The second round of the SRO GT World Challenge America season was held at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Texas, with a three-hour race in hazy and humid conditions. Turner Motorsport finished on the Pro class podium in second, while the two other BMWs showed good pace during the race.
The Turner Motorsport #29 M4 GT3 EVO of Robby Foley and Justin Rothberg qualified third overall and third in the Pro class, around a half-second off the combined qualifying time (both drivers qualify) of the #34 Mercedes-AMG of JMF Motorsports that was on the pole. Slade Steward and Andy Lee qualified eighth in Pro-Am in the #14 Riley Technologies M4 GT3 EVO, while Hampus Ericcson and Derrick DeBoer qualified twelfth in Pro-Am in the #99 Random Vandals BMW.
Once the three-hour race got underway, there were two quick caution periods within the first seventeen minutes, but then the rest of the race stayed green. Justin Rothberg, Slade Stewart and Derek DeBoer all put in solid stints in their respective cars, and DeBoer in particular had a great battle going on with Kyle Washington in a Porsche in the first half of the race. The Turner duo was helped somewhat by the demise of the #12 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3, which had a shifting issue and lost several laps early in the race. The Pro-class Ferrari had out-qualified the BMW and finished second in the previous race at Sonoma.
After pit stops and driver changes, the Turner BMW was in second behind the leading #34 Mercedes-AMG, which had a sizable lead. That lead vanished when the #34 was handed a drive-through penalty as well as a ten-second post-race penalty for incidents on the track. That made things interesting for a while, as Robby Foley could win the Pro class if he could stay within ten seconds of the Mercedes-AMG, but Mercedes-AMG driver Mikael Grenier was able to increase the gap to over ten seconds and hold on for the Pro class win, with the Turner car second in class and fourth overall. The overall race was won by a Pro-Am entry, the #31 Wright Motorsports Porsche. “It felt really good to finish on the podium for the first time in the Pro class,” said Rothberg. “Sonoma didn’t go as well as I had hoped – I felt like I still had more in me, so to come here and be competitive, fighting with the Pro class was good, and even to be fighting for the win. Hoping to get on the top step soon!”
Robby Foley (left) and Justin Rothberg on the Pro class podium.
The other two BMWs in the field showed good pace but finished further down the order, with the #14 Riley Technologies car in a solid seventh overall and fifth in the Pro-Am class. The #99 Random Vandals BMW ended up 13th overall and 10th in Pro-Am.
The SRO GT World Challenge America series will race next at Sebring International Raceway in Florida on May 5th-7th.
—David Haueter
[Photos courtesy SRO]
