LIVE - SONOMA RACE 1 - GT WORLD CHALLENGE AMERICA 2021

[Music] [Music] [Music] since it opened in 1968 sonoma raceway has challenged many of the world's best road racers 32 years ago it hosted the first ever world challenge event and this weekend it is the site of round one of the fanatec gt world challenge america powered by aws hello and welcome to california wine country my name is ryan marine amanda busick will be reporting from the pit lane ordinarily i'd have my partner calvin fish alongside but some argy bargey with some kidney stones has him stuck at home looking forward to having calvin alongside and circuit at the americas for round two of the championship filling in abele will be a fan uh voice familiar to fans of gt world challenge europe john watson a five-time grand prix winner and a runner-up in the 1987 world sports car championship we'll hear from john in just a moment but first let's take a tour of this sonoma raceway track layout with right motorsports driver jan haywin and our porsche track preview hi my name is john halen we're here at sonoma raceway with wright motorsports for the porsche track preview we're getting ready to start the lap coming onto the front straightaway here up through the gears all the way to sixth gear up to 145 miles an hour it's the fastest part of the track very bumpy uh going uphill breaking into turn two down to second gear car gets very light here on the exit accelerating out getting ready for turn three lots of compression at the apex of three here 85 mile an hour third gear back to power car again getting very light on the exit and hard on the brakes for turn four first or second gear accelerating out getting ready for the carousel up the hill very tricky braking fourth gear down to third car again getting light on the brakes and then preparing for a good exit onto the back straightaway third back through the gears fifth gear all the way up to 140 mile an hour and then hard on the brakes for the airplane down the second back to power car slides around a ton here so got to be careful how to apply the power second third fourth getting ready for the s's small uh small lift only back to power and ready for the ss hard on the brakes here at the 300 lots of dust flying up here hard on the curbs back to power first gear back to power sweeping right flat out getting ready for the last corner tight hairpin first gear all about getting a good exit here good rotation hard back to power and back onto the front straightaway and that was a lap at sonoma raceway and the porsche gt3r that was a high-speed tour of the sonoma raceway facility not only is this the first round of the season for the gt world challenge america but also the fanatec gt world challenge powered by aws a global championship for manufacturers you can see the manufacturers involved on the screen right here they will be competing for points in each of the four sro fanatec gt world challenge powered by aws championships here in the states in europe in asia and in australia porsche amg lamborghini bmw ferrari and others will be competing throughout the course of the season for top honors really an interesting championship and great to get things started here at sonoma raceway my pleasure now to bring in john watson to the broadcast john this is a track that is near and dear to your heart and should prove to be a real challenge for all involved today well good afternoon ryan thank you very much delighted to be back at seminole raceway but when i came here in 1985 initially it was sears point and of course it's in the heart of the wine country close to my heart as well but a lovely little racetrack going to be very exciting this afternoon and what we're going to have a look at very shortly is this is the track map of this 12 corner circuit the segment one finishes on the exit of turn five sector two and they run down into the chicane and then the final sector at the start finish line four point zero five six kilometers 2.505 miles difficult circuit to overtake on an easy circuit to defend on it tests the drivers not just his skill his ability to work out how can i best find a way past a competitive car or in some cases and i know this to my regret back in 1986 trying to catch an overtake a back marker i made a mistake in the carousel ran wide spun the car out of the race well enough said all i can say is enough said well if it happened to john it's proof it could happen to the best of us and we have many of the finest gt racers in the world on site here this weekend the return of the pro class crucial in this championship really exciting to see that the capex racing team fielding a couple of pro class entries more on that in a moment but let's get down to amanda busick who's patrolling pit lane and she's got a number of our protagonists to speak to before we get started oh i do and ron john it's so great to be hanging out here to with you guys today especially here on pit lane catching up with robbie foley who kicks off their effort here in sonoma you were talking to your teammate michael prior to our interview what tips did you give to him yeah just a couple of things he's uh new to the car so his first race with the m6 um just getting him used to all the systems and things like that giving him a couple tips just to uh get through the start he's driven a gt3 car before but never raced it so it's going to be new to him a little bit uh yeah he's got a good approach and we'll see how we do you guys will kick off from the second row you know the starts here at sonoma are really crucial to success what's the strategy for you guys yeah well i think first to uh to get through the first race of the year you want to have a safe start so that's the goal for michael is to yeah if he can get a position track position here is very important uh it's tough to pass but also we just want to get through the first race cleanly as a team and uh yeah have a good start to the year best of luck robin as we carry continue down on pit lane here last year that team actually won in the gt4 class they're going to get an effort here in gt3 well another team making their first effort in gt3 the gt world challenge is ian lacy racing uh drew is going to be piloting that here today and drew you guys start from the back of the grid here today what challenges is your team going to face oh you know everything's new uh you know switching to the gt3 aston martin it's been a great experience but we we started late unfortunately so this weekend is more of a test weekend for our team aria and lacy guys g3 guys been working really hard and unfortunately we are getting stuff as we speak like we just got some very essential equipment a couple hours ago so it's a test weekend and so far so good wish for a little further up and but we will be there best of luck and as we carry down pit lane here guys it's the 32nd showing for the gt world challenge here for their season kicking off this year right here in sonoma it is a very difficult track to kick off as we saw through practice the last couple days even in qualifying one of the teams that had a bit of a mishap was the team with giacomo altua who we're going to talk to i talked to him a little bit off-camera he said he was really disappointed with how that effort went they will also start from the back half of the field today and know that they're going to have to have some ground to make up but all the drivers here are super excited to get this season started you can feel the energy on this pit lane people kicking their foot shaking their head putting their hands on slapping it all with excitement it's my first year with the series i can't wait to share this alongside ryan and john it's nice to share uh the afternoon with you as well but it's going to be an exciting race day here today and with chiacomo as we approach him and his team tr3 racing giacomo we talked a little bit off-camera about the struggles you guys had in qualifying how can you correct that here during race day uh so yeah unfortunately we had an electrical issue that compromised a bit of our qualifying so this is a bit of bad luck but now we changed everything the car is good the team is pushing to do the best result possible so we are confident ryan well thank you very much amanda great to have you as part of the broadcast team i would be remiss if i didn't mention the longtime voice of the series greg kramer who has meant just so much to so many in this panic and greg i know you're watching and uh certainly appreciate all of your contributions over the years we'll do our best to live up to the standard that you helped to set cars rolling here shortly it'll be two formation laps john these cars in gt world challenge america do use tire warmers but it is an important time to make sure you bring these tire temps up entire pressures up to be ready to go at the start of this race yes the cars are making their way now on to the circuit behind the lamborghini uras that's the safety car running at a very low pace right now and that's not going to really do very much to keep the temperature that they may have had in the tower when they fitted them to them in the pit lane so andrea calderelli will start and he was the dominant car driver in q1 and qualified in a one minute 36.186 alongside him is sister carr corey lewis 136.8 so right now you have to say the money would be on andrea calderelli he is in the form the king of lamborghini huracan gt3s he just decimated everybody in nine i'm sorry 20 19 and he's got a he's got the magic set up for the lamborghini and the k-packs team adapting from the mid-front engine bentley's to the mid-rear engine lamborghinis that hasn't taken them very long no it has not it's not at all here on home turf that team located very near to this circuit in part of the industrial park attached to sonoma raceway and the combination of their expertise and a couple of lamborghini factory drivers they've got jordan pepper who plays for them in the venue last year coming over as well cory lewis who has been part of the lamborghini young driver program over the last several years a lot of super trofeo experience as well as gt3 experience all these things have come together and the opening salvo shot it was pretty impressive what kpax was able to do a sweep of the front row for race one in polls in both races this weekend yes and i think what showed through to me in the case of andrea calderelli is his knowledge and experience of the car he knows the lamborghini inside out now track conditions in qualifying were quite different to where they are now the ambient was much lower track temperature was much lower it's a lot trickier there had been overnight rain so the track was also washed and it took a little bit of time to get some rubber down not as much as maybe the drivers would like to know that they've got that level of confidence to lean on the car on every one of these 12 corners nevertheless that black number three lamborghini andrea calderoni dominant in qualifying one it was a stirring performance to say the least and what we've come to expect from andrea calderelli he'll line up alongside his teammate corey lewis i mentioned the return of the pro class after one year away and four takers for the pro class here at least for the opening round of the championship the two k-packs lamborghinis but then row number two as well windward racing with russell ward starting the race he'll be joined by philip ellis michael dine and his teammate robbie foley we heard from a moment ago he'll start the turner bmw on the outside of the second row and then we get into what is a really stout pro-am field the pros we saw how good they were in qualifying for race two mixing it up with the all-pro class cars but the ams also this is pro racing these are pro teams that take this very seriously these amps take their racy very seriously they're gonna have a great fight amongst themselves that when they turn the cars over to the pros after the mandatory pit stop john it's gonna be letting the cat out amongst the pigeons those pros further back they want to get to the front they like the class win yes but if they have a chance for an overall win they're going to take it well we're looking at one of the mercedes just coming into picture now george kurtz in an earlier event here this afternoon in gt america he led the race got a penalty for jumping the start clawed his way back through the field and won the race now that's a pro-am car keep an eye on that number four d x d t mercedes-benz and george coach did an outstanding job behind the wheel a couple of hours earlier a man must have mega stamina to do up on our race going away have a a few minutes to be dressed and then get back into the car and start all over again but certainly the action at the front is going to be between those four pro cars and certainly the bmw and the mercedes on the second row of the grid are more than capable in these more fair conditions of taking the challenge to those two k-packs lamborghinis and certainly on their mind as this race goes along a moment ago we saw a look at aaron vogel at the back of this field she had contact in her qualifying run she has to start at the back but she and her teammate michael cooper have been extremely fast in the build up to this event part of a three-car dxdt racing stable there's george kurtz in the zero four and he'll be out there with david askew the team owner and teammate of that mercedes team windward racing actually running the previous generation mercedes amg not the evo they will be starting in third with russell ward this is the same team that won its class at the 24 hours of daytona back in january there's a look again halen who are sorry that's actually fred poor daddy and halen's teammate the car though that gave us our tour around sonoma raceway on the porsche track preview it's a great grid plenty of stories and 90 minutes to tell them the lamborghini euros safety car pulls off into the pit lane and now it's down to our pole sitter andrea calderelli for capex racing to lead this lamborghini 1-2 to the green flag field in good alignment out of turn 11. looking to the starter stand to get the 