Barber Friday Notebook

Photo: Fabian Lagunas/SRO

***In addition to opening practice for GT World Challenge America powered by AWS on Friday afternoon, GT3 machinery took to the track for a 90-minute test session in the morning at Barber Motorsports Park, as well as a Paid Bronze Test for FIA Bronze-rated drivers either in GTWC America or GT America powered by AWS.

***As he did in Practice 1, Tom Sargent also posted the quickest time in the test session aboard the Buc-ee’s-liveried No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo, while Jason Daskalos topped the Bronze test in the No. 27 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.

***The only red flag came in the all-skate test, when Derek DeBoer found the tire barriers in Turn 13, resulting in minor left-side damage to the No. 99 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO.

***SRO America clarified on Friday morning that Joseph Maley was actually at the wheel of the No. 44 VPX Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT4 Evo at the time of Thursday’s significant Pirelli GT4 America crash with the No. 413 Colorado Motorsport with Flying Lizard BMW M4 GT4 EVO of Zach Lumsden, not series rookie Jaden Harry, and has transferred the same penalties (five behavioral warning points and a pit lane start for next SRO America race he takes part in) to Maley.

***Both the live timing and scoring and the initial stewards’ bulletins listed Harry driving at the time.

***VPX brought in a replacement car, a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport, for Maley and Harry, who combined to finish 27th overall and 14th in the Pro-Am class in Race 1, after not getting any previous run time until the drop of the green flag on Friday afternoon.

***Trenton Estep, meanwhile, has been a last-minute replacement for Jimmy Llibre in the No. 7 ACI Motorsports Porsche. Llibre’s name was initially posted on the final entry list, published on Thursday afternoon, but was since updated overnight. Estep ran as high as second in the race until the car faded during co-drover Yves Baltas’ stint.

***The Am class-winning duo of Alex and Michael Garcia have swapped to a Porsche this weekend after having used a BMW since the start of the season. However, that chassis was taken out of service, with its replacement unlikely to return for the remainder of the season according to ACI team principal Curt Swearingin.

***Swearingin said: “It’s great to see the Garcia’s so quick in the Cayman, which we could see again at Indianapolis. We had to do a chassis swap on the BMW, so we’re still in the process on that, waiting for parts to come in. With Indy being so tight to Barber, it’s not very likely the BMW will make it, but we’re still going to push.”

***Frankie Muniz, who along with Tyler Stone remained in the Am class championship hunt despite an incident between Muniz and the then class-leading No. 37 Dome Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Laura Hayes, stood down from his NASCAR Craftsmen Truck Series commitments this weekend to focus entirely on his GT4 America title pursuit.

***Muniz told Amanda Busick, who wasn’t able to get out of her Truck Series pit reporter commitments with FS1 tomorrow, that he had an ABS brake lock-up which pushed him into Hayes’ Mercedes-AMG. The stewards, however, still gave incident responsibility to Muniz.

***With trouble also striking the No. 36 BimmerWorld BMW in the race, Muniz and Stone only lost two points to James Clay and James Walker Jr., although are now tied for second with the Random Vandals duo of Judson Holt and Denny Stripling heading into tomorrow’s second race of the weekend.

***Race stewards have made a change to the GT4 America sporting regulations, authorizing the use of a joker tire in each race this weekend, which does not count towards a team’s tire allocation. This change, which was also in place at Barber last year, is due to the track’s high level of tire degradation.

***As a result, the minimum pit delta for GT4 America competitors has been increased from 79 to 85 seconds, to not disadvantage teams opting to make a singe-tire change during the mandatory pit stops. The stewards’ bulletin specifically stated the additional tire per race would have to be purchased by teams and is not free of charge.

***Sargent arrived at Barber straight off a Porsche Carrera Cup North America test at Circuit of The Americas for GMG team owner/driver James Sofronas, whom he was coaching. The U.S.-based Australian, who currently leads the Porsche Cup, only landed in Birmingham at midnight on Friday morning.

***Reigning Porsche Cup winner Loek Hartog, co-driver of the No. 88 Kellymoss Porsche, has returned to the SRO America paddock for the first time since his heroic measures in pulling Ollie Millroy out of a burning Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo in a China GT Championship race earlier this month.

***Hartog, who made international headlines across mainstream media, returned to Shanghai last week to meet Millroy in the hospital before the Englishman was released and returned home to Dubai.

***He told Sportscar365: “It’s crazy how little you see somebody in person but you know them so well. Of course if you go through something [traumatic], then it shapes it quite quickly. I think the whole interaction was like we already knew each other for a long time. It was emotional but it wasn’t emotional as in tearful. It was more so emotional as in having a very strong connection. We couldn’t stop talking, so that was cool.”

***All three of the Kellymoss Porsches are sporting “Ollie x Loek – bigger than racing” decals this weekend. Hartog revealed plans for he and Millroy to create an initiative to help raise awareness around trackside safety response, in an effort to prevent repeat occurrences of what both drivers went through.

***Further clarity on why McLaren Motorsport will be stopping sales of the Artura GT4 by the end of 2028 has surfaced, with a recent report from Automotive News indicating the hybrid road-going model will be discontinued in the same year. While a replacement GT4 model is not planned, this move could indicate that a new car could be in the works for McLaren Trophy America, which currently uses the Artura Trophy EVO.

***Voting for the fan-submitted liveries for the No. 14 Riley Technologies BMW will close on Sunday. Eighteen finalist designs, all created by fans 17 or younger, can be voted on Slade Stewart’s website, with the winning livery to be featured on the car, in place of Stewart’s signature ‘Sparklefarts’ design, in next month’s Desder Indianapolis 8 Hour.

***Stewart and Andy Lee are set to be joined by ex-BMW factory driver Jesse Krohn in the Pro-Am class entry next month. Team principal Bill Riley told Sportscar365 that Krohn has been assisting the team and Stewart in their transition to the M4 GT3 EVO this year.

***Saturday’s track action at Barber will feature the opening race of the weekend for GT America (12 p.m. CST), Race 2 for GT4 America (1:35 p.m.) and the first race for GR Cup (3:40 p.m.), all of which will be streamed live on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel, as well as GRCup.com for the GR single-make series. Two rounds of additional practice are also on tap for GTWC America.

***DJ Clark will fill in for Busick on pit lane reporter duties tomorrow, but will return for Sunday’s GTWC America headline race.

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