- Long Yellow Sessions Shorten Race Two
- Memo Gidley Wins Overall
- Local Jason Bell Wins GT4 Class
- Results
Race Two of GT America powered by AWS at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg showcased active starts by SRO3 and GT4 classes, with the SRO3 Class bringing out a yellow at the beginning, followed by the GT4 Class bringing out a yellow on the restart.
Damage from two incidents shortened drivers' green lap time, but the field made it well worth the crowd's time. SRO3 Class winner was held accountable by James Sofronas. Hometown hero Jason Bell roared to a win to a cheering crowd filled with friends and family.
SRO3 Class
The SRO3 Class began the race with a bit of drama in the mid-field. Andy Wilzoch in the Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R made contact with the wall after Turn 4 and ended his race early. Meanwhile, Memo Gidley in the TKO Motorsports No. 101 Mercedes AMG GT3 took over the lead from pole sitter James Sofronas.
Sofranas, in the No. 14 Audi R8 LMS of GMG Racing, stayed close throughout the race but with under 10 minutes of green flag racing, he would take the checkered flag in second. He was followed across the start/finish line by Race One winner Jason Daskalos in the No. 27 Mercedes AMG GT3.
“Today was every bit the same as yesterday without the darkness,” Gidley said. “People can’t imagine the restarts here. The tires seem warm, but you’re like a deer on linoleum. You’re slipping and sliding all over the place. James was right on me the whole time, so I couldn’t just backpedal a little bit; I had to go. It was like one-lap sprint races.”
GT4 Class
The GT4 Class had a clean start, with pole-sitter Jason Bell in the No. 2 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 maintaining his position. Bell finished Race One in third after missing out on the win on the final lap. Redemption looked effortless as he had a sizeable lead over Gray Newell and his Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4.
The space between Bell and Newell had a story of its own, with Race One pole sitter Todd Coleman spinning on the restart and Ross Chouest receiving damage as the two collectively pushed for Bell’s top spot. Tony Gapels of Blackdog Speed Shop in the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R kept his cool to take over third place.
“Flying Lizard gave me a really good car,” Bell said. “Yesterday, we had some unfortunate luck but were lucky overall, being able to finish the race. I’d rather race than run under yellow. But we got a few clean laps at the end, and I was able to show what the car was capable of doing.”
Race Two completes the opening weekend of GT America powered by AWS. The series joins Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS, Pirelli GT4 America, TC America powered by Skip Barber and Toyota GR Cup North America at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California, March 30 through April 2.
The live timing and scoring and session reports are available at gtamerica.us. Check out race live streams for free on YouTube at GT World. Get up-to-the-minute info on the GT America powered by AWS social channels on Facebook @srogtamerica, Instagram @gt_america and Twitter @gt_america_.
