ELKHART LAKE, Wisconsin – Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams secured four-straight race wins across three SRO Motorsports America racing series Saturday and Sunday to highlight a competitive run of nine podium finishes in a full weekend of competition on the 4.048-mile Road America race circuit. The commanding performance was anchored by a sweep of all three Saturday races, CrowdStrike Racing by Riley’s lockout of the weekend’s pair of 40-minute GT America powered by AWS sprints, and a Saturday Fanatec GT World Challenge Pro-Am class win with the team’s No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3 cars.
George Kurtz and Colin Braun co-drove to CrowdStrike’s third-straight Fanatec GT World Challenge Pro-Am win and their fifth of the season on Saturday. The victory was bookended by solo runs by Kurtz in the GT America races for his third race win and first GT America weekend sweep of the season.
Memo Gidley finished second to Kurtz in both GT America races to provisionally retake the GT America championship lead in the No. 101 TKO Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3. They were joined on the Sunday podium by Gidley’s nearest championship challenger Jason Daskalos in the No. 27 CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 who finished third to complete a top-three podium sweep for the Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Adding to the podium lockout, Anthony Bartone crossed the finish line in the No. 427 Bartone Brothers Racing with RealTime Mercedes-AMG GT3 just behind Daskalos to make it a record-matching top-four sweep for Mercedes-AMG GT3 teams in the Sunday GT America race.
In March’s season-opening weekend of competition at Sonoma Raceway, the same quartet of Mercedes-AMG GT3 drivers swept the top four for the first time. Bartone won that race in just his second weekend of professional racing competition and led Kurtz, Gidley and Daskalos across the finish line.
A pair of additional podium players emerged in a wild Sunday GT World Challenge finale. After Braun led every lap of his race-opening stint, Kurtz appeared to be on his way to his fourth win of the weekend only to be taken out by another competitor recovering from a spin inside the final 30 minutes of the race.
Kurtz and the other driver were uninjured in the incident that set off a string of mechanical and other contact issues for the competition in a mad dash to the finish after the late restart.
Jeff Burton stayed on pace and clear of the melee to move to second in the Pro-Am division in his No. 91 DXDT Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 he co-drove with Corey Lewis. The runner-up result and top-five overall finish was the best for Burton and Lewis in their first year of competition in the Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Bartone and Adam Christodoulou shook off an early unscheduled pit stop for a loose front wheel nut on the No. 43 Bartone Brothers Racing with RealTime Mercedes-AMG GT3 to charge from last to the Pro-Am podium in the race’s final hour. Fighting to the end, Bartone made the pass for third in Road America’s final turn on the last lap for his first podium finish with Christodoulou in just their second race weekend together.
Saturday’s clean sweep was completed by the No. 34 Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 of co-drivers Michai Stephens and Jesse Webb that scored the first overall Pirelli GT4 America race win of the season for the Mercedes-AMG GT4.
Webb won the pole earlier in qualifying on Saturday and led every lap of his race-opening stint before handing the No. 34 Mercedes-AMG GT4 off to Stephens at the halfway point of the 60-minute sprint. Stephens continued the battle for the lead after the pit stop and pulled off the winning pass with a daring move on the outside of turn one on a restart with 10 minutes to go.
The win was the third Silver-class victory of the season for the No. 34 and delivered an overdue overall triumph to Conquest and Mercedes-AMG Motorsport in the ninth round of this year’s 14-race Pirelli GT4 schedule.
Next up for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams in the SRO Motorsports America is another full weekend of competition at Sebring International Raceway, September 22-24.
George Kurtz, Driver – No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing with Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3: “We’re lucky we got a good result in the first GT America race. We had a good initial start but then the car went into an error mode on the gearshift, and I got passed on the first lap. We were able to get it back, though. When that first yellow flag came out, I thought it was our time to pounce. I had one shot in Turn Five, made it stick and got super lucky. There was so much gravel down there and I don’t know how I kept it on the track. I was happy to get the victory. It was a great move and a great battle with Memo, and he certainly kept me honest in race two. It was a great race with a great start, and we controlled it from pole to finish. I tried to leave a little bit in the tires for the last bit and managed to keep him behind me. I think I managed to work through traffic pretty well. It’s been a great weekend in GT America and Saturday was a great day. The GT World Challenge win credit goes to the Riley team and CrowdStrike. Colin obviously did a great job. We just really focused on keeping our pace to put ourselves in a position to win and we were happy to do it.”
