SRO Motorsports Group America has published the entry lists for next week’s opening weekend of racing at Sonoma Raceway, California.
The weekend is headlined by the start of the 2024 Fanatec GT World Challenge America season, which features two 90-minute races on Saturday and Sunday, 13-14 April. However, the flagship series will come to Sonoma with a reduced entry list of just 13 cars for the weekend’s doubleheader.
Three cars will compete in the Pro class, though reigning champion team RS1 has departed the series after Eric Filgueiras and Stevan McAleer won the 2023 titles.
Wright Motorsports’ sole #120 Porsche 911 GT3 R driven by Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer makes the step up from Pro-Am, while ST Racing has added a second car, the #28 driven by BMW M legend Bill Auberlen and GT3 newcomer Varun Choksey.
Together they join the returning #93 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 Evo22, with its brand-new line-up of Luca Mars and former IndyCar driver Zach Veach.
The rest of the field is made up of the ten Pro-Am entries. Reigning Pro-Am class champions CrowdStrike by Riley have confirmed their return with the #04 Mercedes-AMG GT3 driven by George Kurtz and Colin Braun, in what will be a very busy 2024 for the pair.
Five Mercedes-AMG GT3s are in the field this weekend in Pro-Am. To the surprise of many, the five Mercedes also include the two entries from DXDT Racing.
At Indianapolis, DXDT Racing was announced as one of the new Corvette Racing customer teams running the Corvette Z06 GT3.R – and planned to have at least one of their new Corvettes ready by Circuit of the Americas. The team is bringing in its two Mercedes to start the season: The #08 for Scott Smithson and Bryan Sellers, and the #91 for Jeff Burton and Philip Ellis. Ellis is new to DXDT, coming off consecutive wins at this year’s Daytona 24 Hours and Sebring 12 Hours.
The #19 Esses Racing with Mercedes-Benz of Austin (Will Hardeman/Adam Carroll) appears for the first of its four planned appearances, and the only one in Pro-Am. After success in GT4 racing including a GT America class title in 2022, Chouest Povoledo Racing makes the step up to GT3 competition in 2024 with team namesakes Ross Chouest and Aaron Povoledo behind the wheel of their new #50 Mercedes-AMG.
While the new Corvette won’t be in action, the new-for-2024 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 will be – entered by Flying Lizard Motorsports, a legendary team which was founded in Sonoma. After success in GT4 racing, Elias Sabo and his co-driver Andy Lee will race in GT3 for the first time together in the black and orange #8 Aston Martin.
Two more BMW M4 GT3s are entered: First, the #38 ST Racing BMW of team co-owner/namesake Samantha Tan and Neil Verhagen, who were one of the strongest combinations in the second half of last season – then, the returning Turner Motorsport team, with the #29 BMW of rookie Justin Rothberg and Robby Foley.
GMG Racing has committed to a full-season Pro-Am entry with the latest Porsche 911 GT3 R – the #32 driven by Kyle Washington and young Australian driver Tom Sargent. The other Pro-Am Porsche comes courtesy of MMG which is making its series debut. They enter the #92 for Jean-Frederic Laberge and another IndyCar veteran, Alex Tagliani.
SRO GT2 cars are eligible to race in GT World Challenge America starting this season, but none have entered this time out.
In Pirelli GT4 America, 28 cars from six different manufacturers are entered to start the season – six in the Silver class, 11 in Pro-Am, and another 11 in Am. It’ll be the first SRO GT4 event of the calendar year and will kick off an all-new Global GT4 Manufacturers’ Championship to be contested across eight different championships in America, Asia, Australia, and Europe.
All three teams that won the GT4 America class championships will be back this year – in different forms.
AutoTechnic Racing has entered two cars including the #51 BMW M4 GT4 for the defending Silver series champion, Zac Anderson, who returns for his third season with the team. Anderson is joined by 24-year-old Colin Garrett, a former stock car racer who drove for Rooster Hall Racing last season.
James Clay and Charlie Postins will try to win their third straight Am class title in the #36 BimmerWorld Racing BMW – one of two entries from BimmerWorld alongside the Pro-Am #82 of Rob Walker Jnr and Tyler McQuarrie.
