RACE 1 - VIRGINIA - GT WORLD CHALLENGE AMERICA 2020

[Music] good afternoon everybody and welcome to a racetrack and a grande Dom at that Virginia International Raceway as GT World Challenge powered by AWS resumes its global schedule with the third and fourth rounds of GT world challenge America powered by AWS here at this wonderful facility and what a glorious afternoon it is tad warm bit humid but we're at a race track and it's bluish skies we are loving every minute of it hi everybody I'm Greg creamer joined by Calvin fish Ryan Marine down in pit lane for the race but of course in the pre grid we'll be hearing from him with some interviews but cow based on what one what we've seen in qualifying into what we saw at Circuit of the Americas certainly one of the stories has got to be that silver pairing in the racers edge car they have been stout and continue to do so yeah I think during the offseason everyone looked at that silver opportunity with a silver driver paired with another silver driver would that be either way to go for an overall victory it certainly proved to be the case at Circuit the Americas where they took two wins as we look at the race track what a classic is just over three and a quarter miles broken down into three six of the first sector you can see pretty twisty they're good overtaking opportunity down into turn one then it tightens up and then really high speed up through those as it's through oak tree corner that's the far one to the right-hand side tight corner to launch you down Madison Avenue and then it finishes off with a lot of elevation change down through the roller coaster so it starts technical goes wicked fast and ends frightening got it oh it's classic is also cool and if you make a mistake in the wrong area Greg it will have consequences well down in the right area right now and that is on the grid is Ryan marine third member of our team and speak of the devil good afternoon guys great to be back at vir great to be back in a race track I'm sure Trent Hinman feels that way he and Shelby Blackstock like you talked about dominance in the opener at Kota had so much momentum going and then we have to wait how hard was that Wade and how exciting is it to be back in action well I think with everybody that that four month long period off between Kota and here at vir just felt like forever but if there was any way that we can roll into this sort of newfound offseason I guess I'll say that was the way to do it right we're coming off a win or a settle wins at Kota with this racers edge team with this Acura NSX gt3 so if we're gonna have any sort of momentum after that long of a layoff that's definitely the way to do it and hopefully no more layoffs for the rest of the year fingers crossed for sure but you know we're gonna try to do the same thing again today and tomorrow for sure they got the best seat in the house for both of those races off the start pole position in qualifying for both races earlier today and about to get going here on the grid for race one of the weekend for GT world challenge America presented by aw thanks very much Ryan and you know everybody knew about Trent Henman and we'd seen Shelby Blackstock racing and in GT and grand you know Grand Am Grand sedan and that sort of thing but he has taken to this gt3 Acura NSX and has really been superb he really has is a strong driver pairing and I think they're gonna be tough to beat because once again they've swept both poles I mean she'll be quickest in the session this morning that determines the grid for day one and Trent returned that favor for his teammate for round 2 so they got the track position it's all about just executing remember these teams are gonna be a little bit nervous it's been a long break for months without really doing a proper pit stop under race conditions so will they'll be a factor in pit lane today where one of the teams will make a little mistake you got that minimum pit stop time of 71 seconds you've got to hit that right on the mark if you're in close proximity out on the racetrack if you lose a second or two there that can determine the winner here today Greg so a lot on the line everyone's anxious excited to be back racing but nervous at the same time you can see there it's a incentive great but it is warm and that track temperature is of particular interest and we've been hearing things from teams about just unusual or overheating but one of the things too is that the temperature that radiates off the track for those splitters and the diffusers that's much thinner air on the track surface than it is even a foot or two above it and that can affect downforce and handling I mean there's so much that this temperature plays into let alone making it difficult to cool especially when it's human yeah there's a lot of factors there to take into consideration when you're setting the car up for the I said today so running a good lap in the coolish conditions this morning different deal to this afternoon with the warmer temperatures as you mentioned the hot track temperature means you're going to have less downforce less thick air working on that front splitter and pushing the car into the ground and given a grip engines are going to struggle too should give a little bit of an advantage to the turbocharged motors you would think but nonetheless it's going to be a fierce battle if you look at qualifying we had six cars separated by just six tenths of a second so there's a lot of action potentially out there in the opening laps and really really close and Ryan is standing by with another Ryan who hopes to be right in the thick of that action yeah and if qualifying is any indication we expect that to be the case Ryan Dalziel we were talking a moment ago the guys in the booth about how close this field was in qualifying does that make you pretty anxious ready to go to get in for your stint knowing that you should have a pretty fierce battle on your hands yeah it does I mean it you know I think we shown all weekend this is a good track for the mercedes-amg Xand both : and I had small mistakes in qualifying I think we could have looked at the front rows so a little bit cloud cover right now but she'll be good for our cars with the heat we struggle a little bit with the turbo engines compared to the naturally aspirated when it's really hot but I think the kid today is no mistakes and fatigue it's it's all of races I've done in a long time and you know I think it's that whole thing no work we're just happy to be back racing at this point so suck up the sweat a little bit look for a good first race back after what's been a tough few months for everybody and try and put on a good show it's no long cars here about pretty quality field and tight it's hot it's been sunny you can see it with crying in sunglasses you've needed them all weekend long it'll be a real challenge for these drivers today yeah absolutely but as you said they're delighted to be here and they are up for the challenge he talked about the dx/dt Mercedes potentially having the potential to sweep the front row there is a Mercedes on the front row Cal but bit of a surprise there and a super sub yeah Chris Wilson has been drafted in with Winwood racing gonna be driving with the younger of the wards there Russell Ward and Russell's been very much up on the wheel this weekend so I'm excited to see what he can do here this afternoon and Chris as you know he's plug and play put him in there he had a win in the GT for Mercedes here yesterday in sprint X competition in class and now he's gt3 machine well he plops it right on the front row and takes the pro-am poll yeah and he's the am component of that team so that saw the FIA driver ratings work so as you can see right now there's a look at the zero for Jorge Kurt's the CrowdStrike AWS dx/dt car and you can see the crew doing everything they can here just to keep a little airflow moving across Jorge inside that car it is indeed that warm and the humidity is the other key part of it here as you take a look at one of the big towers that is being used here is also a water tower as well there is the number 33 machine that we were just talking about and I really did just a superb job they really have and this is a team that's gonna be running 50 60 60 races globally this year even with the lockdown so it's gonna be a very busy year for this team they've run of many different Championships globally and they just seemed to go from strength to strength I mean I think the wards Russell and his dad have done a tremendous job behind the wheel and when they draft in drivers they're either mistake mercedes-benz factory affiliated drivers or guys like Chris Wilson who were just super super impressive so they always put on a great show I think they're looking for a great run here today but we've got Porsche on the second rather good Fred poor dad did an amazing job to callate on the fastest em time of the session and go third overall and young max root a lot of people are saying great things about this young man he'll take over the wheel halfway through here just to remind of that important pitstop mandatory pit stop between minutes 40 and 50 of this 90 minute race there'll be a driver change there'll be a four-tire change and there'll be a little bit of fuel added as well and 71 seconds is the time from pit in to pit out you cannot be underneath that number otherwise you will get a drive-through penalty and the other added wrinkle to the race is the fact we will have the debut for racing of GT Sports Cup and we have four cars and four drivers that will be contesting the other race within a race if you will and their race length is 40 minutes long so they'll be getting the checkered flag exiting the track as that pit window opens so it's going to be some interesting developments here to watch how people different ends of pit lane to make sure there isn't any congestion but it'll still I think provides some interesting moments as the field now heading out on track under the control of the Acura NSX and is the official safety vehicle of the SRO Motorsports America GT World Challenge America powered by AWS and obviously people might be tuning in looking at boy this is you know the numbers aren't quite there well it's a lot due to travel restrictions and kovat 19 pandemic protocols that are being put in place and these teams have made a Herculean effort to get here in we're racing we're grateful they have any cars out on track and these numbers I think for this caliber of car the team and class is very respectable considering the conditions and you'll note he when Ryan was doing interviews everybody's wearing face masks I mean SRO and vir have worked incredibly hard together along with the teams and the manufacturers to make sure that off track is I think kudos are certainly deserved to everybody oh absolutely I think it's really impressive drive 12 cars in this field here today and I think what you have is some teams and drivers just looking on to see what it's going to be like as we return to racing with these covert 19 protocols in place I think if they see that we can put off the band we're ready about a lot of racing already this weekend successfully I think we'll see the numbers start as well as the season continues a lot of great venues that we return to once again so everyone's just chomping at the bit to get going we are just about to do that here as the field is out we're anticipating to formation laps and these cars they did qualify earlier today so these drivers certainly have a little bit of more recent track knowledge and that's never a bad thing second part of this race the sports club races we've got four of them in the field that's a gt2 platform only Porsches that we're seeing here we did see some outies testing in the offseason no Aries have been entered for this weekend but he's got a sensational about 700 horsepower so it's 150 horsepower plus advantage over the gt3 cars that will be starting behind so you might see someone get a little bit frisky at the start there and start to overlap with the tail end of the gt3 field but they don't have all of the driver race they don't have the corner the gt3 cars that you're looking at right there so pretty big Delta in lap times probably about three to four seconds ultimately and that should separate them nicely