2021 season underway and they accelerate away 2021 gt world challenge america has started it's already three wide further back a big move from rodrigo solace in the compass racing acura up front it's the black lamborghini around the green one to settle the lead good start from michael dinan in his first ever gt3 start he runs third but look at those lamborghinis making good their escape here early on yeah as you can just see the mercedes coming through turn three how twitchy the car feels so tyre still not off the temperature probably underneath the pressure a big start from uh salazar oh my goodness george coach gets hit up the back the man who won that race earlier in the day has been turned four tagged from behind but already andrea calderelli has pulled out what the best part of almost a second and corey lewis in the sister k packs lamborghini bmw third the pro-am honda managing hip and held headphone shoulder to get through now there's the start needing two cars going in can we see who hit the back of george kurtz oh it was the sister mercedes wow that's david askew the team owner who got into the back of george kurtz there they had it coming together i believe it was at vir last year so it's not the first time all road america i'm being told so not the first time that this has happened to keep an eye on that the good news for george kurtz he knows he can come back from the back of the field to win it happened as john mentioned in the gt america race a little bit earlier on today this is that compass racing acura nsx gt3 evo great start from rodrigo sales who's coming under some pressure here from russell ward at the woodward racing mercedes amg gt3 that's right there in line behind as they complete the first lap it's calderelli up ahead leading this thing by 1.2 seconds over his teammate corey lewis michael diamond rodrigo sales russell ward your top five david asked you running sixth but we do have to wonder what might come of that penalty of that contact and if the stewards might take a look at that one [Music] yes i mean it looks as if that's you just misjudged the breaking down the hill into turn four but that's an issue for the stewards to address also they may look at sellers because he was certainly on the move before he crossed the start finish line and uh if he was a judge to have been a little bit eager and making a start whether he got alongside the road to cars or not needs to be examined but not under pressure from ward in the mercedes and i'm going to go slightly defensive this is the difficulty that you face you get a run out of the carousel up the hill up to turn seven and then seven eight but never quite enough racetrack to get the pass done from your experience racing here john as we look george kurtz has brought that car to pit lane perhaps there was some damage stemming from that contact it looks like they're going to change the right rear dt racing crew having a look at the suspension this is the car he shares with colin brown it's a different chassis by the way than the one that it was used for gt america earlier on today back to this battle here between ward and solace and to my point i was making earlier john your experience racing here i'll be at a slightly different track layout where did you find the opportunities existed to make it overtake if you had that uh chance present itself [Music] primarily i would have turned one up at the turn two if you felt brave enough pretty quick the other part of the racetrack would be into turn 12 which is the open at the end of the lap now we had a slightly different track because when we left turned seven at the top of the circuit we didn't have the chicane that was been that was introduced a number of years ago but likewise the run down into turn four was a longer run it was further down you can actually see that we'll look here as the cars go right they're going right sooner than we've kept going straight on down the racetrack is actually just behind uh where the cars are now going through turn five a couple of places but you've got to be committed and you've got to be alongside the car you want to overtake before you get to the corner you can't dive bomb somebody and expect them to give you room it's been an interesting opening five minutes this is a look here at jeff burton racing with fred poor dad we saw a moment ago george kurtz resumed the race but down her lap he was right in the midst of some of these battles we're looking at here so they've got a big mountain to climb if they're going to get back into this thing fred poor dad last year's gt world challenge america and class champion right now holding down that spot with jeff burton in tow jeff burton another one of those drivers who was racing in gt america earlier on today perhaps using some of that track knowledge to his advantage as we drop back and look at the racer's edge car taylor hadler behind the wheel at the moment getting a lot of pressure from aaron vogel a couple of female drivers in the field and they find each other right away both of them due to gt3 racing but extensive experience racing in smaller category gc cars and touring cars as well here's the 91 that's burton and then hagler right behind with dakota dickerson as a teammate mentioned the issues for aaron vogel back in qualifying she's definitely looking aggressive here did not let that get to her add some contact i believe with the car that she's chasing actually and it did some serious bodywork damage to the left front of that car it didn't seem like it was anything worse than that because michael cooper was able to go out and take part in qualifying too nevertheless their qualifying efforts were effectively scuppered at that point and that means they got a lot of work ahead of them to try and come back through this field that's david is this perhaps a drive-through or did something else happen [Music] well certainly he had to go to the pit lane we didn't see him stop and make any change to the car it may have been a penalty that has not been we have not had notification of that but certainly the incident in turn four on the opening lap and there is the number nine lamborghini and that's had serious impact from behind and that is a great shame the tr3 racing lamborghini we were talking about that a little earlier them all to it and he will be well that looks like the end of the race for that particular lamborghini heavy impact on the rear so it may be more than just superficial body work damage could potentially be suspension even worse transmission and it looked like perhaps that rear wing had been knocked off as well as he had gone door behind the wheel of that car it's a team that has extensive ferrari experience this is its first year running lamborghinis and they've got a pretty aggressive plan running lamborghini's here running some super travail racing as well not off to a great start and unfortunately we won't get to see giacomo outsole a name that maybe isn't all that familiar to race race fans here in the states but on your side of the pond john he's made a real name for himself yes i mean he's a number of european drivers particularly with the lamborghini black run who are racing in europe coming over here to the united states to compete in the various rounds over here and being drafted in the pro and line up so many of these drivers are what we would call centrally contracted to one or another manufacturer and they get placed by the manufacturer in the variety of championships that they want to then uh truthfully succeed so pro-am led by fred perdad and he's under pressure from the lamborghini that's jeff burton getting closer and closer but first we gotta we saw david ask you make his way down pit lane a moment ago amanda has more on that story yes we are in anticipation of whether a penalty or not was coming i went over and tapped ryan deal and asked if he was anticipating that as well and he shot back and said we already got it i asked him what the strategy will be now he said we gotta go really really fast now the good news is they got a pretty angry driver behind the wheel i have to believe and going fast that's what race car drivers do so david askew will be back on it but it's especially costly because it was a couple of teammates that were affected and now that means that this dxdt racing car at the back of this train is going to probably have to carry the torch for the team despite starting at the back of the field aaron vogel has been really racy to this point look looks uh like maybe wanting to make a move to the inside to turn 11 thought better of it and the battle continues between aaron and taylor hagler they're trying to chase down that poor dad burping fight we were talking about a moment ago this is really good stuff here second third fourth and fifth in the pro-am category all in this camera shot yeah an aaron vogel in the mercedes all over the back of the akura as they thread the way up through the field back to race leader he's got a 4.1 second advantage over his teammate corey lewis so the k packs lamborghinis are doing i suspect what we most thought would happen they're dictating the pace right now but of course we've got an hour and 20 amazing we've got a driver changed to come all we need is a full course or a safety car intervention that advantage will just evaporate as we go back to the akura coming through turn seven and then seven a so these are the battles for third and fourth bmw and mercedes-benz really this is where they anticipated being from the start it was just that the pesky occurrer of sellers got in between them had a great start to rodrigo style has separated these guys for a while but now michael dinan feeling the pressure his first ever gt3 start and he's trying to fend off a 24 hours of daytona class winner from earlier this year russell ward who has done a lot of racing in the past few years here in the states with this windward racing team they bought famed mercedes team htp a couple of years ago and have had an extensive presence racing in europe as well primarily at the nurburgring but semester road championships some other endurance racing and they carried some of that expertise from htp over to the states and uh it's really been a great package russell has improved his driving quite a bit and seems to be coming into his own here in the last couple of seasons just watching these two cars their weaknesses and strengths arguably ward in the mercedes has got the car that's potentially quicker in the lab but what is clear is that the bmw has got speed in a straight line and is always able to pull that extra couple of car lengths on these relatively short straights here at semana raceway and that is a frustration if you're pursuing a car which you know is not maybe as quick as a race lap but you can't get the job done because it's fast where it counts and that's in a straight line well right on cue race vision powered by aws backs up what you picked up with your eyes there john michael dinan the fastest top speed so far recorded 139.8 miles per hour let's compare that to the third car on the list actually tied with rodrigo sales so those top two effectively the same but that's a pretty big difference between the two keeping in mind that ward has had the benefit of the slipstream where dinan has not and yet dinan still has that straight line edge [Music] yeah i mean you can see it just every time he comes off a corner he just leapfrogs that little distance enough to frustrate ward ward of course you can see under brakes closes up but the bmw's on the throttle that little bit earlier and i've seen this throughout the previous season racing in europe racing south africa and south africa the bmw was absolute it was all real horse it was unbelievable a straight line performance and we're seeing again a repeat of that war doing all he can to find a way and you have to sit back and not get into the the pace of the car that you're following maybe just drop back a second or so and then build up your own natural speed don't let your momentum be dictated by the car you're following some more fantastic data from our friends at aws this is corner speeds through the carousel this corner they're heading through now and you can see the cornering advantage of that mercedes there with the top two on that list being mercedes amg gt3s russell ward at the top of that list so these two cars very similar in lap time but they make them in different ways and i think it's fascinating the renaissance we've seen from this bmw m6 gt3 a few years ago i think the consensus was it's long in the tooth its day has passed it but thanks in part to the sro bop thanks in part to the work that the various bmw teams have put in we've seen it have great success here in the last couple of years most notably a win at the nurburgring 24 last year we saw a win and a one-two at the indianapolis eight hour part of the intercontinental gt challenge powered by pirelli strong run at kyle lobby as well and it seems like there's a new lease on life for this car although we know that the m4 gt3 is on the way very very soon at the end of this season in fact well i think the reason why we're keeping this bmw m6 competitive is simply as you mentioned ryan is the balance of performance the essence of these championships is not to reward the kind of technical excellence that you might find in formula one is to provide entertaining motorsport and to allow every manufacturer their day on the victor's podium and the bmw and the teams that run the bmw have achieved this car that is very effective indeed as it happens and we saw those times corner speeds in carousel the mercedes-benz that's chasing the bmw five miles an hour quicker through the carousel and even with that advantage he couldn't get the job done running up from the carousel up into turn seven and that's the nature here of simona raceway you've got to think it through it's not easy to overtake sometimes it might come when you're up against catching back markers you might use that to your advantage but you have to be always looking forward not just the corner that you're in the corner that's coming up next on the road well aaron