today is Mar 24, 2023
After a blazing hot day of practice that ended with a thunderstorm, Saturday was Chamber of Commerce perfect weather at Virginia International Raceway. It was also perfect for George Kurtz, who earned his second win of the 2022 season, taking the points lead in GT America powered by AWS, after a decisive win in the opening 40-minute race. Kurtz, in the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 also earned the CrowdStrike Fastest Lap award with a time of 1m46.353s.
“With this track and the Mercedes-AMG, we’ve had success here in the past. The Riley CrowdStrike guys gave me a great car. You know I just love this track,” said Kurtz.
Jeff Burton in the No. 191 Zelus Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan challenged Kurtz at the beginning of the race, but when Kurtz pulled away, he settled in to finish second on the podium.
After receiving a penalty in pre-race that started him from the back of the field instead of the front row, Jason Harward in the No. 88 Zelus Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan GT3 battled his way through the field to overtake Andy Pilgrim in the No. 56 SKI Autosports Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 to take the final podium spot in the closing minutes. This was Harward’s third podium in a row and followed his race two win at NOLA just a few weeks ago.
Despite just missing the podium, the debut of the SKI Autosports Ferrari showed strong potential, behind the driving experience of Pilgrim. Pilgrim was able to give chase to Burton for a good portion of the race before eventually being passed by Harward in the final minutes of the race while in traffic.
Rounding out the field in the SRO3 class was the No. 27 Daskalos Motorsports Audi R8 LMS driven by Jason Daskalos, the No. 37 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 488 GT3 with Justin Wetherill at the wheel, and the No. 70 Mishumotors Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R, Mirco Schultis driver. Daskalos had started the race as the series points leader having won the opening races at both St. Pete and Sonoma.
In GT4 action, Moisey Uretsky who began the season in a different car, switched to the No. 55 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 this weekend. Uretsky secured pole position and had a great battle with Adam Adelson in the No. 120 Premier Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport (main image). Eventually, Adelson was able to make a pass in Turn 3 soon after the re-start following a full-course yellow due to the need to remove the No. 60 Dexter Racing Ginetta G56 GT4 that was stuck on Turn 1. Adelson then settled into a comfortable lead over Uretsky who was left to fend off a challenging Jason Bell in the No. 2 GMG Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4.
The final podium standings for the GT4 class were Adelson, Uretsky, and Bell. Adelson became the fifth winner in five races in a very competitive class. St. Pete race No. 2 winner Bell remains the GT4 points leader.
“I don’t think it’s just me who’s leveled up as a driver,” said Adelson, “It’s been completely a team effort, the whole entire crew has been absolutely amazing getting this car as fast as it can possibly be, and getting me up to speed with it.”
The weekend schedule, live timing and scoring, and session reports are available at gtamerica.us. Check out race live streams for free on YouTube at GT World.
