In GT America powered by AWS, the Mercedes-AMG GT3s of George Kurtz and Jason Daskalos split the double-header weekend at Circuit of the Americas and gained ground on SRO3 class points leader Memo Gidley in the process.
On Saturday morning, comeback king Johnny O’Connell qualified on pole for Race 1 in his vintage #56 SKI Autosport Ferrari 458 Italia GT3. He and defending SRO3 champion George Kurtz led the field to the green flag for Race 1.
O’Connell held the lead for the first two laps ahead of Kurtz, but conceded top spot to the #04 CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes. As Kurtz drove off, O’Connell fell into the clutches of Jason Daskalos. Daskalos made contact with O’Connell at turn 19 which sent O’Connell spinning around, down the order. Simultaneously, points leader Gidley had to come to the pits for an unscheduled stop and dropped further out of contention.
Kurtz pulled away to a dominant Race 1 victory, his first of the 2023 GT America campaign, by 16 and a half seconds.
Daskalos was not penalised for the contact with O’Connell, but he did find himself battling at the head of a long queue of cars contesting the final podium positions. His #27 CRP Racing Mercedes held on to finish second after overtaking James Sofronas, who was celebrating 350 races in SRO America competition this weekend – he finished third in his #14 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II. Todd Treffert just missed out on the podium in his #41 CRP Racing Mercedes, but finished ahead of the #427 RealTime Racing Mercedes of Anthony Bartone in fifth, and O’Connell, who finished sixth.
Gidley was 11th and last in SRO3 and failed to score points after winning four of the first six races.
GT4 victory went to defending champion and Race 1 polesitter Ross Chouest, who racked up his third win of the season after a dramatic turn of events in the last three minutes of the race.
Jason Bell had led most of the race in the #2 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4, but on the penultimate lap, he spun off at the top of the hill in turn one. Chouest, who was several seconds behind him, drove through in his red and silver #50 Chouest Povoledo Racing Aston Martin to take the lead.
Bell consolidated second place while the battle for third came down to his team-mate Elias Sabo and Robb Holland. Sabo already spun earlier in the race but was able to recover to third, but on the last lap, Holland hit him from behind at turn 13 and sent the #8 Flying Lizard Aston Martin spinning around.
Holland would finish third in class on the road, but the #099 Rotek Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport was given a post-race time penalty for causing a collision. This demoted Holland to eighth in class, and elevated Gray Newell to third in the #25 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin.
Race 2 was a more chaotic affair, with rain during the race wreaking havoc in the second half of the 40-minute sprint.
Daskalos would end up taking the win in Race 2, his second of the year and first since the opening round in St. Petersburg, Florida. This came despite a drive-through penalty for jumping the start.
With 17 minutes left in the race, polesitter Kurtz was battling Sofronas for position when a lunge from Sofronas at turn seven sent Kurtz spinning around and bringing out a Safety Car. Sofronas’ race was over and he’d accumulate a time penalty for incident responsibility just to add salt to the wounds.
Bartone had gone through to take the lead ahead of the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R of Adam Adelson, but as they were ready to make the final turn and restart with eight minutes to go, Bartone spun out in the middle of the corner and left Adelson nowhere to go but right into his car! O’Connell, Treffert, Kurtz, and Daskalos drove by them in succession, and Daskalos got past Kurtz and Treffert to get second place behind O’Connell, who was leading on the road.
But O’Connell wouldn’t get the victory after all: His SKI Autosport team fell afoul of a rule that states tyres must be fitted to the car five minutes before the start of the formation lap, and he was given a ten-second time penalty which was applied at the chequered flag. Paul Kiebler’s crash in the #77 TR3 Racing Aston Martin GT4 brought out the Safety Car to end the race.
With the penalty applied to O’Connell, he fell to 11th, and Daskalos inherited the win in his place. Adelson recovered from being swept up in Bartone’s spin to finish in second, and likewise, Kurtz recovered from being punted off to finish third.
Andy Wilzoch finished a season-best fourth in the classic red and silver #460 Flying Lizard Porsche, while Gidley recovered from a pit lane violation and drive-through penalty to get fifth place ahead of Treffert.
Gidley is still the championship leader after eight races in SRO3, but Daskalos is now just three points behind him on the strength of top-four finishes in every round. And after a woeful start to the year in St. Pete, Kurtz is sliding back into the picture, just 34 points behind Gidley in third.
After being spun out of a podium place in Race 1, Sabo would get redemption and claim the win from pole in Race 2 – but it wasn’t without controversy.
Sabo picked up a three-place grid penalty for the next GT America race at VIRginia International Raceway after being found primarily responsible for the collision between himself and the lapped car of Kiebler, which sent Kiebler spinning into the armco barriers and out of the race late.
But he will get his second win of the season, in a Flying Lizard 1-2 finish with Bell in second, and Newell third in another all-Aston Martin GT4 podium.
Tony Gaples, the long-tenured SRO America veteran, picked up a pair of fourth-place finishes in his #5 Blackdog Speed Shop Chevrolet Camaro GT4.
Race 1 winner Chouest could only finish seventh in Race 2 – which brings he and Bell level on 123 points after eight rounds, Chouest is currently ahead on countback with three wins to one for Bell. Newell is third in the championship, 23 points behind the leaders and two points ahead of Sabo.
GT America returns to action next month at VIR on 17-18 June, the week after the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Images © SRO Motorsports Group America
