Bartone: Seat Time “Crucial” in Rapid Development Program

Photo: RealTime Racing

Anthony Bartone said seat time in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo has been “crucial” for his development as a driver, in only his second year of sports car racing.

Bartone, the son of NHRA drag racing legend Tony, has moved up to the GT3 ranks this year, competing in both Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS and GT America powered by AWS with Bartone Bros Racing by RealTime.

The program, assembled by his father with the help of Anthony’s driver coach Andy Pilgrim and the Wisconsin-based RealTime Racing team, steps up to the Pro-Am class in this weekend’s races at Virginia International Raceway with the addition of Mercedes-AMG Expert Driver Adam Christodoulou.

The 23-year-old Bartone only got his competitive start in June 2021, in a Chevrolet Corvette C7 Stingray road car at NCM Motorsports Park in Bowling Green, Ky., under the tutelage of Pilgrim, whom had been a friend with Tony through the years.

“Then the ball quickly spiraled out of control from there,” Tony told Sportscar365.

“I never pushed Anthony in any direction but I always supported him fully in whatever direction he wanted to go in.

“It was totally his decision. For years he said, ‘I want to go racing’ and I said, ‘Call Andy.’

“I hired Andy to develop Anthony. With Andy’s expertise as a [former] General Motors factory driver, I’m just a shmuck  that can stab and steer and open parachutes in 1320 feet, hopefully.

“Andy’s done a fantastic job with him. Body, mind and soul… He’s lost a ton of weight; we’re getting him in shape and who knows where he can go from here.”

Several months after Anthony’s first track day, the Bartone’s purchased three Porsche Cayman GT4 RS Clubsports and entered them in various series in North America, including GT America.

Anthony then stepped up to GT3 racing this year, in what was initially supposed to be a GT America-only program, but was quickly escalated to GTWC America after promising results.

“It was for more seat time but it was made from a collective effort,” Anthony said of the move to GTWC America. “I think it went well.

“You only get better with seat time. If you can double it up on the same weekend, whether you’re dead last or on the pole, it’s almost irrelevant.”

Despite Tony’s deep GM links, and with the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R set to launch to customers next year, the Bartone’s opted for the Mercedes following the recommendation of a number of people in the paddock.

“From everybody we talk to, in the off-season preparing for this year, a lot of people said it was a really good platform for someone with no experience,” Anthony said.

“I had no experience or database to compare it to other GT3 platforms; I’ve been learning it on the fly at the track.

“It doesn’t catch you out too often and it’s somewhat correctable compared to a 911.”

Having claimed victory in only his third GT America GT3 race, and putting in solid performances as the only Am class entry in GTWC America, Tony said the “sky is the limit” for his son.

“I’m trying to give Anthony all of the tools possible to develop to be everything he can be, which I don’t know if everybody knows how to do that,” he said. “But we’re on a pretty good path here and we have more steps in the ladder going down the road.

“Anthony’s done a great job. I’m proud of him. We never set any expectations but if he had a report card, it’d always say ‘exceeded expectations.’

“It’s a funny thing. I don’t set expectations but he’s always exceeding them. That’s good.

“We’ll just keep trying to give him the tools and the opportunity for anything he needs to develop his driving skills in the race car.”

Anthony added: “GT3 is the pinnacle of [GT] racing and I think the opportunities all across the world. There’s more out there to run a GT3 car than a LMP2 or LMP3.

“Bathurst, Spa 24, Nürburgring all that. Those are all the huge bucket list items and you can do it all in a GT3 car.

“That’s why I think for me, I’d like to do that.

“Say one day I drove a different style car, that would be cool, but I think for me right now, short-term, long-term a GT3 car is perfectly suitable for my dreams.”

Bartone: No Interest to Follow in Father’s Footsteps in Drag Racing

Anthony admitted he has no desire of following his father’s footsteps in drag racing, admitting that he’s perfectly happy at the wheel of sports cars.

“I still ask myself that,” he said. “I think for me, maybe, the drag racing is too [snaps fingers].

“Not that it’s too quick but I don’t know if I have the desire to go 100 mph in less than a seconds with a bomb strapped to you.

“I think this type of racing is a totally different sport. And it fits my needs and desires more. I don’t even know if I’d get into a nitro funny car ever.

“I don’t know if I’d drive an alcohol funny car. I just have no desire to do that.

“Yet going 160 mph through the Esses at VIR… Sure! 330 [mph] in four seconds… I’m OK.”

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