Justin Rothberg came into this year’s SRO GT America championship as a favorite to win the drivers championship after falling short by just one point of the title in 2024. He was a little rusty in the opening two rounds at Sonoma but still finished second in race two there, and if the two races at Long Beach on the weekend of April 12-13, 2025, are anything to go by, he’s now back up to speed in the M4 GT3 EVO.
Rothberg qualified fourth in the SR03 class for the first GT America race at Long Beach, with veteran driver James Sofronas on the pole in an Audi. Rothberg initially fell back to fifth at the start but worked his way back into second by the closing stages, with Sofronas well in front of everyone. Unfortunately for Sofronas, who has his Global Motorsports Group shop nearby, the driveshaft failed on his Audi with minutes to go in the race, giving the win to Rothberg. Elias Sabo qualified in sixth in his Flying Lizard Motorsport M4 GT3 EVO and finished ninth.
Justin Rothberg (middle) celebrates his race one win.
Rothberg started second in race two, with the second race grid determined by the fastest laps in race one, with Corvette driver Blake McDonald starting from pole. Rothberg wasted no time in getting by McDonald on the first lap and was never seriously challenged, putting in a strong drive on the tight street circuit to get his second win of the weekend. “A weekend sweep at Long Beach was unexpected, but feels amazing,” he said. “The first race was a real fight, and the second was more just trying to hit my marks and bring the car clean while maintaining the gap. This is one of the coolest tracks to win at – not only once but twice. The Turner team gave me an incredible car both days, and I’m looking forward to COTA in two weeks with some good momentum behind us.”
Elias Sabo finished third in the SR03 class in race two.
Elias Sabo also had a strong race in the Flying Lizard BMW, finishing on the podium in third, after he benefited from contact between the two cars in front of him, which took one of them out of the race and resulted in a penalty for the other. Sabo’s fastest lap in the #80 M4 GT3 was less than two-tenths of a second behind Rothberg’s fastest lap.
There were also two BMW M4 GT4 entries in the GT4 class, which only had three cars competing at Long Beach. The BMWs of Fast Track Racing driver Judson Holt #188) and Random Vandals Racing’s Paul Sparta (#98) diced for the class lead in both races, with Sparta starting from pole in both but Holt ending up winning both. Sparta was under heavy pressure from Holt in race one and ended up off the track but recovered to finish. In race two, Sparta was in the lead when he suffered a flat tire, handing the win to Holt to make it two for two on the weekend.
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- Fast Track Racing driver Judson Holt won both GT4 class races.
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- Paul Sparta was on the GT4 class pole in both races but had bad luck in both.
The GT America series will race next at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas on April 25th-27th, where they will also share the weekend once again with GT World Challenge, GT4 America and TC America.
—David Haueter
[Photos by Kyle van Hoften]
