JMF Motorsport’s Mikael Grenier was able to beat Random Vandals Racing’s Connor de Phillippi off the pit lane Saturday (March 29) during the mid-race stops. From there, he was able to hold on to win the GT World Challenge America powered by AWS season opener at Sonoma Raceway with teammate Michai Stephens.
“I think [the racing gods] are paying homage to people doing things for the right reasons,” Stephens told SRO America’s Amanda Busick after the race. “It’s all a testament to [John Farrow]. It’s a family affair and [this victory] is just a remainder of why people started [racing] in the beginning.”
For JMF Motorsport, this is the team’s very first race with a GT3 car. Previously, the team competed in both Pirelli GT4 America SprintX and IMSA Michelin Pilot Challnege with Mercedes-AMG GT4s.
The margin of victory was .638 seconds over de Phillippi and Kenton Koch. The second Random Vandals BMW of Bill Auberlen and Varun Choksey was third, then Rennsport One’s Jan Heylen and Alex Sedgwick. Turner Motorsport’s Robby Foley and Justin Rothberg were fifth.
Koch led the field to green in his BMW. In the opening laps, Koch was able to open up a decent lead over series debutant Stephens for JMF Motorsports.
Koch’s only real competition early on was the Pro-Am Mercedes of Regulator Racing’s Philip Ellis. Ellis hounded Koch, then eventually took the lead 25 minutes into the race.
Once in the overall lead, Ellis slowly pulled out to a three-second lead. Until he caught the GMG Racing Porsche of Kyle Washington. Washington holding up Ellis cost him nearly his entire advantage.
When the mid-race pit stops came around, Ellis chose to stay out as long as possible. Meanwhile, Koch brought in his BMW for tires, fuel and to swap in de Phillippi.
The relatively cool temperatures and rule changes for 2025 that ban tire warmers resulted in a bit of strategy for teams in both Pro and Pro-Am. Do you change tires? Some teams chose to do so, while others chose not to.
During the stop sequence, JMF Motorsports’ Mikael Grenier was able to jump over de Phillippi and take the class lead. Shortly after the pit sequence completed, Grenier ran down Jeff Burton and took the overall lead.
From there, Grenier was able to pull out to a lead of more than three seconds over de Phillippi. In the closing laps, de Phillippi was able to pull back in on Grenier, but couldn’t prevent the Canadian JMF team from winning on debut.
In Pro-Am, Ellis started on the class pole in second overall. Regulator Racing uses an alternate strategy by starting their Pro driver in Race No. 1 as opposed to Race No. 2. The goal is for Ellis to move out to a huge lead in the first half of the race before handing over to Burton.
This year, Regulator Racing isn’t the only team doing it. AF Corse’s No. 16 Ferrari used the same strategy with Stock Car Pro Series driver Allam Khodair out of Brazil giving chase in his Ferrari.
Further back, Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Elias Sabo spun his BMW in turn 1a and ended up in the weeds. He was able to continue, but lost significant time.
Despite not having all that big of a lead overall, Ellis had a nearly 40-second lead over Rothberg, the first Am driver in the standings, when the mid-race pit stops began. Then, Regulator Racing made the decision to not take on fresh tires. That was a mistake.
In the second half of the race, Burton would bleed all of that advantage away and then some. Foley was the fastest driver on the track in the second half of the race, gaining multiple seconds a lap on Burton.
That pace, along with worn tires for Regulator Racing, meant that Foley made up his deficit in no time. With 25 minutes to go, Foley took the class lead away.
Once he took the lead, Foley ran away from the pack. Meanwhile, CrowdStrike Racing by Riley Motorsports’ Colin Braun was on the move. He was able to get by Burton, Marcelo Hahn and Isaac Sherman to get up to second.
Despite Braun’s charge, he could do nothing with the Laticrete BMW. Foley was able to hold on to take the class win in fifth overall with Rothberg.
Foley and Rothberg’s margin of victory was 3.405 seconds over Braun and George Kurtz, who won the GT America race earlier in the day. Hahn and Khodair ended up third, then CRP Racing’s Sherman and Jason Daskalos. The McLaren of Archangel Motorsports’ Todd Coleman and Aaron Telitz were fifth. Burton and Ellis had to settle for seventh.
GT World Challenge America powered by AWS: Sonoma Race No. 1 Results
Race No. 2 for Fanatec GT World Challenge America at Sonoma Raceway is scheduled to go green at 6 p.m. ET Sunday. The race will air live on the GT World YouTube channel starting at 5:45 p.m. ET. MAVTV will air tape delayed coverage starting at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.