vogel we saw the graphic a moment ago up six spots already in this race the best mover to this point 15 minutes in but we've got an update on ferrari from amanda in pit lane they were up until two o'clock last night working to get this ferrari back for track ready jc sata has already gained two positions in race day they feel like they gained really good data from qualifying i guys they are just relieved to be racing today yeah if you saw that car after the incident it happened in practice one yesterday they did not get on track for practice two it was in pieces they were going to extreme measures to try and make sure things were pointed in the right direction the good news is if you're going to have an incident like that having a team like af corsa to work on the car they're as accomplished as they come and they have to put that expertise to use john but good good sign here that that car has been able to run cleanly first through qualifying a couple of sessions there and then the first 15 minutes of this race indeed i mean the amount of work was so large that they weren't able to paint the door the right hand door on that ferrari because it's still in carbon black it's not important you've got to focus on the things you're going to make the car work and whether the door on the right-hand side matches the door on the left-hand side is irrelevant but that was the level of commitment that the team pulled in to get that car back onto the racetrack here for saturday's race andrea calderelli leading the field after about 16 minutes of competition 6.2 seconds to lead over the sister capex racing car corey lewis not quite the level of experience in the lamborghini huracan dc3 evo of the man he's chasing andrea you made reference to the 2019 season that andrea had a championship for the orange one fff racing team alongside marco vapelli won both the sprint and endurance cups of gt world challenge europe that had never been done before it was a remarkable season for those two and really andrea has been able to carry that on ever since then he's a man highly regarded for his prowess behind the wheel of a lamborghini as ward takes a look to the inside dinan maybe got caught looking in the mirrors just a little bit slid slid wide got in the dust and that lets russell ward slip through he's up to the third spot overall and in the pro class [Music] yeah i think what dinan did is he saw the mercedes in his mirror thinking is he going to shoot down the inside in a gap that might be marginal i'd give him that little bit of extra room but in the process he put himself into that very dirty part of the exit of the corner all of a sudden tires are all clogged up with the dust and dirt on the outside loses grip could do nothing just has to wait until the car comes back onto line in the meantime russell ward says thank you very much i'll take that every day and any day you want to give it to me and i'm now in third place and i'm now going to focus but i'm 21.4 seconds behind corey lewis in second place that's a lot of time russell ward's gonna drag out of that mercedes-benz or i could say mercedes amg gt3 well we saw russell ward in the championship a few times last year he raced in a couple of different classes as a matter of fact uh raised alongside his dad bryce and also chris wilson in the pro-am class ran in the silver class from time to time picked up some podiums along the way never got that breakthrough for a win however but uh nevertheless they're in some good performances and showed the development that he has made as a driver still a young guy but not someone that necessarily set out for a pro racing career really early on nevertheless has rounded into a solid driver solid enough that this driver lineup is listed as all pro which uh speaks volumes for what the series thinks of him and based on his accomplishments around the world right here we look at a porsche versus bmw fight here is taylor hagler going back around aaron vogel and aaron just pulled to the inside to let that happen that's very curious indeed i think everyone's got an issue because she stayed way on the right hand side of the racetrack no reason to do that because she wasn't under threat from the akura i don't know why she hasn't come into the pit lane so whatever the cause or the problem is she's dealing with it right now but certainly her pace on this lap which is coming up to complete complete the end of lap 11. and you can see how much more slowly the car comes on stuff there's clearly a technical issue with her mercedes amg gt3 and is that she's certainly offline that's where the dust was coming from underneath the rear of the diffuser of the car but the pace of this 19 mercedes certainly off the page that we saw erin provide us with you wonder is it it's the car leaning on that right left rear here it is pulls off to the right hand side of the track coming down i wonder does she think that she may have a left rear tire deflating doesn't look like it's doing so in turn four but the pace has just evaporated i'll say this it looks like the pirelli logo on the left front had been rubbed off uh we didn't see the the striping around the outside at least to my eye so maybe she made some contact with something it is curious that she didn't make her way down the to the pit lane i'm not quite sure what would have caused that hopefully we can get an update from someone down in the pit lane here momentarily but a real shame aaron vogel showed great promise at the start of this race up six spots in the first 15 minutes unfortunately it seems to be all for naught and what a disappointing start to the season for gxdt racing they had two teammates collide asked you and kurtz both of them are well down the order vogel was carrying the flag for the team and now seems to have problems of her own and for a team that made massive investments in the offseason moved into a brand new facility in north carolina moving all the way from utah this is not the way they drew up the start to their year brian aaron is back at speed whatever the problem was she may have been able to make some adjustments there are multitude of buttons or switches but there she's in the pit lane now she did pick up speed on the lap that she's now committed to the pit lane from so whatever the problem is she did get a momentary fix on it but decided to bring the car now that might have been an instruction from the pit lane rather than her making that decision but she is in the pit lane and that good work that she established in the opening laps is now sadly uh for nothing maybe we could get some clue as to what the issue is based on what the team does what does well i'm not quite sure what happened it looked like the car was still in gear and then it got stolen so a little bit of communication going on between the the crew and the driver we'll go back to this battle between fred poor dad and jeff burton in the lamborghini and really broken has not been able to do anything at all anywhere around the lab three of the 12 corners and the straights that connect them to put himself into a position and while these two battle without let's get down to the pit lane i think amanda's got an update on aaron vogel she was trying to slow down on the straight ways to see if she could get herself tighter just a rough start for dxdt here today another unfortunate event this one bought aaron vogel that is very strange john have you ever had that happen where the belts just come loose well i've had belts detached in other words the buckle that all the six points uh attached to i've had that happen and when it does that the loads are so great even in a gt3 car like the mercedes amg gt3 under braking you will almost sort of torpedo down into the footwell it's a real frustration and to have something as fundamental as that no it doesn't often happen once in a blue moon put it that way unfortunately for today aaron's blue moon happened about lap 10 or 12. and we'll see if she can recover she's got a very fast co-driver michael cooper who will see jump behind the wheel of that car during the pit stop window coming up in 20 minutes or so from now about actually a little less than that as this fight continues to be hot and heavy really good stuff here from jeff burton i'm incredibly impressed with him he's done a lot of gt4 racing he started his pro racing career in a lamborghini super trofeo car which is widely regarded as one of the more difficult single make cars to drive that you can find i talked to him yesterday he said you know what i really wasn't ready for that i thought i was and i found out pretty quick this is a bit more than than i was expecting so he did the smart thing he went and found some gt4 cars he's been running with weird and racing last couple of years really improving his racecraft and here he is stepping up to gt3 a lamborghini platform that he's very very comfortable with and looking strong here at this point running in the third spot in the pro-am class chasing down last year's am champion and a really stout runner himself fred poured out yes but again we're looking at a situation where poor dad has got the so if you want to say the psychological advantage has been behind him he's been crying here trying there but he's never ever to what we have seen on screen being able to stick the nose of the lamborghini sufficiently alongside the porsche of purdue to say i'm going to take the corner away from you and to some degree that's worked to the favor of poor debt so his pace as i go back to this thing of when you run close to another car you lose your own natural momentum that's what we're seeing here jeff burton is running at the pace that's being dictated by the porsche he needs to drop back momentarily pick up his own natural pace and have another go and try to get a run into one of the tighter corners where overtaking is possible good look here at rodrigo salas great to have compass racing not just back in sro america but up in the top class for the first time this is a team that is used to running gt3 cars they've been running mclaren's elsewhere in recent years but rekindling an old relationship with honda and it's been a really good one a team that for many many years was based in canada they actually had decided even pre-pandemic to make the move to california last year and it turned out to be very fortuitous indeed one of the benefits is they're located just down the road from honda performance development and they found that that has been an extremely fruitful relationship to this point as we drop back to this fight once again fred mordab jeff burton just nothing to separate them they've been within a second of one another for effectively this entire race and we're 27 minutes into it yeah i mean these two have been having this battle more or less since the flag fell and the race got underway but going back to rodriguez he is running in a very lonely part of the racetrack because he he can't really see the next car down the road which is the bmw of dean and he can't see in his mirror as per dad in the porter leading this battle between the lamborghini and the porsche so you've got to keep your concentration keep your focus rely on information coming from the pit lane from your team to give you the pluses and the minuses certainly the cure doesn't want to fall back into the grasp of this battle for second and third and pro-am he's currently nine seconds up the road from the porsche now this time as i'm speaking coming out of carousel jeff burton is getting himself into a better position he's gonna have a look one way he goes to the left he might try and make the undercut of the porsche but the porsche is kept to the inside now he's going to make the undercut coming out of 7a but poor dad is doing a very good job and defense is not offering up jeff burton any opportunities at all to stick the lamborghini nose up alongside the portrait burton though closing in here poor dad forced to be defensive once again burton really laid on the brakes but he's able to get it up however nowhere to make that move fred poor dad stout in his defense fighting a rear guard action here for the better part of 30 minutes oh burton takes a peek to the inside can he be last at the weight breakers has to back out of it as poor dad sweeps across his nose leaves him just that little gap but able to get the power down engine over the rear drive wheels in that porsche powers out of turn 11 nicely and builds that gap just enough to be comfortable once again fred poor dad a veteran of porsche single make racing he's been in wheel to wheel battles like this for many many years now and i think that experience is really serving him well yes i think that what you're watching here is experience with a brand that you're familiar with jeff is getting closer it's almost as if something has clicked in his head and he's now realizing i need to get on with the program and i want to take this second place and through am away from the porsche i need to make it happen and of course we're going to be coming into the round of pit stops not very far down the road so you want to give your teammate the best opportunity when you make that pit stop but watch again on the exit of carousel lamborghini is the marginally quicker car through the corner on on the exit this time not as close as he was one lap earlier again takes the very late cut thinking about can i find a way up the inside jeff if you're closer to him you might but currently the advantage lies with fred poor dad in the porsche jeff's got some wind in his sails he was in the gt america powered by aws race earlier today not the same chassis but an identical lamborghini huracan gt3 evo and was able to get a second place finish in the masters class fifth overall has that track experience from earlier today that is using to his advantage more on lamborghini now from pit lane and amanda [Music] and we'll follow up with amanda on that here in just a moment back to our overall leader andrea calderelli out in front 30 minutes gone or thereabouts andrea has done nothing but impress just an epic lapping qualifying to take pole by a huge margin over his teammate corey lewis