Class of 2025 assembles!
On Wednesday evening, all of SRO America’s competitors gathered for the annual ‘Class of 2025’ photoshoot.
From left to right we see the cars from TC America, McLaren Trophy America, GR Cup North America, Pirelli GT4 America, and GT World Challenge America powered by AWS.
GMG Porsche, Regulator Mercedes lead after testing
GMG Racing led Thursday’s tests for GT3 cars, with the top time in the morning session set by the white #32 Porsche 911 GT3 R that Kyle Washington will drive in GT America powered by AWS this weekend.
The #32 GMG Porsche’s best time of 2:03.597 was quicker than Mikaël Grenier in the #34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3, then in third was Pro-Am points leader Robby Foley in the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO.
In the afternoon session, Philip Ellis led with a 2:04.226, leading his fellow Mercedes-AMG Performance Driver Grenier in second and Foley in third.
Jason Daskalos led the 30-minute Bronze test in his #27 CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, followed by Heart of Racing Team’s Gray Newell, and R.Ferri Motorsport’s Marc Muzzo, who’s back after the Canadian team skipped the Long Beach round.
On the GT4 side, it was ACI Motorsports’ super-sub Kay van Berlo who took the fastest time in the afternoon session. Van Berlo, who won the 2024 Pro-Am title alongside Curt Swearingin, is here this weekend to stand in for Loek Hartog in the #9 Porsche Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport.
Jonathan Neudorf led the morning GT4 test in the #3 JMF Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT4 ‘Evo’, and Laura Hayes’ #606 Thunder Bunny Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 was the surprise leader among GT4 cars in the late afternoon Bronze test.
LAB Motorsport Porsche back after Sonoma crash
Jean-Frederic Laberge and Kyle Marcelli are back in action this weekend for LAB Motorsport by GT Racing.
Their Sonoma weekend came to a sudden and premature end when Marcelli crashed during the second qualifying session on Saturday.
Thankfully, the car was not a total write-off and after a rebuild, the red #92 Porsche is already back on track, completing 43 laps in a pair of one-hour test sessions.
“There’s no question Sonoma was a disappointing start to our season,” Marcelli said heading into the weekend. “But I’m proud of the resilience and determination our team has shown to rebuild and move forward. I’m looking forward to COTA and the chance to claw back some valuable championship points.
“It will be JF’s first time here, so we’ll focus on getting him up to speed. Then we’ll work on dialling in the car. Personally, I enjoy racing here, but the race start can be a bit wild with everyone trying to take advantage of turn one.”
Skip Barber Racing riding high following GT4 Am win
When we last left the Pirelli GT4 America series, Skip Barber Racing Team’s Alex and Michael Garcia had finished second in their class during the Sunday race at Sonoma.
But just a couple of days later, the first-generation #07 Aston Martin Vantage GT4 had been promoted to first place in the Am class.
You might recall that RAFA Racing Team’s Anthony Geraci and Kenny Schmied had originally swept both races in their class. In Sonoma Race 2, Geraci was involved in a collision with Dome Racing’s Edward Killeen at turn one. Geraci drove through the shortcut from turn one to turn six and kept the lead even after a 30-second post-race time penalty was applied.
Skip Barber Racing Team appealed the penalty, which was then amended to 40 seconds for the #72 RAFA Racing Toyota, putting the #07 Aston Martin ahead by 7.8 seconds. That amended result also puts the team back into second place in the Am standings, ahead of Fast Track Racing’s Judson Holt and Dave Ogburn.
The Garcia brothers also excelled in SRO America’s other series – Michael picked up his debut TC America podium, while Alex earned the Hard Charger Award in GR Cup North America as he went from 25th on the grid to finish 9th in the Sunday race.
“Winning our first GT4 race was an absolutely unforgettable experience. But doing it alongside my brother made it even more special,” Alex said. “The hard work, the passion, and the shared dream all came together in that moment — proof that this is just the beginning and there are many, many more to come.”
Both drivers will be pulling double-duty again this weekend at Sonoma as Skip Barber Racing Team continues to challenge in four different series (GT4 America, TC America, GR Cup, and McLaren Trophy America).
OFFICIAL GT4 AMERICA RACE 2 RESULTS >>
Friday race kicks off McLaren Trophy triple-header
Due to the weather on Sunday morning at Sonoma, “Race 2” will now be the first race of a Texas triple-header.
The make-up race will start Friday at 2:15 PM CT (local time), with a 15-minute practice session scheduled for 9:30 AM beforehand.
All three races are scheduled to stream live on the McLaren Automotive YouTube channel.
One new entry that’s shown up this weekend is from RAFA Racing Club. Team owner Rafael Martinez will share the #821 McLaren Artura Trophy Evo with 2015 European Le Mans Series LMP2 Champion, Jon Lancaster.
Another John, Capesto-Dubets, led Thursday afternoon’s first practice session for GMG Racing.
Images © SRO Motorsports Group, RJ O’Connell/Dailysportscar.com
