Between new names and not so new ones, we are watching everybody themselves in the GT World Challenge America pecking order after the first weekend of action at Sonoma, where Michai Stevens and Mikael Grenier put the No. 34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo on the top spot on Saturday (29), while the Sunday (30) was commanded by the No. 99 Random Vandals BMW M4 GT3 Evo of Connor De Phillippi and Kenton Koch.
Kenton Koch was leading the way in the first race as the No. 99 Random Vandals BMW asserted dominance over the No. 91 Regulator Mercedes, and while Philip Ellis had the Pro-Am Cup lead at the time, he had all the reasons to press Koch in order to leave Jeff Burton with some cushion to the competition.
It took almost half an hour, but Ellis was able to make the move to first overall, opening immediately the gap to Koch, and since the No. 16 AF Corse Ferrari was stuck between the Pro Cup cars, Ellis had some comfortable cushion.
The No. 91 returned from the mandatory pit stop in the lead, but it didn’t take much for Mikael Grenier to put the No. 34 JMF Mercedes in first overall, which prompted Connor de Phillippi to act fast and put the No. 99 in second place, with Jeff Burton eventually falling behind the whole Pro Cup field, which would leave him exposed for the No. 29 Turner BMW and the No. 16 AF Corse Ferrari, with the overtake happening with around 25 minutes to go.
While de Phillippi tried his best to close down on Grenier, the gap wasn’t going down in the final minutes, so it was a secure win overall for the No. 34 JMF Mercedes as the No. 99 Random Vandals BMW and the No. 51 Random Vandals BMW completed the podium.
GTWC America - Sonoma Race 1 results
The final minutes were of pure domination for the No. 29 Turner BMW, which comfortably won the Pro-Am Cup over the No. 04 Crowdstrike Mercedes.
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Race 2 needed an extra formation lap due to the cooler temperatures and some damp sections around the track due to irregular rain over the Sunday, and the No. 04 Crowdstrike Mercedes was leading the way with the No. 88 Archangel McLaren leading the chase.
The positions weren’t changed before the mandatory pit stop, but the No. 04 was able to hold the Pro-Am Cup lead while the No. 18 RS1 Porsche took the overall lead. George Kurtz tried his best to hold the Pro Cup field but eventually conceded and got exposed to the No. 91 Regulator Mercedes and the rest of the Pro-Am Cup field, losing the class lead with 16 minutes to go.
Further ahead, Alex Sedgwick was holding the top spot but Kenton Koch was making the No. 99 Random Vandals BMW pretty visible in his mirrors, but the problem for the top two was that the No. 34 JMF Mercedes was getting in the mix too, but eventually things focused back on the top two.
After a lot of time speculating behind the No. 18, Koch eventually found the way past Sedgwick with 90 seconds to go, and he got free from the Porsche, he left no gap and ran away with the win for the No. 99 Random Vandals BMW. Just outside the Pro Cup top 4, the No. 91 Regulator Mercedes captured the Pro-Am Cup wins after dispatching the No. 04 Crowdstrike Mercedes.
GTWC America - Sonoma Race 2 results
Next in the calendar is the Circuit of the Americas, with GTWC America returning to Texas on 26 and 27 April.
PHOTOS: SRO/Fabian Lagunas
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