and let them have their own can contest here this afternoon different cars are rocket ships at the straight line but it's the gt3 cars that have immense downforce and flow through the course but to put it in perspective here the John McGraw Hill sweedler pairing at a 140 eight-six and Ryan gates fastest of the gt2 cars at 148 3 so this opening few laps could be pretty interesting there is an overlap that is for sure but apples-to-apples yes to poll I think it's a bit bigger Delta than that 73 cars should gradually stretch their legs and ease away a little bit in terms of their lap times but then you've got that critical moments we check it flag the sports club cars well guess what yes that's when the pitstop window opens for the gt3 machinery and it's going to give a shout out we mentioned the the back of the field and it's great to have both of these drivers with us in this championship tr3 racing and they're beautiful Ferrari 488 GTB s I've entered his second car the 31 it builds sweedler former GT champion in sports car racing who's done time in Ferraris as well as other types of cars been away for a while he's back and he's paired with the reigning champion in Ferrari challenger failed Pirelli AM competition John McGrew making his debut of the championship so great to have those drivers didn't run a coda but great to have them here yeah bill sweetly refers so long was a stoa of gt3 racing in terms of big success he won the Rolex 24 hour race back in 2014 in an identical Ferrari essentially 16 a game with Ferrari he won at Lamar in GTE AM so good to see him back and he's brought along obviously one of his pals who's had a lot of success with Ferraris as well over the last few years absolutely there is a look at the sharp end of that field beautiful Acura NSX from racers edge Motorsports great support from HPD and they've had that [Music] the gt3 Academy that they put on for some drivers during this break to help coach up some young young talent was some great pros it's just a good program it really is it kept everyone busy and they wrote Atlanta a couple of weeks ago they had four drivers as part of that Academy Jacob Abel Taylor Hagler who ran here last year and Dakota Dickerson who's a very impressive young man and Karl Whitmer also got seats on there and they were being coached by Ryan Eversley former champion TCR in World Challenge competition as well as Dane Cameron who had a lot of success here last year with the real time racing effort in gt3 whitmer of course already flying the colors for Acura and the teaching rivals eSport racing championship and got a big win at Bathurst in that he's for racing but we're ready to go real time racing right now and down the field they come field under the control shelby Blackstock with chris wilson on the outside and then white Mercedes as the Acura NSX safety car is independent ninety minutes of competition two races going on within the field watching for that green flag and when the green flies you can race and away we go and Wilson read that really really well was right up alongside but Blackstock eases it knows ahead Cal but you can make an outside move here see if Wilson could pull it off yeah Wilson was almost taunting Blackstock to get on the gas early but Shelby just waited back and they got the launch and the jump nice clean stop here Fred poured out an excellent start here in the right Motorsports Porsche he maintains that third position his bar key has made some nice move there early and Jason Belle looked like he snuck around Ryan gates picked up the lead in the gt2 category so it changed there in the early going watching important snake and it is exactly that it is a treacherous little piece of real estate [Music] that all white Porsche of gates oh he's leading a gt2 just grabbing gas hot acceleration up here tire temperatures just graslie building time pressures building so I'll take a lap or two even in these warm conditions to get them into their correct operating window for a nice stop by Martin barky defending pro-am class champion here comes up from the sixth position up to an early fourth and I'll tell you those starts qualifying is huge at gt3 racing and when you can pull off a move like that on the start that's a big moment as well and see black stock now just easing away from Wilson a little bit but Fred poor dad has been mega impressive here said a lot of success here and he's raised the bottom or she's here in GT to become in the light it really hasn't watched him in qualifying this morning he really looked at ease and was hitting his mark to the Karluk to be hooked up John Wright and the whole engineering squad there at ripe Motorsports to put a good car underneath him but up front Shelby Blackstock could be a perfect stop and the perfect first lap is he inches out a 1.3 second lead over the chasing Chris Wilson and Wilson under pressure from poor dad shows the nose wasn't right really close enough to do too much Wilson just floats out a little bit wide there you come through turn two and really tight and technical here cars going to feel really good right now on these probably piece arrows the other the qualifying laps are relatively fresh because this race wears on the ambient temperature is going to increase track temp is going to come up and wear rate will be a factor here too available to the drivers and then it is barky as you send the number 80 razor's edge machine faced by the number one of Martine Fuentes and that black and red who blow Ferrari from tr3 Martine has been an absolute walk in the amp category for many years this year moving up dipping a toe the waters at the Las Vegas finale last year are racing in the pro-am category teamed with no us and Rodrigo Baptista doing his full Bentley program in Europe buttons had the openings and said I'd love races in the United States and his deal came together and Martin denied Collider he's a great teammate to have young talent and so much success over the last couple of years with k-pax racing in the Bentley squad and suddenly he's had success here as well on this racetrack so good to see him have a dual program continuing to prom with paybacks over in the SRO endurance championship this year well as here with Martine they come into this race as the leaders in the pro-am championship with a win and another podium at circa the Americas back in hodge car they are the defending pro-am class champions he and Kyle Marcel II who will take over at the driver change had a really strong lead year last year in races that first year in the gt3 level of competition it's sort of it's impressive to be one the racers edge they just made the step-up and didn't miss a click were phenomenal and then quickly expand to a two car program and are just a really in lockstep here at both of these cars they really are is a big move but for John Meraki he's got a well-oiled machine in terms of the crew and the chemistry there and they just took it in their stride and it's great to see that you know you can use the lab assistant decline up to the upper echelons of motorsport what they have and be so successful in the I was gonna mention to the 0-4 of George courage that is the CrowdStrike an AWS dsdt mercedes qualified fourth and they have the opening lap he wanted he slipped back into the sixth spot right now so he's got a little bit of work to do but as you can see it looks like Ryan gates did get yes he did he got back around Jason Bell and Ryan and that beautiful white Porsche that runs in the 311 RS motorsport program which is a new racing arm of 311 RS which is the company that they've done with development work and the light but it's their racing our gold crest Motorsports involved in helping hustle that program along the team of Ryan and the fact I think they're out of Minnesota of course gold crest based in the Atlanta area but working well together yeah they are and I looked at his resumes at Rack Attack champion and a lot of success with a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo they were kind of known as the kingpins of that era and then once that stopped they moved on to the Porsche platforms and kind of fun to see them entering here but now we see a great Bowser developing for that for positions Marty Twenties in the Ferrari is putting the pressure on par he looks down at the inside deep on the brakes [Music] squeezes in nice clean food posit saw him coming and just gave me just enough room tried to deter him but couldn't stop our team make his way through after not the first lap he was looking for I think that was well that was a great move by Martine because he he looked inside then went back outside that big Martin said okay he's not gonna do it right as Martin said I I'm here mark he popped to the inside and then managed to get it stopped as he decisive move wouldn't work the big credit is you said to Martin Marquis for being able to make sure there was no contact there it's got that smart 'nearly going here Jesse loved watching these cars float speed after the essence just hopping over the curbs a little bit you can't use too much of them otherwise you'll start bicycling to be up on two wheels and that can get a little bit wild and get you off course particularly through that final left-hander turn ten it's slowing things down patience patience patience just to get on the power early and launch yourself down Madison Avenue as they're doing right now tails way down this back straightaway terminal speed about 160 to 165 of these gt3 cars about 175 for the Sports Club races here with the Porsche gt2 platform that is just wicked quick you're talking about bicycling on these curves it's not quite as bad as a living with the ground effects carving you get up on the curb enough and get enough air you do spill down for us off of that rear diffuser and even off the splitter up front if we get that too aggressive and that's not a good thing it's me certainly not now we're looking at this battle is now 4/5 Tsubaki holds down the fifth position now it has been passed by twenties on that previous lap Gorge curse trying to regroup here at a nice qualifying run which was Ashley Skye Mead a little bit I John Purdue have the spin and both the skew and courage had to take advice of action through the turn five area this morning and the grass was very wet from the storm we had here last evening at the circuit they went through a bit of a ride and kind of lost their rhythm so it is a nicel eight lap by Jorge Kirsten looking gara back up into the fourth position on the grid when he got hurt he ran around Martin Markey he ran down fretboard ed in a very short amount of time I think Martinez liking the way that this tr3 who blow Ferrari is feeling right now and he is just flying he really has he just laid down the fastest lap of the race and he certainly has some speed to deal with and you know Martine he just loves to win he seems to win a handful of races every single Oratia and whose third consecutive victory problems here it's to Frederick I think one of our gt2 competitors lone driver running in the iron category and enough to tell exactly where that is there's a lot of beautiful grass here stump at the end of Madison Avenue and some assuming he just pulled off some kind of technical issue didn't make the second qualifying session this morning and we saw him at a brief off just dropped a couple of wheels got it back to pit lane didn't see any further actions I'm not sure if that rated an issue oh here we see what's happening just a late move down and the inside of John McGrew some contact and maybe that's the reason that he's now got technical issues had to park the car could be somes do you say little hit there and we are now full course caution as a result and the Acura NSX comes out and finds it's similar race trim version and will sneak in front of it here to pick this field up yeah that was Frederick was given to the heck of a run and just a little bit too optimistic the other question is looks like the number 31 the TR three entry of McGrew you may not have had any significant damage because you look like that was kind of Center on that right side so we'll see how he's doing yeah sometimes you can get lucky yeah just a Santa punches the door versus one of the wheels in the suspension components or some of the critical Aero elements on the front