Fuentes, Baptista Take COTA Race 1 Win

Photo: SRO America

Martin Fuentes and Rodrigo Baptista claimed victory in the first GT World Challenge America powered by AWS race of the weekend at Circuit of The Americas.

The Squadra Corse duo dominated Saturday’s 90-minute contest, with the Ferrari 488 GT3 taking a 6.761-second win over the No. 93 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 Evo of Trent Hindman and Shelby Blackstock.

Fuentes led the race from pole ahead of Blackstock, with a three-second gap remaining relatively unchanged following the mid-race pit stops.

Fuentes and Baptista have retaken the GT3 Pro-Am points lead, with their closest competitors, George Kurtz and Colin Braun, not starting the race due to a family emergency for Kurtz.

The No. 04 DXDT Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo has been withdrawn from the remainder of the weekend.

Alec Udell and Russell Ward completed the overall podium in third, finishing second in the Silver class in their Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3.

Jan Heylen, subbing for Max Root, brought the No. 20 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R back to a fourth place overall finish and second in GT3 Pro-Am.

It came after a first corner spin by Fred Poordad, who made contact with the No. 2 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT2 RS Clubsport of Jason Bell.

The Wright Porsche, which pitted twice, still finished ahead of the No. 63 DXDT Racing Mercedes Evo of Ryan Dalziel and David Askew, who suffered multiple spins during his stint.

Ziad Ghandour and Kyle Marcelli were classified sixth in the No. 80 Racers Edge Acura.

RESULTS: Race 1

Photo: SRO America

Sofronas Dominates GT Sports Club

James Sofronas scored a commanding win in the GT Sports Club America round, running as high as fourth overall in the race.

The GMG Racing team owner/driver finished ahead of the similarly prepared Audi R8 LMS ultra of Jason Daskalos, leading a 1-2-3 for GT3 machinery.

Road America race winner Mark Issa completed the podium in the No. 31 TR3 Racing Ferrari.

Ryan Gates was the highest-placed GT2 entrant in his 311RS Motorsport Porsche 911 GT2 RS Clubsport, finishing third overall.

Race 2 takes place Sunday at 1:15 p.m. CT.

RESULTS: Race 1

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