Turner Motorsport’s Justin Rothberg was able to get past GMG Racing’s Kyle Washington with 14 minutes to go Sunday morning (April 27). From there, he was able to hold on to win GT America powered by AWS Race No. 2 at Circuit of the Americas. It is his third win of the year.
“That was one of the most fun races I’ve had in a while. Kyle [Washington] was in my mirrors the entire time,” Rothberg told SRO America’s Amanda Busick after the race. “He put great pressure on me and got by with a nice move, then we traded back. That’s what you want in racing.”
The margin of victory was 1.927 seconds over Washington. Chouest Povoledo Racing’s Ross Chouest was third, then SKI Autosports’ Memo Gidley. R. Ferri Motorsports’ Marc Muzzo was fifth in his Ferrari.
By virtue of turning in the fastest lap in Race No. 1 Saturday, Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Elias Sabo should have been on the pole. However, the car was withdrawn for the remainder of the weekend after Race No. 1.
As a result, Turner Motorsport’s Justin Rothberg started from pole in his BMW. Chouest started alongside in his Corvette, but lost ground to Washington.
The two drivers battled hard for the overall lead. At the end of lap 3, Washington got a run on Rothberg exiting turn 20 and made the pass. However, his driving line was compromised for turn 1, allowing Rothberg to get back past.
The battling continued from there as Washington continued to stalk Rothberg. Finally, with 17 minutes remaining, Washington went to the outside of the BMW in turn 12.
That attempt was not successful, but it did get him alongside of Rothberg. He was able to stay alongside to turn 13, a righthander. Now having the inside, Washington was finally able to clear Rothberg to take the lead.
Rothberg was not done. A couple of laps later, Rothberg got a run on Washington to get alongside on the outside of turn 7. He was able to hold on strong on the outside, which gave him the inside for turn 8. A good run exiting the turn allowed him to reassume the lead from Washington.
From there, Rothberg opened up a small advantage as Washington had to regroup. He was ultimately able to hold on for the win.
In GT4, van der Steur Racing’s Max Hewitt started from pole in his Aston Martin. Unlike Saturday, he was able to put a decent interval between himself and Anthony McIntosh in the opening laps.
The advantage stretched out to around three seconds in the early laps before McIntosh began reeling Hewitt in a little. However, the lap times equalized with Hewitt a second and change ahead. He was able to hold that advantage to the finish to take the win.
The margin of victory was 2.575 seconds for Hewitt over McIntosh. Fast Track Racing’s Denny Stripling was third.
GT America powered by AWS: COTA Race No. 2 Results
GT America teams will take a couple of weeks off before returning to action at Sebring International Raceway. Race No. 1 is scheduled for 11:50 a.m. ET on May 17. The race will stream live on the GT World YouTube channel.
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.