splitter or the red tail good to cease wheeler up to speed when he takes over thieves laying down some good laps this morning on his return to this form of racing yes he was just nice to have him back in the paddock he's a nice character yeah he is that he gets a understands the game very successful over the years with his business and when he's doing well Larry likes to be at the racetrack longtime partner of Townsend Bell there's no avid broadcaster and still racing himself for the Lexus team I always thought ZZ Top did a road sharp-dressed man kind of let's be sure [Music] save this view it's a special weekend for him with his daughter Olivia making her Pro Racing debut in the TCR category here and she has been very impressive they tried to get her a lot of track time she's done a lot of testing not a lot of racing and certainly a baptism of fire here this weekend in terms of the level of competition in the TCR class but David has certainly given her a great opportunity and talking to Ryan Dalziel who's been around here a test said she is really impressive she has really been brought intimidated at all and that's an impressive turn of speed so fun to see yeah absolutely a lot of athleticism in that family and you know sporting him with with Dave's you know sailing open ocean sailing racing she won a World Championship and junior freeride skiing I mean obviously they've they've got the competitive gene pretty well welded in yeah and again talking to Ryan about this squad he said David just wants to drive if he's not doing something on the weekend he wants to get the car out and did some lapping down at Utah Motorsports campus I mean he just wants to continue to learn the craft learn its new trade that's the commitment and he's growing a pretty nice race team in the process with dx/dt is named for Steve they've got this car on the wrong side of the road to get to pit lanes they probably gotta wait for the whole field to go through before they can move it to the right the good news is unless there's debris anywhere and I didn't see much where the original contact happened you should now be able to get back to green here pretty quickly the key as we saw this morning and one of the other races was there's a lot of marbles out on that race tracks when you run around at this speed with hot ties it's like a the snowball will just pick those up so it's very important for the drivers that they get really aggressive with their steering inputs to try and clean those tires off before we get back to green flag racing again actually Michael Cooper in the sprint race earlier today for GT for put on a clinic and how you scrub tires in a strategic fashion here and it paid off handsomely so it is important Sears there's damage to the front but it looked like then you may a pancaked a little bit got the engine from every wheel to the wheel spiral in the paintwork just ahead of the left rear fender flare and some damage up front on the splitter frontal area so maybe you've seen some temps or something start to not sure it's a shame mean just at this stage is early in the game for this new category that the important thing is to get laps and learn that learn the racecar learn the new racetracks watching that safety car the Acura NSX and the lights do go obviously should be going back to green this time by and it's at this point on the track that the theory you're supposed to start start easing away from doing all the bobbing weaving people trying to get some good tires clean here get ready for this restart here black stock it opened up a little bit of a margin over Wilson now we're gonna see whether fed poor dad has an opportunity to go after Wilson who went days look to be really fastest guy in the track right before that caution came out sitting fourth and that black and red who blow alpha prime Ferrari from squadron four so here we go speeds are starting to pick up as the nsx safety vehicle the official safety vehicle has made its escape and heads into pit lane Blackstock didn't wait much did he just escape as well that was perfect it's timed that nicely off he goes green flag racing once again Chris Wilson gonna go chase him but I think the real battle is going to be between Fuentes and poor dad for that third position on the road by embarking it hurts pretty close quarters as well like at Martine just thrown that around going to throttle here super impressed with Fred's performance no this weekend eat and have the best start to the weekend Dakota go through practices then in qualifying had a big incident coming on the front straightaway was completed his young teammate them who have taken the reigns for a qualifying session of his own they came through and scored a double victory in the am class but I probably heard his confidence a little bit but he's come here and rolled up very much ready to go as we said he's got a lot of laps here I think he's very comfortable on this track and that incident as I recall happened it was in a damp and drying track which at Kota which can really obviously catch you out I'll tell you right gates is impressive in that gt2 cars yeah he's he's up all night and taking advantage of what that call provide I mean it does have some electronic aids it does have abs it does have TC but just not the handling an arrow of the gt3 cars here you can see Chris he's just tugging that left side you don't want to give anyone the left lane otherwise it makes it easier for them to out-brake you into that slightly curving brakes on for the roller-coaster my team looks like you know go his tires back up to temp even have been struggling a little bit a pick up there and was a little bit squirrely there on that restart lap she's got a quick update off air that Frederick stay is done unfortunately for the former Pirelli World Challenge GT competitor the damage to the suspension from that contact and now they're parking in it fixed for tomorrow probably took a bit of a hit there on the Ferrari of McGrew attempt to a pass I don't think he was more just setting up in the middle of the road increase Martine made a bigger lunge down the inside at the same time it looks like Wilson's struggling a little bit getting through turn one just have to stay on the brakes a little bit longer than releasing the brake pressure and flowing through that corner tend to see a variety of lines through turn one is that just a matter of what your car well at that point I think so I mean I think if the car is turning in well and has good stability that you take the slightly wider arc but if you're a little bit nervous on the our approach but then you've got that critical phase where you're asking the car to do a lot of turn then right at the mid part of the corner and I think that's where you can be taking advantage of poor dad's car looks to be working really well here this weekend yeah does boy Martine carries some speed through turn 10 I think that's just the experience fact there Martines driven here a long fred has not raised so much in assuming these cars at this level so Marty just more comfortable putting on that rag engine running I wide there on the exit tenant using all of the road Jorge Kurtz the CrowdStrike AWS dx/dt Mercedes with a good battle right in front of it marked in marque and then over 80 racers edge Acura NSX gt3 the mbrp entry spots Martin Martin able to ease away a little bit and other places Kurt's is all over open less than a second derivative both of them is the other team dx/dt car that you saw Co security national mortgage entry of Davis cue a really nice job is lap times look really good second and a half slower than our overall leader right now which is pretty respectable so I think he's got his teammate there up ahead that's a good incentive for him he can see the mark see where he's getting it well down and trying to lay these wheel tracks right on top of his Shelby just carving it beautifully here that margin a little over two and a half seconds back to Wilson you may see him just kind of manage his pace maybe like the last five ten minutes before you're gonna do that but it's topics change use the rubber up a little bit more than in case you get another he said you'll have something to defend with [Music] martine at times you can barely see the nose of that who blow ferrari underneath that wing a poor dad he's so close so many spots [Music] of course with these cars they are a lot of arrow is important to get good air on the nose and you stay behind somebody for a while a while it can affect your air open and the daylight today also can affect your cooling yeah that's for sure martine may have just a snip more lap time in that ferrari then poor dad has so if he could get by him and the curry really wants to chase down is that mercedes because that's the battle for class lead his wilson has the lead in pro-am second on the road for went a second in pro amped fourth on the road that's the key you got to really maintain big picture focus in terms of who you actually racing against four points [Music] when Kurtz makes up a huge amount of ground in the braking zone for 14 does n't really strong their Mercedes is very well suited to this racetrack medium high speed corners is really good as cook up good compliancy over the curbs as well this evoke air seems to have made it a little bit more driver friendly a bit more margin of window to work with [Music] Hertz little skate there but sq is really closed up on this group now David looks good the strongest runs we've seen him have in this class so he's hanging tough with his teammate George may've just going to the ABS a little bit there and had to wait on the car a little bit that's one of the things about ABS isn't there you know a lot of people think it was in this panacea solves everything but abs is great yackin is taken away braking pressure ultimately and it can unsettle the car a little bit it's a bit of a safety net under lockup but you know it's not gonna slow it down any quicker just prevent you locking up and maintaining control of the car our team looks racy through there and a couple of laps ago after he's gonna focus sorry for that robber because fred is still rolling good speed right now there's any tire degradation amongst these this group here that may be a factor here and may open up some opportunity for a pass yeah I was watching the muck Martine the speed he carries through the last of the climbing s's and through ten he makes up a lot of ground then the exit getting filtered seller to 11 and 12 oak tree so is that the run out of there just doesn't quite match Fred's and part of that is you know those Porsches still have that engine right over those drive wheel that's cleared up a little bit get that extra weight Griffin and pays off yeah it certainly gives it the traction and the launch ability off the slow corners so blacks dog extends that lead now it's up to 3.7 seconds really good lap times that last lap just a couple tenths off his best which is the fastest of the day as the fastest lap so far 137 point zero nine eight how about that lap Wilson gesture no 47 three for a guy that doesn't drive the gt3 stuff that often Wilson car be a surprise so good look at him he uses much patience will he display that's one of the things about this track it is an amazing race track but it is not one of the easiest places to pass now there are some opportunities but when you're pretty evenly matched you're taking a little bit of a risk depends who you're racing with if they're gonna give you if you make a lunge down the inside if they don't give you any racing room typically it's gonna end up in tears so see you draw that then just rolls really good speed I love the way he releases the brakes on the injury their hope tree just rolls through the corner doesn't try and stop it just there then gradually picks up the throttle team picking up the draft here this is the closest he's been coming out of oak tree 160 165 miles an hour peak speed here for the gt3 cars not close enough to really make fred compromise his line [Music] not paying attention to that's the behavior they were seeing from the car [Music] tricky file corner last on the short shoot the fit straight tell you why I'm licking the chops at is the thought of Baptista max root picking up from where these two guys at the pit stops gonna be super