Three Classes in Action for Sonoma Curtain Raiser

Photo: Brian Cleary/SRO

Three classes of GT machinery will be in competition for next weekend’s GT America powered by AWS season opener at Sonoma Raceway, which will feature a total of 21 cars on the grid for the pair of 40-minute single-driver sprint races.

Released on Friday, the entry list is headlined by 12 GT3-spec cars in the SRO3 class, three GT2 entries alongside six GT4 entries.

While Memo Gidley nor TKO Motorsports are set to defend their 2023 class titles, the SRO3 class includes a number of new and returning drivers and teams to the Bronze-rated series.

CrowdStrike by Riley’s George Kurtz, who won the 2022 title, is back in his No. 04 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, along with fellow Mercedes-AMG competitor Scott Smithson in the No. 08 DXDT Racing entry.

Additional Mercedes-AMGs will be fielded by CRP/Daskalos Motorsports and Chouest Povoledo Racing for Jason Daskalos and Ross Chouest, respectively.

While the fan-favorite Callaway Corvette Z06 GT3-R returns with Mirco Schultis, SKI Autosports and GMG Racing will each field Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo IIs for Johnny O’Connell and James Sofronas, respectively.

Ferrari will be represented on the grid with an AF Corse-run 296 GT3 for Custodio Toledo, with Flying Lizard Motorsports set to debut an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo for 2023 GT4 class champion Jason Bell, who steps up to GT3 competition this year.

ProSport Competition, meanwhile, will have a previous-gen Aston for Tim Savage, while Ferrari Challenge graduate Justin Rothberg will be in a BMW M4 GT3, with Porsche represented in the top class with a Type-991.2 model 911 GT3 R for GMG’s Kyle Washington.

GMG’s Brent Holden will campaign a new Mercedes-AMG GT2 in the burgeoning category that will also feature a pair of Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2s run by TPC Racing for Alan Grossberg and Aaron Farhadi.

The half-dozen GT4 cars include Aston Martin Vantage GT4s for Todd Parriott (Flying Lizard), Gray Newell (Heart of Racing Team) and the return of Todd Coleman (Archangel Motorsports).

Curt Swearingin is set for his series debut in a ACI Motorsports-entered Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport, with RS1 also set to enter a Porsche for a yet-to-be-announced driver.

Carrus Callas Raceteam, meanwhile, will make the switch from Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO to BMW M4 GT4 machinery with Nick Shanny returning.

Track action kicks off with a two-day test at Sonoma on Wednesday and Thursday, followed by official practice sessions on Friday, prior to qualifying and the pair of races on Saturday and Sunday, which will be streamed live on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel.

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