Rothberg Paces Opening Practice at VIR

Photo: Fabian Lagunas/SRO

Justin Rothberg led the way in the opening GT America powered by AWS practice session at Virginia International Raceway.

The Turner Motorsport driver topped the time charts with a best lap of 1:48.042 in his No. 29 BMW M4 GT3, outpacing the No. 50 Chouest Povoledo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Ross Chouest by 0.441 seconds.

Johnny O’Connell was third quickest in his SKI Autosports Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, followed by Jason Daskalos in the SRO3 championship-leading No. 27 CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG.

The No. 48 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo of Elais Sabo completed the top-five.

GT4, meanwhile, was led by the No. 098 Rotek Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport of Isaac Sherman.

Sherman was nearly a half-second clear of second-placed Curt Swearingin in the No. 7 ACI Motorsports Porsche.

CRP’s Daskalos led the way in the Paid Bronze Test, which ran immediately prior to the first official GT America session, having laid down a best lap of 1:47.849.

The second and final practice session of the day is on tap for 1:45 p.m. EDT.

RESULTS: Practice 1

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John