A reduced AMR headcount as SRO America travels to Sebring this weekend
Having each competed last time out at Road America just over three weeks ago, it will however be a slightly reduced Aston Martin Racing customer team representation at these rounds.
Starting in GT3, the Ian Lacey prepared AMR Vantage GT3 of Drew Staveley and Frank Gannett again figure in what has become a smaller combined grid over recent events, with their #12 Pro-Am entry ever improving with age where their technology at least allows them to perform.
Competing in a series filled with Pro entries and Pro-Am combinations to die for, it is not surprising that the former GT4 runners have not been figuring at the sharp end of the race action but have instead been claiming their own small victories where the duo ended Road America with a brace of P7 in class finishes.
For this weekend, its back to Florida for all where they will be competing amongst an expected grid size of eighteen car with eleven of those running in Pro-Am.
Next onto the bronze ranked driver only series of GT America where for Sebring we will not be seeing either the #25 Heart of Racing AMR Vantage GT4 of Gray Newell nor the #888 Zelus Motorsport Vantage GT4 of Sean Whalen. Newell continues to convalesce after his massive incident in the second GT America race at Road America whilst Whalen is apparently struggling with sourcing a suitable replacement chassis/parts after the accident involving with Bryan Putt and Jason Bell in the same race.
That does of course leave us with the #2 GMG Racing and the #50 Chouest Povoledo racing cars of GT4 Drivers Championship protagonists of Jason Bell and Ross Chouest (respectively) as well as the #8 Flying Lizard cart of Elias Sabo, the #15 Bsport car of Putt and the #55 API prepared AMR of Moisey Uretsky.
With the results from Road America still be declared as provisional after the red flagged shortened second race, Bells lead at the top of the GT4 runners from Chouest in second has still been much reduced after his own ‘blue on blue’ incident with his #15 and #888 stablemates in race two where his reaction also cost him a sizeable fine to boot alongside his more costly DNF.
With four races of the year still to go and twenty-five points for a class win – the GT America Series is still open to at least five runners going into Sebring.
That leaves us with the GT4 America Series with an identical picture of who will be at Sebring and who won’t in that series too for the same reasons as stated above.
This time with their results from Road America confirmed, it appears to be something of an uphill battle for either of the Flying Lizard, Bsport Racing or Heart of Racing crews to conquer considering the near dominating performance to date of the #120 Premier Racing Porsche who presently hold onto a fifty-three-point lead over the nearest Aston Martin runner in fifth.
The omission of the #24 Heart of Racing car of Newell and Ian James also effectively takes them out of the running for the GT4 Pro-Am title leaving it to be a two AMR race to battle for the Championship between the #8 Flying Lizard car of Sabo and Andy Lee and the #15 Bsport Racing car of Putt and Kenton Koch but with twenty-five points available per race …….!!
We all know that the bumps of the former war time airfield circuit of Sebring can and often does throw up a curve ball in motorsport – and it will probably do so again this weekend too.
Photo credits – Series / Teams
Six of one and half a dozen of the other for the AMR runners racing at Watkins Glen this weekend
This weekend’s visit by the SRO America trilogy of Series to the Watkins Glen International circuit in Upstate New York will have to go down as another one of those events that proved either very fruitful, or it just didn’t for the many Aston Martin Racing powered crews who took part this weekend.
By that we mean that whilst many came away from their respective races with deserved class glory, the others faced torment and – whilst not using the word failure as that is a too strong, there appeared to be little middle ground from which to rebuild for their second race of the weekend or resurgence from those who have already faced adversity at previous rounds.
For the Ian Lacey crew of Drew Staveley and Frank Gannett for example, a duo who were supposed to race their #12 AMR Vantage GT3 within the GT World Challenge America Series, their weekend was over before it had really begun as an undefined issue with the cars fuel cell meant that their car was withdraw from the event just before race 1 on Saturday.
This team have thrown themselves completely in at the deep end after their conversion from GT4 racing and whilst they have struggled at times, their perseverance is to be commended considering the quality of their opposition in that series, so for this to then happen to them – it’s just ‘not fair’!!
In GT America – a series designed around the Bronze rated driver racing solo amongst a field of both GT3 and GT4 cars it was a good weekend for Ross Chouest of the Chouest Povoledo team who secured two P2 GT4 class podiums over the weekend with reigning GTA GT4 Champion Jason Bell also taking a P3 podium in Saturdays opener.
Whilst Bryan Putt and Gray Newell did come close in their Bsport and Heart of Racing Astons in both races, the other four Aston Martins came away with lonely finishes despite their best of efforts.