and that has carried over to the race here trying to lead now nearly 12 seconds at the front of this field well just watching already in the beginning you swear that why is he going so slow but he's not going through but he's driving in that lovely lovely manner where everything is coming true he and the car are driving in unison he isn't putting any unnecessary strain or stress into the car he makes his apexes absolutely perfectly his break points perfectly no pressure just in that again i use the metronomic word as a way to describe a driver who is on top of his game this driver and a lamborghini that's about as good as it gets and he's leading comfortably now by 12.3 seconds from his teammate now i think corey lewis for his first race in a lamborghini that's a good position good performance because this is the master you're trying to beat the master in a lamborghini on your first outing here at simona raceway that's a big ask for anyone let's give it another try down in pit lane with amanda on the lamborghini story yeah ryan actually heard earlier in the weekend that with the hurricane evo trim every single one of them in north america is at this race here this weekend including the two with k packs i spoke with jordan pepper ahead of his turn in driving i asked him how he felt that his teammate was doing he's very impressed with how he's taken to this track for his first race in america first race in sonoma he's excited about his team being right there in that number one position they'll get a chance to take over here pretty soon it's a question of strategy when capex wants to make that switch but it's a good point lamborghini uh talking to chris ward their uh north american representative from lamborghini squadron corsa he was saying there have been a lot of these huracans in private hands or whatever that weren't necessarily racing but for whatever reason they've fallen into the hands of race teams here in the last year or so and in one championship or another every single lamborghini huracan gt3 evo in in north america will be raced this year which is really cool to see it's worth keeping in mind squadron corsa is relatively young porsche has been raining running factory race cars for a long time ferrari has as well bmw you name it squadron corsa only came along in the last decade and it's amazing how quickly they have risen to the four winning major races left and right and have become a real force in gt3 racing well the whole lamborghini race program the super trofeo i mean i think i i'm right in saying that the lamborghini is the most widely raced brand in gt3 racing in the world it's been a phenomenal success and the development of the hurricane uh again it's a road car adapted to racing maybe whereas the akura was a race chassis adapted to to road use but back to car 33 russell ward he's fallen a little bit further behind the second place corey lewis now the gap is 32 seconds second to third place so russell ward all he will do is bring that car into the well they've got the first one the pit stops the only pit stop hand over to phil ellis and well just under an hour of this race remaining we've had a very clean race in effect we haven't seen any full core shallows or safety car interventions and that one might say is the only likelihood of getting this field compacted again to see a race to the flag here's frank gennette this is ian lacy racing making a big step they ran a couple of ford mustang gt4s in pirelli gt4 america's sprint competition last year for frank and his co-driver of this season drew stavely we heard from drew in the open to the show with amanda down on pit lane prior to the race and they were talking about how new they are to the car how they're still learning things and and definitely using this weekend as much as a test as it is for a race and all of this is a valuable experience some of these teams have years of experience with these cars look no further than the car behind turner motorsport has been running this bmw m6 for years so these are teams coming into the season with completely different expectation levels but i bet by the end of this year we'll see that gap close as the experience gap starts to close between the two interesting comment made earlier in the day by ryan dale this race track he says normally got high tire degradation i'm just keeping an eye on the current laps against bear snaps ironically on the last lap andrea calderelli was for 2310 slower than corey lewis now i that could have been traffic i don't know the reasons for it but there has been over the course of what just 30 odd minutes of this race beginning to see a small drop off in the lap time that we were seeing much earlier in the race and that's again every something that all the drivers have to be careful of that they understand the pirelli tower it's not about going out and nailing it on the first couple of laps and then finding that your the rubber has dropped off you've got to be careful of your tyre you've got to control the tire again the experience of someone like andrea calderelli that would be something that's second nature to him but those that are less familiar and particularly in the early part of march but not at the normal kind of simona raceway temperatures that you'd get mid july or august so racetracks give you up a different personality that pass we saw a moment ago george kurtz getting by franken at that was for position as kurtz is still recovering from his spin following contact earlier in this race that was for 11th overall it's also worth noting that jeff burton did make his way around fred poor dad a little while ago he's up to sixth overall second now in the pro-am class and jeff's gonna try and track down rodrigo sales we'll check that gap at the line i think it was around 12 seconds the last time but here's george on that recovery drive already a race winner today back in the gt america race in a similar mercedes-amg chassis but a different one and had to come back to get that win too and he'll be turning it over to an ace of a driver and colin brown these two teamed up along with a couple of other drivers in an sps automotive inter mercedes amg gt3 last year at the total 24 hours of spa had some issues early on some damage that caused them issues throughout the race but talking to george about it he loved everything about the experience and john that was without fans in attendance imagine spa without fans and then going back and actually getting the full experience i think that's why george is so keen to get back and get the full spa experience this time [Music] well one would hope that spa will take place in this normal date in fact it's not just almost going to be maybe one week later in 2021 the 2020 event was held in october of course that was a race where you had virtually 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness completely changed the character and the personality of the toughest gt race in the world make no mistake spa flanker show at night raining cold miserable and there was no smell of the traditional belgian fritter the chips that you buy when you go to spa frank the smell permeates all around the racetrack and there was none of that this year it's a real shame it's certainly not the same ambiance as we look at a battle for position taylor hagler and the racer's edge car under pressure here working up the inside david askew recovering from a drive-through penalty contact with george kurtz earlier in the race that sent george into the grass and the stewards didn't like what they saw nice defensive driving there from taylor able to keep david behind there is a gulf of experience racing in gt3 cars with these two and taylor a graduate of the hpd gt3 driver academy from last year and she'll be racing alongside effectively a classmate from last year dakota dickerson will be taking over here this weekend and at uh future races it'll be jacob able a couple of young open wheel up and comers that will be sharing the car throughout the year with taylor but for now able to hang on to that spot which again is the fourth position in pro-am uh and eighth on the overall charts as it stands with 51 minutes and 30 seconds remaining pick window will be opening very soon it is from the 49 minute 59 second mark until the 40-minute mark they have that period of time a mandatory pit stop four tires in fuel and driver change and then all of a sudden the pro-am lineups will have the pros in the cars and will have a whole different set of circumstances to talk about they would ask you almost find a way around their cure on the previous lap he did the right thing he got penalized on you but because of an incident in the opening lap he didn't want to get penalized on that last lap as we go back to our race leader up at the top of the circuit and the mayor calderon his lead is now stabilized it's about 12 and a bit seconds but look he's still hustling you can see the lamborghini just a little flinch as he threw it and he just threw cars around uh into turn eight down the hill down into the chicane corey lewis 12.7 seconds behind then there's a massive gap to third place russell ward 39 seconds now behind the second base lamborghini andrea caldorelli this has been an absolute real perfect drive and i don't want to bring the permantator's curse and anthracal already before he makes his pit stop and hands that car over to i'm looking forward to seeing jordan pepper behind the wheel of a lamborghini in a race context because he is excited first of the pit stoppers are making their way in now that was really really close to crossing that commitment line too soon i think both the racers edge car and the dxdt car got in just in the nick of time but that's good strategy from up on the box seeing that they were gonna have the chance and the advantage that's going to give these two is it will put the pros in the car for effectively an extra lap so definitely a big point here we'll have to remember this for the future so here comes the 63 txt racing mercedes david askew behind the wheel there is a minimum pit stop delta so it's 87 seconds from pit in to pit out i'm told that on the pit speed limiter 50 kilometers per hour is the speed limit it should take 45 seconds just to drive the pit lane so the remaining time then is what you have to ideally accomplish this pit stop four tires full tank of fuel and driver change and i'm excited to see our first look at dakota dickerson as he takes over for taylor hagler in that racer's edge car here's aaron vogel coming in among others i think we're going to see most of the pro-am lineups take advantage of this now to get the pros in the car for as long as they can meanwhile many of the pro teams have a bit more flexibility built into their strategy i'm curious if capex might split their strategy with their cars running one two one coming in earlier to cover the other and indeed here is our leader andrea calderelli right behind the number 91 of jeff burton who is basically that far from going down a lap from that opening stint we'll see what the capex crew can do on their first stop one of the essence of these pit stops is okay that was protruders for the akura and the mercedes to come in literally a couple of seconds almost at the point before the pit lane open there is calderelli in but it is making your pit stop not so much when you come in but knowing where you will go back out will you get out in relatively clear air or will you go out and find yourself behind cars that are difficult to pass so k packs lamborghini and capex in for their pit stop amanda is standing by well as you guys can see you can see andrea cadarelli helping jordan pepper get into the car three more things will happen on this pit stop the driver change of course four new pirelli slicks will go on the course and of course the refuel this is where the crew gets to shine where the driver shines on track and you saw the capex car sit stationary for a while that's because they know how long it will take for them to leave that pit stall and get to pit out they don't want to go out too soon or there would be a penalty so anytime you see the car sit for a brief moment that's a sign the crew did their job well they didn't leave anything on the table andrea calderaldi handing over to jordan pepper ryan that was a crucial fruitful move by jordan pepper because he was trying to juggle not breaking the delta time at the same time he didn't want to let nothing bury in there cure get ahead of him he wanted that clear air because he knew if he there's the second place lambo was actually the leading lamborghini of corey lewis he did lead for a lap but that was crucial for the three lamborghini to get ahead of the akura at that point so there's a real bit of juggling in the part of jordan pepper to just sprint to get ahead of the akura but then almost to back out of it to ensure that he didn't uh exceed the delta time and therefore face a penalty here is the second capex racing lamborghini corey lewis as john mentioned did lead a lap in the pit stop shuffles the lone american in this two-car driver lineup gets out and hands it over to giovanni ventorini lamborghini factory driver extraordinaire getting his first chance at sro america competition here's a replay of an incident on track oh boy that is the compass racing car lost the left rear wheel i think as simple as just not getting it tightened and that car is dead stick at the moment with 45 minutes left on the clock that very well could bring out a full course caution and those big leads would be gone with now all pros in the car that could really shake this thing up [Music] well that's the thing that was always going to make a difference to this race being dominated by k packs now we will either have a full course or a safety card one comedy they'll lose the other as we see the sixth lamborghini making their way across that demarcation line there so he can get back on full throttle doesn't he must not break that line you can see that demarcation line on the left of your picture again you must be hold four wheels to the left of that demarcation line that's a penalty if you transgress across it now giovanni