The GT America Powered by AWS field traveled to the west coast for the second round of the championship, taking to the California streets for the Grand Prix of Long Beach presented by 5.11. The weekend featured two action-packed 40-minute races, with thrilling battles emerging across all classes as both events ran green from start to finish.
Three competitors stood above the rest, with Jason Daskalos, Dan Knox, and Isaac Sherman completing a clean sweep of the weekend in their respective SRO3, GT2, and GT4 Classes.
Before moving on to the upcoming round at Sebring International Raceway, take a look at some of the highlights from the weekend.
- GT America Powered by AWS was the only series across the Grand Prix of Long Beach weekend to complete all sessions and races without a full course yellow.
- Jason Daskalos was victorious in the SRO3 Class in his No. 27 CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, winning both Race 1 and Race 2 following intense battles with the likes of fellow contenders Johnny O’Connell and James Sofronas. Following his triumphs at Long Beach, in addition to winning the opening race at Sonoma, Daskalos moved himself into the championship lead, with 83 points so far.
- Johnny O’Connell in the No. 3 SKI Autosports Audi R8 LMS GT3 and James Sofronas in the No. 14 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 each added a second and third-place finish to their tallies.
- Dan Knox had a flawless weekend in the GT2 Class, picking up double positions and both wins in the No. 10 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT2.
- With two wins in the opening round, accompanied by two second-place results in Long Beach, Aaron Fahardi (No. 127 TPC Racing Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2) retains the GT2 championship lead with 86 points.
- With four back-to-back podium finishes, including two third-place finishes in Long Beach, Brent Holden (No. 44 GMG Racing Mercedes-AMG GT2) sits second in the championship with 63 points.
- Isaac Sherman continued his winning streak, securing his fourth consecutive victory this past weekend in his No. 098 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport. His perfect score has allowed him to amass 100 points in the GT4 championship, further cementing his strong grasp over the top spot in the standings.
- The Grand Prix of Long Beach presented by 5.11 saw one-off appearances in the GT4 Class from Robb Holland (No. 099 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport) and Samantha Tan (No. 38 ST Racing BMW M4 GT4), both of whom stood on the podium during the event with respective second-place finishes.
- Curt Swearingin completed the podium in Race 1 with his No. 7 ACI Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport. Meanwhile, Gray Newell, who is currently second on the championship leaderboard, added another podium to his collection with a third-place result in Race 2 on board the No. 25 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4.
- In the SRO3 Class, Jason Daskalos went quickest in Race 1 with a time of 1:19.511, which was also the fastest lap set across the weekend as a whole. In Race 2, the CrowdStrike Fastest Lap award went to Kyle Washington in the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3-R with a flying lap time of 1:19.725.
- Dan Knox set the fastest lap in Race 1 in the GT2 Class with a time of 1:21.246, while Aaron Fahardi just narrowly went quicker in Race 2 with a time of 1:21.216.
- Isaac Sherman set the fastest time in both races in the GT4 Class, with very competitive lap times of 1:25.811 in Race 1 and 1:25.733 in Race 2.
- A total of 60 laps were completed across both races, with an equal split of 30 laps per race.
- The 2024 season will continue in two short weeks at the iconic Sebring International Raceway from May 3rd to 5th.