LIVE - SONOMA - RACE 1 - GT AMERICA 2021

[Music] [Music] [Music] greetings from sunny northern california where in just a matter of moments history will be made here at sonoma raceway with the inaugural round of the brand new gt america powered by aws championship hello everyone my name is ryan marine joined here this afternoon by joe jordan unfortunately our normal colleague calvin fish dealing with a small medical issue couldn't make the trip we'll have him back alongside at circuit of the americas the next round of the championship meanwhile amanda music is down in the pit lane we'll be hearing from her shortly but now a look at the pole sitter for the first ever race in gt america powered by aws a mix of gt3 and gt4 spec cars 40 minutes no pit stop single driver joe pure sprint racing at its finest yeah it should be really fun to see the mix of cars between gt3 and gt4 the first time we'll see them together in a race like this and in an old school race track attract hasn't been paved in a while so it's low grip we should see a lot of action between these two types of cars there you see the weather conditions just a slight breeze as you see with the american flag there 17 make that 11 degrees celsius that's around 57 degrees fahrenheit for those of us here in the states perfect track conditions warming up from what we saw in qualifying this morning these cars really put on a show in qualifying joe really searching for grip on a cold track and a green track after some rain overnight yeah the overnight rain really changed the track and and they were looking for grip anywhere they could and i talked earlier being old-school track it doesn't have a lot of grip so you really have to find it as the race goes on i expect there to be some tired egg and uh to see cars uh you know losing time so it's gonna be a matter of who takes care of their tires the best these pirellis are awesome tires but it's just the nature of a green track and a low grip track that's gonna come into play this afternoon it is a track surface that has the reputation for being very abrasive and time drop off over the course of the run corresponding to the tire drop off certainly one of the story lines anytime you come to sonoma raceway there's a look at the grid of cars we saw the gt3 car of george kurtz on the pole and he'll be leading this field to green but let's take a look at this sonoma raceway layout with our porsche track preview courtesy of right motorsports driver john haywood hi my name is jan halen we're here at sonoma raceway with right motorsports for the porsche trek 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 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 asses small uh small lift only back to power and ready for the ss hard on the brakes here at the 300 watts it does 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 in the porsche gt3 r great look at this sonoma raceway circuit the layout being used here this weekend 12 turns a shade over two and a half miles and you saw it from that onboard video 160 feet of elevation change from the highest point in turn 3a where the field just went through a moment ago down to turn 10 nearly 15 stories the difference between high point and low point around this track one of the many reasons it is so revered as a great challenge for all road racing drivers who aspire to come here yeah it's a challenge also because there's a lot of blind corners so you're cresting hills and you can't see around the corner ahead of you so it's all about commitment at this track and belief that uh it's a clear track and you're gonna be able to use every bit of that road so a wonderful track great to see these cars i'm excited to see them run uh out here today with those gg4 cars too the starting grid up on this screen first row george kurtz snagged the pole away from jason daskalos by over one and a half seconds with a late flyer in qualifying this morning charlie luck to beat renovokov in row two jeff burton leads kyle washington in row three jason harward the final of the gt3 runners while rob holland a returnee to the series been a little while though he is the pole sitter in gt4 starting in the outside of row four sean quinlan jason bell row five phil bloom and adam adelson in row 12 dan miller alex welch ross west and matt dalton elias sabo gray newell lining up in row number nine and tim pappas did not set a lap in qualifying is scheduled to start at the back of the grid not sure what the problem was with the black swan racing team hopefully he's been able to answer the call this is the first of what i believe will be two pace laps based on what was communicated to the teams earlier in the weekend so we'll keep a close eye on that lamborghini euros safety card the new official safety car of sro america beautiful car really really cool to see lamborghini's increased commitment to the series and as it stays out on track we can confirm two pace laps and the reason behind that joe cold temperatures trying to make sure that these drivers have everything they need to be able to go racing in a clean fashion after the end of this second piece yeah the key is getting the tires warm and the brakes up the temperature so that it's a nice safe clean start and uh you know it takes a little while to do that on a cold you know it's a cold it feels like a fall day not a spring day to me and and uh yeah so it takes two laps to get them up and running the only giveaway that it's not the fall is the green grass around this track you know you're here in the spring because you don't see that grass it is a lot of dirt and dust when you come back here later on in the year really a beautiful time to be in northern california here right now again george kurtz on the pole the first ever pole position in the history of this brand new series mentioned the race format single driver 40 minutes mixed class in a lot of ways it's a throwback to the roots of what was then purely world challenge now as hero america yeah it is very much like it used to be uh back uh when in my younger days when i ran in this series it was mixed classes in almost every category that you ran and it takes a little bit of a different driving style a little more patience if you're one of the faster cars and you know if you're a gt4 car and you're getting caught up by the leaders in in gt3 you know you have to be smart about where you let them pass so uh some different strategies that come into play when it's a mixed class race i want to talk a little bit about our gt4 pool center rob holland a great story done a lot of racing over in europe in recent years british touring cars a lot at the nurburgring but had a chance to to come back to the states race here once