- Pro-Am Pair Win Overall for GT World Challenge America Season Finale
- Compass Racing Driver is First Woman to Win Overall in GT World Challenge
- FINAL RESULTS - PDF Link
Indianapolis, Ind. - The Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS final race of the season saw the first three hours of the Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS score championship points towards the 2021 season.
With 39-cars taking the green flag for the start of the second edition of the Indy 8 Hour, the double-length finale brought a new level of competition with strategy and track positioning even more crucial to the GT giants’ successes.
A relatively clean start saw Philip Ellis driving the #33 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 leading the GTWCA contenders after the first few laps and into the first full-course yellow, caused by an off-track excursion involving the #70 inception racing McLaren making contact with the #88 Zelus Motorsports Lamborghini.
Although a few positions were exchanged on the opening lap, the FCY incident shuffled the field further. As the incident was being cleared, the #77 Compass Racing Acura jolted to the second position, followed by the #6 K-PAX Lamborghini
At the one hour mark, the order was reset once again as the #61 AF Corse Ferrari found itself stuck in the gravel needing extraction and pit strategies came into play to further improve positions. The #93 Racers Edge Acura led the field with the Compass Racing trailing behind, meanwhile the #04 DXDT Racing Mercedes-AMG made up three positions in-class after struggling with handling issues early in the race.
At the two-third mark of the race-within-a-race, Harrison in the #77 and Hagler in the #93, the dueling Acura NSXs, were still battling for position while the #6 Lamborghini followed behind Indy 8 Hour traffic more than a lap down. DXDT Racing’s #19 Mercedes-AMG had already retired due to mechanical issues while the #33 Mercedes-AMG and the #61 Ferrari found themselves in the pit as the clock ticked over to the last hour. Ultimately, the #33 Winward machine was also forced to retire and the GTWCA pole-sitter failed to meet the required minimum race completion to be classified.
The first to take the virtual checkered on the double-points race-within-a-race was Ashton Harrison and Matt McMurry, co-drivers of the #77 Compass Racing Acura NSX GT3. The special double-length race saw Harrison earn the distinction of being the first woman to win Overall in a GT World Challenge race, in her first start with the championship, no less.
Racers Edge Motorsports' Taylor Hagler and Dakota Dickerson secured second overall in their #93 Acura NSX GT3 Evo, while the K-PAX Racing combination of Corey Lewis and Giovanni Venturini (#6 Lamborghini Huracan GT3) topped the Pro contingent and closed out the overall podium top spots. Hagler’s podium added to growing cache of trophies and secured her solid second-place finish in the GTWCA Pro-Am Drivers’ Championship, as did the third-place race finish for the #6 K-PAX drivers, who shored up the Pro Drivers’ championship runner-up position.
The Rearden Racing duo of Jeff Burton and Vesko Kozarov drove their #91 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 to the fourth spot overall, giving them the last step on the Pro-Am podium. They were followed by the #61 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 co-driven by Jean-Claude Saada and Conrad Grunewald, who won the Am contingent with their placement. The #04 DXDT Racing car slotted in next with the #70 inception racing pair, Pro-Am champions-elect Poordad and Heylen (#20 Wright Motorsports Porsche) following and the #88 Zelus Lamborghini hit with a post-race technical infraction that put them at the back of the classifiable field.
After 7 circuits and 13 rounds successfully completed during the throes of a global pandemic, SRO Motorsports America extends its congratulations to all of its champions for a strong 2021 season and return to form with exciting, wheel-to-wheel GT competition. Competitors will wrap-up the celebrations and receive their official crownings at the PRI Show in Indianapolis this December. Stay tuned for details.
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
Pro - Andrea Caldarelli and Jordan Pepper
Pro-Am - Drivers’ Champions Fred Poordad and Jan Heylen
Am - Jean-Claude Saada and Conrad Grunewald.
TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Pro - K-PAX Racing
Pro-Am - Wright Motorsports
Am - AF Corse
MANUFACTURERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
Lamborghini