SONOMA, CA (27 March 2023) – TR3 Racing is expanding to a second program in SRO competition in 2023, which will see the team run two programs with two different manufacturers in three series. The team will integrate a new program this year, competing in Pirelli GT4 America with Jon Branam and Paul Kiebler sharing the No. 77 Aston Martin Vantage GT4 in the GT4 category. Each event weekend will feature two 60-minute races.
Branam is a veteran racer, stunt driver and coach. He has one pole and one podium in SRO action. Kiebler has experience both in single-make competition as well as previous SRO campaigns. He will have some busy weekends this year as he is also set to race the No. 77 Aston Martin in GT4 America, which features single-driver lineups in a pair of 40-minute sprint races each race weekend.
“It’s been almost a year in the making to put this program together with Paul Kiebler,” said team principal Gregory Romanelli. “The off-season was quite busy for us putting together a whole new program to TR3 Racing. We had a great outing in Daytona together, finishing first in the bronze cup in the GS race. We were able to put together a very experienced team with these cars. So we are confident to offer Paul Kiebler and Jon Branam a competitive car.”
The family-run team is looking forward to building on the relationship with this expanded program.
“I’ve had a great friendship with John for over 10 years now, and I’m very excited to be working together with him,” said Romanelli. “He really excelled for us in the Indy Eight Hour last year. I look forward to this new venture with this new program, new cars, and new drivers for TR3 Racing.”
“I’m really excited to be back in the Aston Martin with Paul Kiebler for the full season with TR3 in SRO GT4 America,” Branam said. “Having run a couple of races with TR3, I know we are in a good position to bring home some good results. We’ve spent much of the off season testing and preparing for 2023, so we are ready to get out there and go to work.”
Kiebler finished second in the 2022 Ferrari Challenge North America Coppa Shell Am action, winning two races and securing two poles. He is a podium winner in 2021 SRO Pirelli GT4 SprintX action.
The Aston Martin GT4 program will run in parallel with the TR3 Racing GT3 effort Daniel Morad and Ziad Ghandour will compete for the Pro-Am championship in Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS, racing the No. 9 Mercedes-AMG GT3. The 13-race series opens this weekend with a pair of 90-minute races at Sonoma Raceway.
Action at Sonoma opens with testing on both Wednesday and Thursday, practice on Friday and qualifying on Saturday morning. Saturday’s race schedule (all times PT) includes Race 1 for GT America at 1 p.m.; GT World Challenge America at 3:05 p.m.; and GT4 America at 4:50 p.m. Sunday’s racing includes GT America at 8:55 a.m.; GT4 America at 1:30 p.m.; and GT World Challenge America at 2:15 p.m.
About TR3 Performance:
TR3 Performance was founded by Arthur, Oliver, and Gregory Romanelli in August 2012. Frustrated with the rising costs and plummeting quality from local shops, the brothers saw an opportunity to establish a shop of their own that would live up to their high standard of excellence, where they could hold themselves to the caliber of workmanship they had sought out in the marketplace as enthusiasts. In 2015, TR3 Racing was established as the team stepped into racing at the professional level. What started out as a modest 2,300-sq.ft. enterprise has now exploded into the premier performance shop in South Florida.