again in a series he has a lot of experience in but it's been a while since he's raced in the u.s really cool deal as well with a diversity initiative that that rob has started and you look at some of his crew his his thought process has been let's give opportunities to to a diverse set of folks who might not have even known that racing was an option for them and it's really cool to see that being embraced there's a number of diversity initiatives up and down the paddock here in sro america but my favorite rob holland story is he raced in an fia world touring car race here at sonoma about five or six years ago got a last minute call to be here and uh and represented the united states effectively in that field and ran really well actually scored some points and uh he's got some happy memories coming back to sonoma raceway yeah and and you know he also has done the pike's feet kill clients he could talk about international events and uh here they come down into turn 11. so the field coming into alignment the front row on the outside you see george kurtz in the dxdt racing mercedes to the inside jason dascalos in the dascalos motorsports audi coming around the hairpin here getting ready to make that launch to the green flag pretty good formation back of the field straggling just a little bit but still time i'm forgetting you're a space car about to disappear from sight around the curve there in the pit lane and now just looking for the green flag around turn 12. george kurtz gets the jump at the start the green flag waves dasilos falls in line and the battle is for third look at the gt4 field fanning out clean startup at the front wide there at the start from matt dalton he's able to bring his aston martin back under control and by and large single file up the hill here for the first time it looks like in gt4 quinlan in the bmw got by the mustang of holland as they head into turn 3a down the hill to turn four and look at that drop of elevation here really challenging getting on the brakes especially on the cold tires george kurtz able to get away early on jason daskalos running second charlie luck the leader in the masters division of the gt3 category that's for drivers 55 and older runs in third overall first in class being chased by dimitri novikov and jeff burton yeah it's good to see charlie look out here and he's a pretty quick masters driver as you can see i'm not right motorsports porsche they always have the a really quick team and he's doing a good job early on that's jason harward in the z loose motorsports lamborghini working the crossover there trying to find a way past the gmg racing porsche just up the road that's kyle washington who has some gt2 experience in sro america he got up over that curb a little bit and that's going to open up the opportunity for harvard to dive to the inside gets it done in his first ever pro race a great start from him in a brand new team that was supposed to contest not just this race but also the gt world challenge america races mention it's a new team pit equipment didn't show up in time so they're going to focus on the non-pit stop races of gt america with an expanded program coming and circuit of the americas now that would be a challenge to do the uh the sprint x-rays without benefit myself it wouldn't be a choice opening lap complete nice and clean for this field that is by the way restricted to bronze rated drivers so less experience for drivers who don't make their living driving race cars but nevertheless take their racing extremely seriously and all of these teams are very high caliber professional level racing teams it's a great platform for people to to make that step into gt4 gt3 machinery and in third place in gt4 we got bell who has switched over to an aston martin so it's unique to see him in that car looks like he's putting a little pressure early on in the mustang it appears that the aston martin tends to be an easier car over the curbs than the mustang and you'll see him using the curbs quite a bit as we go throughout this race this is the fight for second in gt4 rob holland in the mustang jason bell in the aston martin you're right he was running porsche's previously uh has some experience with a bunch of different brands actually but settled on the aston martin over the winter it was looking really strong speaking to his co-driver in sprint x gt4 competition uh that would be andrew davis he says jason really likes this car he just suits it for whatever reason and he's showing that here early keeping the pressure on a very experienced driver in rob holland yeah it looks like enforcing gt4 is also phil bloom who is in the classic bmw he's moved up from touring car from last year so as usual we see drivers moving up and down the ranks of sro this is sean quinlan leading the way had an issue in qualifying at the very end the car was pointed the wrong direction and it seemed like it was stuck because it stayed there for quite some time but clearly whatever the problem was has been resolved and a great start from him able to jump up into the lead did so from the effectively the second row of the gt4 class qualified second in class and was able to get the jump on holland there at the start holland here though under pressure from bell who has just come a long way over the last few years gaining experience behind the wheel runs a lot of races and a very extensive program last year that saw him running definitely around the 20 or 30 race range and is putting that experience to use we drop a little bit further back here mercedes leading audi that would be welch chasing schwest in the fight for the fifth position in gt4 [Music] great stuff here at the exit of the carousel for the second position in gt4 this is your overall leader george kurtz making his escape look at that after two laps the gap already nearly five seconds back to jason dascollos who was really stout and qualifying but is falling off the pace here in the first five minutes still very early stages and charlie luck now starting to reel him in we might have a fight for second overall much longer yeah and no nova golf is right there with burton too so it's a four card battle for second right now great to see the top for the second fourth it looks like separated by less than a second the last time by we'll see how close they are this time charlie luck a very experienced driver actually ran some nascar bush series races back in the 80s took some time away from racing and has done some single make porsche racing with this wright motorsports team in recent years and now saw gt america is a great opportunity to take the next step and here he is looking really strong in the early going just uh half a second behind jason daskalos