venturini behind the wheel of a car he's extremely familiar with maybe not quite as fortunate as jordan pepper because there are two cars directly ahead of him he will be the quicker of these three cars when eventually he catches to the tail of them it'll be a lap maybe but venturini will be on the pace really from the moment he left the pit lane the level of confidence and knowledge he's got with the lamborghini hurricane will just enable him to do so watching drew stavely now behind the wheel of the ian lacy racing aston martin he's got john halen behind him this is not a battle for position a1 is running fifth but is leading in pro am for right motor sports stavely a lap down at this point after frank gonette's opening stint and up front to jordan pepper a star in the making comes from a south african racing family his father ian was a touring car driver in south africa his sister tasman raced in the w series in its inaugural season and has racing driver aspirations jordan pepper though has made a name for himself in a short amount of time showing up on the european scene a few years back really excelled especially when conditions get tough it seems like he always comes to the four and picks up a big lead courtesy of andrea caldwell's strong opening stint ryan's first flying lap was a 139.2 against the fast lap of the race and that's in that number uh three lamborghini from caldera 138.5 that will set a few laps into calderelli's race jordan pepper on it and he will no doubt get quicker if the first flying lap you're always just feeling your way around the racetrack knowing how has it changed since i was out qualifying this morning that's the process he's going through there's the wave yellow flag to indicate the akura with its left rear wheel way out to the right of racetrack never a good thing to see a wheel coming or detaching from a race car it goes anywhere and everywhere for now at least race control seems satisfied with covering that stranded car with a local yellow peak here at dakota dickerson [Music] has some company behind him in the form of a mercedes amg gt3 dakota's got the ryan dial driven dxdt car right behind and a good recovery from them after striving seventh spot closing in on the back of dickerson graduate as i mentioned earlier of that hpd gt3 driver academy well ryan deal is an extremely experienced driver of course come from the united kingdom but when i heard him interviewed earlier today i thought well did he come for the uk he's taken on the accent of the country in which he's been racing in for so many years but an extremely accomplished a very professional driver behind the wheel of probably the easiest of all the gt3 cars here this weekend to race the one that i would say is overall the most forgiving ryan deal is going to rag that mercedes amg gt3 all the way around the 12 turns here at some raceway makes a move well not to overtake but just to wants to put his car into that left door mirror of dickerson in the akura now again just moving around trying to cause a distraction for dickenson not to know which side is he going to come from the pass is going to come look he's going out to the left to make the undercutter he comes out of 7a sort of coming off by the akura but how close can you get coming down the hill might be an opportunity to make a move under brakes but i think he's not going to be close enough unless he got a momentum but no has to be patient can't get it done here he'll think about my next opportunity down into the hairpin down to turn 11. i don't want to be too patient here because we understand a full course stella will come out once the pit window closes so effectively race control doesn't want to disadvantage anybody because that car is deemed to be in a relatively safe spot on the track so a pass that can be made here it would stick and then you would bunch up with the cars in front of you and this could be a crucial moment if ryan dial can get it done i think it's a fascinating study here watching these two dial came from single-cedar racing came to the states to be able to pursue that ended up with a long career in sports cars dakota dickerson on the other hand just starting his career primarily in single-seaters but now maybe seeing a career path in sports cars might follow very much in the footsteps of ryan dial let's get down to the pit lane amanda has an update for us there well compass racing came into the pit number one i'm sure it was uh very tough for rodrigo to watch the left rear tire of that how do you come back from that moment well you know the compass guys are a great team we had a great season together back in 2018. mistakes happen i don't know if it was a mechanical issue or just a mistake but i know we're going to come back even stronger we showed good pace it's a good car i mean i'm a little bit heartbroken of course it's never easy when these things happen but but that's racing all we can do is each of us does our part and and i know that we'll come back stronger so it's all right guys just a little bit aside on the emotional side rodrigo actually walked away from pit lane for about three three to four minutes before returning you know it's hitting him pretty hard tough to see the race go away with the bouncing pirelli there is the double yellow full course as we anticipate it and boy oh boy john this changes everything that massive gap the two k-packs lamborghinis had built up you can say goodbye and now they'll have a couple of really strong pros right on their heels with robbie foley and phil ellis then you throw in a vet like inhaling dakota dickerson and ryan deal when we go back green it's going to be on what's interesting just as we went to that pit lane interview was that venturini had caught up to the tale of that battle between diel and dickerson and of course that was going to be an issue for the second place lamborghini because he was going to have to deal with two cars that were in their own individual battle here's the moment where the wheel the left wheels attached from the acura that was just the literally on the outlap after a pit stop we don't know the cause of it it could have been a wheel not got cross threaded it could have been that the wheel wasn't seated on the stub axle itself correctly whatever their reasons there is the honda and this is the reason now we've got this full course yellow and jordan pepper the race leader who had a very very comfortable lead 14.8 seconds before we went to the safety car he now will well that gap will remain and one thing yes it will remain yeah one thing i had forgotten about is the fact that the leaders had lapped a good portion of this field so that's going to change things a little bit i need the field to cycle through one more time to give me an idea of exactly how many cars remain on the lead lap i believe it's at least three at this point but uh it might have a few more out of contention than i had initially thought safety crew there attending to the stricken matt mcmurray car yes because the first and second place cars have got cars lap cars between them and likewise the third and second and third base coach will have the same there is i think the second place lamborghini just coming interview there is the lead capex lamborghini with jordan pepper behind the wheel the aston martin behind that's running down in 12th place so that's a car that's already uh well it may in fact be two laps down when they come across the start finish line so consternation for the teams this is when these guys have to do their job and they need to calculate the circumstances of where we will be when this track goes back to green the one thing that's going to be to me evidently clear is that the number three lamborghini apex lamborghini is going to be in the comfortable position there is the second place lamborghini but it's still gonna find a way behind a past reindeer and dickerson in their cure and then we're waiting for the number 96 bmw to see where it is will it come into view no that's i think i think he's still quite a ways back the last time around he's probably certainly in he wasn't time a long way behind but of course behind the safety car the cars will end up lining up a stern so all the hard yards that were done by the two capex lamborghinis and that opening stands up until the pit stop window opened that now is going to be changed there is currently the third place uh bmw that foley behind the wheel and he can see the second place lamborghini one car between them if you ever wanted inspiration there it is right in front of you no question about it the quarry is inside well someone who's not had to chase anybody effectively throughout the course of this race our poll sitter andrea calderelli is standing by with amanda well guys we've been talking about how crucial these restarts are especially here in sonoma and one person very interested in that is andrea and how anxious are you for jordan as we get back up to racing here soon well i think i think jordan is anxious i'm quite okay i'm quite relaxed here but it's very difficult because the temperature is not so high even though we have a beautiful sunshine but um it's very easy to have a lot of pickup and with the cold tires it's gonna be quite tricky the first two three lap you've seen this track were you able to relay any information to jordan during the driver change yeah yeah i shouted him couple of things about uh truck beat dirt in turn three and then four uh like this morning but i told him just take care of the rear tires because they're gonna drop quite quickly thank you great to hear from andrea quite a stirring debut in sro america competition for him looking very strong to this point uh my understanding of the rules as they've been in the past is that at the race director's discretion there can be a wave by to put some cars on on the same lap as the leader but um i'm not 100 sure that carries over to this year so let's uh let's all pay close attention we'll find out together as we go along here 33 minutes on the clock as it stands if you're jordan pepper do you like seeing some of this time tick off the clock to eliminate effectively chances for anybody to track you down as the the race comes to a close well first of all i don't think anybody would have been tracking down the number three lamborghini jordan pepper has this race in his control but of course under these circumstances safety cars or you know 33 minutes of the race remaining who's to say we won't have another safety car intervention and that of course is where you cannot calculate every aspect of what's going to take place in this event so jordan pepper and the number three lamborghini crew very happy with the circumstances they've got you might call it their gunner giovanni venturini in second place although he's got a car between himself and uh so that they will fall in line that will be the three car that will i think take the czech flag it will be the number six apex lamborghini that will take second place this is the car we've got to keep on our matt foley and that 96 bmw f13 m6 gt3 i'm almost out of breath giving you the cars full title and that's the car that could with the assistance of a safety car intervention or things that are beyond the control of any of the competitors that could be the car that would split the two laboratories and robbie foley definitely a driver on the rise he teamed up with michael dine and his co-driver here this year in pirelli gt4 america last year they won the sprint x pro m championship died dinan who he coaches won the the am sprint championship last year they were very strong there and they were trying to figure out where do we go next what's the next step and michael really felt like gt3 was the next step robbie has an existing relationship with turner and that certainly helped to put all of this together but robbie foley himself is a driver who has risen to prominence in recent years it's an interesting story he suffered a very bad leg injury and a football that's american football uh game going back to high school tore ligaments in his knee broke his tibia tibia fibula ankle had some nerve damage there and basically was laid up and uh really wanted to to to get into racing he got homeschooled after that injury and as a benefit of a gift effectively for getting straight a's about to go to skip barber school and here we are with a great run here for robbie foley his co co-driver michael dinan is standing by with amanda though down in pitlay officially made his debut in the fanatec gt world challenge powered by aws and mike when you look back at your effort what did you learn here today uh first and foremost i learned just to uh stay consistent try not to make any mistakes it's my first race in gt3 also my first race as a pro here so the goal is just to go out there learn as much as possible and uh you know have realistic expectations for this first weekend as you approach race too is there anything you'll do differently say that again sorry when you approach race two is there anything you'll do differently you must go into race 2 obviously it's going to be different with robbie taking the start um i think i'll probably have to deal with some more traffic because you know the order will be slightly split up with the pros starting in pro am um but my goal is just to have a clean race do the best job that i can and uh try to bring home the car in the best position possible thank you great to hear from michael dinan the winningest driver in sro america competition last year it came out to let's see here six wins in sprint x he won 11 times in sprint so 17 wins and he didn't run the full season and a conflict for one of the races at circuit of the americas so there's a chance that perhaps another win that went away a couple of championships as well a young guy without a ton of racing experience but has come a long way in a short amount of time and actually robbie foley his coach deserves a lot of credit for that it's so important especially in this day and age john i know maybe when you were racing driver coaches weren't so much a thing but it's really become one in recent years and having the right