Road America Friday Notebook

Photo: Jonathan Grace

***The No. 24 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, which sustained an accident in the second GT World Challenge America powered by AWS practice session of the day at Road America, should be repairable in time for qualifying tomorrow morning according to team principal Ian James, who indicated that the team is still assessing the extent of damage after Darren Turner’s crash at The Kink. Turner escaped injury in the high-speed accident.

***DXDT Racing has stretched its resources between Road America and Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend, with the team’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD team testing at The Brickyard ahead of next month’s Battle on the Bricks. Program manager Bryan Sellers is currently on-site in Indianapolis.

***Alex Sedgwick believes that he and Jan Heylen’s sweep of the weekend last time out at Virginia International Raceway has brought real momentum to the No. 18 RS1 Porsche 911 GT3 R, which now sits just 14 points behind the No. 99 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Kenton Koch and Connor De Phillippi, which battled through engine-related issues at VIR.

***Sedgwick said: “I do think we’re really hitting our stride. Each person is making a difference, working above and beyond in the program, and we all feel good about that. But the goal is the same no matter what. I think we have momentum and we’re starting to make some serious gains.”

***JMF Motorsports debuted a brand-new Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo chassis last time out at Virginia International Raceway. It came from a “small batch” of new chassis recently built by the German manufacturer in order to ensure a “smooth transition” to the successor car, according to a Mercedes-AMG spokesperson.

***SRO America President and CEO Greg Gill revealed to Sportscar365 that entries for October’s season-ending Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS has already surpassed last year’s 23-car starting grid. “It’s definitely exceeding last year,” he said, while also confirming that a provisional entry list will be released following next month’s Suzuka 1000km.

***Random Vandals Racing team owner Paul Sparta reaffirmed that Conor Daly will be the team’s third driver in the No. 99 BMW for Indianapolis, while it is looking at a BMW factory driver to complete the lineup in the No. 51 car. “We’re waiting to hear official news [from BMW],” Sparta told Sportscar365.

***Sparta explained that his usual co-driver in GT4 America, Michael Kanisczak, has been replaced by Darius Trinka for the remainder of the season in the No. 98 BMW M4 GT4 EVO due to new business commitments for Kanisczak.

***SRO Motorsports Group founder and CEO Stephane Ratel is on-site this weekend, in his second SRO America event of the year after also attending the season-opener at Sonoma Raceway in March.

***Massimo Sunseri took part in both Toyota GR Cup North America practice sessions with a fresh GR86 Cup car chassis following a crash on Thursday, which left his No. 51 BSI Racing Toyota unrepairable at the track. Sunseri is understood to have been uninjured in the incident and finished 17th and 21st overall in Friday’s pair of 30-minute sessions.

***Forte Racing’s newly expanded second McLaren Artura Trophy Evo entry for Tanner Harvey and Patrick Liddy has been confirmed for the remainder of the season. Liddy has been a race winner in both Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America and WeatherTech Championship GTD competition with the Shane Seneviratne-led program.

***Liddy said: “Forte and I have enjoyed a lot of success together over the years, and I’m confident Tanner will get up to pace quickly in his first foray into a pro racing series. Special thanks to Shane and everyone at Forte, Cypress Land, and McLaren for helping us get this program together.”

***GMG Racing’s second McLaren Trophy America entry, which features John Capestro-Dubets and K.C. King, is expected to return for October’s season-ending rounds at The Brickyard.

***Capestro-Dubets, who is on-site this weekend, escaped serious injuries in the accident with the Flying Lizard Motorsports McLaren of George Lawrence, who sustained a back injury and is not slated to return to the wheel for the season finale.

***Flying Lizard McLaren Trophy driver Canaan O’Connell’s wife gave birth to their first child, Dallara Day O’Connell, earlier this week.

***Multiple McLaren Trophy teams were fined for camera-related infractions in Practice 2, with both the No. 53 RP Motorsports by Forte Racing and No. 52 AERO-B Motorsports entries handed $2500 fines, with $1250 of it suspended pending no further infraction, due to utilizing a live streaming device during the session.

***The No. 52 McLaren was additionally fined $250 for one of its drivers having a camera attached to his helmet. Additionally, the No. 17 Riley Motorsports McLaren was fined $1000 for the improper handling of fuel while on pit lane in Practice 1.

***In a sporting note sent to teams, SRO America clarified on Friday that any car taking the checkered flag in the pit lane (not on the racing surface) will not be credited with the completion of that lap.

***Race action for GTWC America, GT4 America, GT America, as well as the single-make McLaren Trophy and GR Cup series kicks off tomorrow, with all coverage streamed live on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel and on Twitch.

***With Amanda Busick on NHRA TV duties in Brainerd, Minn. this weekend, DJ Clark will be reporting from pit lane, with Ryan Myrehn and Calvin Fish in the broadcast booth.

Jonathan Grace contributed to this report

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