Kurtz Dominates Opening Race of Weekend
Kurtz wins Sonoma season opener by more than 15 seconds over SRO3 competition...
Photo: Brian Cleary/SRO
George Kurtz claimed a dominant victory in the first GT America powered by AWS race of the weekend at Sonoma Raceway.
The CrowdStrike by Riley driver, who claimed pole position by more than two seconds, took his No. 04 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo to a 15.026-second win in the 40-minute contest.
It came after a delayed start, first for a second formation lap, which was then prolonged by a further lap when Ross Chouest’s No. 50 Chouest Povoledo Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R stopped on track.
Chouest rejoined the field at the tail end of the 14-car grid en route to a seventh place result.
Elias Sabo came home second in the No. 80 Flying Lizard Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 EVO, with Mirco Schultis completing the SRO3 class podium in his Callaway Corvette C7-R after challenging Sabo at points during the race.
The No. 13 R. Ferri Motorsports Ferrari 296 GT3 of Mark Muzzo was fourth, ahead of Justin Rothberg, who suffered a three-position grid penalty due to a tire pressure sensor malfunction in qualifying.
That penalty, which is also in effect for Sunday’s Race 2, saw the Turner Motorsport BMW driver work through the field to finish fifth.
Kyle Washington took his No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R to a sixth place result, ahead of Chouest.
GT4 class honors went to the No. 59 JTR Motorsports Engineering Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 of Anthony McIntosh.
McIntosh finished 10.693 seconds ahead of the No. 39 Van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 Evo of Max Hewitt.
Matt Travis completed the class podium in third, aboard the No. 47 Nolasport Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport after a late challenge on Hewitt.
All cars finished the race except for the No. 007 ProSport Competition Aston Martin Vantage GT4 of Tim Savage, which stopped on track shortly after Chouest’s dramas, although did not bring out another yellow.
Race 2 is scheduled for Sunday at 9:25 a.m. PST with live coverage on SRO’s GT World YouTube and Twitch channels as well as on MAVTV.
RESULTS: Race 1