per second overall plus charlie holding the master's class lead yeah it looks like the porsche gains ground uh through this about turn two to four and now the uh audi stretches out a little bit through the carousel and down to turn seven that's one of the fascinating things about sports car racing yes you have the balance of performance to equalize lap time but different cars they'll make that lap time in different places and so you'll see that ebb and flow over the course of a lap and that's what makes it so interesting and also the drivers really have to strategize how can i use my strength or the other car's weakness to get by they really have to think it through pascal's leading luck off leaving leading burton novakov and burton are both racing out of the reardon racing stable both have experience running lamborghini equipment before but not at this level great to see them making this step big step for the team there's a lot of investment that goes into stepping up to gt3 racing from gt4 where they've been primarily the last couple of years in addition to some car injuries yeah it is a big step for them and it's great to you know again you see the latter program that sro can can give you they started as a touring car team made their way to gt4 now they're with the gt3 cars so it's uh it's great to see we're making that jump in the back of this pack we saw also jason harward creeping into the mix which we saw him aggressive on the opening lap passing kyle washington here we go back to gt4 though that's sean quinlan the leader coming through now we have the fight for second rob holland in the mustang and jason bell still right there in his tire tracks joe you've got experience racing at this track it has a reputation for being difficult to pass at but it can be done if you were in jason bell's shoes where are you looking to make the attack well i i would be waiting a little bit you know i think the mustang's a little bit of a heavier car so i'd be trying to do kind of what jason bell's doing be in the mirrors trying to let rob waste the tires a little bit more let the degradation happen and then uh kind of set them up for a pass the classic places to pass here are into the two hairpins turn seven and 11. so those are the classic places to pass and that's most likely how it'll get done they're approaching the first of those here in just a moment out of the carousel that's turn six turn seven is just up the road followed by 7a that's the numbering system here at this track this is seven they swing it out wide and now a bend back to the right here for 7a you can see the the number of different varieties that they have down in this part of the track different series use the different layouts but this is the one that sro has settled on as we go back to the overall leader george kurtz out in front by a sizable margin and let's get down to amanda music in the pit lane who has an update well ryan you guys were just talking about the importance of turn seven for potential passing well george kurtz is looking to defend in that area i just talked to his uh engineer about his performance today he's excited about george in this new series but guys this could be this is a race but they're also thinking about qualifying position for tomorrow and that's a really good point amanda thank you some of our series especially the two driver formats you have a pair of 15-minute qualifying sessions the first one sets the grid for race one the second one for race two but in the single driver format like here in gt america tc america powered by skip barber as well you see instead the fastest lap from the race dictating the starting grid for this the following day's race so good point about looking for lap time here and keeping qualifying in mind this is tim pappas mentioned at the start of the show that this black swan racing car did not get out for qualifying this morning wasn't quite able to get to the bottom of what happened there hopefully we can get an update as well we got a big move here that's charlie luck on the attack looking to the outside of dascalos meanwhile here comes novacops able to sweep by and it looks like problems here for tascalo's in the audi yeah it sure does it looks like when he was going to make a shift something happened and uh they all squirted by but a little scary for a second with charlie luck but he was made a good move showed his experience there by getting by that was good driving you don't expect a car to slow there when you should normally be getting back to speed let's see if das makes the move to pit lane and he does so hopefully amanda can get down there and get an update on what might be troubling this car let's see a replay of this look how close this was all of a sudden that audi just off the pace and that was a close moment there for dimitri novakov yeah and i'm guessing that it was a gear who knows what it really was but it he just stalled you know he just lost his momentum and doesn't look like he's got power so he could have just lost power as well quickly to put a bow on the black swan discussion one thing that's worth noting is that team is running at same chassis not just here in gt america but also in pirelli gt4 america where uh it'll be shared between um tim pappas and jerome police bowling and so if there's a problem it doesn't just affect them in one series but two they expect to take delivery of a second cayman chassis ahead of our next rounded circuit of the americas for that very reason but unfortunately it wasn't possible for here this weekend at sonoma so we wish them the best so hopefully they don't uh take a double whammy here in the opening weekend of the season big slide there from novakoff and he goes off track hope he doesn't get stuck up on those curves looks like he's able to extricate himself but you can see just how wet the grass is big rain shower overnight no grip to be found with these slick tires yeah he was trying to correct himself he got on the grass and there's no way after that rain last night here's a replay right now loose already on the exit there and just couldn't quite correct it i was afraid he was going to get high sided on those blue and gold curves but fortunately he was able to get off of that hopefully we'll be able to resume it's a real shame because he had a good run going up to third overall and second in the master's class before that mishap yeah he's rolling again so that's good to see he's going through the chicane now down towards turn 10. so uh glad that he's got it going again and we'll see what happens when he comes around how far he's falling down this is jason dascalos in the pits started on the outside of the front row i'm not sure what that clap was for