Justin Rothberg and Robby Foley came up huge for Turner Motorsport in Sunday’s GT World Challenge America race at Road America, driving their #29 BMW M4 GT3 EVO to its second overall victory of the season to close in on the Pro class championship lead with only two races remaining.
Mirroring the events of IMSA’s caution-filled six-hour Road America SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix, the early stages of GT World America’s visit to Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin were heavily disrupted by multiple incidents and three Safety Cars in the first hour alone.
The #88 Kellymoss Porsche’s race lasted only a few corners before John Gilliland went off-course and brought out the first Full Course Yellow. The incident was cleared quickly, only for Tony Davis in the #04 HP-Tech Motorsports Ferrari to crash and neutralise the race. Just one lap of green flag racing had been completed without incident, and that trend would continue soon after the race went green again.
Contact between the #14 Riley Motorsports BMW of Slade Stewart and No. 13 Kellymoss Porsche of Todd Parriott set off a four-car accident which most prominently took out Pro-Am championship leader Kyle Washington and the #32 GMG Racing Porsche. A triple DNF for Kellymoss was sealed after the #017 Porsche of Michael Clark was taken out in the incident at the Kink, along with the #71 Rebel Rock Racing Aston Martin of Frank Depew. Stewart was given a drive-through penalty for causing the incident, and only when the second hour of the race began did the string of incidents conclude.
The leader was the #12 AF Corse USA Ferrari 296 GT3 of Matias Pérez Companc and guest star Miguel Molina, who’d taken pole position for the race earlier that day, and had only briefly given up the lead during pit stop cycles.
But just before halfway, Molina stopped at turn five with a mechanical issue; the 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours overall winner was able to re-fire his car and get it back behind the wall as a retirement. Alex Sedgwick would take over first place in the #6 Dollahite Racing Ford Mustang GT3 Evo, poised to take the team’s first overall win in GT World America.
Mikaël Grenier was second in the #34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO, and Foley ran third in the #29 Turner BMW. Then, with 68 minutes remaining, the Am class #163 AF Corse USA Ferrari was struck down with a mechanical problem, just like its sister car in the Pro class. Benny Simonsen stopped the car at the Carousel, and the Full Course Yellow was called again. Sedgwick stayed out to lead the race along with the #8 McCann Racing Porsche and #64 Chicago Performance and Tuning Lamborghini, while Grenier and Foley came to the pits for their last routine stops.
When the race resumed, a critical moment in the race came when Foley overtook Grenier for the net lead of the race. When the other three cars in front of him pitted, Foley took P1 on the track, and held onto it until the chequered flag, completing 70 laps and winning by 4.3 seconds.
Rothberg would dedicate the win to his first driving coach, the late Cédric Sbirrazzuoli, who previously competed in GT World Challenge America and Pirelli GT4 America in a life and career cut too short.
Stephens and Michai Stephens’ #34 JMF Mercedes-AMG would take second place overall, while third place and the Pro-Am victory went to the #9 TR3 Racing Mercedes-AMG driven by Brayton Williams and Daniel Morad.
Morad sprinted towards the front in the last hour, overtaking the Porsches of Ryan Yardley and Jan Heylen to move up from fourth to second. Second place in Pro-Am became first place with about 35 minutes left after Mads Siljehaug brought the #64 Chicago Performance Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 to the pits for its final stop.
Heylen and GT World America newcomer Danny Dyszelski finished fourth in the #28 RS1 Porsche, followed by Yardley and Dave Musial Jnr in the #31 Wright Motorsports Porsche, who both completed the Pro-Am podium.
Wright Motorsports’ #242 Porsche driven by Therese Lahlouh and Thomas Merrill would finish sixth in a narrow photo finish ahead of the #27 JMF Mercedes-AMG of Jason Daskalos and Philip Ellis: Merrill beat Ellis to the finish by 0.023 seconds. The #18 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari (Sebastian Mascaro/Riccardo Agostini) came home eighth.
Taking ninth place and the win in Am by default was the #67 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari of Mitchell Green and Jon Morley, who overcame a drive-through penalty for causing the collision with the #04 HP-Tech Ferrari in the first hour.
Completing the overall top ten was the #99 Random Vandals Racing BMW (Derek DeBoer/Hampus Eriksson), one position ahead of the #6 Dollahite Ford of Sedgwick and Cameron Lawrence, which fell to 11th but will still earn third-place points in Pro.
The #14 Riley BMW of Stewart and Andy Lee retired just short of the chequered flag while the #69 Archangel Motorsports McLaren (Todd Coleman/Aaron Telitz) dropped out of contention after contact from the #27 Mercedes-AMG of Daskalos.
GT World Challenge America visits Barber Motorsports Park near Birmingham, Alabama next time, for the final regular three-hour race of the 2026 season on 27 September.
Images © SRO Motorsports America
