It appeared to be another weekend of domination for Racers Edge Motorsports, even though they were operating with only one car at the GT World Challenge America even at Sonoma, but the No. 93 Acura NSX GT3 Evo was actually able to do half of the job by winning on Sunday, while Saturday glory went to TR3 Racing and their No. 1 Ferrari 488 GT3.
The No. 93 Racers Edge Acura hasn’t had any difficulties to keep the overall lead as it was the case in previous races, but the Sonoma Raceway nature and the pace of the No. 14 GMG Porsche were making it comfortable for the race-winning machine. Even James Sofronas wasn’t having that much trouble holding the Pro-Am Cup lead, though it was worth staying alert as the No. 1 TR3 Ferrari was at a certain distance to capitalize from any mistake.
The No. 27 Daskalos Audi was an interesting case, as it was leading the GT Sports Club overall but Jason Daskalos was able to challenge the back of the GT World Challenge field with a relatively old machine, as the R8 LMS ultra is more than half a decade behind of the No. 63 DXDT Mercedes AMG and the No. 24 Ferrari 488 GT3. Being the only GT3 in the Sports Club, Daskalos had no troubles with the fleet of Porsche 911 GT2s in the field, led by the No. 311 311RS Porsche.
Attention under braking is crucial at Sonoma with its elevation changes, and the No. 14 GMG Porsche lost the Pro-Am lead to find that out, with the No. 1 TR3 Ferrari passing smoothly to second overall.
With no threats around, the No. 27 Daskalos Audi won the GT Sports Club America Race 1, while the No. 311 311RS Porsche was the best GT2 car. Racers Edge took the halfway point to immediately bring the No. 93 Acura for regular service, returning at the back of the field until the other pit stops get done.
The pace of the No. 93 wasn’t able to cover for troubles in the pit window, and in the case, outside of it, as the Acura NSX GT3 Evo was called to stop came five minutes earlier than the window opening, having to serve a stop and go penalty and going down to sixth overall. Trent Hindman wasn’t exactly faster than the opposition ahead, and the slightly older tires didn’t help in the matter.
With 15 minutes to go the Safety Car was called due to excessive debris as gravel started to accumulate on track at the Turn 9A, which took five minutes to be completed. Once the green was out again, the No. 1 TR3 Ferrari opened the gap immediately to get rid of the pack behind, and this was enough to win overall and in the Pro-Am Cup as the No. 14 GMG Porsche didn’t have the pace to attack it, and the rest of the field didn’t have the room to act.
GT World Challenge America - Sonoma Race 1 results
The start of Race 2 had the No. 93 Racers Edge Acura keeping the lead by making use of corner advantage, which kept the No. 04 DXDT Mercedes at bay in second while they were taking distance from the rest of the field.
Unlike Satuday, the Safety Car came in early, as the Porsches Nos. 57 and 32 from GMG Racing collided in the uphill after the start line, taking almost 15 minutes to complete the whole cleaning work. Bunching up the field in the end did nothing to change the order, with the No. 93 on top, the No. 04 leading Pro-Am and the No. 27 Daskalos Audi leading the GT Sports Club America, which it was the position where Jason Daskalos got the checkered, while the No. 311 311RS Porsche was again the best GT2.
Also unlike Saturday, Racers Edge opted to go further into the pit window until they decided to stop the No. 93 Acura, which worked well as it kept the lead with significant advantage to the No. 04 DXDT Mercedes. To make matters easier for Racers Edge, the No. 04 had to serve a drive through penalty for pit lane speeding, which handled the second place overall to the Am Cup No. 20 Wright Porsche.
The No. 1 TR3 Ferrari was piling on the pressure to pass the No. 20 Wright Porsche, and with nowhere to go and a suspension issue, it ended not only losing the battle for second but also handled third place to the No. 14 GMG Porsche, giving some sort of relief to the second placed No. 20.
While the rest of the field was busy with their own matters, the No. 93 Racers Edge Acura just had to cruise to the finish to get the Race 2 win.
GT World Challenge America - Sonoma Race 2 results
The No. 20 Wright Porsche got the Am Cup triumph while keeping second place overall, while the Pro-Am Cup winner, the No. 14 GMG Porsche, came right behind.
Road America is the next stop for GT World Challenge America on 29th and 30th August, still being the penultimate stop of the season before the Indianapolis 8 Hour, as Watkins Glen was dropped amid COVID-19 concerns and a replacement is on the cards.
PHOTO: SRO/Brian Cleary
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