Rothberg Masters Rain-Soaked Race 1 at Road America

Photo: Brian Cleary/SRO

Justin Rothberg edged out a hard-charging Jason Daskalos for victory in Saturday’s rain-soaked GT America presented by AWS race at Road America.

Rothberg in the No. 29 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 finished 0.729 seconds ahead of a hard-charging Daskalos in the No. 27 CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo in the 40-minute contest, which started under the safety car for three laps due to standing water.

Heavy rain showers fell onto the four-mile circuit just moments prior to the race start, shaking up strategy in both the SRO3 and GT4 classes.

It also impacted several front-running cars, with both GMG Racing entries of James Sofronas and Kyle Washington, as well as the GT4 contender Curt Swearingin, were among seven cars served with drive-through penalties due to changing tires, from slicks to wets, beyond the prescribed deadline.

Sofronas and Washington had started second and third on the grid, respectively.

The No. 3 SKI Autosports Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II of Johnny O’Connell completed the overall and SRO3 class podium in third, followed by Mirco Schultis’ Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R, who pressured O’Connell in the second half of the race.

Sofronas and Washington came home fifth and sixth as a result of the drive-through penalties.

GT4 class honors went to Swearingin, in a remarkable come-from-behind run for the No. 7 ACI Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport after a tire issue for the points-leading No. 098 Rotek Racing Porsche of Isaac Sherman.

Swearingin got around the No. 25 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT4 of Gray Newell on the final lap to cross the line 1.606 seconds ahead.

Todd Parriott completed the class podium in third in the No. 31 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston.

The race ran caution-free after the safety car start, despite a spin and impact with the barriers by Jason Bell in the No. 2 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo in the early stages.

Bell managed to bring the car back to the pits.

Race 2 gets underway Sunday at 8:45 a.m. CDT with live coverage on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel and on Twitch.

RESULTS: Race 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