Wine Country Hosts Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS Season Opener at Sonoma Raceway

Wine Country Hosts Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS Season Opener at Sonoma Raceway
  • 20 Entries to Take Part in Rounds 1 & 2 at Sonoma Raceway 
  • The all-new BMW M4 GT3 makes its North America debut in SRO competition 
  • Entry List (PDF)  | Event Schedule (PDF)

Twenty teams make up the series’ Pro, Pro-Am, and Am championships, and include an eclectic mix of manufacturers to duke it out on the flowing, tricky corners of this legendary track. Clear, sunny skies and mid-70s temperatures are on the docket, and should make for favorable track conditions all weekend long at Sonoma Raceway presented by CrowdStrike. 

Returning champions K-PAX Racing are here to defend their Pro title with Jordan Pepper and Andrea Caldarelli in the #1 Lamborghini Huracan GT3, and face some very worthy competitors. Monrovia, California outfit US Racetronics is running their #6 Mercedes-AMG GT3 piloted by Steven Aghakhani and Loris Spinelli, then, rounding out the Pro championship are Windward Racing with the #33 Mercedes-AMG GT3, driven by Russell Ward and Philiip Ellis.

A Very Deep Pro-Am Field

In Pro-Am, defending 2020 and 2021 GT World Challenge America champions Wright Motorsports are fielding the only Porsche in the field, the #45 GT3-R driven by Charlie Luck and Jan Heylen.

Wisconsin road racing institution RealTime Racing makes their return to SRO with the #43 Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 driven by Erin Vogel and Michael Cooper. The only other Acura in the field is the #93 Racers Edge entry, piloted by Ashton Harrison and Mario Farnbacher.

BMW will have a strong showing with three teams running the new M4 GT3. Chandler Hull and veteran Bill Auberlen will team up in the #94 BimmerWorld car, while Michael Dinan and Robby Foley will share the #96 Turner Motorsports entry. Samantha Tan and Nick Wittmer make the move up to GT3 after seasons in Pirelli GT4 America and TC America, the Canadian duo will pilot the #38 ST Racing M4 GT3.

Several teams are fielding Lamborghini Huracan GT3s, including the #3 K-PAX Racing car driven by Misha Goikhberg and Giacomo Altoè, Ziad Ghandour and Michele Beretta in the #9 TR3 Racing entry, Jason Harward and Madison Snow in the #88 Zelus Motorsports entry, as well as Jeff Burton and Corey Lewis in the #191 Zelus Motorsports sister car.

Sporting the Mercedes-AMG GT3 in Pro-Am are Scott Smithson and Bryan Sellers in the #08, and David Askew and Dirt Mueller in the #63, DXDT Racing rigs. Crowdstrike Racing by Riley Motorsports make up the third Affalterbach-equipped Mercedes, campaigning the #04 car driven by George Kurtz and Colin Braun.

Finally, Ian Lacy Racing will field the #12 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 with Frank Gannett and Drew Staveley behind the wheel, and Triarsi Competizione will debut their #13 Ferrari 488 GT3 with Justin Wetherill and Ryan Dalziel at the helm.

In the Am championship, Triarsi Competizione will also bring to battle the #23 Ferrari 488 GT3 piloted by Onofrio Triarsi and Charlie Scardina, up against 2021 defending champions AF Corse in the competing #61 Ferrari 488 GT3, with Jean-Claude Saada and Conrad Grunewald in the driver’s seat. Bimmerworld lost one of their BMW M4 GT3 cars in a testing crash, and due to this chassis’ lack of availability at present, unfortunately had to withdraw. We hope to see them back later this season contending in Am.

Kicking Off With Massive Momentum

This exciting season of Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS kick-off is sure to be one for the history books with strong car-counts and even stronger driving talent. 

Tickets are available at bit.ly/gtsonoma2022, starting at just $10. Enjoy California’s Wine Country with the sights and sounds of sports car racing while getting up-close with the cars and stars of the series in our open paddock. 

The weekend schedule, live timing and scoring, and session reports are available at gt-world-challenge-america.com. Check out race live streams for free on YouTube (GTWorld) and Twitch (SROMotorsports). 

Finally, get up-to-the minute info on the Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS social channels on Facebook @gtworldchallengeamerica, Instagram @gtworldchallengeamerica and Twitter @gtworldcham.