Whether it was by showing pure pace or by factors out their control, Conquest Racing had an unforgettable weekend at Road America by completing a FANATEC GT World Challenge America sweep with the No. 21 Ferrari 296 GT3 of Alessandro Balzan and Manny Franco.
The No. 21 Conquest Ferrari took control of the first race right at the start line despite the immense pressure of the No. 28 RS1 Porsche, though yellow flags due to crashes kept them in a secure lead in the first stint.
The final stint of the race saw the No. 94 BimmerWorld BMW take over second place while the No. 28 RS1 Porsche was falling into the field of view of the No. 45 Wright Porsche and the No. 93 Racers Edge Acura, with the Pro-Am Cup first and second in between them as the No. 04 Crowdstrike Mercedes was keeping a decent gap from the No. 38 ST Racing BMW.
Alessandro Balzan was able to stay in front despite having Bill Auberlen on the chase, especially as Colin Braun wouldn’t try a move as the No. 04 Crowdstrike Mercedes had the Pro-Am Cup win, so the No. 21 Conquest Ferrari just had to be brought home to secure the top spot.
GTWC America - Road America Race 1 results
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Pro-Am Cup entries were in the front row of the second race, and despite some door rubbing at the start, the No. 04 Crowdstrike Mercedes kept the lead while the No. 9 TR3 Mercedes settled for second until a slide at Turn 1 sent Daniel Morad off for a moment to then go back behind the No. 94 Bimmerworld BMW.
Despite the best efforts of Bill Auberlen, the long time BMW factory driver couldn’t close down on Colin Braun, and in fact was losing ground and by a miracle he didn’t fell into Daniel Morad’s radar before the pit window.
While the No. 04 and No. 94 were still first and second, the No. 38 ST Racing BMW was making a good charge from behind the top pack to third as the No. 9 was going backwards with Ziad Ghandour at the wheel.
With half an hour to go then came the unfortunate game changer, as the No. 77 TR3 Mercedes was moving to get back on track after going to the grass. The problem was that Paul Kiebler still had to point the car straight to the proper direction, and by using the whole width of the track, he was in front of an unaware George Kurtz, which meant a huge hit on the back of the No. 77 and the demise of the leading No. 04, with Samantha Tan barely evading the crash scene at the exit of the Carousel.
While there was the relief of both drivers getting out of the cars on their own power without major consequences to their health, Kiebler was handed a two race suspension at any level of the SRO America ladder for avoidable contact, meaning he will be back only at the Indianapolis 8 Hour.
Action returned with eleven minutes to go and the No. 94 in the lead, but in around half of a lap both BMW M4 GT3s crumbled, as the No. 38 was let behind and the No. 94 a broken axle a bit later, leaving it totally open for the No. 21 despite their 2.5 second penalty. What saved Manny Franco this time was that Ashton Harrison spun the No. 93 Racers Edge Acura near the final corner, and the four seconds to the No 45 Wright Porsche were more than enough to nullify the penalty and keep the No. 21 Conquest Ferrari on top.
GTWC America - Road America Race 2 results
Despite the mid-race drop, Samantha Tan still brought the No. 38 ST Racing BMW to a Pro-Am Cup win in fourth overall, as the No. 53 MDK Porsche separated her from the rest of the competition in the class, while an extra help came in form of the battle for second between the No. 91 DXDT Mercedes and the No. 007 TRG Aston Martin.
The duo Filgueiras/McAleer still has some cushion on the top of the standings with 175 points over the 156 of the Harrison/Farnbacher duo and the 134 of Hull/Auberlen, 133 of Estep/Lucas and 132 of weekend winners Balzan/Franco.
The duo Kurtz/Braun still leads the Pro-Am Cup standings with 157 points against the 140 of the Adelson/Skeer duo and the 118 of Derek DeBoer.
In exactly a month the action resumes at Sebring, which will host the last sprint weekend of the season and the last double header on 23 and 24 September. It remains to be seen whether Sebring might be hosting its last GTWC America weekend as the venue is only one that’s not confirmed in the 2024 schedule, with a void left to be filled.
PHOTOS: SRO/Lagunas Photography
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