The SRO Motorsport America series—including GT World Challenge America (GTWCA), GT America, GT4 America and TC America—visited Sebring International Raceway in Florida the weekend of May 9th-10th for the third round of the season. It was a very productive weekend for BMW teams in the Florida heat, with Turner Motorsport getting an overall win in GTWCA and BMW teams winning in two different classes in GT4 America.
GT World Challenge America
Turner Motorsport qualified strong at Sebring for GTWCA, slotting into fourth overall, around a 0.5 slower than the pole-sitting JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG that was leading the Pro class championship coming into the race. Once the three-hour race got underway, the Turner duo of Justin Rothberg and Robby Foley both had strong stints, with Rothberg moving into third and holding off pressure from a Ferrari, and Foley moving up into second with about an hour to go.
Robby Foley (left) and Justin Rothberg celebrate their first Pro class win.
It appeared that the #34 Mercedes-AMG would win overall, as the car had a 20-second advantage over Foley in the BMW with less than an hour to go, but the Mercedes-AMG came to a stop in the final hour with engine trouble, giving Foley the lead in the BMW. Foley then held off pressure from Cameron Lawrence in a Mustang to take the team’s first win in the Pro class, after moving over from Pro-Am last year. “It was good fun, it was tough,” said Foley. “The track temperature started dropping, so it took me a while to get my tires going at the end there. But once we did, the Turner guys and girls gave me a great BMW today and it’s awesome to get back in victory lane, especially for the first time in the Pro class and an overall win.”
Random Vandals Racing had a good run going until a clutch issue forced retirement.
Derek DeBoer had a strong opening stint in the #99 Random Vandals Racing M4 GT3 EVO that he shares with Hampus Ericsson, moving up into fifth in the Pro-Am class after qualifying in eighth. Unfortunately, the car had a clutch issue and the team had to retire the car with less than an hour to go. The #14 Riley Technologies M4 GT3 EVO of Slade Stewart and Andy Lee finished a solid comeback drive to seventh in the Pro-Am class after qualifying in 11th and serving a penalty early in the race.
Slade Stewart and Andy Lee finished seventh in the Pro-Am class after a penalty.
GT4 America
There were 10 M4 GT4 EVO entries in the pair of GT4 America races at Sebring, and BMWs came away with four class wins and four additional podium finishes in the three different classes (Silver, Pro-Am, Am). There were four BMWs in the top 10 in qualifying for the first race, but we’ve consistently seen that the BMWs race better than they qualify.
Random Vandals Racing duo Sam Craven and Kenton Koch won both Pro-Am class races at Sebring.
Sam Craven had a strong start in race one in the #94 Random Vandals Racing M4 GT4 EVO that he shares with Kenton Koch in the Pro-Am class, and the duo took the class win and finished third overall behind two Silver class entries, including the #51 Auto Technic Racing M4 GT4 EVO of Kevin Boehm and Francis Selldorff, which finished second in Silver. The #98 Random Vandals Racing duo of Josh Green and Bruno Columbo had a strong race going in the Silver class and initially finished second, but a post-race penalty for contact with another car dropped them to eighth in class. The BimmerWorld duo of James Clay and James Walker, Jr. won in the Am class, with the #188 Random Vandals Racing BMW of Judson Holt and Denny Stripling in third.
James Clay and James Walker, Jr. won the Am class in race one and finished third in race two.
There was a lot of bumping and banging in race two, which is typical for GT4 America, and contact impacted two of the BMWs, with Tyler McQuarrie getting hit and spun on the first lap in his #38 BimmerWorld entry, and the #51 that finished second in Silver taking contact that resulted in a DNF. The #94 duo of Craven and Koch had another strong race, holding off pressure from the #33 McLaren to take their second class win of the weekend and third place overall. In the Silver class, Green and Columbo bounced back from their race one disappointment to finish third.
Brothers Alex and Michael Martinez won the Am class in race two.
The #21 ACI Motorsports M4 GT4 EVO won the Am class with brothers Micael and Alex Garcia and finished eighth overall, followed on the podium by BimmerWorld duo Clay and Walker Jr. in third. “It’s always a little anxious seeing your big brother out there leading, but I knew we had the pace and the car,” said Alex Garcia. “The team put together an amazing car and setup for us, and we knew if we kept it clean, we could be on top. Here we are.”
TC America
There’s still only one of the new M2 Racing cars competing in the TC America class, with Robert Bellevue driving the #76 car for DRS. Bellevue finished 10th and 1th in the two races at Sebring. According to BMW of North America, there have been 19 M2 Racing cars delivered in the past couple of months, with several more in transit. It’s unclear how many of these cars will end up in the SRO TC America series versus the IMSA Airbnb Endurance Challenge (where the M2 is supposed to have its own class), but we should start seeing more of them soon in one or both series.
Robert Bellevue drove the sole M2 Racing entry at Sebring.
The next race weekend for the SRO America championships will be at Road Atlanta on June 12th-14th.
—David Haueter
[Photos by SRO]
