It seems like forever since the SRO GT America and GT World Challenge America series were in action, but there was really only two months between the last rounds at Sebring in mid-May and the races at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) this past weekend of July 19-20, 2025. VIR is the midpoint of the season, and Turner Motorsport (TMS) couldn’t have had the weekend go any better than it did.
TMS competes in both the GT America and GT World Challenge America (GTWCA) series with the M4 GT3 EVO. Justin Rothberg races the #29 car in the GT America single-driver sprint series and shares another M4 GT3 EVO with the same number in GTWCA with Robby Foley. In the four races over the VIR weekend (two each in both series), the number that came up next to the #29 car at the end of each race was number one, with Rothberg winning both GT America races and Foley and Rothberg winning the Pro-Am class in both GTWCA races.
Rothberg started from the pole in both GT America races and in both races, he never relinquished the lead. In race one he built up a gap to second place driver Memo Gidley in an Audi but had that gap disappear when there was a full course caution with fifteen minutes left. When the race went green again with around seven minutes left, Rothberg held off some initial pressure from Gidley on the restart but then built a gap back up to take the win.
Race two went much the same way as race one, with Rothberg starting from pole after setting the fastest lap in race one and holding off Gidley to win again. This was despite running with an additional 26kg of weight, which was given to Rothberg for being too fast as a Bronze-rated driver. Rothberg has a commanding lead in the championship after the two VIR wins. “It’s been a great season so far, especially sweeping this weekend,” he said. “It’s our second sweep of the season after we did it in Long Beach. The Turner guys have been giving me an amazing car. We’re having fun, and the other drivers are putting up a good fight.”
Justin Rothberg and Robby Foley stood over the number one in both GTWCA races at VIR.
The duo of Rothberg and Foley was just as successful in the pair of GTWCA races, though it wasn’t quite as easy as it looked. Rothberg started fourth in the Pro-Am class in race one and moved up to third but lost position when he went wide in the Oak Tree turn. When the #29 Turner car ended up eighth in class after pit stops cycled through, it seemed like a good result was not in the cards, but Foley put in a fantastic drive to finish third overall and first in class.
Foley started from pole in race two on Sunday, which was also his birthday, and turned the car over to Rothberg, who held off Corvette driver Blake McDonald to get the second GTWCA win of the weekend and make it four for four for Turner on the weekend. “This birthday is up there for sure,” said Foley. “Better than last year, I’ll tell you that much. It was an awesome weekend. Turner Motorsport gave us a great car; the crew had this thing really hooked up and we showed that today. These were tough track conditions out there. Justin did a great job. Blake put on a really good show trying to get by him, but Justin did a good job to stay in front.”
Kenton Koch and Connor De Phillippi finished on the Pro class podium in both races at VIR.
BMW team Random Vandals also had success in GTWCA at VIR, as well as some bad luck. In race one, Kenton Koch qualified the #99 M4 GT3 EVO on the Pro class pole and second overall, just a tenth of a second behind Mercedes-AMG factory driver Phillipp Ellis. Varun Choksey also put in a strong performance in the #51 team car, qualifying fourth, just 0.864 seconds behind Koch.
It looked like it would be a great race for the #51 car of Choksey and Bill Auberlen, as Choksey put the car in a great position before pitting and Auberlen came out in first place after pit stops. Unfortunately, the team got the timing wrong by a hair and left the pits before Choksey met the minimum drive time, which led to a penalty for Auberlen – who then had to serve an additional penalty for speeding in pit lane when he came in to serve the first penalty. The #99 car of Koch and Connor De Phillippi had a better race, finishing second in the Pro class after De Phillippi was passed by Jan Heylen in a Porsche for the win.
Bill Auberlen and Varun Choksey had a promising start to the VIR weekend but ended up playing catchup.
In race two, the Random Vandals cars started third (De Phillippi) and fourth in class (Auberlen), and the #99 car went on to finish third in the Pro class with Heylen once again getting the win in his Porsche. The duo of Auberlen and Choksey finished fourth in the Pro class and sixth overall.
The SRO GT America and GT World Challenge America series will be in action again at Road America in Wisconsin on August 14th-17th.
—David Haueter
[Photos courtesy Fred Hardy/SRO]
