Road Atlanta Weekend Notebook

***The Pirelli GT4 America field at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta is down to 31 cars following the withdrawal of the No. 90 Stephen Cameron Racing BMW M4 GT4 EVO after a sizable accident by Jonathan Perichon on Thursday. Perichon is understood to have escaped injury although the BMW, which was on a partial season schedule, sustained considerable damage.

***ACI Motorsports team owner Curt Swearingin has been drafted into the No. 10 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport, taking the seat of Ross Poole in the Am class entry that features Muzaffar Gafurov.

***Another driver change has come in McLaren Trophy America, which sees team manager Jon Miller replace Neil Langberg in the No. 53 Relapsing Polychondritis Motorsports/Forte Racing McLaren Artura Trophy EVO after Langberg felt “unfit to race” this weekend following an incident in testing. The car has been moved to the Guest class for the remainder of the event, with Miller set to team with Kevin Madsen at the wheel.

***Tom Sargent continues to lead the SRO GT Academy North America standings, which will award an fully funded seat in next year’s CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa. The GMG Racing driver accumulated a perfect score of 36 points in each of the first three weekends and now holds a 50-point lead over second-placed Ryan Yardley.

***Sargent, nor his IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship squad Wright Motorsports is unable to contest this year’s edition of the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa due to it clashing with the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen. The Ohio-based team finished 16th overall and fourth in the Gold Cup class last year in its race debut.

***The No. 32 GMG Porsche of Sargent and Kyle Washington, meanwhile, hold a seven-point lead in the GT World Challenge America powered by AWS Pro-Am drivers’ championship, after claiming class wins in two of the three races so far this season in the championship’s new three-hour race format era.

***Team owner James Sofronas said: “All of us at GMG Racing have been working on and within this new format since it was announced. We knew it would suit the championship experience of the GMG Racing team and would fit the driving styles of Kyle and Tom perfectly as well. The hard work you put into a racing program doesn’t always equal success, but by just focusing on and maximizing everything within our control has paid off so far this season.”

***Sargent and Washington will make their GT World Challenge Asia debuts in next month’s event at Fuji Speedway, having been confirmed in an Absolute Racing-run Porsche for the July 11-12 round, in a one-off appearance. “Thanks to our GTWC America engineer Rodolphe Sauvageot, he had a lot of connections in Asia and he could put us in contact with to make this happen,” Sargent told Sportscar365. “He will be our engineer as well for the Fuji race so we will have some nice familiarity going to do this.”

***JMF Motorsports driver Lorcan Hanafin, who received a last-minute call-up to make his second consecutive start in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, will start 23rd in the LMGT3 class for the French endurance classic aboard the No. 2 JMR/TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R after his FIA Bronze-rated co-driver Prince Jefri Ibrahim failed to make Hyperpole.

***Hanafin is expected to return to the wheel of the No. 27 JMF Mercedes-AMG for the remainder of the GTWC America season, which has seen Philip Ellis sub for the 23-year-old British driver.

***Ozz Negri underwent surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon, which has forced the 62-year-old Brazilian out of the No. 163 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo this weekend.

***Negri wrote on social media: “The surgery was performed by the amazing Dr. Thomas San Giovanni and everything went super well… I’ll be cheering for my brother Jay Schreibman and Benny Simonson, who will replace me. I’ve been working out very hard and I hope to come back better and stronger. I hope to see you guys soon.”

***McCumbee McAleer Racing has revealed that its debuting second Ford Mustang GT4 of Nolan Allaer and Michael Tosi is confirmed for the remainder of the season. “We set out a goal to get to a two-car effort in SRO this season,” said co-owner Chad McCumbee. “Both Michael and Nolan have been impressive in other series, so we should come out of the box with yet another strong Pro-Am lineup. I am very grateful for the opportunity to grow our Ford program.”

***After making his GT4 America debut at Sebring, Paul Bocuse has been confirmed in the No. 73 Kellymoss 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport alongside Erika Hoffmann for the rest of the season as well. It is one of three GT4-spec Porsches entered by the Madison, Wis.-based squad.

***Loek Hartog said he and Kellymoss co-driver John Gilliland have been having fun in their cow-inspired liveried Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo, which promotes Gilliland’s ‘Moove In Self Storage‘ business in the Northeast.

***The Dutchman told Sportscar365: “I think it’s starting to catch a couple of eyes, left and right. We’re already joking about what quotes we can put on the car. The back of the car already says, ‘Moove Over!’ But we’re already thinking about ‘Utterly Fast’ and all things like that. Any inspiration is welcome.”

***It’s been revealed that Off-Leash Motorsport, which is based across the street at the former Paul Miller Racing workshop, missed the last round at Sebring International Raceway due to not having an available spare engine for its Mercedes-AMG GT4. The Harry Gottsacker and Kevin Clifford-driven entry, however, is good to go this weekend.

***Random Vandals Racing driver Josh Green returns to the site of his first-ever car race, in which he won on debut, in a rain-soaked contest in Formula Ford 1600.

***Sportscar365 understands that a team has already purchased a Lamborghini Temerario GT3 for GTWC America competition next year. The new-for-2026 car from the Italian manufacturer is coming off its best-ever finish, second in GTD, in global competition to date in last month’s Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic.

***Jenson Sofronas, the son of GMG team owner/driver James, has made the switch to Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama competition after spending the last year-and-a-half in GR Cup. The 15-year-old rising star is slated to contest the final three events of the season beginning next weekend at Virginia International Raceway at the wheel of a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.

***James Sofronas told Sportscar365: “We did a test at Road Atlanta with our clients and had Porsche Motorsport North America Selected Driver Sargent coaching Jenson. Jenson’s performance was impressive so that’s the direction we’re going now.”

***Flying Lizard Motorsports is set to tackle the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb next weekend, with Colorado Motorsports driver Zach Lumsden, who will be at the wheel of the team’s BMW M4 GT4 EVO, the same chassis that his father, Craig, typically drives in GT America action. Craig is not racing this weekend due to the car already being in Colorado according to program manager Darren Law.

***It will mark The Lizards’ return to the mountain after making appearances in 2018 and 2019, where they earned back-to-back second place class finishes with a McLaren MP4-12C GT3 car driven by Clint Vahsholtz in the Time Attack 1 class. It, however, will mark Law’s first visit to the event.

***Lumsden has three previous starts, in 2020 with a Mitsubishi EVO X, as well as in 2021 and 2025, but both years were shortened due to weather. The BMW will compete in the Pikes Peak GT4 Trophy by Yokohama class.

***While yet to be made official, Sportscar365 understands that the canceled second McLaren Trophy America race from Miami, which was called off due to weather, is likely to be rescheduled to the season-ending weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in October, which would create a triple-header championship decider for the single-make series.

***The opening GT4 America race of this weekend is set for a 3:50 p.m. EST start this afternoon, Races 1 for McLaren Trophy (2:25 p.m.), GT America (3:30 p.m.) and GR Cup (4:25 p.m.) all set for Saturday afternoon, prior to qualifying for GTWC America (5:25 p.m.).

***Sunday’s action will kick off with Race 2 for McLaren Trophy (9 a.m.) followed by GT America (12:15 p.m.) and GR Cup (1:10 p.m.) before the three-hour GTWC America feature (2:30 p.m.). All races, and GTWC America qualifying, will be streamed live on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel.