For the first time since 2021, Fanatec GT World Challenge America returned to Circuit of the Americas near Austin, Texas. 17 cars made the trip for rounds five and six of the series.
Saturday morning produced two different pole winners. Manny Franco in the #21 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 originally had pole for Race 1 that afternoon, but both he and the #94 BimmerWorld BMW M4 GT3 of Chandler Hull were demoted down one grid position each for not meeting the minimum fuel weight after post-qualifying scrutineering.
This promoted Eric Filgueiras in the #28 RS1 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) to a Race 1 pole position for the third time in as many meetings. Pro-Am championship leader and native Texan Colin Braun won the pole for Race 2 in the #04 CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Filgueiras led the field through turn one at the start. Scott Smithson in the #08 DXDT Racing Mercedes was turned around by the #93 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 of Ashton Harrison, and then as the field made its way to the esses, Austin local Will Hardeman spun out and made gentle contact against the armco barriers. Amazingly, his #19 Esses Racing Mercedes escaped serious damage.
Harrison earned a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility in her collision with Smithson – as did the #43 RealTime Racing Mercedes of Anthony Bartone, who turned around the #007 TRG Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 of Derek DeBoer at turn ten.
Over the first 30 minutes of the race, Filgueiras broke out to a lead of over five seconds while Franco, Hull, and the #53 MDK Motorsports Porsche 992 of Seth Lucas battled for second overall.
Then, with 55 minutes remaining, the battle turned ugly. Franco and Hull were side-by-side down the front stretch. Franco took a defensive posture up the hill into turn one but Hull appeared to drift over into the side of Franco. The two cars made wheel-to-wheel contact and spun off to the right, into the guardrail.
Hull walked away unhurt, and Franco, after being taken to the circuit medical centre as a precaution, was released without any serious injuries. The Safety Car was deployed to clean up the damaged race cars. Conquest Racing’s #21 Ferrari, sadly, was too damaged to take any further action this weekend and would not start Race 2.
The race restarted with 43 minutes to go – Filgueiras was now leading from Lucas, and Kurtz was third, leading Pro-Am ahead of the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 991.2 of Adam Adelson – who’d pounced on a mistake from Pedro Torres in the #16 ACI Motorsports Porsche 991.2 to take fourth overall. At the end of the lap, the ten-minute window for pit stops and driver changes opened and all of the leaders pitted in immediately.
Stevan McAleer got aboard the #28 RS1 Porsche and thought he’d been able to hold the lead ahead of the #53 MDK Porsche of Trenton Estep. But race control called the race out of pit lane in favour of Estep, and McAleer was forced to drop position behind him. But as he did, the #04 CrowdStrike/Riley Mercedes of Colin Braun, the #120 Wright Porsche of Elliott Skeer, and the #38 ST Racing BMW of John Edwards all came rushing past him on both sides! McAleer also ran into the back of Estep and damaged the diffuser of the #53 Porsche in front.
All three Pro-Am cars found themselves rushing three-wide into turn one, Skeer tried to dive past Edwards and Braun. Edwards got squeezed between the two cars at his side as Braun was turned around. The #38 ST Racing BMW of Edwards and Samantha Tan was forced to retire with broken steering.
Estep then found himself in the crosshairs of the hard-charging Skeer, who swooped by to take the overall lead. Estep would eventually have to pit so that MDK Motorsports could repair the damaged diffuser.
Skeer, meanwhile, was able to drive out to a comfortable overall lead over the remainder of his closing stint. He kept McAleer at a safe distance and took the chequered flag after 40 laps and 90 minutes – to give the #120 Wright Porsche 991.2 of Adelson and Skeer its first overall win in just its fifth race, and its third Pro-Am class win of the year!
Two different generations of Porsche 911 GT3 Rs made up a 1-2-3-4 finish for the marque as the #28 RS1 Porsche 992 of Filgueiras and McAleer finished second overall and won the Pro class for the third time. Wright Motorsports’ #45 Porsche 992 driven by Charlie Luck and Jan Heylen finished third overall and second in the Pro-Am class, while the #16 ACI Motorsports Porsche 991.2 of Torres and Spencer Pumpelly completed a strong recovery drive from 14th starting spot to finish fourth overall, and third in Pro-Am.
After the early spin for the #007 TRG Aston Martin, Valentin Hasse-Clot put on a great recovery drive to secure fifth place overall, after overtaking the #04 CrowdStrike/Riley Mercedes of Braun and George Kurtz who finished sixth.
Seventh overall and second in the Pro class was the #93 Racers Edge NSX of Harrison and Mario Farnbacher, which recovered well in its own right from its earlier drive-through penalty – as did the #08 DXDT Racing Mercedes of Smithson and Bryan Sellers.