driver coach relationship can make all the difference driver coaches we did it on the hoof it's something that's come in over time where experienced drivers who are too old to race give that experience they don't give it actually they get paid to help young guys come along and it shortcuts the process but of course so many of the younger generation of drivers that are coming into motorsport these days are starting and karting so by the time they get to 17 or 18 years of age they've had half a career behind them already so i don't know quite where the coaching element comes in but certainly i know that many drivers have benefited from having somebody who understands what they're talking about and maybe himself isn't capable of conveying that particular communication to the team clearly sometimes your driver coach can help you do that and it's that communication between driver and team that is key as we go back the safety car has come in this race is going to get underway just under 30 minutes remaining and the race leader is surprisingly number three apex lamborghini jordan pepper behind the wheel the south african in his sro america debut raised in indianapolis in the intercontinental gt challenge race that joined sro america looking very strong here early takes the green flag pulls away has some lap traffic in behind him that is the lapped car of drew stapley the ian placey racing car this though is where we want to keep an eye on a little bit further back if we can there are positions up for grabs elsewhere but spots on the podium but we're keeping an eye on giovanni venturini in the bright green lamborghini robbie foley a couple of cars behind in the turner bmw they run second and third overall and in the pro class and this is going to be a problem for venturini because you've got ryan the yell pushing like mad get past dickinson in the acura and likewise there we see the bmw sitting keeping a weather eye and what's going on ahead now look this is the battle that's really going to frustrate venturini because ryan dale will he do enough yes he has good pass that all began on the exit of the carousel he got a run out of the corner we know the mercedes are very good out of the carousel got the run up the hill up into turn seven now venturini wants to capitalize on that he wants to get through as quickly as possible does not want to get bogged down behind the akura and lose more time great pass around the outside though from ryan dial picking up second place in pro-am from dakota dickerson the veteran from glasgow scotland down domiciled in florida great move to pick up that spot there here is robbie foley hasn't got he's watching that green lamborghini disappear out the windshield that has to be demoralizing yes it is but he's got slightly more clear air between themselves and they might see the cards that it is directly ahead of them against that as the last time robbie foley in third place turned a motorsport bfw m6 so leave it there because the title is so long up the hill up into three and three a to the right car gets light at the crest and it drops down and then heavy breaking into turn four easy to make a mistake we saw that earlier in qualifying when drivers got caught on with a damp coal track now through five flat out through five up the crest and then again breaking into turn six the carousel corner where if you get it wrong it will go wrong every which way one piece of business to clean up real quick you might notice the absence of phil ellis in this battle he had been running very high up the order got word from a mercedes representative that there was an issue an electrical issue with that car a battery short that started at the driver change during the pit stop so they appeared to not be running at the moment scored back in the 12th place a real shame because russell ward started that car and had a great run going was running in podium contention has fallen out of the fight for the moment robbie foley under a lot of pressure this is not for position but he does not want that lap car to get around him that's colin brown behind him because that's just one more obstacle in the way of trying to find a way to edge giovanni venturing for second overall and ryan brian dale in the 63 mercedes is making further progress and these are back market he's passing but he is making progress he's gotten past the akura and that's really released the mercedes 63 to pursue now that car currently is still showing in his base is the porsche number 20 which is leading the pro-am category right now jeff hayden that is well that's a long way up the road from this particular 63 mercedes nevertheless dl is going to push push bush the scottish driver there you see the sultan as the scottish flag and he wears it proudly at the runner's helmet on his overalls or somewhere as all scottish racing drivers have done since timer memorial and it does look like he's actually a bit closer than we anticipated too and alan that is the battle for the lead in pro-am down a lap from the overall battle but we'll keep a close eye on that and as our camera crew does so let's get down to the pit lane amanda has an update for us well i'm standing by with the reigning am champion from last season they are racing in the pro-am category this year and when you reflect on your effort here today how comfortable are you with this car sitting in the number one position right now well i'll tell you the car feels good today it's the best it's felt all weekend we really got off to a slow start in practice couldn't quite get the car set up the way we wanted so i'm very happy with the way the car feels the track is as good as it's been all weekend as well i think the competition is going to be really good this year you know if you place one wheel wrong uh then you're gonna lose a position so i'm i'm very comfortable with where we are right now but not not ever too comfortable a long way to go still 23 minutes to go 23 minutes and five seconds to be precise but a strong drive from his co-driver john haywin very experienced driver indycar experience but more lately sports cars and has fallen into a very comfortable role it would appear with right motorsports gets the call up to run some endurance races with them involved in driver coaching this is a team that has roots that stretch down to the single make level porsche cup racing and he works with some of the drivers there and in fact that's partially where the relationship with fred poor dad came from the two ran together at coda last year as a pro-am lineup after fred had already clinched the am championship and his normal co-driver max root had to miss that race to go run and make his debut at the 24 hours of le mans and then the three of them ran together at the indianapolis eight hours so uh proving to be a strong pairing here a team with extensive porsche experience going back many many years but he might have his hands full here before too much longer as ryan dial continues to close fourth right there on that top speed chart advantage though to the bmw of robbie foley and that carries over from a conversation we had back in the first step when michael dinan was doing similar things john very fast in the straight line right right just one lap and go round the l made an error through the chicane and there's contact there body work flying and that is the back of a lamborghini that has been tagged i don't know whether that's an entire issue or a car issue but suddenly there you can see the front left front of the mercedes hits the back and i think the back of the mercedes i can't make out is that let's look again and see why why why so the bmw gets compromised it has to back out of it the mercedes hits the back of the bmw bodywork all over the racetrack and that's not a particularly good part of the circuit through turn 10 that will maybe okay that was car for about your pardon so that's further down the field that was the the colin brown mercedes there we are so they were teammates anyway the contacts four cars all getting together the consequence is through turn 10 loads of that mercedes-benz on the racing line i think it started with a problem for vesco kozarov in the 91 reardon racing lamborghini he was at the front of that train and everything stacked up behind him and i suspect vesco had something to do with it primarily because that car is listed as in pit lane at the moment so maybe we can get a look here from a different and it is the same angle but it just didn't seem to accelerate and it stacked everyone up you can't really anticipate that can you john i know that was a nightmare because there was a bmw it was really compromised and then the mercedes suddenly had nowhere to go when it just literally ran into the back did little damage to the bmw but again the left front of the the mercedes you can see the splitter the the front assembly of the the what is basically the body work that holds the entire front of the car together so that is a disappointment and again that's the unpredictability these things occur you can't factor them in all you can hope is that the incident is not considered severe serious enough now the bmw the right rear of that car was hit by the mercedes the left front it appears to be okay albeit now running in traffic and we look and see but you can see the hit in the back of the car doesn't look to me as if it's got anything that's going to be permanent but the mercedes not looking very healthy i do think uh we've been told that the turner bmw did come to pit lane and at least got to look over from the crew before heading out so robbie foley effectively nothing to lose at that point he was the last car on the lead lap and still holds the third position even after that pit stop uh in position to to still bring home a podium as we look at this internet scene battle between a couple of dxt racing cars the front one the colin brown car that was involved in that contra top a little bit earlier on you see the damage there and it's very similar damage to what was sustained from by the car that's chasing that's michael cooper behind the wheel aaron vogel in qualifying earlier today and something very similar happened in a similar spot on the track as a matter of fact similar damage as well and they've been playing catch up ever since aaron had a good race here comes cooper to the inside and that might be teammates helping one another out a little bit but uh aaron had a good start to this race it kind of went awry but michael cooper here trying to recover to some degree that move has him up to fourth in pro-am so all things considered on a dismal day for dxdt racing this is probably the the one performance to ride home but now michael cooper with problems the four mercedes looked like it just ran wide and turned seven and allowed the sister card to go through then and that was a give you the place back pass there was no racing involved in that particular incident maybe that was a pit lane of destruction hopefully we might find out from amanda in the pit lane as to why that incident why did one car overtake the sister car and then the positions were reversed amanda what are you hearing well i'm down here with uh george kurtz at the moment guys actually and when you talk about the highs and lows in racing he's coming off of his win in gta and now witnessing this how difficult is that to see that's pretty tough i mean obviously you got to take to go with the bat and uh it's unfortunate you know we had some contact and i'll have to go look at the videotape but i know we had good pace all all day and you know we're at least uh p4 and we'll see if we can mitigate damage at this point have you been able to talk to david askew after the incident uh in the first half of the race yeah he came by and just apologized and you know we'll uh we'll get it all sorted out i mean it's racing it happens it's uh obviously it's unfortunate but we'll regroup and uh hopefully we'll be good to go for tomorrow thank you thank you those two not just teammates speaking of george and david but very close friends there's great camaraderie under that dxdt racing tent spoke earlier in the broadcast about the amount that they've invested in this program they really have high hopes unfortunately an inauspicious start to the season but it's just race one plenty of racing still ahead of us 16 minutes of racing still to go in this race jordan pepper continues to lead but the gap has shrunk giovanni venturini closed in to 10 seconds the last time by pepper crossed the line a few moments ago we're waiting for venturini to clear that timing line to get an update and it's grown again so maybe traffic had something to do with that back up to 12.3 seconds in the fight for the overall lead this is further back brown and cooper for fourth and fifth in pro-am and ryan dial continues to try and chase down yan halen for the lead in pro am one and a half seconds between those two yes um the gap in first and second will see-saw depending on where you might catch traffic but on the last step it was clear that pepper was actually two seconds a lap quicker and uh that's not just simply because jordan pepper is a quicker driver there would be a reason and the most likely excuse or reason would be that venturing equip traffic in the wrong part of the racetrack corner of speeds of turn 11 that's a 36 mile an hour turn 11. yes that was one corner ride so 36 miles an hour would you believe it you could almost drive your road car under that speed these gt3 cars don't love going that slow it is a tough corner for a number of reasons that's that airplane second to last quarter on the track opportunity see several different lines taken in fact we're about to watch our race leader negotiate that corner john talk us through how you get around a tight hairpin like this well my view is you tend to hug the inside of the corner all the way around it's a slow and quick out corner if you try to make a very late apex you run the risk of running too wide in the early part of the corner picking up the dirt that would be building up on the outside the rubber the dust that's been there and of course the rain that fell overnight so taking