For most drivers, a first GT3 weekend is about getting through practice, qualifying, and a race without anything going wrong. For Mitchell Green and Jon Morley, that was the entire plan. They just didn't expect to add a win to it.
The pairing brought the No. 67 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 296 GT3 to Road America for their debut in GT World Challenge America, and left Elkhart Lake with an Am class victory to show for it. The program traces back to Green's time in Ferrari Challenge, where he has spent the last several seasons with Scuderia Corsa building a relationship with the team and perfecting his skills behind the wheel.
"Mitchell has been running in Ferrari Challenge the last couple of years with Scuderia Corsa, and Scuderia Corsa has a history of running in professional series," Jon Morley said. "Mitchell bought himself a GT3 car and enjoyed driving it. He's doing really well in Challenge, so the next logical step was to take that car racing, and SRO seemed like the perfect place to dip his feet in and see how competitive he could be in a GT3 car."
Morley's own path into the seat came through his existing role with the team.
"I've been with the team for a while. When Mitchell came to Scuderia Corsa, I started working with him and helping him out, and when he wanted to do this, he asked if I'd drive with him. And of course I was happy to," Morley said. "This is actually my first GT3 race. I have more experience in touring cars, but I've been looking forward to it."
Driving is only one part of the weekend. Making sure the team is in compliance with the rules and ensuring safety is up to standards can become more overwhelming than the actual on-track action.
"The most difficult thing was making sure we had the right gear, all the little stuff you need to make sure is up to code when you come into a new series," Morley explained. "Thankfully, the on-track portion has been the easiest part. The team prepared a great car, and it's running great. We haven't had any issues out there, and we’ve felt comfortable."
Road America wasn't chosen for any strategic reason beyond convenience. While some may view America’s National Park of Speed as an intimidating venue for a first-timer, Green, for his part, wasn't fazed by a track with a reputation for being such a challenge.
"It might be my favorite," he exclaimed. "I tested here a couple of weeks ago and put in laps on the simulator too. I’ve raced the support race at the Las Vegas F1 weekend, and I've driven a 1976 Formula 1 car through the tunnel at Monaco, so compared to that, this place feels wide open, almost like an oval."
Additionally, stepping up from Ferrari Challenge brought a more structured operation than either driver was used to.
"We've got an engineer, Stefano, and it's definitely more structured than Challenge, which is a little more casual," Morley said. "Now we've got a meeting before and after every session, and we're trying things with the setup since we have a lot more to play with than we did before. We haven't tried anything too radical because we're both still learning the car, but it's gone smoothly."
Green felt a similar shift off the track, though he found an upside in the packed schedule.
"I don't find it that much different,” he expressed. “I think they're just way more serious about it. We've got a lot more procedures this weekend, but I like that you don't get too many practice sessions. Here, you have to get up to speed a lot faster."
That faster learning curve extended to sharing the field with a stacked lineup.
"Because we're new, I don't really know any of the other Ferrari guys personally. I'm sure Roberto, our team manager, does since he's been around it a lot longer," Morley stated. "For now, we're on an island out here, doing it on our own, but I'm sure that'll change the more we come back."
Green admitted to some early nerves, which Morley said disappeared the moment his co-driver hit the track; "Mitchell was nervous the morning of, but as soon as he got out there, he was quick. I told him, 'You're fine, you're not going to be out of your depth. The biggest thing is that when you're out there with the top pros, they don't wait. When they get behind you, they're going by. So it's about checking your mirrors and expecting things that maybe wouldn't happen in other paddocks."
Underneath all of it sat one goal the team aimed to repeat all weekend: no penalties.
“That is the benchmark. That's what the team and I kept reminding him of," Morley said. "In racing, it's about clean runs and consistency. If we can get through the weekend without penalties, that's a successful weekend, frankly. We've got one other car in our class, and we want to beat them. The best way to do that is no penalties, I can't harp on that enough."
Despite their success, the No. 67 picked up a drive-through penalty along the way. But the result held up regardless, with Green and Morley taking the class win anyway. If anything, it only sharpened the point both drivers had made before jumping in the car. A debut win is worth celebrating, but the standard they're chasing is a mistake-free weekend, trophy or not.
For Green, the win capped a story that started far from a racetrack.
"I used to be on the U.S. Ski Team growing up, and I think that's where I learned to read a line. The car goes where your eyes go, same as on skis, or even on a road bike," he recalled. "My wife wanted a house in Thermal, California, for our daughters' horseback riding, and she joked I should check out the racetrack out there since I was already getting into cars. I bought a Ferrari in the spring of 2023, had my first session at Buttonwillow that May, and put close to 20,000 kilometers on that car within the year. My first race was at Circuit of The Americas, pouring rain down the front straight and I thought I was done for. My coach just told me I knew where to brake and to trust it. It was terrifying, but I've been fast in the rain ever since."
That immersion turned into a full-blown habit. "I'm a Ferrari fanatic. My wife says I have a disease," Green joked. "I have a lot of cars, I drive several F1 cars, and I've got three or four GT3 cars in the collection. I like other brands too, but Ferrari is the one."
With the debut behind them, both drivers are already looking toward a much longer test, the Indianapolis 8 Hour.
"We'll know where we're weak after this weekend, and what we need to work on," Morley said. "We’re still coming away with plenty of lessons."
"I've never double-stinted before,” Green added. “The longest I've been in a car is maybe 70 or 75 minutes. But I actually don't get that tired in this car. It's very consistent on the brakes. If you brake at the same marker every time, you'll stop in the same place every time. I'm looking forward to the challenge at Indy."
To follow Mitchell Green and Jon Morley as they take the No. 67 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari into the Indianapolis 8 Hour, get your tickets now!