The new #33 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari (Justin Wetherill/Ryan Dalziel) finished a clean race in ninth, ahead of the #9 TR3 Racing Mercedes (Ziad Ghandour/Daniel Morad) in tenth.
While the #53 MDK Porsche 992 of Lucas and Estep fell to 11th overall after the unscheduled pit stop, it was still good enough for third-place points in the Pro class championship.
16 cars took the start for Race 2 on Sunday afternoon, following the withdrawal of the #21 Conquest Racing Ferrari of Franco and Alessandro Balzan. As punishment for Hull’s role in the collision, Bill Auberlen would have to start the #94 BimmerWorld BMW from pit lane.
Polesitter Braun led the way on the opening lap, ahead of the #33 Triarsi Ferrari of Ryan Dalziel in second. Braun led the first few laps but was then overtaken by Dalziel, who drove away.
Skeer, and then Morad, both got past Braun for second and third place overall and then it became clear that something was amiss on the #04 CrowdStrike/Riley Mercedes. Braun brought the car into the pits, the hood came up, and the problem was diagnosed as a terminal engine failure that knocked Braun and Kurtz out of the race.
Meanwhile, Dalziel was given a drive-through penalty for violating the start procedure, which took him out of the lead and elevated Skeer to the top spot, ahead of Morad, then Farnbacher running third in the Pro class lead.
The pit window opened at its usual time, but before the leaders came into the pits, Morad overtook Skeer on track at turn 11 to put the orange and grey #9 TR3 Mercedes into the overall lead.
The Pro-Am leaders were among the last to come in for driver changes during the ten-minute window. Morad’s super stint and decisive overtake allowed Ghandour to come out with the lead in the #9 Mercedes, ahead of the #93 Racers Edge Acura, which had pitted on the previous lap.
With Ghandour and Harrison each competing in different classes, there was little point in fighting too hard for overall position – and Ghandour let Harrison through to take the overall lead. Track conditions were a bit slippery due to intermittent rain showers, but Harrison remained composed throughout her closing stint and brought the bright red NSX to the chequered flag for its first overall win of 2023, and second Pro class win of the year – the first since Harrison’s last-corner divebomb pass at Sonoma Race 2 won the race for herself and Farnbacher.
Behind them, a determined Filgueiras went from eighth at the start of his stint, picked his way through a pack of Pro-Am class cars, and began reeling in Harrison for the overall lead. His charge came just short as the #28 RS1 Porsche of Filgueiras and McAleer finished second overall, 2.4 seconds off the victory.
The win was a much-needed boost for Racers Edge Motorsports, Harrison, and Farnbacher in the Pro Drivers’ Championship after a brutal weekend at NOLA Motorsports Park. But the gap between them and the leading RS1 crew of Filgueiras and McAleer remains at 17 points through six races.
Adelson consolidated third place overall, and gave the green and yellow #120 Wright Porsche 991.2 a weekend sweep in Pro-Am. Combined with the Race 2 retirement for Kurtz and Braun, Adelson and Skeer now lead the Pro-Am championship by a whopping 36 points after six races.
DeBoer and Hasse-Clot finished fourth overall and second in Pro-Am, which elevates DeBoer to third in the Pro-Am Drivers’ standings, 39 points behind Adelson and Skeer.
In fifth overall, the #53 MDK Porsche 992 of young Lucas and Estep picked up another Pro class podium.
The final spot on the Pro-Am podium was hotly contested between the #45 Wright Porsche 992 of Luck and Heylen, and the #38 ST Racing BMW of Tan and Edwards. Heylen and Edwards battled at the start, and Luck and Tan continued that fight as the minutes ticked down, batting hard for nearly 15 minutes.
But in the end it was the wiley old ex-NASCAR journeyman Luck who prevailed over the dashing Canadian star Tan, finishing sixth overall and third in Pro-Am. The #91 DXDT Racing Mercedes (Jeff Burton/Corey Lewis) held on for seventh ahead of the #38 ST Racing BMW of Tan and Edwards, by just 0.323 seconds.
The #33 Triarsi Ferrari of Wetherill and Dalziel recovered from its drive-through penalty to finish ninth overall again, while Ghandour faded in the closing stint to tenth in the #9 TR3 Mercedes.
Anthony Bartone and Andy Pilgrim finished 12th and 15th overall this weekend in the #43 RealTime Mercedes as the sole Am class entrant for the third consecutive race meeting.
GT World Challenge America continues its season in just a few short weeks, heading to beautiful VIRginia International Raceway for the seventh and eighth rounds of the 2023 season. It’ll be the weekend after the 24 Hours of Le Mans, on 17-18 June.
Images © SRO Motorsports Group America