i'm afraid that might have been a bit on the sarcastic side i'm sure that's very frustrating to to be called a pit lane in a sprint racing series like this if you come to the pits that's about it you're gonna have a hard time recovering from something like that yeah you're pretty much done and it's not the first time we've seen a driver be sarcastic so uh he's probably gonna go out there and see if he can improve his lap time to get a better starting spot for tomorrow and that's exactly right as we talked about earlier amanda brought up the point that fastest lap in this race sets the grid for tomorrow's race so even if trying to recover positions is out of the question you still can go a long way to salvaging the weekend so jeff burton now has moved up to third overall second to the masters class harward is just behind in another lamborghini from ze loose motor sports and kyle washington now up to fifth overall and in the overall category as opposed to the masters category yeah jeff burton he had some wins last year in gt4 spurnex races and i think this format will really see if he tries to run as much as he can um in every class he can it seems like kind of like uh bell who ran every race series we had except dc america last year so third place for burton is pretty strong yep that's where he finished in points in the gt4 america sprint championship in the am class last year picked up a win there and drove alongside vasco kazarov in the spread x category here's sean quinlan out in front of the gt4 class and looking very very strong it built that lead up to over three seconds the last time by behind him holland and bell continue to fight over second that's been a really fun battle to keep an eye on yeah you missed the apex there i'm not sure what happened but it's been fun to watch quinlan progress over the last few years he's improved every year and now uh he's really showing it to the gt4 competition one thing to keep in mind speaking to the bmw m4 gt4 teams up and down the paddock they feel like their platform in particular really struggles with tire life over the course of a stint they feel pretty good on single lap pace not great they don't think this is the best track for the bmw but i was told by one of the teams they expect over the course of a stint nearly six seconds of drop off from a fresh tire to a used pirelli p0 and again this has nothing to do with pirelli that's just sonoma raceway no matter what series you come out here tire life is a topic of conversation because of the track surface around this place yeah i imagine that the the team manager steve cameron is probably reminding quinlan of that fact since he's got a considerable lead now we saw a look at tim pappas there unfortunately it looks like day done for tim and i hope that they can resolve whatever the issue might be because again that is the same chassis they're going to be using in pirelli gt4 america later on today and throughout the weekend for that matter a look in here the number 11 car that's phil bloom he's got rush ross schwest right behind and adam adelson behind that really close fight this is just behind that battle for second which is becoming i think a three-car battle there alex welch has left this fight behind him it is right there in the mix you can see him in the back of the shot really great job though by bob holland he's had a lot of pressure on on his back bumper throughout the course of this stint and he's been undeterred by it to this point why don't we go down to amanda for an update i believe on tim pappas yeah guys he actually made contact with elias sobo in turn seven there was damage to the steering which has taken tim patis out of the race [Music] thank you amanda appreciate that again this is a brand new series in the sro america umbrella single driver rating racing sprint racing restricted to fia bronze level drivers to give them a chance to race against their peers but mixed class racing 2 which is really fun with gt3 although homologated slightly differently for sro america gt america competition and then the gt4 cars which continue to conform to the global gt4 spec it really does make for an interesting combination and it's going to be fun to watch this develop over the course of the year really exciting that in the first year the first weekend of this series there's been such buy-in it's it's a really exciting uh class with with some great car count here for a series making its debut it is really good to see and and as we say that i expect george kurtz to catch the back of the field sometime this lap uh as we continue to it looks like uh the battle for second is getting closer as well as holland is still holding him off but belle is right there on his bumper through the chicane yeah really closes in under breaking doesn't he but holland is a savvy veteran that's for sure here you go you mentioned it at the back of the field our overall leader now coming through some of the slower gt4 traffic and they're in a battle of their own at the moment so george is going to have to be really patient matt dalton taking a look up the inside of miller there that is back for the ninth spot and dalton gets it done now kurtz is going to wait for his opportunity working the long way around in turn 10 and he'll be held up for oh that's unexpected george kurtz to pit lane from the lead and here it is a drive-through penalty for a false start i mentioned at the beginning he got a jump and as far as the stewards are concerned it was a bit too soon let's take a look here at the replay you see what a jump he got and maybe just a little bit before that or the uh start zone they are told where they're allowed to get to throttle where they can't that's going to be costly for george because it's about a 45 second delta from pit in to pit out at the 50 kph pit lane speed limiter and you see him dropping positions now this should drop him outside of the top five overall yeah charlie luck as he saw right around the bend in the pits charlie luck went took the lead in that porsche so the porsche now leads charlie luck over harward burton is third we'll see where kurtz comes out i think he's probably gonna be maybe sixth would be my best guess he has the speed though he had a 20-second gap as that happened so i would say it might be fun to watch his charge back up to luck we'll watch the segment times and the overall lap times to see in fact if kurtz has got the speed to get back up into that fight for the top five i'm going to suggest that george kurtz may not have ever had an overall pole in sro america competition he's had class polls before but to actually lead the field to the green that might have been new for him so uh a bit of a alerting experience