crucial here today as they always are but I think gains we said with the big break you can practice your pit stops but until you get the heat of the battle in terms of green flag conditions that's when mistakes and errors can happen here's your leader in the gt2 overall category they call it three different categories within the gt2 and gt3 is you've got overall and then you've got titanium which is for drivers 50 to 59 and iron for drivers 60 and over but gates currently right now sits eighth overall kal he's got a best lap on the forty nine eight oh and poor dad big ride and it's gonna get around on him [Music] fortunately I think the following traffic just eased up enough to clear him so was a mistake was a touch let's have a look no he just misses he's turning he's got a little bit wide guy out and the gray out [Music] [Applause] well you had talked about damage to the right rear yeah he does so maybe that's why I couldn't turn the car broken rear suspension possibly and I didn't like the turning in the corner that could be yeah just changes all the cross weight what it does it's like having a a chair a restaurant then we got one leg that's uneven and then takes the weight off the opposing corner of the diagonal corner so if he's lost suspension in the right rear he was turning in it would take weight off the left front which he needed to turn through that corner well he is I've been watching him and he's been pretty aggressive on the curbs particularly working through the snake in the lake and a lot of torque load with the power of these cars is one of them yeah it is [Music] that's not something you generally if it's broken suspension it doesn't fix fast let's take a look here and see if he abuse one of the air brakes you can see the puff of smoke there as we turned in a good job of keeping it together [Music] [Applause] split second closer so that's a limp in and then obviously the right motor sports crew will get after this car and in a hurry if they can get it fixed and get him back out just to get some points you have to finish so many percentage you know a certain percentage of the race oh and on off here for Martine as well that's up is that oak tree [Music] he didn't give up his spots watch it here just try to take in too much speed and you get your point you just can do longer get it turn the track continues to turning just on to bigger radius through the previous corner find up in the toes with big damage so now he's got Martin barky a lot closer than he was it looks like Dave askew yep he's around Kurt's now here's the work that they're gonna have to do yeah they need to do 70% of the laps by the overall leader head today to score points in the game class leaders coming in with a sweep of the m-class spoils at Circuit of the Americas let me get back out obviously get some points here in the AM field just because again we talked about the entries with all of these travel restrictions protocols and the like not a huge am entry so they can still get some pretty valuable points in San Martin Eric Martinez left here there did he get that close to the tires he tink the mirror and didn't hit the car dad like that's getting away with just looks at the side view and he can tell how close he was to a big one it's unfortunate that right rear it's not an easy fix because you got the drive wheels obviously on the rear on the Porsche and right rear corner the half shaft and everything all connected to that but John right has been used to running endurance competition and getting cars badder on the race tracks and we'll see how well setup they are for this relatively short semi endurance event right 90 minutes with the piste up see if they get up for it exactly see what they could pull off meanwhile let's get down to the pits and ran Brent well bad news for the right Motorsports team they're gonna have to take this car back behind the wall they've got a broken half shaft it sounds like at the rear of that car so it's more than just a tire issue they were cleaning out a bunch of rubber but in doing so found a bigger issue and so Fred Ford out about the pool man 911 back to the paddock area that's a tough break but their competition in the am class John McGrew having a little bit of a moment here has gathered it up so that tricky exit at turn 10 been able to get the Tommy Cooper Stanley Tier three racing Ferrari back and going again another car in your frame is Jason Belle sitting second in the GT to the GT Sports Club class they're about 30 minutes into their 40-minute race about ten minutes left on the clock for the gt2 cars the sports club races [Music] [Applause] [Music] say Martinez calm the mist a little bit if you will and now it's starting to ease away from barky once again miss skuas got around cuts he's having a really good day here which bodes well for Ryan Dalziel is gonna take over the reins of that car [Music] and that little bit of damage in that that incident that what are they are taking avoidance Ryan got in the car and we're not it's worked try to drove through the problem at that point to get a good time in and that dx/dt crew obviously did the fix but they see we've got that fixed right Mike stops fastest lap now is a one forty six point four eight no one else in the forty six is here today forty seven says kind of the next marker stress don't need our front two five sex room to the crew races h pro ice little buffer and that pitstop window opens in exactly nine minutes it's not necessary the leader that will have the first opportunity to make that pit stop changing the race from a couple of years ago where had to be the leader of the first chance to make the pit stop but now as soon as the clock hits 40 minutes in anyone can dive in look they're at an anxious co-driver ready to hop on board and actually there were some questions of the of the stewards here that said do we have to wait there's a radio call and it pops up on the screens that the window was open or if we know we can get there we make the move to pit lane first and they are never did get the answer on that but that just leads to what you're talking about you don't have to do it now here's the question I would ask you know that where you've got a scenario here where it's the AM drivers in the pro-am that are starting so in theory the faster drivers would be the guys getting in normally those AM drivers come in with a right one it opens you get the fast guys it might they delay that a lap here to make sure that those GT sports club cars are all in and out of the way before they start diving into the pits I think so because you've got kind of a strength dynamic that may occur will be GT sports club races finished with their race they're not gonna hammer all the way back to pit lane need to know that the Stewart's would certainly advise them to do so so if they start to ease up going down through the roller-coaster and yet behind someone and then you come into pit lane behind then that could cost you precious seconds so yeah I think if you're in clean air maybe wait a lap or two just to make sure you're not caught up in any of that kerfuffle on pit lane and for blacks dog and Hinman they probably got the smallest Delta between their drivers with the move in silver rated Martine Fuentes Cal just turned a 147 zero that second fast lap of the race right now second only to black Stein so he has really found some pace Wilson turns his best at 147 139 well he is evergreen fizz Wilson is 20 drops his mark into the 46 is only the second driver in the whole six rounds 146 point eight great little battle half-turned baki school and Kurt's standard david assault is interested in the Asarco corporation recently so i may give me more time to focus on these racing activities the lockdown has benefited some teams and this allowed these guys to do a little bit of testing at their home track in Utah as well as visiting here for a couple of days running and you can see it's showing in how confident David and George are behind the wheel of their respective machines as I recall they you know they didn't get the other cars that much before the season started in CODIS it did a whole lot of time to sort develop and learn did they that's right I think that's about week before the first race for and they got the final chassis so kind of a longer offseason than they had last year finishing up in Vegas and right five minutes five and a half minutes away from the pill window opening and the checkered flag or would be Ryan gates is just a superb job up to seventh overall right now Cal I'm impressed officially yeah looking as tough with some of these drivers we don't know much about them I was doing that knowledge basically increases we've seen them race throughout the course in this 2020 season but looking at his resume he's always been up on the wheel and I think if you're quick in any category and you have the ability to transition over to something like this I thought he had some potential but certainly demonstrated massive speed here this weekend he is on the attack yes well and that's the thing if you're Time Attack driver you just you find speed in a hurry and what I was wondering was you know that's a great format for you know when you come to this type of racing for qualifying because that's what Time Attack essentially is you go out and set a time and other people try and come after it and beat it what about racing well he has been as clean as can be you know Jason Bell snuck around him at the start he exhibited some patience waited got by him nice and clean and it's just been superb in his debut here and you can see the lines that he's having to adopt I think that's because of the lack of downforce that this particular car has compared to the gt3 machinery it's not as flowy and curvy and nature as you're going around the racetrack as much more of a point-and-shoot kind of race car is try and get a lined up and accelerate and use those 700 horsepower to your advantage it's nice to see a fellow Minnesota note they're tearing it up doing a great job right now he's got to be absolutely thrilled right there but it just shows you he's still going after it Shelby Blackstock margin up to we'll see this time it was five point eight seconds last time by just laid down in 146 eight by four tenths off his best lap of the day Napa's 6.1 seconds that couldn't go away in a heartbeat with any kind of bobble on pit road so you know these teams are gonna be anxious now is they getting ever closer to that first hit stop after the lockdown of Nome you know some four months we had a couple of races yesterday that didn't know it stops and there were some that were pretty much like they had missed a beat something go it was a bit of rust there well the crews will certainly have been trying to work on that during the course of this race weekend at various times and also in the workshops back home before they even came to the racetrack but as I say there's nothing like about pressure to keep you in contention for a win or a podium where you have to get it done you've got another competitor on pit lane at the same time you got half and I focused on them and terms of how quickly they're getting the job done it doesn't take much just the seat bulky and tucked underneath the driver is there getting into the sea or something like that can just turn your birthday upside now [Music] it's interesting martine had turned that 146 eight and then his last lab was a one forty eight nine and he has been hustling and i wonder if he had maybe just a little bobble somewhere cuz that margins opened back up again he was chasing wilson there's a look at ryan gates once again the team 311 RS motors wardens and again this lack of one more man should see the checkered flag told me that three eleven the three eleven and that team name is just basically that's the number he's run in his time attack forever on his way to four championships and it was thirteen track records he he set in that in that error in that mitsubishi lancer and then when they moved it to the porsche program and then created his race team they used RS which were a short for rent sport that's how the team name came around Jason Bell running second sports club just laid down his fastest lap of the day I won 51.9 I can't imagine contact between the two of us Wow just literally a minute