In the GT4 America Series, all seven AMR’s again competed in these two one-hour affairs with their respective Pro co-drivers and this time it was the #08 Flying Lizard car of Elias Sabo and Andy Lee who took the highest accolades with two P3 finishes in their Pro-Am class whilst Newell and Ian James took an opportunist GT4 Pro-Am class win in race one.
Overall and for the likes of the #50 Chouest Povoledo car, whilst they did well in one series, they came nowhere in the next with only a P10 and a DNF recorded against their GT4 America efforts this weekend whilst the #55 Accelerating Performance car of last time out ‘AMR hero’ Moisey Uretsky with co-driver Justin Piscitell failed to come close to their results of VIR last time around as well. It was a similar tale with Bell and co-driver Andrew Davis in their other races
What is missing here is of course something called consistency, with cars/drivers/teams going from one extreme to another as the scenery and the race conditions change. For any Pro-Am competition, that is of course just a fact of life as the Pro driver coaches his client to the best of his ability in any given situation.
The teams now have a month until the next round from Road America and the series run in to the end of season event at Indianapolis in October whilst we wait for this weekend’s racing results to be ratified and added to the respective tallies.
Photo credit – Teams / Series
Fifteen Aston Martins compete at the SRO's visit to Watkins Glen this weekend
Differing to their European based SRO series, the American SRO sanctioned GT America Series allows the bronze rated Gentleman driver to race solo over two forty-minute races of the weekend before being able to double up within the sister GT4 America Series for two, one-hour Pro-Am based GT racing with a few silver crews thrown in for good measure and added competition.
The GT3 based GT World Challenge America Series then headlines the race weekend with a collection of Pro, Pro-Am and Am classes with a sole AMR Vantage GT3 racing amongst them.
For GT America, this is their fourth round of the season having raced already at St Petersburg, Sonoma and most recently at VIR where three AMR drivers head the GT4 Drivers Championship going into this weekend. Last years GT4 Champion Jason Bell still heads the pack with his #2 GMG Racing prepared car with the latest AMR convertee in Moisey Uretsky now just a point behind with his #55 Accelerating Performance prepared car and with Ross Chouest eighteen point behind the leader in third with his #50 Chouest Povoledo Racing car. Similar points also prevail for these three drivers within the GT4 Teams Championship.
Last time out, the #15 Bsport Racing car of Bryan Putt skipped the series after a ‘trying’ couple of opening races but he is back for Watkins Glen as are the other six full season entrants including the #8 Flying Lizard car of Elias Sabo, the #888 Zelus Racing car of Sean Whalen and the #25 Heart of Racing car of Gray Newell in addition to those already listed.
Whilst Championship leader Bell secured a further two P3 finishes over the VIR weekend, Uretsky went some better by gaining pole position in each race, a P2 finish in race one and his first race win in race two.
This event will again be another totally open affair.
Then in GT4 America, all the above AMR runners are back again but with their respective Pro drivers for the two-hour long races that make up this series. Unlike GT America, the last time these guys raced wasn’t as successful with the #55 ending up severely damaged after contact with the tyre wall with the best finishes on offer from the #24 Heart of Racing duo of Newell and Ian James in P2 and the #08 Flying Lizard crew of Sabo and Andy Lee third in race 2.
Championship wise, the #15 Bsport Racing crew of Putt and Kenton Koch are the highest placed in P4 with the #24 Heart of Racing behind in P5, the #8 Flying Lizard crew behind them in P6 and the #2 GMG Racing crew of Bell and Andrew Davis holding P7 but a whopping 54 point behind the Porsche powered leaders.
Again, this weekend’s racing will be their fourth round but after previous rounds at Sonoma, Nola Motorsport Park and most recently at VIR in mid-June.
Finally, we get to the larger and faster GT3 cars and crews that compete within the GTWCA Series with the #12 Ian Lacey prepared AMR Vantage GT3 car of Frank Gannett and Drew Staveley.
The second season in their Aston for this Pro-Am duo and hard work and determination from all involved has been showing some results with their best result ever at the opening race of the VIR meeting with a P6 in class finish.
Competing within another field of twenty cars, the #12 crew will again have to compete with against the stronger Pro-Am line ups a well as the full Pro entries that obviously dominate the Championship standing.
Like most SRO based series around the world, all six races from the sweeping circuit of Watkins Glen will again be streamed live via their respective social media channels with live track action being available as early as 08:00hrs local with the first of the Qualifying sessions before the first of Saturdays races at 12:15hrs local and again from 09:00hrs local on Sunday.
It’s another busy SRO weekend!!
Photo credits – Teams / Series
