Photo: TPC Racing
SRO America President and CEO Greg Gill says he’s “cautiously optimistic” on the growth of the GT2 class within GT America powered by AWS following its first entry of the season last weekend at Circuit of The Americas.
The platform, which made its North American debut in several Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS races last year under the GT Sports Club series moniker, has shifted to a dedicated class in the new-for-2021 GT America series.
A single Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo Evo GT2 took part in the pair of 40-minute single-driver Bronze races with TPC Racing driver Scott Schmidt at COTA, which was made possible due to Lamborghini’s recent GT2 homologation of its single-make racer with minor modifications.
A total of four cars are currently eligible for the class, including a version of a KTM X-Bow that has yet to debut in North America.
“We know that the cars are there,” Gill told Sportscar365. “And we’re hearing from Lamborghini owners — and some Audi and Porsche owners — if that if the class is growing, they’ll come.
“I’m cautiously optimistic about it. I think it’s going to be good based on what we’re hearing.”
While the popularity of GT America has been strong in its first two events, largely with GT3 and GT4 entries, Gill believes there is still more to come, particularly with GT2.
A number of Bronze-rated drivers competing within SRO America already own GT2 machinery, including GMG Racing’s Kyle Washington and Elias Sabo with a Porsche 911 GT2 RS Clubsport and Audi R8 LMS GT2, respectively.
“When we introduced the idea of GT America, we thought it was a good idea,” said Gill. “We had 17 cars at Sonoma. Now we had 26 at COTA.
“I think that is going to look the same way for GT2. I think it’s going to go well. We’ll see that growth.
“Certainly getting the nine cars in at Monza [for GT2 European Series launch] was great to see. When you look at that, it helps [motivate] people to enter.
“I’m pleased to see the growth in GT World Challenge. It’s doubled from where we were a year ago.
“We’ve seen continued growth in GT America. We should hopefully continue to see the car count continue to grow and I think GT2 will come out of that.”
Sofronas: GT3 Currently More Popular for Customers
While “still believing in the formula” GMG team owner James Sofronas has admitted that the majority of his customers have decided to go GT3 racing instead of GT2 due to GT America’s class structure as well as the similar costs between the two classes.
The California-based team entered two GT3 cars and a three GT4 entries in GT America last weekend.
“For the same price point [as GT2] you can run a GT3 car in GT America,” Sofronas told Sportscar365. “These cars are faster, sexier and they’re going to be at the front of the grid.
“You can buy a used GT3 car for $350,000. So a lot of people are saying, ‘Why don’t I just enjoy a GT3 car?’
“When they go to a track day, they pull the restrictor out and it’s just crazy fast.
“I think that’s been the hangup. I still believe in the formula. But now that there’s GT America, I think a lot of guys are saying, ‘I’m just going to run a GT3 car.'”
Gill said that having customers on the grid, no matter the class, remains their primary objective and indicated that GT2’s growth will come naturally over time.
“Our goal is to get the most amount of people enjoying sports car racing,” he said.
“I want to do it for sports car racing. I want to do it for everyone in our paddock and our industry. This is what I care about.
“The fun thing about GT America is that it’s brought people to the grid to gain experience as a Bronze in a single-driver format and [some] have already [expanded] into GT World Challenge.
“That’s exciting and bodes well. We’ve got a good future ahead.”
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