GTWC America Set for Largest Full Season Grid in Seven Years

Photo: Fabian Lagunas/SRO

GT World Challenge America powered by AWS is poised to have its largest full season grid of GT3 machinery in seven years, with 21 cars currently on the provisional entry list for the upcoming campaign, which kicks off later this month at Sonoma Raceway.

Released by SRO America on Monday, the significantly improved entry for its flagship series features nearly half of the field comprised of either new or returning teams after several years away.

In total, nine different GT3 manufacturers are represented, marking anther high-point for the championship.

The grid boost comes amid the debut of a new single three-hour race format per weekend, replacing the pair of 90-minute extended sprint races that had been in place since 2019, the most recent year where GT3 grids were routinely in the twenties.

While Pro-Am, as has been the case in recent years, makes up the majority of the field, six cars have been entered into the Pro class, which will again mandate at least one FIA Silver-rated driver per lineup.

It will be headlined by two-time and reigning Pro-Am champions Turner Motorsport stepping up to the top class with Robby Foley and Justin Rothberg in their BMW M4 GT3 EVO, the only BMW in the category following Random Vandal Racing’s scaled back, Pro-Am-only effort.

JMF Motorsports, which finished runner-up in the championship last year with Mikael Grenier and Michai Stephens, returns with an unchanged lineup for its No. 34 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, while the Canadian squad has taken on Jason Daskalos’ Pro-Am Mercedes-AMG entry, which will be co-driven by Daskalos and Lorcan Hanafin.

The Ford vs. Ferrari battle seen in the Am class last year will now be for overall honors, with Dollahite Racing and AF Corse having each lodged Pro class entries for a Ford Mustang GT3 EVO and Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo respectively.

While the Mustang drivers are yet to be announced, AF Corse has revealed that Matías Pérez Companc, who contested the LMP2 division of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship last year, and 2022 GTWC Europe Endurance Cup Gold class champion Frederik Schandorff will both make their series debuts.

Chicago Performance and Tuning Co., the most recent team behind Marco Polo Motorsports, will bring Lamborghini back into the series, fielding a Huracan GT3 EVO2 with Mads Siljehaug for the entire season and Nicolai Elghanayan at Sonoma, Road America and the season-ending Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS.

They’ll join the return of McCann Racing to SRO America, with a Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo for Carrera Cup North America graduates Zachary Vanier and Michael McCann.

Porsche is set to have the largest representation in the series this year, with eight 911 GT3 Rs currently entered, seven of them in Pro-Am.

It’s headlined by Porsche powerhouse customer squads Wright Motorsports and Kellymoss, which will make its respective series return and debut, combining for five of the entries.

Thomas Merrill and Therese Lahlouh, a Porsche Sprint Challenge North America graduate who is also part of the Porsche Female Driver Program, will team up in one of two Wright entries, with reigning Carrera Cup North America champion Ryan Yardley, a Porsche Motorsport North America Selected Driver, co-driving the second entry with Dave Musial Jr.

Kellymoss, meanwhile, will field three Porsches, each featuring a top-level pro driver.

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP star Colin Braun will share a 911 GT3 R with former Sprint and Endurance Challenge North America champion Michael Clark, while 2023 and 2024 Carrera Cup North America champions, Riley Dickinson and Loek Hartog, respectively, will spearhead driving duties of the two other cars.

Dickinson will team up with Todd Parriott, while Hartog and reigning Porsche Endurance Challenge class champion John Gilliland will be in Kellymoss’ third entry, with the entire effort supported by Riley Motorsports.

The Bill Riley-led team will have a Pro-Am class entry of its own, marking its full season return for the first time since 2023, with former Flying Lizard Motorsports drivers Slade Stewart and Andy Lee in an ex-Elias Sabo-owned BMW.

It will join the new-look Random Vandals BMW with drivers Derek DeBoer and reigning Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America champion Hampus Ericsson, in a solo entry for the Paul Sparta-owned team, which won the Pro class title last year.

Other Porsches in Pro-Am include the return of GMG Racing with the expected retained lineup of Kyle Washington and PMNA Selected Driver Tom Sargent, and RS1, which moves back after tackling a Pro class effort last year.

In addition to JMF’s new Pro-Am entry, TR3 Racing will also field a Mercedes-AMG in the class for the pairing of Will Bamber and Brayton Williams.

Lone Star Racing, meanwhile, has committed to a one-off entry for the second round of the season at Circuit of The Americas with its Mercedes-AMG.

Archangel Motorsports will be back with an unchanged lineup of Aaron Telitz and Todd Coleman in their McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, while Chouest Povoledo Racing is provisionally listed in GTWC America with its Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R in addition to its recently confirmed GT America powered by AWS program.

Longtime Michelin Pilot Challenge entrant Rebel Rock Racing will make the switch to SRO America competition, with Robin Liddell and Frank DePew in the only Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo on the grid, as Racers Edge Motorsports, which is now under new ownership, switches to Pirelli GT4 America competition.

Rebel Rock is expected to start its campaign from the second round of the season next month at Circuit of The Americas.

Only one Am class car, the No. 163 AF Corse Ferrari for the pairing of Ozz Negri and Jay Schreibman, is currently on the provisional entry list. The duo won the class title last year after a season-long battle with the Dollahite Mustang GT3.

Despite its largest entry since 2019, several long-running teams will not mount programs in SRO America this year, in what’s understood to be at least partially due to the format change.

It includes DXDT Racing, sister operation Regulator Racing as well as Heart of Racing Team.

DXDT has elected to focus on its single WeatherTech Championship Corvette GTD entry, while Gray Newell will step into Heart of Racing’s expanded two-car Aston Martin LMGT3 effort in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

No word has been given on the future of Jeff Burton, who famously teamed with Mercedes-AMG factory star Philip Ellis for multiple overall wins in a reverse driver strategy over the past two seasons with the David Askew-owned Regulator team.

A finalized GTWC America entry list is expected to be released closer to the season-opening round at Sonoma Raceway on March 27-29.

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