The SRO Motorsports Group America series opened their 2025 season at Sonoma Raceway in California this past weekend of March 29, 2025, with BMW entries spread among GT3 and GT4 classes in three different championships. BMW teams Random Vandals Racing and Turner Motorsport proved they will be contenders in their respective GT World Challenge America classes this season, with opening weekend wins.
GT World Challenge America
There are three BMW M4 GT3 EVO entries in the GT3-spec GT World Challenge America (GTWCA) championship this season, with two entries from Random Vandals Racing, and single entries from Turner Motorsport and Flying Lizard Motorsport.
The Random Vandals Racing team is in their first full season of GTWCA competition, with two Pro class M4 GT3 EVO cars and talented drivers. Kenton Koch made a statement in qualifying by putting the #99 M4 GT3 EVO that he shares with Connor De Phillippi on the Pro class and overall pole, beating out Mercedes-AMG factory driver Philipp Ellis. The second qualifying session (GTWCA holds two races per weekend, with qualifying sessions for each) was red-flagged, but De Phillippi managed to get in a lap time that put the car the Pro class pole for the second race as well.
Bill Auberlen and Varun Choksey battled back from qualifying issues to have strong showings in both GTWCA races.
The second Random Vandals Racing Pro class entry of Bill Auberlen and Varun Choksey didn’t fare as well in qualifying. Auberlen was one of the quickest drivers in practice in the #51 M4 GT3 EVO, but a clutch sensor issue kept the team from qualifying in either session, which meant they had to start from the back in both races. In the Pro-Am class, Turner Motorsport driver Justin Rothberg qualified the #29 M4 GT3 EVO in fourth for race one, and co-driver Robby Foley qualified third for race two. Flying Lizard Motorsports drivers Elias Sabo and Andy Lee qualified the #8 M4 GT3 EVO tenth and eleventh in the Pro-Am class in the two sessions.
Robby Foley and Justin Rothberg won the GTWCA Pro-Am class in race one.
The highlight of race one was watching Bill Auberlen carve through the field in the #51 M4 GT3 EVO. He had to start from 19th but sliced his way through slower traffic to get into the top six within fifteen minutes and put the car in a good position for Choksey after pitting. Kenton Koch stayed in the lead in the Pro class until pitting, but a slow pit stop brought De Phillippi out behind Mercedes-AMG factory driver Mikael Grenier, who was able to hold off De Phillippi until the end. They didn’t get a win in race one, but the Random Vandals Racing team had a great debut, finishing second (#99) and third overall (#51) and in the Pro class.
In Pro-Am, Justin Rothberg held third position in class for his stint before handing off to Robby Foley, who took the lead in class with 24 minutes left. The Turner duo, who are defending Pro-Am class champs from 2024, went on to win the first race of the year. “It was awesome,” said Foley. “We had a great new M4 GT4 EVO today. The guys at Turner Motorsport gave me a great setup. We tried to set sail during the race, and it got interesting at the end with Colin (Braun) catching us. I was behind a group of other cars and I didn’t want to get involved in their race, but all in all it was a great day.” The #8 Flying Lizard Motorsports M4 GT3 EVO of Elias Sabo and Andy Lee finished tenth in Pro-Am.
Race two once again showed the competitiveness of the BMWs. Instead of Auberlen having to start from last and work his way through the field, it was Varun Choksey’s turn, as the team made the call to put him into the car for the opening stint when most teams started their pro drivers. Choksey proved that he can hold his own by gaining several positions to put the car in ninth before handing over to Auberlen. The #99 Random Vandals car had a good start, with Connor De Phillippi staying in the lead in the Pro class, but a slow pit stop (due to a fuel flow issue while refueling) made it more challenging for Kenton Koch once he took over. A caution period changed everything, as it brought the cars closer together and gave Koch a chance to fight for the win.
Koch had a great battle with Porsche driver Alex Sedgwick in the last fifteen minutes and had the added challenge of holding off the #34 Mercedes-AMG that was running in third place. He made a bold pass on the Porsche with 1:30 left to get the win, with the sister car of Auberlen and Choksey finishing fourth. “It was kind of tricky there in the final corner with some of the water drying up, and I think he (Sedgwick) got just a little wide off the corner,” said Koch. “He was stronger in the corners, and the one time he made a mistake in a corner, I was finally able to capitalize on our strength. I knew I was strong up the hill in corner one, so I just stuffed my nose in there. We touched a little bit, but it was good. I actually really enjoyed racing with Alex. Hopefully there’s more of this to come!”
The potential battle between the two Random Vandals Racing Pro class entries should be something to watch this season. The #51 car with Auberlen and Choksey driving proved to be just as quick as the #99 car with Koch and De Phillippi, and the two entries would likely have been mixing it up more if the #51 car hadn’t had to start from the back in both races.
In Pro-Am, the Turner Motorsport M4 GT3 EVO started in third with Robby Foley at the wheel, and he held that position before handing over to Justin Rothberg, who put in a solid drive to maintain third despite strong pressure from behind. The Turner duo had a great start to the season, as they seek to defend their championship from 2024. “We had a great weekend at Sonoma to kick off the year,” said Foley. “Justin did a fantastic job getting up to speed, and we had great cars all weekend. We leave here with strong points.”
The #8 Flying Lizard Motorsport M4 GT3 EVO of Andy Lee and Elias Sabo finished seventh in the Pro-Am class.
GT America
The GT America championship is a single-driver sprint race with no required pit stops that features both GT3 (SRO3) and GT4 classes (GT4). Turner Motorsport driver Justin Rothberg just missed out on the championship last year and came in as a favorite at Sonoma but was a little rusty in getting up to speed in the M4 GT3 EVO. “I was really nervous coming into this weekend,” he admitted. “I had not touched a car since last October. Haven’t even driven a go-kart, nothing!”
Justin Rothberg survived treacherous conditions to finish second in GT America race two.
It was clear that Rothberg was still getting up to speed, as he only qualified sixth in class and finished fifth in race one. Flying Lizard Motorsport driver Elias Sabo was up to speed in the #8 M4 GT3 EVO, qualifying second and putting in a strong drive to finish second in race one. The Fast Track Racing M4 GT4 EVO entry of Denny Stripling finished fifth in class, with the GT4 win going to the #69 Toyota Supra.
Elias Sabo finished second in the GT America SRO3 class in race one.
Race two for GT America on Sunday morning was a washout, with most of the race run under caution. Justin Rothberg got up into fifth and ended up second after attrition took out some other cars, which gave him a podium finish behind the #32 Porsche. Denny Stripling was classified fifth in GT4 after leaving the race after seven laps after contact with another car.
Denny Stripling battles with a Porsche in the very wet GT America race two.
The next race for GT World Challenge America is at Circuit of the Americas on April 25th-27th. The GT America series races before that, as they will join the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Long Beach on April 11th-13th.
—David Haueter
[Photos courtesy SRO]
