After a rain-soaked Thursday limited track time, clearer skies greeted the GT America powered by AWS competitors for Practice 2 at VIRginia International Raceway.
The dry 30-minute Friday morning session gave drivers their first proper chance to push the pace, and Blake McDonald continued to lead the way, just as he did in the rain the day prior

McDonald, behind the wheel of the No. 11 DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, picked up right where he left off, jumping to the top of the timesheets early in the session. Justin Rothberg looked strong in the opening stages as well in his No. 29 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3, initially challenging for the top spot.
Midway through the session, Jason Bell vaulted up into second place in his No. 2 Racers Edge Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT3, briefly beating out Rothberg. However, the order continued to shuffle as the track evolved and the session progressed, with Memo Gidley moving into P2 in the No. 56 SKI Autosports Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II.

Kyle Washington then slotted into third in his No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 992 GT3 R, pushing Bell down the order into fifth behind the No. 50 Chouest Povoledo Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Ross Chouest.
In the GT4 class, Michael Fitzpatrick set the early benchmark and held firm throughout the session in his No. 89 89x Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT as drivers continued dialing in their setups.
With improving weather and more competitive times across the board, anticipation builds for the qualifying session Friday morning.

Let’s Get Racing
The GT America powered by AWS will return to the track for Qualifying on Saturday morning, July 19th at 8:30 AM ET.

If you can’t make it to Virginia International Raceway, be sure to tune-in to SRO’s free live streams all weekend long on YouTube (GTWorld) and Twitch (SROMotorsports) and follow all the action through our social media channels and the event hashtag #GTVIR.

Justin Rothberg will start this afternoon’s GT America powered by AWS race at Virginia International Raceway from the pole, despite setting the second-quickest time in qualifying on Saturday morning.

The Turner Motorsport driver reeled off a best lap of 1:46.819 in his No. 29 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, which was 0.161 seconds slower than Blake McDonald’s No. 11 DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

McDonald, as has been the case with previous GT America events, will not take part in the pair of 40-minute races, with the Bronze-rated driver using the sessions as additional track time for his GT World Challenge America powered by AWS effort.

Memo Gidley will start alongside Rothberg on the front row in his No. 56 SKI Autosports Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II.
Jason Bell qualified third in his Racers Edge Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, which has undergone an overnight Balance of Performance adjustment.

Ross Chouest and SRO3 championship contender Kyle Washington completed the top-five.
CJ Moses recorded a competitive 1:53.838 lap time in his GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT2 to significantly outpace GT4 pole-sitter Michael Fitzpatrick in the No. 89 89x Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT4.

Race 1 gets underway at 1:10 p.m. EST, with live coverage on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel and on Twitch.

RESULTS: Qualifying

Race 1 or 2 Completed

An aggressive move from Jan Heylen on Connor De Phillippi with 21 minutes to go gave RS1 its first GT World Challenge America powered by AWS victory of the season in Saturday’s opening round of the weekend at Virginia International Raceway.
Heylen took his No. 18 Porsche 911 GT3 R to a 9.085-second victory over De Phillippi in the No. 99 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT3 Evo that he shared with Kenton Koch.
It marked Heylen’s co-driver Sedgwick’s first career GTWC America victory.

The No. 50 Chouset Povoledo Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Aaron Povoldeo had been running second overall until Povoledo, who moved into the overall lead following a controversial pit stop sequence, pitted on the final lap.

Heylen passed Povoledo for the overall lead with 18 minutes remaining, after the team principal/driver ended up out front due to a bizarre set of circumstances.
While pole-sitter Philip Ellis enjoyed a 13-second overall lead in the No. 91 Regulator Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, on the team’s traditional reverse driver strategy, an accident for Jean-Frederic Laberge in the No. 92 LAB Motorsport by GT Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R led to a full-course caution with less than one hour to go.

Teams then pitted for their mandatory driver and tire changes, although most cars were held in their pit boxes in order for the newly installed driver to not exceed the maximum stint length time of 50 minutes.

The No. 50 Corvette of Povoledo emerged in the lead but appeared to leave the pit lane exit, where the time resets, with 50 minutes and 3 seconds to go.

Bill Auberlen followed him in second but the No. 51 Random Vandals team elected to bring Auberlen in for a self-instructed drive-through to reset his stint length, which then led to a stop-and-go penalty for a pit lane speeding infraction.
The remainder of the field appeared to exit pit lane under the maximum stint time.

The Pro-Am class win went to the No. 29 Turner Motorsport BMW of Robby Foley and Justin Rothberg, thanks to Foley’s late pass on the No. 24 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo of Darren Turner.
Turner and co-driver Gray Newell were forced to finish second in class.

The No. 11 DXDT Corvette of Matt Bell and Blake McDonald completed the class podium in third, with Povoledo provisionally classified eighth in Pro-Am.

Am class honors went to the No. 163 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 of Ozz Negri and Jay Schreibman, which came home ninth overall.
It came after the No. 6 Dollahite Racing Ford Mustang GT3 retired in the final 20 minutes after a piece of rubber hit the on-board fire extinguisher trigger and led to a loss of power according to Scott Dollahite

Race 2 is scheduled to start on Sunday at 2:45 p.m. EST with live coverage on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel and on Twitch, as well as on RACER Network.

RESULTS: Race 1

Justin Rothberg completed a sweep of the GT America powered by AWS weekend at Virginia International Raceway, with another controlling run on Sunday morning.
The Turner Motorsport driver drove his No. 29 BMW M4 GT3 EVO to a 4.922-second win over the No. 56 SKI Autosports Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II of Memo Gidley, who qualified third.

Unlike Saturday’s 40-minute race, Gidley pressured Rothberg early on the running but then slowly faded in the closing stages.
It marked Rothberg’s third win of the weekend after he and co-driver Robby Foley took Pro-Am class honors in Saturday’s GT World Challenge America powered by AWS contest.

Ross Chouest, whose No. 50 Chouest Povoledo Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R was being worked out prior to the five-minute mark, lost his second place starting position and was forced to start from the rear of the eight-car grid.
Chouest charged through the field, after his starter motor issue, to finished fourth, behind the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R of Kyle Washington, who returned to the podium with a third place finish after struggling on Saturday.

Jason Bell, whose race on Saturday ended early with an accident, pitted his No. 2 Racers Edge Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo in the closing 20 minutes after the car’s on-board fire extinguisher went off for the second consecutive race.

It promoted the No. 58 GMG Audi R8 LMS GT2 of CJ Moses to a fifth place overall finish, ahead of the GT4 class-winning No. 89x Motorsports Aston Martin of Mike Fitzpatrick.
It came after teammate John Dean led the opening nine laps but his car was parked in order to preserve it for the Pirelli GT4 America race later in the day.

RESULTS: Race 2