there it would appear he's down in the fifth spot dmitry novikov also in the pit lane at the moment too he is unexpected we saw him have to spin earlier and i do wonder if that might have been related as we take a look at his teammate jeff burton who has been passed now by jason harward who has made his way up to second overall first pro race and look at this running in sight of the lead with half the race still remaining yeah that's an incredible job by harvard so far my bet is when he went off in the grass novocopt that is he might have gotten grass in that front grill area as he was sliding around so that would be my guest there the hardwood car is really an interesting paint job too it is and i actually got an interesting nugget about that i was told that every color that a lamborghini road car could come in is represented in this paint scheme oh wow so how about that it is eye-catching and actually charlie loves these too i always appreciate that from a broadcaster's perspective it helps us know who we're looking at one thing i think is great about having the mixed classes with the bronze level drivers is it really teaches them a lot i mean all these guys want to improve their driving skills and i think everyone's goal is to be a platinum driver well they have to learn how to navigate now with other types of cars and uh what i mean with slower cars and slower cars deal with the faster cars so uh it it's really interesting to watch them grow throughout the season learning how to deal with traffic it's a great laboratory for them to hone their craft watching george kurtz who has recovered up to fourth now looks like dascalos is back in the pit lane he had had issues earlier and returned to the track but now back in the pits for the second time so his disappointing day unfortunately continues but george kurtz 15 seconds down on the class lead in the overall lead for that matter it's going to be interesting to see if he can recover and how much he can recover in the remaining 18 minutes but now the fight for the lead heating up jason harward from alpine utah really in charlie luck at the front of this field and they're going to have lap traffic to deal with here most likely on this or the next lap with some gt4 cars just up the road and uh we've got how much time we got 17 minutes left kurtz is in fourth i think he's running faster lap times than the leader so that's something we'll keep an eye on he's now into turn 11 now as they go into turn one so we'll keep an eye on kurtz for you as luck goes by the gt4 traffic into journey [Music] to your point about george kurtz pace his best lap is the fastest lap of the race so far so that would have him on pole for tomorrow's race most likely that will hold up because of the tire drop off we've been talking about but his best lap was two seconds faster than the best that charlie luck has run a second and a half quicker than jason harwood's best lap so yeah keep an eye on george kurtz he's going to be flying through this field sean quinlan has only expanded his lead it's now 6.2 seconds over rob holland but it continues to be tight behind this is probably as much breathing room as rob has had all race long and part of it i think probably has to do with the fact that bell is now under attack from alex welch who has tracked them down but up front fight for the overall lead charlie luck jason harward up at the front of his field able to clear that lap traffic a little bit better than jeff burton who's lost some ground here in the last lap yeah charlie luck and harvard did definitely get away from them and they are so interesting to watch because the lamborghini is really good through the s's here's a comparison in the the best lap times in the last half time so that's george kurtz trying to track down jeff burton for the final overall podium position down just a little ways on the road 15 minutes remaining right at the front continues to be strong and around goes burton there in the hairpin turn 11. it's a dangerous place to be george kurtz coming around going to pick up that spot jeff burton needs to recover while he does so let's get down to amanda well ryan as you were talking uh they do feel that the qualifying for tomorrow has been set they do feel that the peak performance on the tire is done so they're pretty comfortable with that goal position tomorrow but right now the goal is to continue to gain experience for george let him be out there feel more comfortable with the track in preparation for round two and this is very valuable experience for george because he will also be raising a mercedes amg gt3 and gt world challenge america back to the jeff burton spin what do you see here joe it just looks like he's carrying too much speed and he gets on you know he gets on the painted area and there's not as much grip usually on that paint and maybe gets to the throttle a little too soon and around she goes jeff was able to resume has dropped behind kyle washington now to fifth overall so hopefully he will be able to recover from that miscue charlie luck has built that advantage here to nearly a second over harward and i don't know if traffic had something to do with it or it's just the pace in the portion looking after its tires a little bit better but harvard able to close down under braking just a moment ago he's getting closer but so is this man george kurtz able to pass matt dalton in one of the gt4 aston martins yeah last lap kurtz was almost three seconds faster as you can see on the screen there so he made up a lot of ground there's only 14 minutes to go but uh he may have enough time to get there i think yeah i think he does 11 seconds was the gap the last time by if he can continue at that rate he should get to them then passing them to different story let's check the gap at the line here hurts across the stripe and the gap down to 9.8 george kurtz is on the move yeah he is you can see him he goes through turn two up and over the hill you can see his red gloves sawing at the wheel he's giving everything he has you know which they talked about amanda talked about the tires uh not being at their top shape anymore but he's giving it everything he can because i i'm sure he believes that he can catch charlie look i'm sure his crew is telling him that too if you if you have that belief that that it that it can be done it's good motivation and as soon as he can see charlie and jason out of the the window that's all the motivation you need it's like waving a red flag at a bull right absolutely when you see your quarry just up the road sean quinlan continuing to lead the gt4 class looking very strong at the front six seconds the gap it's been pretty stable here over the last three or four