Erin Vogel and Michael Cooper Co-Drive DXDT Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 to First Fanatec GT World Challenge America Pro-Am Race Win; Kenny Murillo and Christian Szymczak Secure Overall Pirelli GT4 America Victory in No. 72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4
DANVILLE, Virginia – A first-time Mercedes-AMG GT3 Pro-Am class winner in Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS competition, along with the first overall Pirelli GT4 America victory of the season for the Mercedes-AMG GT4, highlighted a successful day of SRO America Championships competition on Saturday for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams at VIRginia International Raceway. Erin Vogel became the first female driver to secure a North American race win in a Mercedes-AMG GT3, co-driving with Michael Cooper to the duo’s first World Challenge victory in the No. 19 DXDT Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. Saturday’s other race winners were Christian Szymczak and Kenny Murillo, who co-drove the No. 72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 to the overall Pirelli GT4 America win and their third Silver-class victory of 2021.
Exceptional driving, flawless pit stops and strong team execution were at the foundation of both victories, which anchored a solid six podium showings on the day for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport customer teams across three SRO America series.
The breakout win for Vogel and Cooper came in only their fifth race start together in their first year with both the Mercedes-AMG GT3 and DXDT Racing.
Starting driver Vogel stayed in touch with the Pro-Am field throughout her race-opening stint and skilfully avoided the contact and off-course incidents that knocked more than one competitor from contention.
Cooper took over from Vogel in a well-executed and masterfully timed pit stop before the 90-minute race’s halfway mark. Cooper returned to the race with a comfortable lead on the Pro-Am field and stayed up front to the finish by maintaining a fast pace straight to the checkered flag.
The No. 19 crossed the finish line nearly eight seconds ahead of the nearest Pro-Am competitor and third overall, sharing the top three with the Pro-class first and second place finishers.
As they have done all season, Murillo and Szymczak were in contention from the start of the one-hour Pirelli GT4 America race.
Despite being knocked off track momentarily in the opening laps frenzy, starting driver Murillo soon worked his way back into the top-three battle. He pitted at half distance to give the No. 72 to Szymczak, who was soon back in the race in second place after the Murillo crew’s outstanding pit work.
Szymczak caught and passed the race leader with just over 12 minutes remaining and held the lead to the finish for a 2.532-second victory.
The win extends the Silver-class championship lead that the No. 72 team and drivers hold heading into Sunday’s second and final Pirelli GT4 race.
Four other entries secured podium finishes Saturday, including the No. 33 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Russell Ward and Mikael Grenier.
Ward moved into race-winning contention in his race-starting stint and pitted from second place to hand the No. 33 off to Grenier. The stop was going to plan only to see the team hit with a penalty after a bizarre incident.
A wheel that had been removed from the No. 33 in the stop was momentarily loose and was errantly grabbed by a pit-side videographer before a Winward crew member could retrieve it. Despite the outside interference, the No. 33 was assessed a drive-through penalty, which the team pitted from the lead to serve.
Undeterred, Grenier raced back into the top five in his race-closing stint and eventually took the checkered flag just behind Cooper fourth overall and third in Pro.
Additional podium finishers Saturday included George Kurtz and Colin Braun, who joined DXDT teammates Vogel and Cooper on the GT World Challenge Pro-Am podium in third in the No. 04 DXDT Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Kurtz and Braun secured the top-three finish in a charge back to the front following an unscheduled tire change after a contact incident with another competitor.
The day’s other podium players included the No. 16 Capstone Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 team and co-drivers John Allen and Kris Wilson and Chris Cagnazzi in the No. 39 RENNtech Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4.
Allen and Wilson finished third in the Pirelli GT4 Am class while Cagnazzi, in just his second weekend competing in a Mercedes-AMG GT4, finished third in the GT4 class of the GT America powered by AWS 40-minute race that brought Saturday’s full schedule to a close.
Sunday’s final day of competition at VIR begins with the second GT America race at 9:10 a.m. EDT. Pirelli GT4 America follows at 11:10 a.m. EDT for its second of two races that set the stage for the featured and final GT World Challenge race that closes out the weekend with a 1:45 p.m. EDT start.
Sunday’s GT World Challenge America race will be featured in live coverage on the CBS Sports Network (CBSSN) beginning at 1:30 p.m. EDT in addition to worldwide livestreaming of all Sunday races on the SRO GT World YouTube channel.
Live timing and scoring, as well as session reports and one-stop video viewing for GT World Challenge, are available at gt-world-challenge-america.com.
Erin Vogel, Driver – No. 19 DXDT Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “It was slick out there, but DXDT Racing gave us a really great car. It’s probably the best Mercedes-AMG GT3 we’ve had yet this season. We also had one of the best pit stops we’ve had so far and came out third best out of the whole field. Today was truly a team effort. Michael was really consistent in the car and stayed out there in the lead, kept that gap and preserved it all race. I knew from the beginning that the Mercedes-AMG GT3 was going to be a good fit. I’m hoping this is the start of more races like this. It takes a couple races for everything to gel, and this felt like this was the first race that it has.”
Michael Cooper, Driver – No. 19 DXDT Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “Erin and I have been chipping away slowly but surely, getting better and better and figuring out this Mercedes-AMG GT3. We’ve been working on the pit stops a lot, trying to dot every “I” and cross every “T” and I think that really showed today. I’m looking forward to the rest of the year. We’ve got a decent starting spot for tomorrow, I think it’s seventh or so, but we’ve got an alternate tire strategy and we’re going to get aggressive with it.”
Christian Szymczak, Driver – No. 72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4: “We really worked on our pit stops this weekend and got really, really good at that. We’re working hard and keeping our heads down and getting the job done. We’re having a good time because we’re doing what we’re supposed to do and that’s why we’re getting results. I didn’t doubt that I would catch the leader but getting past him was another story. He had good speed, so it took a while to get past him, and that was one of the difficult parts of the race. After that, I made it a point to just focus and not look behind me. I don’t usually do that!”
Kenny Murillo, Driver – No. 72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4: “I was surprised how hard people were racing at the start. I got bumped off in Turn 1, and the competition gave me the option to go three-wide through Turn 3. I let them have it and one car went flying off. Instead of being too ambitious early, I was more methodical and started to just take it one car at a time. I knew Christian was quicker than the other drivers he would be racing against, and I knew where to be to put us to be in a winning position. It’s hard to control what others do, so you just focus on yourself and be sure to hand the car over in a winning position. That’s the main goal. When we first came here and tested it, the feedback was that the Mercedes-AMG GT4 felt like it was almost built and tested here. The VIR circuits plays to the car’s strong suits, which for the Mercedes-AMG GT4 is the momentum corners and some high-speed stuff. It’s hard to mess that up. The Mercedes-AMG GT4 is so solid around here.”
Chris Cagnazzi, Driver – No. 39 RENNtech Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4: “The Mercedes-AMG GT4 is amazing. When I got in it for the first time, it felt right at home for me. So much control with this car, the stability is great, I just took to it right away. It’s a really great car. Our first race was COTA, and I only had one test before that. As I get more and more used to the car with some testing and some races, I think I’ll just get better and better with it.”