But after three straight Pro-Am championships for NOLASPORT and driver Jason Hart, Hart will not be on the grid at Sonoma, and NOLASPORT will drop down to the Am class with its two Porsche 718 Cayman GT4s. Those are the #052 (David Peterman/Lee Carpentier) and the new #60 (Steve Schneider/Seth Thomas).
This leaves the Pro-Am category wide open for 2024. Along with the aforementioned Walker/McQuarrie BimmerWorld car, the #24 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT4 (Gray Newell/Roman de Angelis) and #7 ACI Motorsports Porsche (Curt Swearingin/Kay van Berlo) are strong Pro-Am championship contenders who finished near the top of the points table.
There are also a slew of strong newcomers in the mix – notably, Eric Filgueiras, who’s back in GT4 America. This time, the 2022 Silver champion is in Pro-Am, racing alongside new Bronze driver Tom Kopczynski.
Three out of four of the new Nissan Z NISMO GT4s are in Pro-Am, too: The silver and red #5 Flying Lizard Motorsports Nissan (Damir Hot/Stefan Rzadzinski), the #9 Blackdog Speed Shop Nissan (Tony Gaples/Michael Cooper), and the #22 TechSport Racing Nissan (Eric Powell/Colin Harrison.)
In the Silver class, top challengers for the title also include the returning #97 Random Vandals Racing BMW (Kenton Koch/Kevin Boehm), the refreshed #34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 (Demi Chalkias/Jake Cowden), and two strong contenders out of the Toyota stable – the #68 Smooge Racing GR Supra GT4 (John Geesbreght/Tyler Gonzalez) and #999 Hanley Motorsports GR Supra (Daniel Hanley/Parker Thompson). They’re joined by the fourth new Nissan, the #23 TechSport Racing Z (Jonathan Neudorf/Michai Stephens).
Other contenders in Am include Carrus Callas Raceteam, new to the BMW family but retaining the lineup of Nicholas Shanny and the ageless Terry Borcheller in the #20 – and Heart of Racing Team’s female-forward #26 Aston Martin with Hannahs Grisham and Greenemeier.
In the multi-class GT America series, 21 cars are entered for the opening weekend: 12 SRO3 (GT3) cars, three GT2s, and six GT4s – all with Bronze-rated drivers.
Among the unique entries in SRO3 are a second new Flying Lizard Aston Martin Vantage GT3, the #2 of two-time GT4 class champion Jason Bell, who’s made the step up to GT3 racing. There’s also a previous-generation Vantage GT3 in the field – the #007 ProSport Competition Aston Martin of Tim Savage.
While reigning SRO3 champion Memo Gidley is not returning, SRO America mainstay Jason Daskalos is back in his #27 CRP/Daskalos Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3.
GMG Racing owner James Sofronas will enter the #14 Audi R8 LMS GT3 from his team, while SKI Autosports and racing legend Johnny O’Connell will now drive the final-generation Audi this year.
The only Ferrari 296 GT3 in the SRO America paddock is the #88 AF Corse USA Ferrari, driven by Brazilian Custodio Toledo, who also steps up from GT4 competition this season.
And to much delight, Mirco Schultis and MISHUMOTORS have brought back the #70 Callaway Corvette Z06.R GT3 for one more season of racing – and ensured that Corvette will be present at Sonoma after all!
The three GT2 entries feature a brand-new #44 GMG Racing Mercedes-AMG GT2, driven by Brent Holden – a longtime GMG driver who is returning to SRO America racing for the first time since 2019. TPC Racing is back for the first time since 2021 with a pair of Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2s for Alan Grossberg and Aaron Farhadi.
Three Aston Martin Vantage GT4s run in the GT4 class at Sonoma – the #13 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin of Todd Parriott, the Heart of Racing Team #24 driven by Gray Newell, and the Archangel Motorsports #69 of Todd Coleman.
Curt Swearingin of ACI Motorsports and Tom Kopczynski of RS1 will pull double-duty in their respective Porsche Caymans, as will Nicholas Shanny in the #21 Carrus Callas Raceteam BMW M4.
