The SRO GT World Challenge America and GT America series raced at the Road America circuit in Wisconsin this past weekend of August 17-18, 2024, and BMW teams scored wins and podium finishes among the four races. BMW fans also saw the debut of two new BMW M4 GT3 entries in the series.
New on the GT World Challenge entry for Road America were M4 GT3 entries from Random Vandals Racing and Flying Lizard Motorsports. The Random Vandals team has been racing BMWs for the last few years in both SRO GT4 America and IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, but they’re new to GT3 competition. The #99 car they entered in the Pro class at Road America was driven by Kenton Koch and Madison Snow. Koch is a regular in the teams GT4 car, while Snow was filling in for Conor Daly. Daly was initially on the entry but was called up for an Indy Car drive and had to bow out. He’s expected to be in the car at Barber Motorsports Park as well as the Indy 8 Hour finale.
Random Vandals Racing debuted their M4 GT3 at Road America.
The Flying Lizard team had been racing an Aston Martin in GT World Challenge this year, but switched to BMW as they believe the balance of performance (BoP) rules give them more chance of winning races with the BMW than the Aston Martin. Their car was purchased from Jeff Hull and is the car that Chandler Hull and Bill Auberlen drove last season with BimmerWorld Racing. It had been sitting all this year and the team picked it up, tested it and prepped it for Road America in only five days. The drivers in that car were Elias Sabo and Andy Lee.
Flying Lizard Motorsports switched from Aston Martin to BMW.
Race one ended for two of the BMW Pro class entries on the first lap, when Bill Auberlen in the #28 ST Racing M4 GT3 turned in on Madison Snow in the #99 Random Vandals car, who had the inside line on a corner. It wasn’t a big hit, but the contact spun Snow, and Auberlen was given a penalty for avoidable contact. The #38 ST Racing M4 GT3 of Neil Verhagen and Samantha Tan was also not a contender in race one. They elected to start on rain tires in expectation of rain starting early in the race (as did other teams) but had to pit for slicks when the rain never came, which put them down a lap.
Bill Auberlen and Varun Choksey had a challenging weekend.
Meanwhile, the #29 Turner Motorsport entry of Justin Rothberg and Robby Foley was in a strong position. Rothberg put in a strong stint after qualifying fourth, and once Foley was in the car he worked his way into second behind the leading Mercedes. With five minutes left after a caution, Foley made the pass for the Pro-Am class win. “It was a crazy race,” he said. “I wasn’t really expecting that full course yellow at the end, and to be honest, I didn’t really want it, but it worked out. My stint was pretty easy in the dry, and we had a great M4 GT3 under us today. Turner Motorsport provided us with a fantastic car, as they always do at this track.” The #38 BMW of Verhagen and Tan finished fourth in Pro-Am. The #8 Flying Lizard car finished in sixth in Pro-Am.
Justin Rothberg and Robby Foley (in center) celebrate their win at Road America.
Turner Motorsport looked to be in a very strong position for race two as well. Foley started from the overall and Pro-Am class pole and looked set to be on the podium before a flat tire late in the race took them out of contention. The #38 ST Racing M4 GT3 of Verhagen and Tan bounced back to finish second in the Pro-Am class and fourth overall. The #28 ST Racing BMW of Auberlen and Varun Choksey finished fourth in the Pro class and was followed in fifth by the #99 Random Vandals entry. There were only five cars in the Pro class. The #8 Flying Lizard car finished a solid fifth in Pro-Am.
ST Racing drivers Samantha Tan and Neil Verhagen lead the Pro-Am class championship.
Turner driver Justin Rothberg also had a great weekend in the #29 M4 GT3 that he drives in the GT America series SR03 class. He started from pole for the first race and went on to win on a wet track, holding off the Mercedes of Jason Daskalos. It was the second victory of the year for Rothberg in the series, after he won in the rain at VIR last month. “The braking zones and grip were changing every single lap,” he said after the race. “You couldn’t really have a memory bank. I was kind of just the test dummy going into every corner, but I pulled it together and kept it on the track. I’m very happy with the win!” Rothberg followed up the win in the first race with a second-place finish in race two, finishing behind James Sofronas who was driving an Audi.
Justin Rothberg won GT America race one in the rain.
With three races left to go (two at Barber Motorsports Park and the Indy 8 Hour finale), ST Racing drivers Samantha Tan and Neil Verhagen are leading the GT World Challenge Pro-Am class points, with Turner drivers Rothberg and Foley 45 points behind them in second place. The championship battle would be a lot closer if the Turner duo hadn’t had the bad luck with the flat tire in race two at Road America. In GT America, Justin Rothberg is in third place in driver points behind Johnny O’Connell and Jason Daskalos.
The SRO GT World Challenge America and GT America series will race next at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama on the weekend of September 6th-8th. —David Haueter
[Photos by SRO]