2022 SRO America, Sonoma: Thursday Paddock Notes
It is an honour and a privilege to be a part of this new journey at DSC, which begins in Northern California, north of the Golden Gate Bridge, at Sonoma Raceway.
But if one expected the idyllic sunny California weather for SRO America series’ test day, forget it – it’s more like stereotypical British weather: cool, grey, and soggy!
With the conditions, our protagonists are keen to get valuable testing time on Pirelli’s wet weather compounds, but they also don’t wish to risk writing off their cars.
K-PAX Racing are the overwhelming favourites to win their second consecutive set of Pro Cup championships in GT World Challenge America.
Andrea Caldarelli and Jordan Pepper swept last year’s Sonoma meeting with two poles and two wins. They’re back in the black number 1 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO I, the final season for this evolution.
Accompanying them is the Verde Shock #3, now a Pro-Am entry piloted by Giacomo Altoe and Misha Goikhberg.
Both K-PAX chassis are the same as the ones they used last season to great success. At the end of the 2021 season, both were flown back to Italy, inspected, tested, and then returned to the team.
Both cars have already undergone a full off-season of testing, but the rain was not ideal for helping them find a better understanding of Pirelli’s new dry weather tyre compounds.
We’ll follow up on that shortly with quotes from K-PAX drivers and Pirelli.
K-PAX’s competition for Pro Cup honours will be in the form of two Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVOs, first, the #6 US Racetronics entry driven by former teen prodigy Steven Aghakhani, and Loris Spinelli…
… and IMSA GTD regulars Winward Racing with their #33 driven by Russell Ward and Philip Ellis.
Turner Motorsports are here with BMW M4 GT3 chassis #008, in the same livery they had on their M6 GT3 last season. They currently operate chassis #005 for IMSA WeatherTech Series competition.
And here are BimmerWorld with their sole remaining #94 driven by Bill Auberlen and Chandler Hull.
Hull was involved in a scary testing accident at VIRginia International Raceway, but escaped uninjured. Unfortunately, their second chassis (#36) was written off in the accident, and the team have already stated that the #36 will not take part in GTWCA for the foreseeable future.
DSC understands that a replacement chassis will not arrive until July at the earliest, or August.
Recent 24H Series 12 Hours of Mugello winners ST Racing are here to complete the trio of new M4s in GTWCA, driven by the team’s eponymous co-owner/driver Samantha Tan and Nick Wittmer.
This is the same chassis that Wittmer, Hull, and Jon Miller drove in this year’s 24 Hours of Dubai, finishing ninth in the GT3 class.
More to come from the paddock!
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