Entry List For 2023 GT World Challenge America Sonoma Kickoff Revealed
The 2023 Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS season begins next weekend at Sonoma Raceway in California. Today, SRO Motorsports America has announced the 18-car entry list for the upcoming double-header weekend which kicks off the promotion’s signature series.
The Pro category will prominently showcase two of the newest GT3 racing vehicles, the Ferrari 296 GT3, and the Porsche 911 GT3 R 992.
After running a partial 2022 season with the previous Ferrari 488 GT3, Conquest Racing will make their full-season debut with their new #21 Ferrari 296 GT3. Manny Franco will share the cockpit with two-time IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Champion, Alessandro Balzan.
Porsche’s newest 911 GT3 R will make its series debut in the hands of reigning GT4 America Silver Cup champions RS1 (Rennsport One), with the dominant duo of Eric Filgueiras and Stevan McAleer returning to pilot the #28 Community Beer Works-sponsored Porsche.
MDK Motorsports is another new team to GT World Challenge America armed with the new 992 Porsche, the #53 for Porsche North America Selected Driver Trenton Estep and 17-year-old Seth Lucas.
Two teams from last year’s ultra-competitive Pro-Am championship battle will make the step up to the Pro class in 2023.
Reigning Pro-Am champions Racers Edge Motorsports return with Ashton Harrison and Mario Farnbacher in their second season aboard the #93 Acura NSX GT3 Evo22. Harrison made history last season as the first woman to win a series championship in the near 40-year history of SRO America’s flagship GT series, alongside two-time IMSA champion Farnbacher.
BimmerWorld Racing, who ended 2022 with a class win in the Indianapolis 8 Hour Race, is also stepping up with their #94 BMW M4 GT3 with an unchanged line-up from 2022. Asian Le Mans Series champion Chandler Hull will be paired for a second season with BMW Motorsport stalwart Bill Auberlen, IMSA’s all-time career wins leader and himself a past champion of the World Challenge Touring Car Championship.
A new champion of the Pro category will be crowned this season, as two-time and defending champions K-PAX Racing have sought new challenges in GT World Challenge Europe.
12 cars are entered in the Pro-Am category, which makes up two-thirds of the grid for Sonoma.
2021 Pro-Am champions Wright Motorsports expanded to a two-car team this off-season with the aim of regaining the titles in 2023. The #45 car of father-and-son-in-law combination Charlie Luck and Jan Heylen finished a close second in the table last year, and they’ll aim to do one better in the new Porsche 992. After an impressive 2022 season in the GT4 America Pro-Am category, Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer will step up to GT3 in the #120 Porsche 911 GT3-R 991.2, one of two previous-generation Porsches that will start the season against their newer bretheren.
The other is from Tennessee’s ACI Motorsports, a successful Porsche one-make series team, debuting in GT World Challenge America with the #16 Porsche 991.2 for Switzerland’s Pedro Torres and two-time Daytona 24 Hours class winner Spencer Pumpelly.
CrowdStrike by Riley is another returning team which is favoured to win the Pro-Am titles in 2023. The second-year alliance of CrowdStrike Racing and Riley Technologies bring back an unchanged lineup for the red and grey #04 Mercedes-AMG GT3, anchored by reigning GT America SRO3 champion George Kurtz, and Daytona 24 Hours overall winner Colin Braun.
TR3 Racing, who competed last season as a Lamborghini customer team, made the switch to the Silver Arrows. Defending Indianapolis 8 Hour Race overall winner, Daniel Morad, aims to return to full-time SRO America competition in the #9 TR3 Mercedes, joined by Ziad Ghandour, who’s back with TR3 after a partial 2022 campaign.
They’ll also be joined by series newcomers Esses Racing, backed by Mercedes-Benz of Austin. Will Hardeman and the well-traveled Adam Carroll will drive the new silver, black, and teal #19 Mercedes.
DXDT Racing is back with a two-car line-up, both in Pro-Am as they ran for most of the season Scott Smithson and Bryan Sellers return to drive the #08 Mercedes sponsored by Qelo Capital. Their second entry has a new look and a new driver combination, with Utah’s Jeff Burton and Corey Lewis piloting the red #91 Mercedes.
A stunning six-car fleet from Mercedes-AMG is completed with the only Am category entry in the field, and it’s a big surprise to see longtime Honda/Acura loyalists RealTime Racing now flying the flag for Mercedes. In cooperation with Bartone Bros. Racing, RealTime will enter the #43 for Anthony Bartone and the legendary Andy Pilgrim, a past champion of GT World Challenge America and an overall winner of the Daytona 24 Hours.
Legendary Northern California team The Racers Group (TRG) is back in GT3 racing full-time with Aston Martin. Derek DeBoer and Aston Martin factory driver Ross Gunn will kick off 2023 at the wheel of the #007 Vantage AMR GT3.
GMG Racing, a long-serving mainstay of SRO America racing, is also in the fold for World Challenge America after running part-time in 2022. Armed with the newest Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, GMG Racing founder James Sofronas will drive alongside Tom Dyer. This entry also marks the return of Audi to the series for the first time in five years.
Triarsi Competizione has already gained experience with the new Ferrari 296 GT3 in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races at Daytona and Sebring. Young gentleman driver Justin Wetherill will partner with the experienced Ryan Dalziel for a second season in GT World Challenge America, aboard the #33 Ferrari.
Finally, ST Racing is back for their second season with the #38 BMW M4 GT3. Driver, co-owner, and team namesake Samantha Tan will be the second of two women on this year’s grid, joined by new team-mate and BMW works driver John Edwards. Originally announced as a Pro class entry, the provisional entry list for Sonoma has the #38 BMW entered in Pro-Am.
Images © SRO America, Conquest Racing, Rennsport One
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