laps over rob holland i think he's just looking after that bmw there is rob and alex welch now behind so alex has made the pass on jason bell able to grab the final podium spot for gt4 ross schwest there in the gt4 mercedes with some pressure from behind adam adelson recovered at the championship it looked like they both got by bloom over the last couple laps and uh charlie luck is going to be in some traffic here soon and uh kurtz is hoping that they can uh slow him down a little bit he he'll actually probably catch this group right here within about a lap and a half cool story on adam adelson by the way the team that's running him based out of las vegas premiere uh premier motorsports premier racing excuse me kent moore the team principal he was the crew chief for the white lightning racing team back in the day back in the early 2000s that one at le mans one at daytona he has this prep shop he's been running in las vegas and if you remember those white lightning cars they had that neon yellow on parts of him well look at this premier porsche that's just behind look at the roof look at the wing there's a reason for that that is channeling the old white lightning delivery and adam is a newcomer but he's got some really high aspirations wants to get to le mans one day and adam uh rather kent moore wants to take adam there and looking really strong in his first pro race at the moment putting a lot of pressure on that mercedes just locking up the wheel slightly you saw the tire smoke these two are pushing these gt4 cars to the absolute limit you see it separated there on the screen to your left that battle for fifth in gt4 is hot and here comes the leaders right behind them charlie luck is now looking to the inside of adelson he's going to be held up here in the chicane that might give harward a chance into the hairpin turn 11. let's see charlie luck ducks to the inside harwood right in the slip stream but he's going to be patient here this time they will clear adelson the door opens as schwez runs wide really benefited charlie luck he did not get held up on corner exit at all he's able to open that gap ever so slightly yeah he opened it up by about five car lengths just by having that clean shot out meanwhile george kurtz has the cap down under five seconds 4.7 at the stripe there he is they're in the same picture now but lap traffic still for george to negotiate and that's going to hold him up a little bit there trying to get past i think that was bloom in the bmw able to do that now down the hill here you get to turn forward the right hand bend out to the blue and gold rumble strips on the edge of the track painted that way on the suggestion of track general manager steve page who is a uc berkeley alum and of course that is the cal bears colors a little different than the normal candy striping here's george now through that battle we were talking about in the gt4 class using the horsepower of the mercedes we'll see can adelson make the move by he might because using that crossover there is ran wide in the braking zone yeah allison looked like he used kurtz as a not really as a pick but to uh gain some speed and that kind of shook uh schwest a little bit and he went uh wide fight for the overall lead heating up harward right on the rear wing of charlie luck under 10 minutes to go and the charging george kurtz is watching this play out in front of him he's been pulling the man definitely held up by lap traffic on this lap only one lap car though in between george kurtz and these two fighting for the overall lead luck a little bit wide off the exit of the airplane able to get back to power though one of the strengths traditionally of this porsche the rear engine sitting over the drive wheels get the jump there around turn 12 and up the hill for turn one once again and curt says no traffic at least right now he can see that rear wing of that lamborghini he's coming it's 2.1 seconds back to kurtz from charlie luck this is as close as it has been and remember if you're just joining us george kurtz pole sitter built a massive lead but got a drive-through for effectively jumping to start a false start at the initial start of this race has recovered to be right back in the mix taking a look at stephen cameron there on top of the stephen cameron racing box looking after our gt4 leader sean quinlan back in sixth overall there we go once again harward looking to the inside of luck can't get the job done on the exit of the carousel i think it might have held them both up because here comes george george kurtz on the attack luck defensive there heading into turn seven now through 7a and george is well and truly there rob holland in the second place running gt4 cars up the road and this is a tough place to get behind an out of class car really a single line through this s's portion of the race track nowhere for rob to hide and this has brought the battle for the lead right together george kurtz up the inside of harwood can he get this into the hairpin make that the chicken no he can't now it's harvard on the attack he's to the outside of charlie luck gets shoved a bit wide has his hands full but pulls it back in that allows george kurtz to attack great battle at the front of the field in the first ever gt america race curse to second around harward that was some great dicing in there that you were using that lap traffic to try to take advantage of one another it looks like kurtz uh managed to use that finally to turn 11. that's why we love multi-class racing it's a skill to get through traffic like that george kurtz played it perfectly late on the brakes as they climbed the hill in turn two he can see the lead he has not held it in some 15 minutes but charlie luck is just ahead a little over six and a half minutes to go we've got the top three runners running within a second of each other can't really ask for more in the debut race through this category now charlie luck is in that masters class so this is not the battle for a class lead but it is the battle for the overall lead you better believe charlie luck would love it if he can get it george kurtz through the carousel he's been really strong for this part of the track one of the great passing zones that joe talked about a moment ago turned seven not close enough to get it done this time gt4 class leader just up the road and they're gonna get held up in that same part of the track it looks like yeah it's gonna be interesting to see if all three can get through into the chicane it looks like the lamborghini may not be able to this time it's too far back through this right-hander now into the chicane looks like curse oh they touched kurt smells blood three wide into the chicane kurt's sitting