the Pro-Am crews ahead of the #8 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 of Elias Sabo, and the #15 BSport Racing Vantage GT4 of Kenton Koch. The #83 RS1 Cayman RS of Nelson Calle was fastest in Am with a 2’12.994.
The afternoon session was led outright by the #55 Accelerating Performance Vantage GT4 (Moisey Uretsky/Justin Piscitell) thanks to Uretsky’s best lap of 2’12.252. The #930 CarBahn with Peregrine Racing Audi R8 LMS GT4 (Sameer Ghandi/Tom Dyer) was second overall, in the team’s first appearance since the VIR weekend, followed by the #71 GMG Racing Cayman RS (Jay Logan/Alexandre Premat).
Fastest in the Silver Cup class for the afternoon session was Gavin Sanders in the #34 Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports AMG GT4 (with Michai Stephens), and Terry Borcheller was the quickest in Am aboard the #20 Carrus Callas Raceteam GR Supra (with Nick Shanny).
In GT America, the #04 CrowdStrike/Riley AMG GT3 of Kurtz was over a second quicker than the #88 Zelus Lamborghini of Harward in the afternoon session. Kurtz can clinch the SRO3 title with a win or second place in Race 1 on Saturday.
Aston Martins led the way in GT4, with Uretsky setting a 2’12.999 to lead the class ahead of points leader Jason Bell in the #2 GMG Racing Vantage GT4.
The minimum pit stop times have been established at 80 seconds for GT World Challenge America, and 85 seconds for GT4 America.
Every GT World Challenge America team will have eight sets of Pirelli P Zero DHF tyres to use, GT4 America teams receive five sets, and GT America teams will get three sets.
A full day of official practice sessions is on deck tomorrow, beginning at 8:00 AM EDT.