Colin Braun, Driver – No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing with Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3: “Saturday was great. George had a great opening stint. These CrowdStrike by Riley guys had a good pit stop, and it’s great to pick up another win. It was tight there at the end. I don’t know what happened on the pit stop. It seemed like a bit of weird call at the exit. I felt like I was ahead, but we had to drop back and let everybody by, but I’m sure we’ll understand that later. But hats off to everyone today on a great job. It’s nice to pick up another win.”
Anthony Bartone, Driver – No. 43 Bartone Brothers Racing with RealTime Mercedes-AMG GT3: “So, I think we had three of four races where we should have been on the podium but had issue after issue. Even today we had one. We were a minute and a half back from the lead but went from last place to the front. It was a little bit of a Hail Mary on the last corner, but we pulled it off. I really wanted it for RealTime here, it’s very special for them here in Wisconsin. Half the team’s family lives here.”
Adam Christodoulou, Driver – No. 43 Bartone Brothers Racing with RealTime Mercedes-AMG GT3: “What a roller coaster! Started third, managed to stay in third, but I felt the steering start to vibrate, and I thought we had the same issue as yesterday with the suspension, but it was the front left wheel nut that worked its way loose. That forced us into an additional pit stop and I thought the race was over at that point. We were just hoping for a safety car, we got it but hate it was such a huge shunt for George. It shows you how strong the Mercedes-AMG GT3 is, and he got out on his own steam. That caution gave us a bit of a lifeline. It was down to Anthony, and he chipped away and picked them off. From last to podium with 20 minutes to go is pretty surreal!”
Jeff Burton, Driver – No. 91 DXDT Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “It’s been a while since I have been on the podium! This car is so good, it’s obvious because there’s a lot of Mercedes-AMG GT3 cars in SRO. We made a quick change when Corey got out of the car, and I think that really helped me. He was talking about some understeer. I had it but not what he had. Other than that, the car ran well. Yeah, I had some luck with the yellow, no doubt, but so glad to be on the podium for the first time this year!”
Corey Lewis, Driver – No. 91 DXDT Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “We had a really good start. I followed our teammate Bryan Sellers through and his lead. The opening lap was pretty solid, a little scrappy, but guys are aggressive on the start. It’s tough to pass with the one lane Road America provides with the new surface. We had to make up ground and settle in on pace. The car was a bit of a challenge on handling, but we soldiered through and handed off to Jeff. The yellow really helped us close the gap to everyone. I’m so proud of Jeff. He busted his tail to get through other cars. He made this one happen, so I’m beyond happy. It’s great to be back on the box.”
Memo Gidley, Driver – No. 101 TKO Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3: “The championship is definitely in the back of my mind. We lost some points early on with some technical stuff, which cost us even though we have had a lot of wins this year and been on the podium or near the front in most other races. The TKO Motorsports car has been running very well. Here at Road America, we had a great Mercedes-AMG GT3, but CrowdStrike is very fast, as we see in World Challenge as well, so we were up against like the best car out there. We were close, but George didn’t make enough mistakes to let us get past. It was a good battle. I wanted to go side-by-side with him a few times, but I just couldn’t quite get there.”
Michai Stephens, Driver – No. 34 Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4: “It was kind of do-or-die type of moment in Saturday’s race. We had that experience one earlier time this season, so with that in mind, it was either go for it or wish you had. It’s just a credit to the competitors we are racing with, and the fact that we can have moves like that in this series shows the talent of the drivers at large. So, all credit to the other vehicles and drivers out on course with us. It was neat to actually pull it off for the fellas working so hard on our car. The team itself, regardless of what we come across, we like to put one foot in front of the other as always and just pick each other up when times are down.”
Jesse Webb, Driver – No. 34 Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4: “Yellows kept bunching up the field on Saturday and I knew the guys behind were thirsty to get in front of me. I was happy to be able to keep them behind, just run the line and run my pace, and we had the beautiful Mercedes-AMG GT4 under us this weekend. A nice, balanced platform. We made one tweak in the second practice, really figured out the car and had a solid car for the race. To get the class win and the overall win is just amazing, you are the top dog of the field. Pole position is one thing but getting an overall win is another.”
