Barber Thursday Notebook

Photo: Jonathan Grace

***Michai Stephens was quickest across Thursday’s two GT3 test sessions at Barber Motorsports Park, setting a benchmark 1:21.510 lap time in his No. 34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo in the morning session to edge out the second session pace-setting No. 99 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Connor De Phillippi by 0.162 seconds.

***This weekend will mark the final dual 90-minute race format for GT World Challenge America powered by AWS, with next month’s Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS closing out the season prior to an all-new headline three-hour race for the balance of the season in 2026.

***While there have been no changes to the entry lists in GTWC America, Pirelli GT4 America or GT America powered by AWS since the pre-event releases late last week, five cars have dropped off the Toyota GR Cup North America entry list for this weekend, resulting in a reduced 22-car entry.

***Jason Kos (No. 3 Eagles Canyon Racing Powered by Fast Track), John Lennon (No. 12 BSI Racing), Brett Kowalski (No. 15 TechSport), Christian Weir (No. 71 TechSport) and Livo Galanti (No. 89 Eagles Canyon) have all been withdrawn from the penultimate weekend of the season for the single-make series featuring the Toyota GR86 Cup cars.

***A second revision of the Balance of Performance for GTWC America was released on Wednesday evening, confirming only slight changes in power levels to the McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, which will now have additional low-end power and a slight reduction at top-end. The previous BoP change, dated Aug. 28, meanwhile, increased the car’s minimum rear wing angle from 7 to 11 degrees. No other GT3 cars have undergone adjustments since last month’s originally published table.

***Justin Rothberg, who is rated Silver by the FIA but runs as a Bronze* in SRO America, will have the same 26 kg derogation weight penalty for both GTWC America and GT America races this weekend, as well as a five-second pit stop penalty for GTWC America races. However, his five-position grid penalty for GT America races, also introduced last time out at Road America, will not be enforced.

***It’s understood SRO America will no longer permit derogated Bronzes to compete in GT America next year, although driver derogation will continue on a case-by-case basis in GTWC America and Pirelli GT4 America.

***Entry registrations for the 2026 SRO America seasons opened on Monday, some 45 days earlier than usual due to increased demand according to series president and CEO Greg Gill.

***Sportscar365 understands that the series has seen a significant amount of interest from teams looking to specifically field Ferrari 296 GT3s, in both GTWC America and GT America powered by AWS, which has been one of the driving factors behind its 2026 calendar not having any clashes with the Ferrari Challenge North America schedule.

***RS1’s Alex Sedgwick will be making his first race start at the 17-turn, 2.38-mile Barber circuit this weekend, although the PT Autosport-backed driver has been to Barber as a driver coach in the past.

***Sedgwick said: “I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. I’ve picked up the new tracks pretty quickly, whereas on tracks I raced in the Porsche Carrera Cup North America series, I’ve had to delete my baked-in references. So it’s a double-edged situation – you’re familiar with a track but you have a number of habits you have to break. Porsche has been quick at Barber through the years so hopefully we can continue that trend.”

***Sedgwick and co-driver Jan Heylen head into the weekend third in the Pro class championship standings in their Porsche 911 GT3 R, 23.5 points behind Random Vandals’ De Phillippi and Kenton Koch, who lost some ground to the JMF pairing of Stephens and Mikael Grenier last time out with their win in Race 2 at Road America.

***Porsche Motorsport North America Selected Driver Tom Sargent is fresh off making his race debut at the Nürburgring, teaming up with Wright Motorsports’ Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer in last weekend’s GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup round. The trio, in their second European outing, finished sixth in the Gold Cup class and 28th overall in a come-from-behind run.

***A Wright transporter is on-site this weekend, parked next to GMG Racing’s paddock setup. GMG team principal James Sofronas explained to Sportscar365 that the Ohio-based team is helping them with some parts for this event, with the team not having made the trip back to its base at The Thermal Club in California since the last round at Road America.

***Kyle Washington will utilize the same Porsche chassis in both GTWC America and GT America competition this weekend after his GTA car sustained chassis damage in an accident in Race 2 in Wisconsin. Sofronas indicated that the white-colored Porsche will be repaired in time for next month’s season finale at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

***Diego Nunes, who is making his Ferrari GT3 debut this weekend in the No. 16 AF Corse Ferrari, said he “almost fell off my chair” after getting the call-up from Marcelo Hahn. The 37-year-old Brazilian, a former Italian F3000 runner-up and GP2 driver, most recently has been competing in Stock Car Brasil and Porsche Endurance Challenge Brasil competition.

***Nunes said: “I’m really happy with this opportunity. In more than 20 years of racing, I’ve never competed in a car like this. It’s truly a dream come true. I just have to thank Marcelo for the invitation and Blau, a brand with which I share so much history and many happy moments.”

***This weekend’s triple-header for GT4 America, due to the weather-impacted Race 1 at Road America that was called off that has been rescheduled for Friday afternoon, could be the most important events of the season according to Blackdog Racing driver Michael Cooper, who along with co-driver/team owner Tony Gaples, sit third in the Pro-Am title race, just 12 points behind leaders Tyler McQuarrie and James Walker Jr.

***Cooper said: “The Barber event was always going to be an important one this late in the season. With three races and a lot of points at stake, this might be our biggest weekend of the season. The Barber layout will hopefully suit us fairly well as the McLaren has been fairly strong on more technical circuits. We’ve been executing really well all year and have taken advantage of opportunities that have come our way. Let’s hope we can keep that up this weekend.”

***A stewards’ bulletin confirmed the Barber BoP for GT4 America will also apply to the Road America Race 1 Make-Up, as expected, while teams may use tires from the that race allocation or purchase new tires.

***Additionally, due to the unique triple-header nature of the event, each GT4 America car will have an allocation of one joker tire per race, instead of event, which can be used at each team’s discretion and not with the permission of Pirelli as is typically the case.

***Toyota GR Cup drivers and Copeland Motorsports teammates Jaxon Bell and Ford Koch made their GT4 debuts at the wheel of a Copeland-entered Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 in last month’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge round at Virginia International Raceway.

***Koch initially qualified third but started from the rear of the field due to the car’s rear wing height not being in the homologated range, although the duo rallied for 14th place finish.

***In addition to two TC America powered by Skip Barber Racing School races, Friday’s action will also feature the Road America Race 1 Make-Up for GT4 America, which is scheduled for a 3:35 p.m. CST start time, with live coverage on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel and on Twitch.

Jonathan Grace contributed to this report

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