before they were able to come down pit lane what a disaster that's in the turn four area I believe is where David askew is still sitting [Music] there's Kurt's he was able to gather it up and get going fairly quickly David just out of spin on whether he was let's take a look at it here bit white there through three Kurt's goes to the inside all this contact yeah discussion back at the transporter yes it will the end of the day really wasn't a big enough opportunity I think for George to poke his nose in there I mean David add a little bobble going up and over the curves there through turn three but it was pretty up optimistic to make that move and particularly at this time in the race it's really costing you a lot of ground to the other competitors and a little bit of aggravation in the camp at the same time all right window is open good to see David able to continue yeah that's I think there's your key obviously was the the fact that it was so close to that pit window we see gates you should be seeing the checkered flag I think at the end of this lap for the GT sports club competitors carline Singh has also used the third driver out through the number 54 Porsche she's got that great Porsche Motorsports graphic package on the car and he's pretty stout he went he actually ran a couple of races at the thermal Club winter invitational in a similar Porsche Carl did to get some experience but nobody on this day is going to touch Ryan gates as he brings that 311 RS motorsport Porsche through for the first win of GT Sports Club competition in North America absolutely phenomenal run and at the time that that happened keep in mind with the incidence of ask you and McGrew and those guys he he was fifth overall yeah when he made that stop that's a pretty impressive run all right right into the pits comes the sixty three of askew and Ryan is there taking a close look at this car after the contact on track you guys have the view of the other side of the car thanks to John who's welding the camera over there from what I can see I don't see any ill effects on this vehicle remember this is the car that actually sustained some damage in qualifying earlier today they patched that back together and it looks pretty good what a good stint it was looking to be for David askew and it goes awry right there at the end the car is back underway and now we'll have to take a look at the time Chris Wilson is off that's stunning not bad 2.3 or 1.3 seconds long for the turnover I think that's good that's not bad at all after four months yeah you'd like to be within a second if you get it tuck that tighter than that you do have a one second joke but to work with each weekend that can come into play for the second day now we see Fuentes in turning it over to Baptista barky is in and turned it over to Marcel E about the same 1.5 seconds of a buffer here see what Puentes and Kurt's can do in their driver change to their co-drivers Baptista and Colin Braun but of consternation between the crew members there between the refueler and the tire changes saying basically get out of the way because left we're on as quickly as possible so Marcel he is out he is awfully stout and here comes John McGrew see if he's gonna make the move to pit lane in the top super Stanley entry yep okay let's get down to Ryan problems yeah more problems for dx/dt racing this time it strikes the crowd strike AWS machine problems with the air gun it was having trouble applying enough pressure to actually loosen and tighten the wheels they have to swap it out and it looks like further issues with that here now the car finally opened that was a long stop yep that's gonna be 20 plus seconds outside the window [Music] brutal that's tough for Colin Bryan to a now regroup here well over Wilson's car he's hope that is a major break for Colin Braun Massa and that teen dad that happened and then catch a yellow not good news Rowley - Shelby blacks dog so he's got to slow things way down he's gonna lose all of that gap that he had and then the pit stop is gonna happen after whether that field would have made up that ground so big swinging things it Lane stays open at this time and the fact remains that Shelby black star could not elect it to make that pit stop just yet so you really roll the dice in terms it hasn't happened very often yet in this form of competition with catching a yellow during that pit stop window where some teams have already pitted and you have not but it's certainly a big advantage for the teams that have already taken service yeah this could be hugely significant here and sometimes they have the ability to extend the window if need be I don't know that they're gonna have to do that here the difficulty however though is that there they can't play catch up because Blackstock has a lap on them look there's Blackstock and there's Colin Colin would have just been fine if that pitstop had been just a few seconds quicker even a bad one and he was between Blackstock and the safety car you get a whip to around and really got majority of that lap back but that reward is not gonna be there now that's a shame well you know he will keep going after it however and it looks like we're trying to get word on what happened with the 33 we're checking into it they think it may have just been that the engine just shut down and Chris had to pull off and as you like to call it Cal do the ctrl alt lead reset and get going again I guess the hot new term for all of the electronic management with the way it works on these cars is can car arian that was my plan look like black stocks gonna now in pit lane yeah it should really give so I think it was gonna play an advantage too I think Baptista could be in great shape [Music] that driver exchange now these guys gonna lose a minimum of 71 seconds even if they nail the stop compared to the rest of the field this is gonna be really interesting to see how this all shakes out and is watching this car make its way in get down to Ryan winners of the first two races that receives it all the way back in March at Kota that's this number 93 racers edge Acura NSX 83 Evo nobody blacks off with a great opening stick there we'll see like you guys said just how the timing of this yellow will affect their running order on track that will be evident in a matter of moments but it's Trent Hinman getting strapped in behind the wheel Shelby is out coming around to put the final sticker Pirelli on this machine it's gone pretty smooth so far down off the jacks they're waiting that's a good sign all right let's see how close they hit it here and 1.6 they'll tweak and adjust on that won't they to get down into that second range if they can tomorrow yeah they'll tighten those margins down a little bit the first one out the box you want to make sure that happens in the race you don't want to cut it to fine so I think this is a good safe margin one and a half seconds and it seemed like Hinman was definitely ready to go to launcher so they read their time into the pit box then the stop and then they're on watch and just there's a little counter to where the driver has to adjust his feeling a little bit down pit lane to slow it down a sniff if he needs to if he thinks he's gonna be underneath that number you mentioned the Joker that you're allowed you could use it once a weekend so if you use it the first race you can't in a second but we've seen teams in the past that in that second one if they didn't use it the first one they actually time the stop to include that joke right second it's just insane how close they could get it yeah certainly it towards the end of the season everyone's looking for that little advantage particularly if you're in a tight fight yes I mean if you got the margins why go for a baby if it's gonna gain you a position or increase the lead allure that certainly want to try and take advantage [Music] right now up behind the safety car that is the o4 of Colin brown lap down yes so the leader effectively is Baptista right there and that's why Shelby is just you're a trend hitman right now is just hustling it because he wants to get around and catch the back of this field hey good news there I just saw the right motors for Porsche entering pit lane yeah they do 70% of the laps that lost 12 it's gonna be tough it might just be able to do it done 25 laps in authorized 50 pin window is about to close and I think the standard policy is as if there's a caution during the pill window it stays caution till pill window closes so then we would expect to be going green this time by for sure and everything cycled at this stage and you're absolutely right here we've got tea stuff in the new blow alpha Prime squadron force a Ferrari now shows as the leader over Kyle Marcel II and the team racers edge Acura NSX gt3 evil manners to pro-am cars then Hinman in the team 93 entry from racers edge with the Acura accelerated service an HPD support then Colin brown but as you pointed he's gonna be at a fair deficit isn't he yeah and just if he was just a few seconds further down the road he does cycling all the way back I've been on that Thailand and maybe even ahead of Inman fade out the opportunity so just critical moments there in terms of that spin and also the time on pit lane with the problem with the wheel gun so you got a factor in here is there right now you got Pap test they're gonna be leading over or leading pro-am my celly second second in pro and then Hinman potentially my have a little edge might have the speed but does he put it all on the line for a overall win compared to just picking up another silver win that's a very good plan that's his teammate as well in front of it's exactly gonna be a lot of risk involved in making some moves just when you as a team owner you're appreciate drivers with that ability to look big picture every once in a while too and make a look at it obviously for everybody behind that top three what they would like to see they don't want to be the one to cause it but they'd love to see another quick caution we go ready to restart here the Acura NSX buddy is packed up here you've got to wait for the line to make a pass so initial start green means racing on a restart you gotta wait till the start/finish line even if it's a lap Casa Baptiste has to be careful here he gets a run on swedeland that he doesn't make a pass or attempt to pass before the line it's gonna be no problem as this stretched out a little bit all right here we go top two cars top three cars in this queue essentially down a lap Oh Marc barking look at the outside well that's now Marcel II looking at the outside of Baptista yeah and that's for the overall lead and last lead as well so you know Marcel he's gonna be pushing hard here or sideways they're drifting it through turn three Marcel he looking for rear tire temperature right now heading into the snake [Music] one of the questions for a lot of people had with Batista moody or Ferrari is is that a whole new package for you well he did race when I think it'll Massey did not complete her tea and a lot of it so Wow sweetly taking a lot of that see Baptiste and once done offer he's just backing off a little bit in case there's a mistake in front of me once we have time to react and trying to settle in here find the right moment to make his move [Music] standing up nicely here now those are essentially team cars the once wheelers in and the one Baptiste is in wonder if they're talking a little bit and saying you know be nice your am you've got this lock let me through and then keep that white thing behind my Sally's got a run he is got her on he's got to the right flank of Baptiste that can he get him back over into the break so he does beautiful mood by my celly if he can keep it together Rodrigo fights him him and then looking observing looking for a way through as well in the red Acura and that was ultimately a smart decision by Baptiste he could have forced it but it probably would have ended in tears so now he has got to pedal with Hinman behind him yeah that was a nice move by ma Sally who was just picked up the draft got off of oak tree nicely seems like the Acuras got maybe a little bit more straightaway speed maybe a little less downforce in the Ferrari but they're operating with this weekend was able to make the move and it was critical you get to a point if