Qualifying for GT America powered by AWS at Barber Motorsports Park delivered a thrilling fight for the top spot, with three manufacturers trading blows around the 2.38-mile Alabama circuit. The grid has been set for Race 1, coming up later in the day on Saturday afternoon for the UAB Medicine GT World Alabama benefiting Teal Wings of Hope.
Blake McDonald, at the wheel of the No. 11 DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, set the benchmark early, moving ahead of Justin Rothberg’s No. 29 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 in the battle for pole position.
McDonald ultimately held the fastest lap of the session, but as he will not take part in the races this weekend, the ROWE Motor Oil Pole Award was instead inherited by Memo Gidley. The veteran driver in the No. 56 SKI Autosport Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVOII spent much of the session in third, before unleashing a final flying lap to leap ahead of Rothberg and secure the front-row start. Rothberg, who pushed hard throughout, will start from second alongside Gidley.
Making a strong impression in his series debut, Joel Cortes will line up third on the grid in his No. 19 RS1 Porsche 992 GT3 R after an assured performance in his first GT America qualifying session. Rounding out the top five was Ross Chouest in the No. 50 Chouest Povoledo Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, who recently claimed his maiden SRO3 class win last time out at Road America, and Tony Davis, who is commanding the No. 004 HP-TECH Motorsport Ferrari 296 GT3 for the first time in the championship before making the move to a full season campaign next year.
With multiple marques represented at the sharp end of the grid, Saturday’s opening race promises a fierce contest for early control in Alabama.
Let’s Get Racing
The GT America powered by AWS series will return to the track for Race 1 on Saturday, September 6th at 11:55 AM CT.
If you can’t make it to Barber Motorsports Park, 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 #GTBHM.