Turner Motorsport and Random Vandals Racing have both announced racing programs in SRO GT World Challenge America (GTWCA) for 2026.
Two-time defending Pro-Am class champs Turner Motorsport will return with Robby Foley and Justin Rothberg (shown in top photo) driving the #36 M4 GT3 EVO, but this time in the Pro class. The move to the Pro class is a step up for the duo, who won the Pro-Am class championships in 2024 and 2025. That move was necessitated by Rothberg being moved from a FIA Bronze driver rating to Silver, as GTWCA rules require at least one driver in a Pro-Am entry to be Bronze-rated.
Rothberg will also focus on GTWCA in 2026 rather than pulling double-duty in both GTWCA and the single driver GT America championship, which he also won in 2026 and is for Bronze-rated drivers only. “I’m super excited to be returning to World Challenge this season with Robby, Turner Motorsport, and LATICRETE,” said Rothberg. “This season will definitely be a challenge moving up to the pro class, but I think we’ve got a great team and playbook to maximize our chances at success. I know Robby and everyone at Turner are ready for the occasion, and I’ll just have to get used to chasing faster rabbits, and we’ll see what we can do!
Random Vandals Racing is also returning to GTWCA as defending champs, as they won the GTWCA Pro class in 2026 with drivers Connor De Phillippi and Kenton Koch, and also ran a second Pro class car for Bill Auberlen and Varun Choksey. Random Vandals will scale down to one car in GTWCA and move to the Pro-Am class with drivers Derek DeBoer and Hampus Ericsson in the #99 M4 GT3 EVO.
Hampus Ericsson is the younger brother of Indy Car driver Marcus Ericsson, and is the reigning Lamborghini Super Trofeo Pro class champion. He has past experience in Formula 4 and British Formula 3 before moving to sports cars. DeBoer has a lot of GT3 experience and competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship last year in an Aston Martin. “SRO is where my professional career took shape, and everything I’ve accomplished since – from ELMS to WEC and the 24 hours of Le Mans, it all traces back to the foundation I built here,” said DeBoer. “Coming back feels right and like coming home! I’m energized by this new team, this new challenge, the opportunity and honestly, after racing against those BMWs for three years, I’m ready to see what Hampus and I can accomplish behind the wheel of one.”
The move to one car in the Pro-Am class for Random Vandals is a bit of a surprise, as they were considering racing in both the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and GTWCA after last season. As such, it appears that works driver Bill Auberlen will be limited to a GT4 program in 2026, as he’s paired with Samantha Tan in a Random Vandals Racing M4 GT4 EVO in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge.
The SRO GT World Challenge America season opens at Sonoma Raceway in California on the weekend of March 27th-29th.
—David Haueter
[Photos courtesy Turner Motorsport, Random Vandals Racing]