you're side-by-side do you think Baptista would still keep the position but my cellie just got his nose in front was able swing across Baptista kind enough to give it to him oh and it goes from bad to worse for this room or they'll be making it driving penalty team car the number 63 [Music] bill sweedler who was a championship winning driver but he hasn't driven a lot lately and he is at the front of his queue he's up to speed he's done a nice job this is a potent pack that he's got right behind him it's not flinching ice le to the inside I believe yes yes as to the inside of oak tree Baptista tries to go with him bill a little wide and that's giving Baptiste an opportunity and at this point Swedish should give up otherwise it could get ugly here as we got battles for the lead and class leads doing that I hate and want to move that was talk about threading the needle that was brilliant as well as doing a nice job as they've lost time with that technical issue on the number 33 Mercedes because he seems to have the pace of this lead group at the same time otherwise he could have been battling for position there without that problem for his teammate out on the racetrack earlier so Marcel II now overall race leader Baptiste in second and the Ferrari right there the black red Ferrari behind them black-and-red Acura the hands of hitmen clear the field by butts Ryan Dalziel just said fast lap of the race though Cal 46 flat dumped a ride there but I'll keep digging deep you never know another yellow anything can happen I think hitman is gonna be up on the wheel they're trying to get round Baptista here in the next five minutes wasn't the opening weekend that we expected from the pro-am champs from last year bar key and Marcel a pretty quiet weekend but they scored points and that's what you have to do if you don't have to set up right and you're looking for doctor throw it all away it's all about damage control and execution to the best of your abilities even if you don't have winning performance then you'll have your good days like they're having right now where he has the lead of the race yeah fourth and a fifth in class for them but Marcel E as he does so often popped in that fast lap got that not points for that or anything it just shows the speed of the car as well as Marcel II see here now it's fascinating to watch these times here they are so close as they come through here look at that a forty seven eight from Marcel excuse me a forty six one for Marcel he of 46 for four Baptista a forty six five four ending in D I'll reset his fast laughs to a forty six flat lower forty six flat I use the first man on the racetrack young max routing the 20 car one 45.8 and that now gets taken away by a brown weather one forty five eight zero competitor 14585 for max route I think the real question mark is going to be that 70% of the race last for max route here this afternoon so he's going to be pushing hard but the math may be against him those we're watching this great scrap let's get down to the pit lane right well we already have a race winner to talk about here in the first race of the weekend and history books will say that Ryan gates is the first-ever overall winner in the history of the GT Sports Club America first of all welcome congratulations how does it feel to be a race winner already thank you sir well it feels pretty great I had never done a forty-minute race before so there was a lot of preparation from my side and the team side figuring out how we're going to manage that race but you know from start to finish I felt really good and the team was relaying a lot of good information to me so that feels great great to be here I appreciate you guys allowing us to run the pleasure is ours but for you I'm curious it's the first race of this length you've ever done what did you learn that you hope to apply tomorrow um one thing I learned was it gets a little warm in the car and yeah I waited till the end to put the AC on just out of principle but in general I like the idea of the 40 minute race or you know stopping it more it was fun to manage the tires and everything about the car and try to be really consistent over each lap but once again welcome to the Asaro American paddock congratulations on the race win thank you sir and one update we did want to give on the issue that brought out that full course yellow with involving Chris Wilson I did speak to Chris briefly at a distance and he said basically the car gave him the low fuel warning and at that point it should be able to continue on but for whatever reason it did not it shut off and so that's what caused him to stop on track but as you guys mentioned back out of money all right thanks very much Ryan and yeah and Russell Ward very impressive with his face again and they not had that issue with the stint that Chris had put in with that great qualifying run stand right up and in that second spot looks like Russell Ward would have been able to fight a little bit here and Hitman has gone by Baptista yes Madison Avenue [Music] there on the brakes to maintain control of the car and still pull it off pretty impressive stuff by Trent Inman there well the margins that he was executed with the meet it looked like he was gonna squeeze baptise if it he gave just enough room for that Ferrari and a couple of sheets of paper between the two of them here and then it's just a matter of Mark who's brave enough here and it's paid off twice for Trent's and now [Music] it's the duel between the two team cars and how important his overall to him and to Marcela I think it's I think it's important I really do I mean for a young man when you're running in the silver silver class you know that these guys are going to be on top of things there so I think they're real incentive is to get those affinities he was to be the top dog he wants to be Kalmar Sully here today I would think conversely karna Sully could learn once the pro-am win but he wants the overall win he doesn't want that particulate someone from your own camp driving by you here in the late stages side of the coin is what does Baptista have left is pretty good over the overall lap but just seems to be lacking that little bit mid part of the straight emojis allowed the Acura NSX to take advantage of him now he said he knows that Marcela is in his class Italy would love to be in front of the hacker that doesn't seem like he's got enough to give right now unless there there's another reseller the portion or start running some sort of tire degradation issue but ties have been really strong here all weekend and all of the classes probably have really shown up with a great time for issue [Music] well after Kota a lot of the drivers there were talking about that new tire for these gt3 cars and said that they were really really pleased with it he said it wasn't necessarily a faster tyre overlap but then it a bit more durable and over a stint they thought it probably was gonna be quicker and they were really happy with the field of everything I heard yeah and I think the key to that is as well allows you to really work on the car throughout the course of the weekend there's nothing worse pick a championship pick any year pick any tire brand if you got a tithe is only good for six laps say for peak performance it's hard to work on the car because you always cheat you cocky throttle tires at every six lap to know in that journey to make a difference when you got a tire they give you that longevity that consistent performance that then allows you to keep tweaking on the car now yes that was better that was bad at now the tires didn't fall off are we better are we worse answers all of the questions immediately so a tire that's that predictable overs been really helpful develop the plan [Music] looking at their last laps looks like diol is taken back fast laughs 45 6 from root my celly just laid down a one forty five point six eight two Hinman's one forty five point six nine so the teammates are pretty close SEC the one they were one from them to the second apart on that lab it's closer than that I would say they're both executing and getting the maximum performance out of their respective race cars both under the races edge banner [Music] big switch there Hinman grabbed a tenth of a second out of Marcel his lead [Music] traffic could be a key factor here and you running this close with such more small margins between you in terms of lap times can Marcella catch a break in gap in menorcan Hinman catch a break and have more subtly stymied in traffic and close in on that gap last lap Hinman another tenth in the final seconds thought gave in the net to take the baggage over the lap he's just a second he's trimming it in baby steps [Music] at Easter looking strong Hinman looks to be the strongest of the top three right now in terms of pace he's got the incentive his teammate I'll be flat but easier to be the chaser right now he's not getting into the area where he's probably losing any arrow effect through these high-speed asses but he gets a about half a second away then I could start to affect his handling and his balance a little bit so that could be a protecting factor for my celly Riviere effect on a few three machines once if hitman gets any closer to him what really starts to happen in that scenario when you start to lose the air on the nose it starts to overheat the front tires essentially cuz you just get an arrow induced push right yeah it contracted the car's not gripping it's sliding across the racetrack you're going through the same amount of steering your photo just sliding across you'll start with even blind Sulli put together a really good lap in this could be a new fast laugh of our Sally to personal best through sectors one and two no traffic on this third sector looks to be clean see what you can come up with their previous best of the forty five point six oh yeah fools lap of the race he must have had a massive third sector yeah forty five point three seven it was shaping up to be a good lab and he finished off as well had been matched his best within a few hundredths but it wasn't enough so Marcella is sending a bit of a message back to his young teammate they're a little bit of opposite lock there for just a minute edge of the three he's throwing it away certainly asking for everything about cars got to give right now my Sally seems to be in a nice rhythm getting quicker and quicker as the fuel load is burning off a little bit per ELISA stand with him giving him the lap time [Music] keep saying personal best sectors across the board for many of these competitors late in the going trackers rubbering in nicely massive storms here last night wash the track off a little bit off to several days of practice in qualifying and racing yesterday afternoon with some of the other classes let's get back down the pits Ryan well anytime you see a couple of teammates fighting with each other especially when they're already leaders in their respective classes you wonder like there being any team orders and dives a chance to chat quickly with John Barak he used the team owner for both of these cars from the razor's edge camp and he said look our deal is they can race each other as long as they don't hit each other so those are the standards they have to live up to yeah thanks and it's virtually every team owner will say that yeah you go ahead and race are just don't touch each other Hitman's got a big lap going here I think personal best overall best second sector yes it takes away the fast lap so Marcel he had a 145 37 him and drops it to 145 36 so evenly matched definitely a game of chess right now one throws the gauntlet down the other one responds [Music] it's just fun to watch this dualism identical cars to very very talented drivers it's gated we'll see from the first sector time whether that costed media or the curb therefore Hinman yeah it did it cost him 4/10 compared to a necessarily just that little bobble Gus just got a little bit too greedy with the curb that then you could see at the lift and catcher and immediately that's a two to three car lengths difference [Music] 20 minutes left in this one Baptista now about four and a half seconds adrift dependent at this stage because of that yellow coming right in the middle of the pit window just the way things cycled here these three are