GT World Challenge America - Round 6 - Barber Motorsports Park Weekend Report

This weekend saw the long anticipated return of sportscar racing to the historic Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Alabama. The return came in the form of the SRO GT World Challenge America championship, sending sixteen cars in the GT3 class.

Some of the most welcomed news came before the weekend began with the confirmed return of the #88 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 in the hands of Custodio Toledo and Riccardo Agostini, the car started on pole in its only other entry this season in the hands of Agostini at the Circuit of the Americas in May. More highly anticipated news came with the announcement of Conor Daly making his debut in the GTWC America series in the #99 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT3. However the Esses Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 withdrew after race one for the remainder of the weekend for reasons the team have not disclosed to the media.

QUALIFYING 1

Qualifying for race one saw tight gaps across the field. In the Pro class the #63 DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3 in the hands of Alec Udell took pole by just 0.035 seconds ahead of early qualifying leader Luca Mars in the #93 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 Evo22. Meanwhile, Philip Ellis took pole in the Pro-Am class behind the wheel of the #91 Regulator Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.

Photo: Fabian Lagunas

RACE 1​

​Race one was action packed from the beginning with contact at turn one between the #38 in the hands of Samantha Tan and the #29 of Justin Rothberg. The news for the #38 would only get worse as Tan was issued two drive through penalties. One for incident responsibility with the #29, and the other for being out of position on the start. This incident left Alec Udell in the lead and he stretched his legs on the rest of the field, partially thanks to Ellis and Daly making their way through the pack to second and third respectively. The #92 MMG Porsche 992 GT3 was the first retirement with the car heading to the garage just ten minutes into the race with suspected clutch issues. 

The pit stops started with the Pro class #120 Wright Motorsport Porsche 992 GT3 coming in to hand the car from Adelson to Skeer. Meanwhile the #91 left Philip Ellis in the car for as long as possible before handing over to Jeff Burton. The pit stop cycle saw the #8 Flying Lizard Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 being given a major setback when they received a drive through penalty for a pit lane speed limit violation. This dropped them to fourteenth overall and ninth in class. Ellis and Auberlen were the last to come to the pitlane in the Pro and Pro-Am classes respectively. Both pitted from the lead of their respective classes and came out in P1 and P3 in class respectively. However the #91 of Ellis was under investigation for a possible pit stop infringement.

Jeff Burton had an extremely impressive performance in the #91 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, running just two seconds slower per lap than his Pro class team mate Ellis and fastest of all Am class drivers. However impressive Burton’s drive was, Bryan Sellers (#64) came past him for the lead in the Pro-Am class with just four minutes left on the clock. The #91’s strategy of starting with their Pro driver almost led to an unexpected victory for the team but ended up P4 following a move by the #85 in the hands of Trent Hindman and a post race time penalty for a short pitstop also promoting the #29 of Foley above the Mercedes-AMG team.

Overall the #63 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3 took the win with an excellent finishing stint from Tommy Milner seeing the DXDT Racing machine over the line just one second ahead of the #99 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT3 in the hands of Kenton Koch. In the Pro-Am class the sister #64 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3 took the win, giving DXDT Racing a clean sweep in race one. 

QUALIFYING 2

Qualifying for race two saw a Pro-Am team taking the overall pole position with the the #29 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 taking the fastest time in the hands of Robby Foley. In the Pro class it was Kenton Koch in the #99 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT3 that took pole. However the car would start in P5 overall due to the qualifying speed of some Pro-Am cars. The current championship leaders in the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 992 GT3 qualified third in class leaving them with a difficult task as their main rivals in the #63 DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette qualified second in the Pro Class.

Photo: Fabian Lagunas

RACE 2

​The carnage in turn one from the first race of the weekend was not repeated at the start of race two however there were many instances of smaller contacts through the rest of the first lap. Robby Foley in the #29 Turner Motorsport BMW held the lead at the end of the first lap in a noticeable turn-around from their opening lap in race one. 

​The #163 became the first retiree of the race as Oswaldo Negri brought the AF Corse Ferrari 296 in with a suspected clutch issue just five minutes into the race, only completing one lap of the circuit. Robby Foley continued his pace from race one and found himself with almost a three second lead within the first ten minutes of the race. 

Jeff Burton in the #91 Regulator Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 again had an impressive stint in the opening part of the race, as he averaged a pace less than two seconds a lap slower than the race leader Robby Foley. With fifty-one minutes to go the Racers Edge Motorsport #93 Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 was the first car to hit the pitlane, closely followed by the majority of the rest of the field. 

Connor Daly and Alec Udell in the #99 and #63 cars respectively soon found their way to the front as they cleared the #29 of Justin Rothberg and the #38 of Samantha Tan. This left the leading duo from both the Pro and Pro-Am classes sitting first through fourth.

With twenty-six minutes to go the #8 Flying Lizards Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 had a spin in the hands of Elias Sabo which led to the race being neutralised behind a safety car. The cause of the spin is unknown but it appears that it could have been caused by a mechanical failure.

After the safety car intervention, Philip Ellis took little time to make his way to the top of the Pro-Am class as he took the lead with just less than fifteen minutes left to run. With just six minutes left to go the #99 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT3 came to pitlane from the overall lead of the race after having run out of fuel even though the safety car should have helped with fuel saving. This saw the #99 drop a lap and put the #63 DXDT Racing car into the lead and on course for its eighth win on the bounce.

As the clock came into the final minute Jake Pedersen in the #85 RS1 Porsche lost his front bumper and consequently fell to tenth overall. The #63 DXDT Racing held onto the lead to take the teams eighth overall win of the season. Meanwhile the #91 Regulator Racing machine in the hands of Philip Ellis took the win in the Pro-Am class following an incredible opening stint from Jeff Burton and some help from the late race safety car intervention.

CHAMPIONSHIP IMPLICATIONS AND INDY 8 HOURS

The outcome of these two rounds leaves the championship battle closer than ever as the #120 Wright Racing Porsche 992 maintains the lead by only 7 points coming into the final round at Indianapolis. With double points on the table due to the race being eight hours, the overall championship could go to either of these top two teams as the DXDT Racing team go for their ninth overall win on the trot since joining the championship in round three.