COTA Thursday Notebook

Photo: SRO

***SRO America competitors took part in test sessions at Circuit of The Americas on Thursday, which were segmented between GT3, GT4, TC and Toyota GR Cup competitors. Official track action gets underway on Friday at the 3.41-mile track, which the series are visiting for the first time since the 2021 season.

***More than 140 cars assembled for a group shot on Thursday evening (pictured above). It marks one of the largest entries in SRO America history, with five series in action this weekend.

***Bartone Bros Racing by RealTime has rolled out a brand-new Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo chassis this weekend. The Wisconsin-based team, which tested here last week, had been battling vibration issues with one of its chassis, which it has since replaced, per a team spokesperson.

***Anthony Bartone and Andy Pilgrim will again run as the lone Am class car in the pair of Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS races.

***Bartone said: “Circuit of The Americas, in person, is different from what you see on the sim. The biggest difference is the curbing. Through the esses and in Turn 9 there is higher curbing. On the sim you can pretty much cut the track to gain lap time. If you do that in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo will tear the car up.”

***Valentin Hasse-Clot confirmed to Sportscar365 that he’ll continue with TRG for the next round at Virginia International Raceway, with the remainder of his calendar still being confirmed. The status of Ross Gunn, who was announced as the team’s primary pro driver alongside Derek DeBoer, is unclear.

***Hasse-Clot said: “I would love to do as [many] races as possible. It’s just great fun racing here. People are a bit more chilled than in Europe so it’s more enjoyable in general. I’m just having fun here. It’s professional; we’re working but we are having fun.”

***Jeff Braun has been drafted into CrowdStrike by Riley to serve as strategist for the No. 04 Mercedes of his son Colin Braun and George Kurtz this weekend, filling in for Matt Bejnarowicz, who along with team manager Alberto Pena, are in Belgium for next week’s CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa test days.

***Braun calls strategy for the Algarve Pro Racing-run CrowdStrike LMP2 operation in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races and previously worked with both Kurtz and Colin when the CrowdStrike Mercedes program was run by DXDT Racing in the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

***Bill Riley, meanwhile, is serving as the interim team manager this weekend. It marks the first time that Jeff Braun and Riley have worked together on the same team, often having been rivals dating back to their IMSA prototype days in the mid-1990s.

***Both Kurtz and Colin Braun have been on a whirlwind travel schedule, having flown directly from last weekend’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca to Paris for Kurtz to complete his mandatory ACO simulator test for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, prior to a two-day pre-Le Mans test at Monza on Tuesday and Wednesday.

***Both arrived in Austin on Thursday and will travel to Spa-Francorchamps following this event for next week’s official test days with the SPS automotive performance-assisted Riley Mercedes effort.

***A number of other drivers and teams from the SRO America paddock, including ST Racing, a contingent of drivers from GMG Racing and others, are also set to take part in this year’s twice-around-the-clock Belgian endurance classic.

***Racers Edge Motorsports will put its GTWC America-based Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 chassis into action for next month’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen according to team principal Jon Mirachi, who confirmed that its WeatherTech Championship Acura sustained chassis damage from Ashton Harrison’s accident in qualifying at Long Beach.

***Mirachi said his Florida-based team will spend July building up a new Acura for use in the other WeatherTech Championship races it has committed to, including the season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

***Esses Racing is set to skip the next GTWC America round at VIR according to team principal Dave O’Neill, who confirmed to Sportscar365 that it was never in the team’s plans due to its partial season schedule. The Will Hardeman and Adam Carroll-driven Mercedes will return to action at Road America.

***While Hardeman is not scheduled to drive in any other races beyond Road America this year, O’Neill, meanwhile, said he’s working on filling the seats in the car for the Indianapolis 8 Hour powered by AWS. “I think it would do the team good to experience it. We’ll keep pushing,” he told Sportscar365.

***O’Neill said the Austin-based squad is in the “very early days” of a launching a team diversity program, with details still being worked out.

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