a lap clear of everybody else do y'all would be forth right now [Music] and Swede ler 5th around 6:00 that then the rest of the field is a lap or more back max root continues to put does impressive lap times at this stage when you look at some of the fastest laps out here this afternoon it's pretty incredible so right now Henman has it a one forty five point three six Marcel a one forty five point three seven the Allies at one forty five point four six Colin Braun one forty five point three nine basically one tenth of a second recovering the fastest four cars in this race and then Roode at a forty five seven nine just a couple of tents off he's got a future yeah he really does boys we've got their watchful eye on him they have such a great setup in terms of these three classes globally where these young drivers are coming up through to learning the trade in a Porsche and Porsche we just got their microscope on then can see what real talent they have and naturally you find all of these guys transition up into those factory roles so max room has certainly got his path well laid out [Music] he's doing so far soli days yet don't let's not get too carried away but sometimes I've been very impressive in what we've seen all this year well it's nice when you're running well in one of these categories in that Porsche ladder system before you even make the leap to a full factory driver they've got that Porsche junior program which is a factory assistant scenario which helps plop you into some very good rides it's very good drivers then your ability to showcase yourself even more and like we're seeing a little bit of that with the program that John rocky and razor's edge has moved together with that that accurate GT the HBD GT Academy program where they're picking a few drivers and new fast lap for him and four to five three ones and six [Music] so far traffic has not really played a big part in this but it's got to be on my Sally's mind as he's got his Azon eyes like radar up ahead looking at that traffic trying to analyze where he may catch something try as he might right now Baptista just he hasn't dipped in the forty fives yet got a forty six - is his best lap so successful here really the last few seasons in gt3 racing real time had seven victories last year including an overall and Road America races edge had three colossal victories as well well and it shows you the soundness I think of the SRO concept to have those it was in every two years you can do an evolutionary step on the car and the first variant of this car was the first time they'd ever done it it was pretty pitch sensitive and it could be a tricky car when it was right it was awesome but what we just off a little bit well is he this this Evo package has just opened that window up a little bit and it's just been magic since they did it it's just a lot more comfortable race gotta draw it biggest setup window and with the evolution and development with the prolly ties as well he really found a sweet spot as we can see with a run of 1 2 overall yeah but just staying right there if you lap you watching did somebody just set a new fast lap it means a little bit closer them 7/10 that lap so suppose these bean he's mine and his tailpipes now question is when he heads up through those high speed s is that gonna affect the arrow on the front end of that number 93 machine its teammate hunt you hold in the air and taking that air away from the front splitter and this is that curve that he's a lot more circumspect than that that curve right now got that one good dog that's just got a little bit off you could be too much cooler I'd run before that threw him even wider and more on the next notch and that cost him again 4/10 he lost a Miceli there through sector 1 most amazing when you just pass word oh how can bite you and reverse the effect that you're looking for evidence that does you fittingly said every wiggle of that snake can bite you that one bigger you also got be careful on the backside of those curves if you get literally right over and you try and bring it back on it's easy to cut down the inside shoulder and the tire under the soft side wall compared to the as we threaded the tyre if there's a little bit of water away from the backside of the curbing great song whose line eiffage on the concrete so you gotta be careful and that spot where him and just have that moment in the snake we had a earlier race here where I think something very similar to that happened and they caught the car out even more abruptly and ended up with a big impact over there so that's a tricky section or racetrack to be sure I don't know that there's a spot on this track that is it tricky other than Madison Avenue [Music] slowly just ladies fastest lap of the race boys quick as he heads back after extend the lead up to nearly a second again went from 7/10 up to 0.95 what a cat-and-mouse game this is the Kinmen just really needs to focus on not asking for too much from this first sector I think if he runs this clean doesn't abuse the curbs I think he's quicker through sector two and three the Miceli may be you but he's lost 40 minutes he can get a little bit closer to him a couple of guys that are still down a couple laps when it shows good speed very impressed bill Squealer just turned his best lap of the race gallant 147 for nine and route just turned at 145 six for his best lap of the race that's with the repaired racecar okay they put a new right corner on it what they have been needed to do to get that fixed we have to wonder what their chance to do an alignment set up on the car as well that's a good clearly just want to get out there they're really fighting the 70% of the laps achieved by the leader to be classified four points it's gonna be tight well it's a one-two right now for the racers edge a cure isn't what John Meraki saying right let's find out from the man himself it is a loud pit lane so excuse me for shouting a little bit to try and get this to John but how is it for you the team owner you're watching your two cars out there running well but you can't be enjoying this yet right well you never can enjoy it until the checkered flag comes out really but there's nothing better than having your car so you have two cars in a race in the running one and two what could be better than that well for me for Judd for Martin and for Kyle they were able to wrap up the pro-am championship last year but had it got off to the start I think that they were hoping for this year how important what a good result be for them if this works at all yeah you're absolutely right last year we led right from the first race and never gave up the lead this year was sort of on our back foot a little bit so it'd be really great to get a win now to jump back up and get it some really good momentum going Thank You John we'll let you get back to earth peg you're right when again trying getting that curb at time he caught it more with just the right rear but you can see the car rotate a little bit and he is throwing everything he possibly can at this right now and giving it one heck of a run squeal there I thought something was going to be going around but looks like they may have saved it it's by far - through that first sector which is what he needs to do and he seems to be a little bit quicker through sector two that we're on right now in Sector three so it's all about execution now just tightening his belt a little bit in terms of figuring out where the lap time is it's a basic math on math on max roof-like think it might be goodbye by a lap or so Greg in terms of that 70% if they continue to run at this pace and he doesn't have any problems by the way Russell Ward continuing to impress - in the 33 windward Mercedes just turned his best lap but a 46 five seven four so nice job there in that tech mat entry here we go coming up on 11 minutes left is some traffic Russell there's Brian six Baptista eight seconds behind the lead - Oh as that who blows quadric herself a crime for our in a solid podium position would be second to class second in class points well clear of the next competitor Ryan D all was about a minute 32 seconds a drift of the leaders and they'll be okay with this because they had a very strong weekend decoder and Sally who's going to take top points here today potentially if he loses the attack by Hinman has quite a few points down right now coming out of the first couple of rounds of the championship [Music] Marsala is that the cars up in front of him have shown decent pace yeah very good point we are at ten to go good look there Ryan do y'all [Music] matter what he drives he's just solid isn't he's just so fast he works hard at his game had a really big year back in 2012 where my 30 races on the podium about 20 times I found a really good alliance with Peter Barron at star walks and running in multiple Championships a lot of success and that's right and since that time has been in a lot of top teams a lot of great results but he works out of the business loves the game and given the talk he's created a coaching coaches that are looking to get customers to plug into the app and customers can look at see was available and pretty a really good venom I think yeah and I mean much-needed part of the industry so he's got drivers who are active and like to do a bit of coaching on their off weekends to add to their income and stay busy so he's got located geographically appropriate so if you are locally you don't want to fly someone from the coast to coast there might be someone that Ryan has under his wing that he can set you up with that space locally good-looking feel sweet ler hustling that tr3 Ferrari around doing a nice job as they said last lap just said his fast lap of the race just it's good to have you back behind the wheel no question about that sure he's happy about it too yeah around this place a bit of lockdown nice to get out and knock the dust off absolutely I was gonna say one thing is we take a look here at max route but just going back to Ryan Dalziel he'll always be somewhat special to me because when he first came to the US I was the announcer for the Atlantic series of the PA announcer when he came over and ran that for a couple of years and he was such a great character and then he got teamed up with Alex Figgy and when they did the Indy cars and that sports car stuff and together they were just like Laurel and Hardy they just just a treat great people in the paddock to be associated with that just a lot of fun but we've talked a lot about this max route the future he's not but I think I think the guy in the car we know Max's is really really quick and has that future with the guy in the car that pressed me this weekend was Fred yeah just didn't incredible performance I mean just really really quick laps didn't put a wheel wrong and obviously he had the suspension failure whether that was his undoing by abusing the curbs a little bit too much who knows but nonetheless just a superb run and that's God give him tremendous confidence for tomorrow and the rest of the season just really really tough job [Music] this is getting interesting hit Marcel he's actually grown the gap a little bit back up to about nine tenths but they are coming up on the back now of the number 33 of Russell Ward and this is one of those scenarios he talked about it he gets close enough where somebody does to the back award and loses some of the air opportunity for him yeah he's basically saying to Ward either push push push or slow the heck down just give me the easy way through exactly don't be a no-man's land where you're affecting my arrow and those guys up front they are still running consistent mid one 45s [Music] and she says something every night Marcela Hindman in the 145 the Allah the 145 round in the 145 s roots been there on occasion but deputies dead just got into the you what and 145 nine range at one point so in terms of pace and result I think Baptista and Fuentes have to be pretty happy with running in the third position second in class cuz they're essentially only a top five top six car in terms of pace so that's a good day when you look at things yeah right but if you look at the data and see that the car wasn't quick enough and you end up further forward then the lap time is indicating that's a good run that's bird [Music] this