Wide Open SRO3 Title Fight Kicks Off at Sonoma

Photo: Brian Cleary/SRO

The top SRO3 class in GT America powered by AWS is shaping up to have a fierce fight for the championship title, following the departure of last year’s champion, returning contenders and new talents joining the FIA Bronze-rated driver grid.

A total of 18 cars are due to take part in this weekend’s season opener at Sonoma Raceway, featuring an influx of Porsche and Ferrari machinery.

With Justin Rothberg, who ran as a derogated Bronze* by SRO Motorsports Group last year and won the title in convincing fashion no longer being eligible, it has provided a wide-open battle for this year’s champion.

Memo Gidley is set for his first full season effort since winning the title in 2023, returning in the No. 56 SKI Autosports Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II.

He’ll face stiff competition from the likes of fellow established SRO America drivers Ross Chouest (Chouest Povoledo Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R) and Kyle Washington (GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo) as well as several key newcomers.

It includes Ruckus Racing’s Scott Blind, who steps up to GT3 competition after winning four Porsche single-make titles last year, Kellymoss Porsche entries for Todd Parriott, Michael Clark and John Gilliland, who will all also take on GT World Challenge America powered by AWS campaigns, and a number of Ferrari 296 GT3 Evos.

AF Corse will enter Rodin Younessi for the season, while renowned North American outfits Scuderia Corsa and R. Ferri Motorsport return to GT3 competition with drivers Thor Haugen and Marc Muzzo, respectively.

HP-TECH Motorsport will also be on the grid with Tony Davis, who ran several end-of-season races last year.

Both RS1 and Wright Motorsports will also field Porsches for Joel Cortes and Dave Musial Sr., respectively, while Mirco Schultis is back for what is likely to be the Callaway C7 GT3-R’s ‘farewell tour’ in the car’s final year of homologation.

GT America’s new-for-2026 Cup class, for selected single-make cars, will start off with a modest three-car entry, including two Ferrari 488 Challenge EVO cars entered by Gotham Motorsports for Yousuf Nabi and Radu Muntean.

David Lecko has the only Ginetta GTP8 entered, under the RacingSupport banner, in what was originally announced to be its own class within the series.

Finally, Craig Lumsden is the lone GT4 entrant for Sonoma, aboard a Flying Lizard Motorsports-run BMW M4 GT4 EVO.

Teams will have a test day on Wednesday prior to the start of official track action on Friday with two practice sessions. Qualifying and Race 1 (5:20 p.m. PST/8:20 p.m. EST) are scheduled for Saturday, with the 40-minute Race 2 (10:35 a.m. PST/1:35 p.m. EST) set on Sunday.

Both races will be streamed live on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel and on Twitch.

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