the hugging the tight line all the way around pick up the throttle as early as you can you'll feel the amount of bike you've got on the steering and the amount of bike you've got at the rear of the car and when that message comes through the city of your pants through your body you'll know when to get on the throttle there is second place giovanni then chasing 13 seconds now behind jordan pepper in the lead he's not given up the chase his last stop was actually well it was about six and a bit tenths of a second slower jordan pepper has got the overall advantage over venturini but he is venturing he's still let's look at the corner six this is where we are now top speed randy l and then the ferrari is second biggest actually the joint quickest that's impressive why is that ferrari so quick in the carousel but not overall pushing the lap but anyway 78 miles an hour we're accelerating all the way through to come on to this for the short shoot up to terms of especially impressive for the ferrari considering that was the car that was in pieces yesterday a lot of credit must be given to af corsa for making those repairs that's a that's a quarter where it's going to test the car make sure everything's pointed straight high speed high commitment long duration and clearly they got those repairs made and the car is running well for conrad bloonwald the only am pairing in the field here this weekend good to see them bounce back from some misfortune earlier in the race this is ryan dial talked about him earlier veteran sports car driver and experienced in all kinds of cars open wheel cars prototypes gt cars fast in all of them he's been working with david askew for some time that's his true driver and they've got aspirations of a good result not just here but all season long right now trying to track down for the lead here's dakota dickerson mentioned him earlier young guy with a lot of experience but in open wheel cars making that transition to sports cars he was the f4 us champion in 2018 he was an f3 champion here in the states in 2019 when sports car racing primarily last year and a graduate of the driver academy you made that transition john from open wheel cars to sports cars what was that like didn't pay as well for a start but aside from that [Music] aside from that you should never laugh at your own jokes the transition was one for me was a form of tapering down from having had ten years in formula one the cars were very quick cars in that day there were group c prototypes 850 horsepower a thousand kilograms a lot of downfalls coming here in 86 in that imsa program again a lot of horsepower a lot of downforce for me it was a tapering off process for drivers that are coming from single seaters into uh gt3 racing for example out of a single seater probably the nearest car in the field to a single city with bodywork on is the akura it is such a fundamentally good chassis you were talking about the ferrari that's the only am car in the race and gurnvald being sick joint quickest through the carousel the ferrari 488 chassis is also an absolute jam it is such a good car it's the most popular race car amongst the arms around the world there's a reason for it because it is a car that enables those maybe to say more senior drivers amongst the field to feel comfortable and not get frightened correct greenwall doing a great job running eighth overall in that car that has been heavily repaired as we mentioned over the course of the weekend this battle rages on a couple of teammates here colin brown michael cooper michael cooper it's been a while since we've seen him regularly in gt3 competition but has won a gt3 championship in this series in sprint x form a couple of years ago in a mercedes takes a different line than his teammate there now is that just driver preference or is he trying to find some clean air for the downforce at the front of that car i would love to know what went on on the radio between these two cars because at one point the uh just wanted to get the numbers the number four car gave way up here at turn seven and then further down the lap the positions were reversed now to me cooper in the 19 car is clearly quicker than uh baron o'brien is in the number four car but there has been some i suspect kind of decision made that this is the way they want these guys to take the checkered flag you can see how much bigger brian is coming in just he's having to be patient he's having to do i would suggest and i'm only trying to be fair and there's thinking that this is a team decision it's not one that's being deserted on the racetrack that's a question that will maybe only be answered in the mid lane and only if they decide to answer us honestly and uh no disrespect to the teams but oftentimes they want to keep that strategy pretty close to the vest the car up ahead of these two mercedes is drew stavely in the emac racing aston martin not on the same lap as these two and drew is very experienced i suspect he will do his best not to interfere with his battle if there's any way to avoid it but there are parts of this track you just can't hide there is a single lane through a lot of these corners and even if you are a little bit slower a faster car is going to struggle to make that pass without a lot of help and this is one of those sections right here through the carousel we'll see what drew does on the exit this might be a place where he could pull over perhaps and let this battle through but he is under no obligation to do so but that is indeed what he does very well ironically all three ryan ironically all three cars the two mercedes obviously and the aston martin run an amg four liter turbocharged motor so they've actually got the same level of power same power delivery same torque delivery different chassis the mercedes gt3 or amg gt3 is the superior chassis over a consistent season the aston martin is a car you have to be fine-tuned more than that of the mercedes as we go back to race leader jordan pepper with a comfortable 13-second advantage over his teammate uh and looking to see where the third place the first of the pro-ams the jeff hayden and the porsche so it's still considerable distance so the battle really is going to be for the final podium position between dl and fourth place who's three seconds now behind hayden uh with seven and a half minutes or so remaining i did get an update by text a moment ago from a dxdt racing driver cj moses who was scheduled to race in gt america but was laid up by kidney stones just like my normal broadcast partner calvin fish so a speedy recovery to both of you but uh he says dxdt racing they don't do team orders everyone is on equal footing so if michael cooper can make the pass he has free reign to do so so we'll keep a close eye on that as we look now at giovanni venturini driver who is relatively unknown here in the states but has done very well in europe primarily racing in the gt open series a champion of that series a few years ago in lamborghini equipment and continuing to put on a great show that's the capex racing tent top left thomas blum strategist extraordinaire for kpax racing one of the reasons they've had so much success and it's telling that the strategy is so widely regarded that when bentley needed some help with strategy for the totes out 24 hours of spa a few years ago this is before k-pacs ran in europe they actually brought thomas over to help call strategy for them in 2019 and uh he's playing his trade once again here in sro america that's where he makes the pass of the lab car that i believe vesco kazurov and one of the rear den racing lamborghinis [Music] for reardon racing a couple of cars running in gt america plus this gt will challenge america entry as well yan haywin here the belgian who now lives in florida leader in the pro-am category ryan deau giving chase but dropping back now to about three seconds off and halen's co-driver fred poor dad watches on yeah that battle for the final podium position has it was actually closer a few laps back but jan halen as you mentioned has managed to eke out enough performance just over five minutes now remaining the porsche the venerable porsche at 911 and it's still it's a race-winning car we've seen it win at spa 24 last year won the nine hours at kailami at the very end of last year and here it's going to be i would suggest on the podium i think ryan deal has done all he has got in the tank that one error he made here but not eight or nine laps ago that seems to have been sufficient to really stop that attack maybe he did some a little bit of minor aerodynamic damage to the front splitter couldn't really see but certainly he went across the inside of the corner and there is sand there and if you dig the splitter in you could maybe marginally damage the front of the car a developing story here this is the robbie foley-driven bmw which has been off the pace here in the last couple of laps was running third overall and has now dropped back all the way down to the ninth overall position still third in the pro-am class and that's where he'll stay because phil ellis in the windward car that car's behind the wall or otherwise indisposed at the moment but uh this might be right rear damage and we did see some contact early on we know they came to pit lane uh following that contact i don't know that was what 30 minutes or so ago a little bit less than that and perhaps there's some lingering issues stemming from that that is derailed a solid day here for robbie foley ryan coming through the carousel the right rear clearly was touching the bodywork somewhere you could see a little puff of blue smoke coming from that right rear the contact that we saw with the mercedes because of the lamborghini going slowly and then all that congestion the tag on that right rear from the mercedes may well have done a little bit of suspension alignment damage and that's possibly why the bmw has dropped back from being a strong contender for the final four now all the way back down including the drive through to check it out in ninth position just three and a half minutes remaining time for a handful of more laps here this is your leader jordan pepper had a stirring run at the indianapolis eight hour in the rain got caught out by gt4 traffic but really stood out to me because he was running on slick tires when a rainstorm came in and when everybody else brought their drivers in to change the wet tires capex kept him out in their bentley on dries and he not only kept it pointed the right direction but also was very very fast given the circumstances seems to be a quick study jumping into the lamborghini this is his first race in a lamborghini after several years in bentley's they are from the same volkswagen audi group but there's not much else similar between the two platforms and yet this driver he knows how to get the speed out of the car well there are two entirely different cars the bentley mid engine front car engine car the lamborghini mid-engined rear engine car and they're almost as diametrically opposed as you could ever get between two race cars but when you're a top professional driver as jordan pepper is you'd adapt vacation first of all you adapt to the new driving seat the new team you're in likewise coming to it he's familiar with simona raceway but for andrea calderelli coming here for the first time i would say andrea if you didn't learn this racetrack in five or six flying laps i would have been very surprised top professional drivers learn to adapt and adjust and pick up very quickly indeed there you see the turner bmw off the pace able to move to the inside just trying to make it to the finish that's the goal here at this point unfortunately for them pepper coming around and we'll see if the white flag waves and it does final lap in race one of the season fanatic gt world challenge america powered by aws jordan pepper has k-packs racing solidly out in front racing one two because here comes the second place man giovanni venturini [Music] with third overall fastest of the pro-am runners at this stage two seconds behind he's made some main roads in recent laps but doesn't look like it's going to be enough barring a major mistake from january did have a spin in qualifying this morning that came as a big surprise to me bounced right back as you would expect this car running very much towards the point again this is our m-class competitor conrad gruenwald behind the wheel spoke to him yesterday when that car came back on the flat toe and they were not sure if it was going to be repairable or not they went through some serious effort just to get that car race ready and to turn in the performance that they have running some good times running eighth overall is the only m am pairing very impressive stuff indeed but no more impressive than what this man and his teammate is coming through for the final time turn number 10 into the hairpin of turn 11 jordan pepper the south african in his sro america debut rounding the hairpin making the left-handed bend now on to the front straightaway waiting for that checkered flag and capex racing returns to sro america and returns to victory lane pro-am leader here sorry about that sean able to hold off the charge from ryan dial he'll pick up the class win and a spot on the overall podium ryan dial in second in pro-am vintorini by the way did come home second overall and in the pro category waiting now on dakota dickerson to cross the line this battle rages on it is colin brown leading michael cooper can michael get close enough to make a move the answer is no for the moment trying to take that late apex line to get a run out of the corner drag race to the checkered flag doesn't look like michael cooper has enough so give the fourth spot in class to colin brown michael cooper and aaron vogel will share fifth here today and conrad gruenwald about to cross the line next there he comes the lone am class entry but eighth on the road impressive stuff indeed now your impressions john great to have you on the broadcast here your first sro america race weekend great to have the pro class back capex racing and lamborghini i think they made a statement for the rest