- Justin Rothberg Sets the Pace in SRO3 Class
- Isaac Sherman Back On Top in GT4
- Practice 1 Unofficial Results
As temperatures remained somewhat cool and cloudy Friday morning at VIRginia International Raceway, the GT America powered by AWS field took over the circuit to kick off the weekend action.
Justin Rothberg set the fastest lap time of the session aboard his No. 29 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3, while Isaac Sherman went quickest in the GT4 class in the No. 098 Rotek Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport. Some drivers elected to not take to the track as they had just participated in the Paid Bronze Test Session earlier in the morning.
SRO3 Class
As the session started, Johnny O’Connell set an early fast lap in his No. 3 SKI Autosports Audi R8 LMS GT3. However, the Georgia-native was dethroned with 20 minutes to go in the session by championship points leader Jason Daskalos in his No. 27 CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Young driver Justin Rothberg then scored the fastest lap time of the session with a 1:48.042. The Turner Motorsport driver remained on the top of the charts as the session came to a close. The No. 50 Chouest Povoledo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Ross Chouest came in second, with O’Connell rounding off the Top 3.
Daskalos followed suit in fourth place, and Elias Sabo concluded the Top 5 in his No. 48 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO. His teammate Jason Bell set the sixth fastest lap time in his No. 2 Aston Martin Vantage.
The Montreal Motorsport Group made the trip down to Virginia International Raceway, with Jean-Frédéric Laberge commanding the No. 92 Porsche 992 GT3 R. The Canadian outfit clocked in the 7th time in the session, with a 1:49.675. Tim Savage finished the Practice session in 8th place aboard his No. 007 ProSport Competition Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3.
GT4 Class
Isaac Sherman was the fastest from the get go, rising to the top of the leaderboard just ahead of Curt Swearingin in the No. 7 ACI Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport in second position. The two were separated by less than half a second as the session concluded.
Damir Hot followed in this in his No. 05 Flying Lizard Motorsports Nissan Z NISMO GT4 as he made his first appearance of the season in the series, accompanied by Heart of Racing Team’s Gray Newell in fourth place in the No. 25 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4. The Top 5 was completed by Todd Parriott in the No. 31 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4.
Let’s Get Racing
The GT America Powered by AWS field will return to the track for Practice 2 on Friday, July 19th at 1:45 PM ET.
If you can’t make it to VIR, be sure to tune-in to SRO’s free livestreams all weekend long on YouTube (GTWorld) and Twitch (SROMotorsports) and follow all the action through our social media channels and the event hashtag #GTVIR.