This Saturday, Pirelli GT4 America will run its first three-hour endurance race at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) on Saturday, 18 May.
31 cars are on the provisional entry list for this weekend’s “3 Hour Challenge”, consisting of at least seven Silver class cars, 13 Pro-Am entries, and eight Am entries – along with three cars that will be assigned a class before the start of the weekend.
Three new entries include a second Smooge Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO, the #55 driven by team principal/NASCAR alumnus Kevin Conway, and TRD-sponsored NASCAR prospect Isabella Robusto, who’s back for her first start in the series in over a year – following head and neck injuries that sidelined her through most of 2023.
Texas-based Fast Track Racing has returned to enter the #188 BMW M4 GT4 for Judson Holt and Denny Stripling in the Am class, along with Skip Barber Racing Team, entering the #16 Aston Martin Vantage GT4 for Marc and Tyler Sharinn.
Some existing entries are also changing drivers and classes. Flying Lizard Motorsports has brought in former GT World Challenge America standout Rodrigo Baptista to replace Stefan Rzadzinski in the silver and red #5 Nissan Z NISMO GT4, while Michael Cooper is back to drive the #9 Blackdog Speed Shop Nissan, which scored the Z NISMO GT4’s first-ever victory in global competition at Sebring.
Heart of Racing Team’s female-forward #26 Aston Martin, driven by Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeier, will move up to the Pro-Am class for the first time – as will the #18 RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 of Roland and Austin Krainz, and the #51 Auto Technic Racing BMW of Matt Million and Troy Lindstrom.
Precision Racing LA’s #07 Toyota driven by Harry Cheung and Ryan Eversley has returned to the grid after voluntarily sitting out the Sebring round to prepare for the COTA 3 Hours.
Heading into this double-points race, the #28 RS1 Porsche (John Capestro-Dubets/Eric Filgueiras) has a nine-point lead in the Silver class standings, following a weekend sweep at Sebring. The #7 ACI Motorsports Porsche (Curt Swearingin/Kay van Berlo) leads Pro-Am by 18 points, and the #98 Random Vandals Racing BMW (Paul Sparta/Kris Wilson) leads Am by 14 points.
The race starts Saturday at 5:00 PM CDT (local time), with Qualifying to be held on the same day at 10:20 AM CDT.
Feature image © Brian Cleary / SRO Motorsports America
