NOLA Thursday Notebook

Photo: John Dagys

***SRO America teams took to NOLA Motorsports Park on Thursday for a test day, which was impacted by rain in the morning. It delayed the start of the first Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS session by more than an hour and resulted in a reshuffled schedule for the remainder of the day at the 2.75-mile, 16-turn circuit, located just outside of New Orleans.

***Unlike the last event at Sonoma Raceway which featured the debut of the Toyota GR Cup, only SRO’s four longstanding series are in action this weekend: GTWC America, Pirelli GT4 America, GT America powered by AWS and TC America powered by Skip Barber Racing School. The Skip Barber Formula Race Series is also in action.

***The three Type-992 Porsche 911 GT3 Rs from Wright Motorsports, MDK Motorsports and RS1 all have the manufacturer’s hardware update that was run in European competition last weekend which solved an issue with the wheel speed measurement system.

***MDK team manager Will Bamber told Sportscar365 that their Porsche engineer arrived from Germany last night with the updates in hand for the GTWC America cars as well as the Porsches competing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next month at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

***The update consists of an external mount to provide an “more consistent” signal to the ABS system according to Wright team manager and technical director Bobby Viglione. Porsche initially instructed teams to run without ABS and traction control systems until it was able to implement a fix, which came in a short timeframe.

***Wright Motorsports is expected to debut a second Type-992 Porsche, which will replace the No. 120 Type-991.2 model for drivers Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer, in time for the Road America round in August according to team owner John Wright.

***The Adelson/Skeer car as well as the No. 16 ACI Motorsports entry of Pedro Torres and Spencer Pumpelly are the only previous-generation Porsches in the GTWC America field.

***Geoff Carter has returned to the World Challenge paddock for the first time since 2014, having been brought on in yet-to-be-fully defined “teams relations” role with SRO America.

***Carter, who previously served as PWC’s director of competition, is coming off an eight-year stint with IMSA, having held various positions with the sanctioning body, most recently as its senior director of series platforms, and before that WeatherTech Championship series manager.

***Longtime FIA official and race director for the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, Scot Elkins, is serving as a steward this weekend, along with Elliott Forbes Robinson, who has been in a similar capacity in IMSA.

***Ashton Harrison and Mario Farnbacher return to the site of their first win together. The duo head into the weekend as the Pro class points leaders in the No. 93 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 following victory in Race 2 at Sonoma.

***GMG Racing is notably absent from the NOLA paddock, in the first time in recent memory that the James Sofronas-led team is not present with at least one car at a World Challenge/SRO America event. The California-based team is understood to have multiple entries confirmed for next month’s event at Circuit of The Americas, however.

***CrowdStrike by Riley will be receiving technical and operational assistance from SPS Automotive Performance for its effort in the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa according to team owner Bill Riley, who confirmed to Sportscar365 that they will utilize one of its own Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo chassis for the event.

***Bill Riley said that several members of the team will be present for the official test days on May 23-24, which will see a reprisal of Jeff Braun calling strategy on the No. 04 car at the GTWC America round at Circuit of The Americas the weekend prior as a result of the tight timeframe between events.

***The GT4 America field has increased from 41 to 42 entries with the late addition of the No. 51 Auto Technic Racing BMW M4 GT4 of John Castro Dubets and Zac Anderson, which was present at Sonoma.

***Tony Ave has been drafted into the No. 57 Smooge Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO as a replacement for Isabella Robusto. Robusto drove solo last time out due to her originally scheduled co-driver, Joey DaSilva, having sustained an off-track hand injury. DaSilva is slated to make his series debut this weekend.

***The new BMW M4 GT4 has been given a one-race technical waiver to run a “replacement” front grill that’s different from the initially homologated part, owing to “supply chain logistic problems” that was confirmed in writing by BMW North America’s motorsport manager Dan Lubin. According to the stewards decision, the replacement part offers no competitive advantage or disadvantage.

***Will Owen is set for his GT4 debut in the No. 95 OGH/Valkyrie Velocity Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport alongside Rob Ferriol. Owen, who missed the Sonoma season-opener due to his sister’s wedding, told Sportscar365 that he will contest the remainder of the season. Open-wheel rising star Mac Clark subbed for him at Sonoma.

***Owen, who has been a regular in the FIA World Endurance Championship and European Le Mans Series LMP2 ranks in recent years, revealed that his only previous GT racing experience came in the 2016 Thunderhill 25 Hours when he was part of Flying Lizard Motorsports’ lineup in a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR that finished third overall.

***Sonoma was the first event under the Valkyrie Velocity platform for Ferriol’s team, which combines the Hardpoint motorsports resources with the AI-solutions company Valkyrie. For the GT4 America season, that partnership includes OGH Motorsports. Both Valkyrie and OGH are based in Texas, with Valkyrie calling Austin home. Owen, meanwhile, works full-time for Valkyrie.

***Official track action kicks off on Friday at 8:50 a.m. CT with a Paid Bronze Test for GTWC America, GT4 America and GT America competitors, followed by a pair of practice sessions for each of the series. After issues at Sonoma, a new live timing and scoring system is set to debut tomorrow.

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