of the series to take notice of they have come with a mission i think the word i would use is awesome that was an awesome performance by the kpax team two brand new cars to come to the first event early-ish in the year different conditions to normally expect coming here would be maybe more in the middle of the summer outstanding performance by all four drivers to me no big surprise that the number three car is the one that takes the chequered flag because the experience of andrea calderelli along with his speed and that of jordan pepper was clearly going to be the the team and car to beat but lots of hope for the future i mean in the pro-am category i'm delighted that jan halen in the porsche i'mma died in the wool porsche fan i own the beast i love them love the bits now great run indeed from the right motorsports pairing did want to give a shout out andrea calderelli not just the win not just the poll but how about the trifecta the crowd strike fastest lap of the race dominant performance from him from jordan pepper the whole kpax team a one two results on home turf at sonoma raceway they know this track well and i suspect too that the the uh days spent testing here at sonoma definitely pay dividends several drivers in this lineup were new here to this track and yes they are pros yes they pick it up quickly but track time is track time and i think that was very valuable for them to get those laps as they head back towards the victory podium where soon we will be chatting with them and really looking forward to that standout performances from you john beyond what we saw at the front of the field did anything grab your attention i think there were performances that we saw on camera there would have been other performances that we didn't but you'd like to go through and ryan there are our race winners and the rest of the field there you go indeed andrea calderelli jordan pepper race winners in the first race of the season corey lewis and giovanni venturini will settle for second they'll have another chance at it tomorrow starting from one spot further down the grid and haywin fred cordad in third but winners in pro am we see the team is now replacing the drivers in the results shout out as well to jc sata and conrad crude wall doing a great job in the af course of ferrari eighth overall in the m class winners somewhat by default admittedly but mixing it up with some of the pro am cars throughout the course of the race there's the celebration down in the most coveted piece of real estate around this racetrack and i think amanda is standing by to talk with our race winners andrea you kicked off the effort that gets the first one here in the fanatec gt world challenge powered by aws you have dominated here this weekend how are you doing it well i don't know just a good job with the team honestly it's just uh we kept focusing on on the car and we were quite good confident that we were very confident the car was was good and i mean we just really just made a good lap this morning in kwali and uh also the base was very good in the race so yeah i'm i'm really really happy also because jordan at the end did uh really a good job after the restart so it was good very very happy all right well i'm going to keep a little distance with jordan jordan congratulations on the win here you will be in the first you'll be first in the seat tomorrow how can you parlay your win here into success tomorrow yeah i think uh it was quite cute we like andreas said we're working on the car really hard all all season all pre-season and stuff like that and the car was really good but it was the first real race situation we've been with with the lamborghini with this team because it's obviously their first outing with lamborghini so lots of lessons to be learned and hopefully we can make the car a little bit easier to drive and i think what made it quite difficult as well was with the long safety car with the pickup it's quite difficult here so great uh results for the team one two that's obviously what we aim to do and let's hope we can repeat it all season gentlemen congratulations on the win thank you now they went a long way to establishing themselves as favorites there's dakota dickerson and taylor hagler sharing some thoughts taylor had the opening stint kept him in the mix and dakota dickerson ultimately did lose his spot to ryan deau but still brings that car home between a couple of veterans deal and colin brown not a bad debut here in gt3 machinery for dakota dickerson and i'm sure a lot of lessons learned that can be applied looking ahead to race two tomorrow well i think a number of teams and driver partnerships will go back and just even listening to race winner jordan pepper saying you know we need to do more work on the car again interesting comment that after the long safety car intervention and the pickup the rubber that's around the racetrack picking up on the tires that has an effect on how you restart looks like our pro-am winners are standing by with amanda now oh and they are so excited ryan and fred i'm going to start with you you come off of the am championship last year you get your first win of the season right here in sonoma how's this for a start well i couldn't think of a better way to start actually it was uh we didn't know what to expect going in we know the competition's really stiff but we had our opportunities and a little bit of misfortune for a couple other teams and we capitalized and i'm very very happy with where we are it's going to be tough to stay up here so we have our work cut out for us for the rest of the season but looking forward to it beyond compass racing did have those difficulties how did you capitalize on their biscuit well i think that's exactly it we're here to win a championship or to try and win a championship and today was a was a good start full points and um maybe weren't the quickest car out there but we shorted uh you know everybody just did their job and we got the point so great job for the team congratulations thank you thank you that's a pairing to keep an eye on and again a very experienced porsche team right motorsports they've been running these 911s whether it's cup cars or gt3 cars for a very long time these two have worked together for quite a while definitely a pairing that will need to be reckoned with over the course of this season interesting though that a single car team is able to come to the four there's several multi-car teams racing in this series but they were able to take advantage let's look at our gt world challenge america uh points manufacturers standings and keep in mind this is not just gt world challenge america but also the fanatec gt world challenge powered by up aws global championship no audi on site but you can see porsche scored big here today lamborghini did as well mercedes amg bmw and ferrari rounding out the top five this will continue throughout the course of 2021 not just here in the states but also in championships in europe australia and asia back down to the pits in victory lane i should say and amanda well conrad you bring the ferrari underneath the checkered flag it's amazing that you guys made it back to the track how proud of you are you of your team you know the team did an amazing job they um they were here almost three o'clock last night putting the car back together it was it was a big fix the car was perfect today of course this obviously has a lot of experience setting these cars up um so we you know showed up for qualifying and it was perfect and it's a good race my teammate jean-claude is almost here he did an amazing job of bringing the car back in one piece and staying out of trouble and here we are couldn't be happier congratulations thanks a lot congratulations indeed and well deserved here's the start of this race and oh man it was a wild start how about that rodrigo salas going three wide on the initial green to start the season but andrea calderella caldorelli rather they taking advantage of pole position to pull away and take the lead this was the first time up the hill in turn three and down the hill to four and corey lewis in hot pursuit but that's about as close as anyone was going to be here's trouble a little bit further back george kurtz goes around courtesy of a tap from his teammate david askew battling further back with michael dinan and frank gennette going side by side on the front straight dinan foley in that turner bmw had a good run going until something went wrong late they ultimately finished in ninth big moment of the race here matt mcmurray after the pit stop lost the left rear tire in the carousel that would bring out a full course yellow subsequent restart bunched the field back up again jordan pepper had taken over from andrea calderelli and pulled away on the restart meanwhile battle further back around the outside ryan dial gets it done past dakota dickerson that ended up being for second in pro am this though was a huge moment too and probably what sent the day going wrong for the turner car never recovered from that contact up front though it was all k packs racing a one-two finish andrea calderelli and jordan pepper teaming up to take the victory here at sonoma raceway celebrations well not too deep into the night tonight because we have to do it all over again tomorrow what a race it was john watson a pleasure to have you on the call with me and i'm very excited to see what tomorrow has in store well i'm looking forward to get a good sleep and come back tomorrow you can see the lights beginning to fade already the wonderful shadows you get around sonoma raceway now well everybody's having a little chat sometimes you'll be with your teammate other times you bump into other competitors and this is a moment for teams to reflect and think about what are we going to do and i'm sure jordan pepper is saying to andrea we need to work on this car we need to find a way if there is more safety car interventions to to deal with this tar pickup issue and how do we get around it so those are the details that these two guys will be talking to their team about as well pretty much everybody that finished this race we went through that safety car intervention let's take a look at the driver's points following this first race of the season as you would expect andrea canderelli and jordan pepper at the top courtesy of the win this is the pro class by the way unfortunately philip ellis and russell ward did not complete enough of the race to be classified do not earn points that could be costly in pursuit of a championship over the course of the season of corey lewis giovanni vintorini second place as it stands one dimension as well we've talked about it a couple of times just in passing but it is this year the fanatec gt world challenge america powered by aws i'd like to extend a welcome to fanatec as the sponsor podium's now underway we see the af course the boys going up to celebrate the am win conrad greenvault but fanatec a great partner during the pandemic last year with sro really branching out into esports coming on board for the full season and an esports component coming to the team's championship at gt world challenge europe this year which is a cool new wrinkle to things now great to have fanatec on board here we go with the rest of the podium now this is dakota dickerson taylor hagler the racer's edge car coming up next will be ryan dial and david asked you a big recovery here john for these two after the penalty on the opening lap for david askew yes and and ryan diel actually had it not been for that one little error coming into the chicane may well find himself actually third overall but ifs and ands and butts don't count but nevertheless they'll be delighted with their result and of course they've got to think forward to sunday and uh no doubt there will be lessons learned of course the grid is an entirely different grid to that we had for saturday's race so that will give everybody a different perspective and um assuming we've got another gorgeous day as we have today well who's going to predict who will maybe not necessarily win but certainly all the other positions in the field will be up for grabs well to your point about a different grid for tomorrow's race as we look at the pro am podium there john halen fred poor dad standing on the top step here today it is the same capex racing lamborghini that will roll off from pole but jordan pepper will start it but colin brown will have the dxdt racing mercedes though four car he shares with george kurtz did not have a good run today but a really good chance to bounce back coming up tomorrow they will start second overall and on the pro-am pole splitting the two k-packs lamborghinis it will be giovanni venturini starting third tomorrow where the right motorsports duo the winners in pro-am here today they start fourth overall second in class with anne halen getting the opening stint for tomorrow's race then you have the other dxdt car ryan dial dakota dickerson will start sixth for racer's edge so it's all mixed up tomorrow no way that we can look at today's race and say definitively this is how it's gonna play out in race number two and and who knows another safety car intervention at a strange time and we could really have quite a race on our hands well i think what was interesting as we look you want to go through those points there as well ryan because that's the drivers the pro-am championship yeah pro-am uh class leaders after this of course your race winners fred poor dad and ian halen david askew ryan dial dakota dickerson and taylor hagler colin brown george kurtz aaron vogel michael cooper that's your top five in the pro am standings well that was a fun opening race to start the fanatec gt world challenge america powered by aws season and we'll do it all over again [Music] tomorrow so [Music] you

Channel: GTWorld

Views: 126,288

Keywords: BlancpainGT, Blancpain, GT, GT3, Endurance, Sprint, Series, Cup, Motorsports, watch, FIA, driver, sportscar, racecar, car, events, Spa, 24h, team, europe, pro-am, pro, racetrack

Id: OCzG5ir8tf4

Length: 122min 25sec (7345 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 06 2021