It was a mostly successful weekend for the BMW teams competing in the SRO GT America and SRO GT World Challenge America races at a hot and humid Virginia International Raceway (VIR), though there where some disappointments as well.
In GT America, which is a single-driver sprint series for GT3 and GT4 spec cars, Justin Rothberg scored his first win in the series in a rain-soaked race one on Saturday in the #29 Turner Motorsport M4 GT3. With qualifying rained out, Rothberg started from pole position after setting the fastest lap time in practice, which was used to set the grid for the race. Heavy rain before and during the first part of the race led to the first 24 minutes being run behind the safety car, with a lot of standing water on the track and poor visibility. The green flag flew with just 16 minutes to go, and Rothberg did a great job of staying on the track in the wet conditions and holding off veteran championship-winning driver Johnny O’Connell, who was pressuring him in an Audi.
Rothberg and O’Connell did some fender banging on the last lap as Rothberg kept the lead and won the race. Rothberg and O’Connell also had a great battle going in race two, as Rothberg moved from third in class at the start to second, pressuring O’Connell to the end and finishing just 0.118 seconds behind in second. “Justin had a great weekend in GT America winning race one and finishing second in race two,” said coach Robby Foley. “Overall, it was a great weekend for him. It’s awesome to see his progression. He’s been driving better and better each time he’s gotten in the car.”
ST Racing drivers Samantha Tan and Neil Verhagen finished second in Pro-Am in both races.
In GT World Challenge, a battle between two BMW factory drivers in the first race led to a retirement for the #29 Turner Motorsport M4 GT3 and a penalty for the #38 ST Racing M4 GT3. Robby Foley was at the wheel of the #29 car and battling for position with Neil Verhagen who didn’t want to give it up. The two made contact and Foley went hard into the tire wall at turn three, which ended their race. Verhagen was issued a drive-through penalty for the incident, but he and Samantha Tan fought back to finish second in the Pro-Am class. The duo also had a strong run in race two, finishing second once again in Pro-Am, while the #29 Turner Motorsport car of Robby Foley and Justin Rothberg finished fourth. The car Turner used on Sunday in the second race was the car that Rothberg drives in GT America, as the car that was wrecked in the first race had chassis damage and was not repairable at the track.
Bill Auberlen and Varun Choksey had a weekend to forget in the Pro class.
In the Pro class, Bill Auberlen and Varun Choksey had a disappointing weekend with the #28 ST Racing M4 GT3. Auberlen qualified third overall for the first race and both showed good pace, but the car suffered a cut tire late in the race and they were classified fifth in class out of five cars. In race two, Auberlen had to serve a penalty late in the race after contact with a Porsche while trying to get around him, which set them back once again to fifth in class.
The SRO GT America and GT World Challenge America series will race next at the Road America circuit in Wisconsin on August 16th-18th. A new BMW M4 GT3 entry will be on the grid for the Road America race, as Random Vandals Racing debuts their M4 GT3 with drivers Kenton Koch and Conor Daly. That car was on display at VIR and had a test session at the track on Thursday.
Random Vandals Racing will debut their M4 GT3 at Road America.
—David Haueter
[Photos by David Haueter]
