- Memo Gidley Extends Winning Streak in SRO3
- David Lecko Wins in Cup Class
- Jozsef Petkes Returns to Victory Lane in GT4
- Race 1 Provisional Results
GT America powered by AWS delivered a dramatic opening race at Circuit of The Americas for CieloVision GT World Texas powered by Samsung, with the overall victory only decided in the final corners. Tony Davis started from pole position for the first time in his GT America career and controlled the pace for much of the race, but Memo Gidley remained within striking distance from start to finish, ultimately pulling off a decisive last-lap move to claim his third consecutive victory of the season.
SRO3 Class
Davis led the field to green from pole in the No. 04 HP-TECH Motorsport Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO, but Gidley wasted no time applying pressure on board his No. 56 SKI AUTOSPORTS Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVOII, moving past Scott Blind for second place after the opening sequence of corners on the first lap. From there, the top three quickly locked into formation, with Davis, Gidley and Blind never allowing one another to escape.
Gidley continued to close in on Davis as the race progressed, while Blind remained firmly on his tail in third in the No. 45 Ruckus Racing Porsche 911 GT3-R (992) EVO. Behind them, Ross Chouest and Dan Knox became locked in a fierce fight for fourth place with their respective No. 50 Chouest Povoledo Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R and No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 machines.
Kyle Washington, running sixth at the time, also showed strong pace and posted the quickest lap of the race with 23 minutes remaining before Gidley later improved the benchmark with a 2:08.030.
Although the race eventually settled into a rhythm, the lead battle never truly went quiet. Davis delivered a composed drive at the front, while Gidley continued to stalk him lap after lap. Blind remained in the podium fight, but a five-second penalty for a pre-race procedure violation would later impact his outcome.
On the final lap, Gidley made his move. After pressuring Davis all race long, he found his opportunity in the closing corners, completing a tight but decisive pass to take the lead and secure his third straight GT America victory. Davis crossed the line in second, while Chouest was promoted to the final step of the podium following Blind’s penalty.
“The team was awesome,” said Gidley during the podium celebrations. “I love seeing this many GT America drivers out in the field now and I really appreciate being out there. It's just a dream come true for me.”
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Cup Class
David Lecko continued his strong run in the Cup class, bringing home the victory in his Ginetta after another controlled performance. The win added to a standout weekend for the marque at Circuit of The Americas, as Lecko once again capitalized on clean execution and consistent pace at his home event.
GT4 Class
In GT4, Jozsef Petkes returned to victory lane with his No. 83 RCX Motorsport Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport, claiming the class win ahead of Craig Lumsden in the No. 610 Colorado Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 (G82) EVO. After earning his debut series victory last season at Indianapolis, Petkes delivered another strong performance to secure the top spot in class at COTA.
“I really enjoy driving in the GT4 class,” said Petkes. “I’ve never tried a GT3 car, so I can’t tell you how different they are. When the SRO3 class races by you, they are really fast, to tell you the truth, but that’s what makes it fun. Everyone in this series does a really good job.”
Let’s Get Racing
The GT America powered by AWS will return to the track for Race 2 on Sunday morning, April 26th at 9:40 AM CT.
If you can’t make it to Circuit of The Americas, be sure to tune-in to SRO’s free live streams all weekend long on SRO RaceControl, YouTube (GTWorld) and Twitch (SROMotorsports) and follow all the action through our social media channels and the event hashtag #GTCOTA.