inside the preferred line gets it done our word on the attack now sees blood in the water works his way for the second time to get outside of luck they'll be side by side a little bit of a hip check there and harvard has to back out of it again multi-class racing creates so much but how about the drive for george kirk from he was what 15 seconds back with 10 minutes to go and he's he's now leading again that'll have him flying high with a gt world challenge america race still to come this afternoon i'm sure his driver coach colin brown is loving what he's seeing harvard a little bit wide there in one not sure if that was an attack or just chasing the rear of that race car lost some ground so i'm going to guess the ladder and that gives a little bit of breathing room for charlie luck in the fight for second overall [Music] to reset by the way quinlan continues to lead in gt4 the lead though has come down a little bit four and a half seconds back to holland now welch is a further 1.2 seconds back in third jason bell dropping off a little bit very strong start to the race and you wonder if he might have used up that pirelli rubber yeah it kind of seems that way and it looks like quinlan is uh maybe suffering a little bit right now from not trying to hold on for the last four minutes we'll see if rob holland has saved anything he's uh just four and a half seconds back and we'll look at their lap times over the last few minutes top speeds they're up on the screen race vision powered by aws bringing some excellent insights using their cloud technology love having this on board with us for the second straight year meanwhile let's get an update on jason daskalos who had a couple of calls to pit lane started from the outside of the front row but the day has gone sour from there amanda yeah that is the case ryan unfortunately i spoke to one of his crew guys mark there was damage on the audi on the rear right to the tire as well as as the the wheel side on the rear right uh they just felt that it wasn't safe so they ended up bringing jason in and that calls the day for him thank you for the update i'm sorry to see it and yeah there you can see the reaction from jason long time competitor in this series going back 15 years not always running full seasons but [Music] great to have him back in the paddock made a return after a number of years away last year as part of gt sports club running i believe this same audi and not a great start to the year this year but the good news is they get to do it all over again tomorrow and that's another reason not to take any risks if you're not quite sure what the condition of the car might be yeah i mean there's another race tomorrow might as well save it if you can um yeah that's a great strategy by them to make sure they can be there tomorrow sean quinlan is slowing a little bit and holland has got that lead down a little bit more he was about uh six tenths of a lap quicker on that last lap i don't know he's gonna have enough time though yeah only two and a half minutes remaining in this race quinlan by the way had a couple of good runs here at this track last year he ran both sprint and sprint x and pirelli gt4 america had a podium in each at this racetrack finished third a couple of times and a problem there for one of the audi's going on is that welch i can't catch the number yet but uh yeah that that steve cameron bmw by the way they're based here at cirrus point so this is their home track so coleman's got uh a lot of laps here looks like he's trying to get back on maybe trying to get to a safe place because that's exit of turn seven or ten six sorry i'm not certain so i don't mean to alert anybody who might be an alex welch fan but that was my guess and if so he was running third in gt4 we'll have to try and get that confirmed i'm sure as the the lap cycle up through we'll have a better idea of what exactly was going on there a little mixed class racing going on here fourth overall kyle washington able to make the move here to the inside of second place for rob holland yeah and it was uh whilst it was number 76 that's off and we're looking at rob holland now as he's heading his way through turn one up to turn two he's trying to see if he can catch the leader in gt4 that's quinlan uh it looks like he might have taken a little bit more time up but i think he's running out of time well really sorry to see that for alex welch who is a former class champion in sro america and was running third and something went wrong here in the final minutes george kurtz out in front less than a minute to go and has really extended that lead over these two charlie luck and jason harward running second and third [Music] really tight stuff right motorsports long time porsche team z loose motorsports brand new lamborghini team it'll be madison snow driving along with jason later in the season and gt will challenge america a couple of utah natives flicked up should be white flag this time by for george kurtz who's coming around to pass grey newell in the heart of racing aston martin gray very new to this has spent uh last year testing in preparation for this he'll be teaming up with ian james in pirelli gt4 america competition but logging some valuable laps here and actually checkered flag this time by george kurtz picks up the first ever race win in gt america powered by aws congratulations to george kurtz a great comeback drive after a drive-through penalty at the midway point of this race able to recover and picks up the overall win well done sean quinlan looking to win in the gt4 category across the stripe and your first winner in gt4 in gt america is the stephen cameron racing driver [Music] sixth overall as well for the top running gt4 machine charlie luck able to hold off hardwood by the way to lock down second overall but crucially first in the masters class harward third overall second in class with washington third in the overall class while jeff burton fifth overall and second in the masters division the rest of the podium in gt4 sean quinlan rob holland and jason bell able to recover after the issues there from alex welch and he picks up a coveted podium finish tell you what you look at the bronze level talent in both of these categories gt3 and gt4 and there is a lot of it if you get a good result against fears like this you'll have earned it over the course of the 2021 campaign yeah you really will and it was fun to see the mix of classes and also an honor to be in the first called the first inaugural uh race in this format for gt america well i cannot wait to hear from george kurtz this is a man who takes this very seriously in addition to the win he is able to log the crowd strike fastest slap a 140.170 that