A very thin entry list saw only seven teams enter GT America powered by AWS at Road America. One of those seven teams, DXDT Racing, only entered so that Blake McDonald would have more practice time. So, it was only six teams that planned to race. Memo Gidley and Ross Chouest split the victories.
Race No. 1
Saturday’s first race was held in driving rain after a thunderstorm came through and stopped the McLaren Trophy America event. Officials chose to start the race clock immediately when the safety car left the pit lane.
McDonald had technically qualified on pole, but did not start the race. As a result, Gidley inherited the pole.
Even behind the safety car, conditions were treacherous. Racers Edge Motorsports’ Jason Bell spun in turn 13 and tapped the wall. Despite that, he was able to continue.
Following three laps behind the safety car, the green came out. Gidley took advantage of clear vision to pull away.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for trouble to break out. Bell first spun out in the Kink and didn’t hit anything. However, a couple of turns later, he spun again and backed hard into the wall to bring out the safety car. Bell was ultimately ok, but the crash ended his weekend.
The green came back out with only nine minutes to go. Gidley was able to open up a gap, which only became bigger when GMG Racing’s Kyle Washington went straight at turn 5, dropping from second to fifth.
When Washington went off, Turner Motorsport’s Justin Rothberg inherited second in his BMW. He ran conservatively in an addition to conserve his car. That led him to take the inside line exiting the Kink.
Unfortunately, the wet conditions and the trees near that part of the circuit meant that Rothberg hit a patch of standing water. The Pirellis lit up and sent Rothberg hard into the wall.
The race was immediately put under caution when the crash happened. Rothberg was ok, but Turner Motorsport was forced to go to a backup car.
The race ended under caution with Gidley taking the win. Chouest Povoledo Racing’s Ross Chouest was second, then Washington and FASTMD Racing’s Farhan Siddiqi.
GT America powered by AWS: Road America Race No. 1 Results
Race No. 2
By virtue of the fastest lap of the race Saturday, Gidley started from the pole in his Audi. GMG Racing’s Washington raced him hard into turn 1. Contact was made, resulting in Gidley spinning out and Washington ending up in the runoff.
Chouest, who started third, ended up with the lead. Washington came out of the mess in third, but was given a drive-through penalty for avoidable contact that sent him to the rear.
Before he could serve that penalty, Washington went wide exiting turn 13 and got in the wet grass. He then spun, slid across the track and hit the wall.
Washington was able to get back underway after the spin, but his steering was damaged. He entered the pit lane, but his car appeared to have a mind of its own and steered into a tire barrier under the bridge at the top of the hill. The EBOOST Porsche was out.
At the front, Chouest was able to slowly but surely pull away. When Washington spun into the wall, Chouest had a four-second lead. Four seconds became six, then seven, then nine.
Meanwhile, Gidley was moving forward after his opening lap spin. Washington took care of himself, while Siddiqi was trounced quickly. Halfway through the race, he ran down and passed Rothberg for second.
By that point, Chouest had a 13-second lead. Since the spin, Gidley had made up roughly three seconds on the Corvette.
Further back, Siddiqi was slowly running down Rothberg for third. Then, he went a little too heavy on the accelerator exiting turn 14 and spun his Audi. Siddiqi didn’t hit anything, but lost a bunch of time.
Chouest held on to take the victory, his first career victory. He had won on the road at Road America last year, but lost his triumph in post-race inspection.
“It feels great,” Chouest said after the race. “It’s been a bit of an adjustment going from GT4 to GT3, just trying to trust the process. I tried to stick to my routine at the same time that the tires were going off. Didn’t want to take too many chances.”
Chouest’s margin of victory was 16.105 seconds over Gidley. Rothberg was third, then Siddiqi.
GT America powered by AWS: Road America Race No. 2 Results
Next up for GT America teams will be Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Ala. Race No. 1 is scheduled for Sept. 6 at 12:55 p.m. ET and will be streamed 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.