GT America powered by AWS rolled into Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin with large fanfare and a parade on Thursday, Aug. 17. The parade and street festival announced the series arrival and today the field of 29 kicked off on-track action at Road America with Practice One.
A mixture of wind, rain and sun made progression over the test day slow, but sunny skies and cool temperatures welcomed the official practice. As the tires heated up, the lap times naturally fell. Road America is a 4.048-mile, 14-turn circuit that allows drivers to push their limits and open the throttle, but as the longest track on the schedule, the lap times may seem slower than what fans are used to seeing competitors yield.
GT America has pulled itself back together after an abbreviated field put on a show at the Music City Grand Prix in Nashville. Jason Daskalos bested Memo Gidley to take over the points lead in the SRO3 Class. Meanwhile, Robb Holland took a proverbial chunk out of Ross Chouest's lead. The GT4 Class will drop a race at the end of the season for the points standings and when it is done, Holland will leapfrog Chouest and Jason Bell, who sits second.
SRO3 Class
George Kurtz didn’t need a street course to keep him in racing condition. He opened Practice One fastest overall and in the SRO3 Class. His Best Lap Time was a 2:03.616 in the No. 04 CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3. Memo Gidley may be a consistent race winner, but his name is not always near the top of the charts in practice. However, he seemed to have the No. 101 TKO Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 to second place in practice with a lap time of 2:04.179. Anthony Bartone in the No.427 RealTime Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 ran a 2:04.626 to round out the top three in practice. RealTime Racing will be an expectant fan favorite this weekend as the team is from neighboring Sheboygan.
GT4 Class
Elias Sabo made his presence known with a lap time of 2:16.167. He was fastest in the GT4 Class in the No. 8 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4. His teammate Jason Bell in the No. 2 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage was second quickest with a 2:16.518 lap time. Gray Newell kept the front of the field in British uniform, placing his No. 25 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 third in the class. He laid down a 2:16.668.
Let’s Go Racing
Practice Two for the GT America powered by AWS series takes place at 1:45 p.m. CT to cap off a day's work. Saturday, Aug. 19, is race day. Qualifying prefaces Race One with a 15-minute session at 8:05 a.m. Race One goes green at 12:55 p.m. To watch the races from home, subscribe to the YouTube channel GT World. Join in the conversation with Ash Vandelay by watching the stream on Twitch.