secures for him the pull in tomorrow's race as well so a lot of good things coming george kurtz way here in the opening day of racing for gt america powered by aws and fitting it is the crown strike car that picks up the crowd strike fastest lap but as i was saying this is a man who really takes his racing seriously really passionate about it made the trip over to spa last year and ran the total 24 hours of spa alongside colin brown and and a couple of other european-based drivers for the sps automotive team and has aspirations of getting back there again this year there he is out of the car receiving congratulations and certainly deserves it anytime you pick up a win it's special but to come back from a drive-through i'm sure he was upset with himself for picking it up in the first place i'm sure he's upset with himself i'm sure he didn't feel he did it but he was able to overcome and and that's what it takes sometimes and you know charlie luck first time out with us in a long time so good to see him coming when the master has finished second overall and the newcomer harward i'm i'm impressed with him um i think you watch him grow as the season goes on and uh i think he needs to you know learn a little more racecraft and you can see he was taking some chances that maybe uh he won't in the future and he'll set the the passes up more and uh move his way up well that's what this series is for in a lot of respects gaining that valuable experience in cars like these and the idea is you step up into gt world challenge america one of these days and for chase it does not have pro level racing experience really not afraid to take a big bite out of it jumping straight into gt3 as we look at the unofficial results following race one of the weekend as mentioned george kurtz fastest winner in the masters division charlie luck coming from single make porsche racing and looking really comfortable in his first outing in gt3 jason harwood kyle washington and jeff burton the top five followed by your winner in gt4 i imagine sean quivering is going to be a happy camper he's of another very enthusiastic guy who has come a long way in the last couple of years more on that in a moment but first let's get down to amanda guys off camera he just said i had to win this twice george after serving that drive-through penalty you entered back on the track in the fourth position what pushed you to get this podium here today well you know we had speed all weekend and it was uh it was really demoralizing to get the penalty you know i know driver's gonna agree with some of that stuff but it is what it is right so i just put my head down and said you know we got to get back in the p1 and win this thing like we should have was there did you have a feeling you could get back into that first position i had a feeling i could get back and really uh it was the traffic that i had in mind if the traffic cooperated uh and held up the guys a little bit up front i think i had the lap time to just chip away and you know just get it done with a few laps left which is what happened and with the fastest lap you'll start from p1 tomorrow there we go thank you and you could tell how much that meant to him it no racer is going to agree with the penalty right you don't ever hear anyone say yep i did it that was me that's where the penalty came right there on the start the stewards ruled he got going a bit too quick we didn't know that though until about halfway through the race so just able to jump out to a great lead here on the initial start george kurtz in the 0-4 jason dascalos running second great fights though throughout this field and i think that is what caused the problems for tim pappas damage there after that contact all right mystery solved there big moment for jason dascalos and dimitra novakov had to split him along with charlie luck and uh dascalos unfortunately had some serious problems after that and uh was out of the race early that's novakov going for a spin here's george kurtz serving that drive-through penalty as noted making his way down pit lane but this was the move of the race flashing the lights as he's going by george kurtz to p1 with a power move through the chicane and onto the front stretch to take that crucial checkered flag here's the reaction a very happy guy another happy guy is standing by with amanda that is our master's class winner charlie luck oh yeah and i think it's just really seeking in for charlie but you pick up the win at the inaugural gta race here in sonoma what does that mean oh my gosh you know we've spent four years in gt3 cup racing and this was a big step up for us no doubt about it and uh frankly you know i didn't know how well i could do and i just uh would encourage everybody you know if you have a dream chase it whatever that is whatever it makes you tick chase it so we're just totally totally over the moon um i would say definitely one of my better races i've only been in this car one race now and very very different than the cup car so um anyway but just totally excited to be part of sro and um excited for all the sponsors and just uh super super weekend and guys with tears in his eyes dreams fulfilled here in sonoma oh that's fantastic and the message certainly resonates with me here this weekend congratulations to you there charlie really well done here today was embroiled in a great fight throughout the race with jason harward and was able to come out on top in that battle not enough for george kurtz but hey there's always tomorrow well and you know it's a masters division so that means he's a little bit older he can really appreciate what that accomplishment means and that's why he's emotional about it a lot of hard work a lot of dedication by all sorts of people to let him do this and he's appreciating it very much cool to see the ninth place driver in the 1986 nascar bush series standings coming through with a win here at sonoma down to amanda once again well i think you guys can see the smile underneath the mask of sean quinlan you pick up the win here in sonoma how satisfying is that oh it's a lot of fun this is my home track and you know the bmw is not the best car at this track but we managed to get a bit of a lead and then maintain it and then the tires started going off but we managed to keep it so it was a ton of fun ton of fun bit lonely out there but i'll take it i'll tell you congratulations thank you well a great way to get the gt america powered by aws season started hope you enjoyed the show thanks for tuning in [Music] you

Channel: GTWorld

Views: 43,127

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: lrSutiOORU4

Length: 59min 30sec (3570 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 06 2021