is gonna get interesting yeah exactly just enough time on the clock for what's Mercedes to be a bit of a family [Music] who from the racers edge crew is down in the windward pits right now working the deal Shelby blacks talk as he looks on was his third win of the year which they're getting class but they get a yield for all as well [Music] Sully just hasn't lived as he hasn't made that crucial error yes Hindman on occasion is based it faster over the lab more DS is off enough to let these two times through so let's foil effect there in terms of the lead gap exactly again every time you know Trent gets down to six tenths 5/10 away suddenly you look and Marcel he clicks off a couple of laps just a little bit quicker and the Marches up the hall in a second again I'd hate to say he's managing it but he is he's executing not I mean he isn't making the mistake he's got the pace in the race card of matching man's best and for Shelby he'll just be ruining the fact of the timing of that safety car otherwise the position would probably be reversed four minutes to go the marginal cumin definite again 8/10 we should see this lap at two more by my record I just went you tied a line through two and three then my celly my celly tends to let it flow a little but my Sally just hasn't blinked so far more laps here too to work on him well in college Brown just set fast lap in the race califor t52 yeah that's that's good stuff he's got his dad Jeff Brown on the pit box this work [Music] dx/dt to try and ring the last answer performance out of that car Jeff is one of the best and he and Colin have such a wonderful relationship just the quality family whistling down through I was gonna say I mean often like you and I had mused a few times about we were surprised that we didn't see the kind of speed we know Colin has from seeing him and other stuff in that Mercedes last year and then he's sort of filled in the gap when he said this new evil package has really made the car suits me beautifully just loves you know my driving style just loves it and Kurt's has got a similar driving style and we've seen that improvement at George as well they're gonna have a big if quite go they're weighted a little mistake by George there and kind of getting overly aggressive in trying to make a move on David a SKU cost them cost them time there they had a bobble on the pit stop basically went down and out by getting trapped behind the safety car and fast lap and a top five is is okay but you know they were looking for more here today I think they're gonna get that CrowdStrike EWS entry pretty pretty racecar beautifully turned out [Music] and one of the things with George is you always it's it's nice to have a driver even roger penske said it once I'd rather have a driver that I have to calm down a little bit which is just naturally fast and aggressive it's tough to to train one up like that yes and it's not that bad of a scenario here unfortunate today obviously but easier to slow them down and speed them up exactly all right should see the white flag this time bye and there's John on the left there and a nervous group to be smiling but typically a small gift such a good really really hard the small team that's gone big-time terms of performance right through harp in the final turn and heading toward start/finish one lap to go let's see what the margin it was one second even last time by nine tenths right now yeah nothing to choose between the two of them I think that you could have flipped the positions and you'd be still looking at the same scenario you're absolutely right well just came down a track position the 93 car hadn't lost it through the unfortunate timing of the safety car when they elected to stay out a little bit longer before they did their pest op bit them and has cost them the overall win ultimately unless [Music] those sounds real race cars on a race track again soaking it up just a little bit nobody moreso than the guys behind the wheel of these cars though back reason that's the one area we could throw all away just overcharging turn 11 and oak tree but I can't my celly hits his marks perfectly again just a wonderful drive just a lot of pressure made the move on Baptista got the gap and even despite him and running down very very fast lap times nothing they could do to and that move Hindman made to get around and slot into that second spot that was a real needle threat they both have driven brilliantly to be sure not a surprise that's what they do but all right out of the final turn onto the front straight and what a day this is looking to be for racers edge as accurate as one two and racers edge goes 1 2 at vir Col Marcel a team with Martin Maher keep bringing it home with the overall win and the pro-am win Trent hitman and Shelby Blackstock second overall the silver win here comes Rodrigo Baptista with Martine Fuentes completes the overall podium second in the pro-am category and he was extremely consistent he was quick but just wasn't too able to consistently maintain those laps I mean a 45 for 9 was the fast lap for that car but it wasn't sustainable when these other guys just were able to keep throwing in the for the 45s when they needed to Colin Braun laid down a 44 nine there at the end of forty four nine seven four new fast lap that's amazing meanwhile welcome back bill sweeter and welcome John McGraw and tr3 racing ferrari coming by and that's great that is the am win so in his return to motorsports he gets a win and that's what john McGrew sment scoring and Ferrari Challenge a lot of in the last few years but still in all a great run there's Ryan Diaw when he comes through he will end up fourth overall but third in pro-am so makes the podium it's teammate Colin Braun will be fourth and pro-am and complete the top five when they come by a but yeah Colin Braun delivering a message yeah it's gonna be a fun one tomorrow everyone has a clean race a lot of people show an impressive pace here and here comes the all four dx/dt usako david ask you nicely done and they call it Rahm as well this is interesting it looks like the Inman cars stopped [Music] up by now it's going again that's interesting so take a look at the results here and there it is Martin Barca Kalmar Sully for racers edge and the mbrp Performance Exhaust Acura winning overall and fro in Hindman and Blackstock and the Acura accelerated services entry from razor's edge second overall winning and silver Baptista Fuentes Indy who blow alpha prime squadron of course of Ferrari third overall second and pro-am at the all and ask you the dx/dt mercedes third and pro-am fourth overall and brown and Kurt's round out the top-5 fourth and pro amethyst we learned McGrew with the wind in the am category and it's interesting to me is as if we can tomorrow that 33 windward car with the pace that Chris Wilson was showing early in this race and the base that Russell showed at the end if they can avoid some of the glitches they're in a - speaking of look at this highlight here as Wilson almost went for the lead early trying to get around Shelby Blackstock couldn't quite get it done but there were some racy cars out there in a big hurry early on there really were and Fred Porter just did a wonderful job for right Motorsports they you see from third on the grid maintains that early position great battles yeah part later great qualifying round then a very very brazen pass here by Martinez getting down underneath Martin Markey picking up the spot and that was crucial and then this bit of a moment here is to Frederick a little aggressive getting into the site at John McGrew Cal crew was able to continue but first two that was it and then this big moment for Fred for death yeah he just lost the rest suspension couldn't get the contact went for ride forcing he didn't get collected by the cars that were following they got the car repaired got it back out there and I think they scored points there today a little over optimism here by George Kurtz just take the back of the team car and lucky both of them got away with minor damage if any on the car and then right at the 40-minute mark mr. gates coming through picking up the win in the BG heels but they even then this beautiful squeeze play move here by hidden just fantastic stuff that's the highest level right there now the anta's at one to four races edge absolutely marvelous stuff and a win by Ryan gates and GT Sports Club so it was a busy event lots unfolding in a great show being put on as well and now teams and drivers making their way over into the staging area for interviews which is where I Ryan Marine is going to be making his way as well but tell ya it was an impressive run and how Marcel he is impressively he is and you can tell he's leaning over there he's a pretty worn out as his trend Hinman that was both boys running a ragged a million percent there to try and get the victory they both got class victories but my celly coming out on top overall that's a good point they were both just absolutely not I'm watching those cars dancing over the curbs I mean and I've said this before you know there are drivers who can find that that limit every once in a while but the great ones live there they did that for 50 minutes that was impressive just watching the sector's the see soaring of a few hundreds a few tens here and there and ultimately not much to choose between them just the timing and that safety car really caught out the 93 car by keeping Blackstock out there you roll the dice a little bit I think everyone was thinking about the Sports Club fact the house playing with people come down pit lane they liked it to keep the 93 out and then that cost them that track position couldn't make up again beautiful cars to be sure and a absolutely beautiful racetrack here and we had that massive storm come through here last night but it both days of official racing here have been absolutely glorious here hot humid but you know that's Virginia and July you're gonna expect that but just big puffy clouds and beautiful blue skies in this place and in the right light is one of the most beautiful you could imagine for any setting let alone a racetrack and down in another great setting the podium interview areas Ryan I got to Victory Lane a lot last year that's Martin barky and Kyle Marcel II first trip overall in 2020 Martin I know the season maybe didn't get off to the start that you had envisioned but here you are in Victory Lane how cathartic is it to get that accomplishment taken care of here today well Ryan I think you hit the nail on the head you know what we had we had better pace at Kota than our finishes really showed just wasn't our race weekend but here you know what I think it was almost the other way around man everybody was so close here anyone could have won this race based on quality times and sessions so you know what I think once again I just have to tip my hat to the races edge crew and of course the Acura it's always such a fun car to drive you know what some of the big v8s have that torque kind of thing so it was nice that Shelby got a nice early start and allowed the turbos to spool up on this one and you know what just before we got into one I was able to make a Mako or find a little hole in there got myself through and and that just sort of set the pace you know what I struggled with a little bit of front grip for me but all in all I was able to fight with them some some Mercedes in the back there and Ferrari up front so it was a great run a great turnaround from from Kota for sure for us all right congratulations Markie Martin we'll let Kyle off the hook for this one congratulations to you guys and best of luck tomorrow thanks Ryan appreciate it it was a hell it's probably still a little bit winded there I mean he worked incredibly hard in that one you can see Trent henman sitting in the open door of that car just sitting there just it intense sometimes neither one want to give it up and I think neither one will admit high for teak they are absolutely that's a great point so that is the conclusion of their third round of GT World Challenge America powered by a double us here at vir [Music]

Channel: GTWorld

Views: 109,076

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Id: OcXq5Yd2N8w

Length: 116min 2sec (6962 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 11 2020