Race 1 of GT America powered by AWS at Road America proved to be a true test of skill and patience, as torrential rain forced the field to start behind the safety car under full course caution. With visibility low and grip nearly non-existent on the 4.048-mile National Park of Speed, drivers faced one of the most challenging contests of the season.
The green flag finally waved with just 28 minutes remaining, though the track conditions remained treacherous. Veteran Memo Gidley showed his experience at the front, controlling the pace in the No. 56 SKI Autosport Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVOII. Behind him, the opening laps of green flag racing saw remarkable progress from Justin Rothberg in the No. 29 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3, who surged from sixth on the grid up into podium contention, climbing to third place within just a handful of laps.
Drama struck soon after for Jason Bell in the No. 2 Racers Edge Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO, who found trouble and brought out a full-course caution.
When racing resumed, the action came thick and fast. Kyle Washington, charging hard in the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 992 GT3 R, ran wide on the restart and spun, dropping him down the order to fourth. The intense battle for podium positions was cut short with under seven minutes remaining when Rothberg suffered a major incident.
With the race unable to restart, Gidley was declared the winner, a well-earned success after a commanding drive in challenging conditions. Ross Chouest capitalized on the chaos to secure second in the No. 50 Chouest Povoledo Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, while Washington recovered from his earlier spin to round out the podium in third.
Let’s Get Racing
The GT America powered by AWS series will return to the track for Race 2 on Sunday morning, August 17th at 1:10 PM CT.
If you can’t make it to Road America, be sure to tune-in to SRO’s free live streams all weekend long on YouTube (GTWorld) and Twitch (SROMotorsports) and follow all the action through our social media channels and the event hashtag #GTRoadAmerica.