It’s been well over two months since the last SRO GT World Challenge America series (GTWCA) race, but the series was finally back in action at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin for a three-hour race on August 30th. It ended up being a bad day for a lot of teams in the series, but a very good day for Turner Motorsport.
There were 24 entries for Road America, which is the most that the series has had in a race since 2017. Among them were three BMW M4 GT3 EVOs, with the #29 Turner Motorsport car driven by Robby Foley and Justin Rothberg (shown in top photo), the #14 Riley Technologies car of Andy Lee and Slade Stewart and the #99 Random Vandals Racing entry of Derek DeBoer and Hampus Eriksson. The #29 car runs in the top Pro class, with the #14 and #99 both in Pro-Am.
Turner Motorsport was in the top four the entire race, and in first when it counted.
In GTWCA qualifying, each driver gets a session and the two times are average out for a combined lap time. The Turner duo of Foley and Rothberg had a combined time good for second on the grid behind the #12 Ferrari, with less than three-tenths of a second separating the two cars. The #14 BMW qualified ninth in the Pro-Am class, with the #99 right behind them in 10th.
The three-hour race at Road America was a race of attrition. Within the first 30 minutes there were three caution periods, including a four-car pileup that was triggered by #14 BMW driver Slade Stewart and which resulted in a penalty. Through it all, the #29 BMW of Foley and Rothberg were able to stay out of trouble and in the top four overall. With around an hour left, Foley had hunted down the two leaders, took over first place and held on for the win.
Robby Foley (right), Will Turner (center) and Justin Rothberg celebrate their win.
The win for Turner Motorsport was their second of the season and narrowed the gap between them and the JMF Motorsport Mercedes-AMG duo of Michai Stephens and Mikael Greiner, who finished second at Road America. With just two races left, Foley and Rothberg trail the Mercedes-AMG drivers by just five points. “The Turner guys and girls gave us a great car,” said Foley. “I got the car from fourth in Pro, and there were some different strategies happening, but I caught the two leaders and then got stuck there. But then everybody pitted under the full-course caution, and I had the chance to have a go at the leader on the restart. I got that done and then kind of just tried to set sail from there and manage the gap and my tires. It was a great points day. Obviously, it’s always awesome to win races, and we’re looking forward to fighting for the championship.”
Random Vandals Racing finished tenth in Pro-Am after showing good speed earlier in the race.
Both of the other BMWs in the field experienced issues. The #99 Random Vandals Racing BMW looked very competitive early in the race with Derek DeBoer at the wheel but then had a turbo-related issue later in the race and finished tenth in the Pro-Am class. The #14 BMW had the penalty for causing the accident early in the race and later had a DNF. There were eight cars that didn’t finish the race.
Riley Technologies had a rough day, with a penalty and a DNF.
The next round of the GTWCA championship will be at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama on September 25th-27th, followed by the season final at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on October 8th-10th.
—David Haueter
[Photos courtesy SRO]