Kurtz Tops Opening Practice at Sebring

Photo: Fabian Lagunas/SRO

George Kurtz led the way in the opening GT America powered by AWS practice session of the weekend at Sebring International Raceway.

The CrowdStrike by Riley driver recorded a best lap time of 2:01.222 in his No. 04 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo to outpace SRO3 points leader Jason Daskalos by 0.433 seconds.

Daskalos’ No. 27 CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG was second, ahead of the Justin Rothberg-driven No. 29 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 in third and Johnny O’Connell’s SKI Autosports Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II in fourth.

Ross Chouest completed the top-five in the No. 50 Chouest-Povoledo Racing Mercedes-AMG.

While TPC Racing’s Alan Grossberg led the way in GT2, as the only class entrant this weekend, it was the No. 7 ACI Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport of Curt Swearingin who was quickest in GT4.

Swearingin’s 2:11.434 lap time edged out the No. 098 Rotek Racing Porsche of Isaac Sherman and the Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT4 of Gray Newell.

The session saw a brief red flag early in the running.

Kurtz, meanwhile, was also quickest in the 30-minute Paid Bronze Test session, which ran immediately prior to GT America Practice 1.

The second and final GT America practice session is on tap for a 1:45 p.m. EDT start this afternoon.

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