GT Rivals Heads to Paul Ricard for Round 3

With two rounds down, SRO America’s GT Rivals Esports Invitational heads to the South of France where real world pro drivers and sim racers will take on Circuit Paul Ricard in Assetto Corsa Competizione.

Round 3 takes place Sunday at 3 p.m. ET, with live coverage on SRO Motorsports Group’s YouTube, Facebook and Twitch channels.

Nissan and Audi have both tasted victory, but eight other manufacturers look for glory.

Entries from Acura, Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Mercedes-AMG, Nissan, and Porsche make up the 33-car grid. With the real world pros also becoming more acquainted with the official sim of GT World Challenge powered by AWS, competition is expected be closer than ever throughout the field.

Bryan Heitkotter continues to be a leading contender driving the Nissan GT-R GT3 NISMO.

The Laguna Seca winner managed a top-five finish at Misano after damaging his car.

Kenton Koch returns in the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 seeking redemption after a disappointing Misano round, with the same going for early favorite Karl Wittmer, who made the switch to the Acura NSX GT3 Evo but was limited in Misano due to an early drive-thru penalty.

Misano runner-up Kevin Boehm looks to continue moving forward in the CrowdStrike Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. He’s joined by TC America teammate CJ Moses, making his debut in Mercedes-AMG machinery.

Pirelli GT4 America race winner Kenny Murillo will also make his debut driving a Mercedes-AMG, joining TC America racer Steve Streimer.

Other new additions include Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Pro-Am champion Jon Miller, driving the ST Racing BMW M6 GT3. He’ll be joined in Ferrari machinery by IMSA Prototype Challenge driver Thomas Merrill and race alongside fellow Ferrari drivers Dakota Dickerson and Nikko Reger, who have both shown strong pace in the first two events.

IMSA’s Paul Miller Racing driver Corey Lewis joins the fun, competing in the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo like his real-world racer.

Canadian Nelson Mason, who has raced in the World Series Formula V8 3.5 championship, will also take to the track in a Lamborghini. They’ll join Nicolai Elghanayan who has made the switch to Lamborghini machinery.

GT4 America racers Jason Bell and Derek DeBoer will pilot Porsche 911 GT3 R entries, with Champion Motorsports sim racers Ernest Dela Cruz, Dominic Guerin, and Dave Hassar rounding out the Porsche contingent.

The Acura camp continues with the lineup of Wittmer as well as GTWC America pilots Shelby Blackstock, Kyle Marcelli, open-wheel racer Jacob Abel and former PWC champion Tom O’Gorman.

K-PAX Racing drivers Guy Cosmo and Patrick Byrne hope to have a clean race to show the pace in the Bentley Continental GT3.

Parker Chase and sim racer Keith Briscoe will fly the flag for Audi, driving the Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo. Classic BMW’s Toby Grahovic returns in his BMW entry while Alec Udell makes the switch to Aston Martin, joining Koch, Jason Alexandridis, Kevin Anderson, and James Pesek.

Sim racer Eric Andersen, from Champion Motorsports, will also make his debut in the Vantage GT3 at Paul Ricard.