Road America Thursday Notebook

Photo: John Dagys

***SRO America teams took part in a rain-impacted day of test sessions at Road America on Thursday, which saw showers limit dry running on the four-mile Wisconsin circuit, particularly in the afternoon when the rain intensified and saw most competitors sit out the sessions.

***The second GT4 test session resulted in a lengthy red flag for track repairs following an accident by the No. 52 Nolasport Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport of David Peterman while under some of the heaviest rain conditions of the day. Only a handful of GT3 cars ventured onto the track for its one-hour afternoon session.

***GMG Racing’s Thomas Sargent set the quickest time of the day, a 2:17.873 lap time in the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R from the morning session.

***SRO America’s annual Road America GT Parade, which was scheduled for this evening, has been cancelled due to the inclement weather. The Welcome Party, however, will still take place at Siebken’s Resort with autograph signings, live music, giveaways and photo ops from 5:30-6:30 p.m. CDT.

***Andy Lee is pulling double duty this weekend, having been added to the No. 5 Flying Lizard Motorsports Nissan Z NISMO GT4 in place of Rodrigo Baptista, who has a scheduling conflict in Brazil. Lee will also be part of the team’s new BMW M4 GT3 entry in Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS.

***Another change in Pirelli GT4 America has been Johan Schwartz replacing Michai Stephens in the No. 23 TechSport Nissan, with Elivan Goulart taking the seat of Eric Powell in the sister No. 22 car. Hanley Motorsports, is not present altogether, having reportedly withdrawn from the series for reasons unrelated to SRO America.

***Flying Lizard program manager Darren Law told Sportscar365 they aim to complete the Fanatec GT America season with its newly acquired BMW M4 GT3, an ex-BimmerWorld chassis that ran in the series last year, prior to purchasing an all-new M4 GT3 EVO for next year.

***Both of Sabo’s Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evos, meanwhile, are currently up for sale. “Right now we don’t have anything sorted but we’ve had some interest,” said Law, who is facilitating the sale of the cars.

***Several Fanatec GT America teams are coming off runs at Road America just two weeks ago in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition. It includes Wright Motorsports, with the same driver pairing of Elliott Skeer and Adam Adelson, as well as Turner Motorsport, which won the GTD race with Robby Foley as one of its drivers.

***Additionally RS1, which claimed top honors in the Michelin Pilot Challenge race at the four-mile Wisconsin circuit with Trent Hindman and Stevan McAleer, is back in both Fanatec GT America and GT4 America competition.

***SRO America’s initial proposal to merge TC America presented by Skip Barber Racing School into GT America powered by AWS for next year is believed to have been reversed following competitor feedback since Virginia International Raceway when the concept was initially floated to teams.

***Multiple teams indicated to Sportscar365 that the TCX and TC classes will still be merged into a single category, with TCA set to go away at the end of the year. The new-look TC America series would likely run as a single class with slightly shorter races. An official announcement is due out at Friday’s SRO America ‘State of the Sport’ address.

***It’s believed that the initial proposal to merge TC America into GT America was made to make room for the new-for-2025 McLaren Trophy USA series that will join the SRO America bill on five weekends next year. Those plans are understood to still be moving ahead, with McLaren confirming further series details and unveiling its Artura Trophy EVO car on Thursday.

***Sportscar365 understands that multiple new TC cars are set to debut next year, including a new BMW M2 and a Toyota Corolla, which will bolster the field.

***Stephane Ratel is pulling double-duty this weekend, with the SRO Motorsports Group founder and CEO at Road America through tomorrow’s ‘State of the Sport’ address before traveling to Monterey, Calif. to serve as a judge and speaker at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, which is honoring the 30th anniversary of the launch of the BPR Global Endurance Series.

***Ratel and fellow BPR co-founder Patrick Peter will be panelists for an event on Saturday, which will be moderated by Justin Bell, who drove in the series that arguably kickstarted the return of GT racing in the mid-90s.

***GMG Racing will be holding a moving sale at its current shop in Santa Ana, Calif. next weekend, ahead of the opening of the organization’s new state-of-the-art facility at The Thermal Club. Items that will be for sale include lifts, work benches, compressors, take-off wheels and exhaust and street and competition performance parts for Porsche, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Audi and more.

***Official track action kicks off at 8 a.m. CDT with a Paid Bronze Test, followed by practice sessions for GT America, Fanatec GT America, Pirelli GT4 America, TC America and Toyota GR Cup North America.

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