The entry lists published for the March 6–8 SRO season opener at Circuit of the Americas reveals a strong BMW presence in the series.
Touring Car
In the Touring Car class, that runs two 40-minute sprints per weekend, ten of the fourteen cars on the grid will be BMWs, including:
- A new M240i Racing for returning champion Johan Schwartz. With Rooster Hall Racing, the team with which he won the title last year, absent from the grid this season, Schwartz will run for Hard Motorsport.
- Two M240iRs for BimmerWorld, including one for team owner James Clay and another for Chandler Hull, the 2019 TC rookie of the year.
- Three M240iRs for Classic BMW, with one for Toby Grahovec, the series’ 2016 champion, and one each for Phil Bloom and John Rader.
- Three M240iRs for AutoTechnic, including one each for Tom Capizzi, Rob Slonaker, and Bruce Robson.
- An M235iR from Lone Star Racing for Zane Hodgen.
Jeff Ricca, one of BMW’s toughest competitors in the class, has switched from a Hyundai Genesis to a Hyundai Veloster this season.
Chandler Hull is back in a BimmerWorld M240iR.
Touring Car A
In the Touring Car A class, which also runs a pair of 40-minute sprints per weekend, the Mini JCW team is back with two cars, one for Tomas Mejia and another for Mark Pombo.
Mark Pombo will pilot one of the two Minis in TCA.
GT4
In the GT4 Sprint X class, where racers run two 60-minute races with a driver change at each event, the BMW lineup includes:
- Returning 2019 champions Greg Liefooghe and Sean Quinlan in a Stephen Cameron Racing M4 GT4.
- Bill Auberlen and James Walker, Jr., who raced an Alfa Romeo in TCR in 2019, in a BimmerWorld M4 GT4.
- Toby Grahovec and John Rader in a Classic BMW M4 GT4.
- A pair of M4 GT4s entered by ST Racing, one for Samantha Tan and Jon Miller, and another for Harry Gottsacker and Nick Wittmer.
- Cole Ciraulo and Tim Barber in a CCR Team TFB M4 GT4.
In the GT4 Sprint Class, where racers run two 50-minute sprints per event, there are three M4 GT4s on the COTA entry list, including one from Classic BMW for Toby Grahovec, one from Stephen Cameron Racing for Sean Quinlan, and another from Precision Driving Tech for Marko Radisic.
Greg Liefooghe and Henry Schmitt will again run the Stephen Cameron Racing M6 GT3.
GT World Challenge
In SRO’s GT World Challenge America class, where GT3 cars run two 90-minute enduros per weekend, Stephen Cameron Racing is back with an M6 GT3 for Greg Liefooghe and Henry Schmitt. A second M6 GT3 from Turner Motorsport will run selected events this season; it is not on the COTA entry list.—Brian Morgan
[Photo of ST Racing M4 GT4s courtesy ST Racing. Other photos courtesy Brian Morgan.]