No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 Team Tallies Three Podium Showings Across Two SRO America Racing Series Saturday and Sunday at Sonoma Raceway

After the SRO GT America powered by AWS began its season in February in St. Petersburg, Sonoma marked the 2022 debut of SRO America's full racing lineup. GT America was joined at Sonoma by Pirelli GT4 America and the top-tier SRO Fanatec GT World Challenge America presented by AWS for a combined six races over the course of Saturday and Sunday.

Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams were well represented in all three series, and at least one Mercedes-AMG customer team secured a podium finish in each of the weekend's six races.

Kurtz struck first with a second-place finish in Saturday's opening 40- minute GT America sprint, but he made his biggest mark of the weekend with back-to-back Pro-Am podium finishes in the 90-minute Fanatec GT World Challenge races. Kurtz and Braun co-drove to a second-place finish in Saturday's first GT World Challenge race and then charged from the back of the field for a third place showing in Sunday's second race.

Starting driver Braun began an immedaite charge to the frtont at the drop of Sunday's green flag before handing the No. 04 off to Kurtz at mid-race. Kurtz slowly reeled in the third-place competitor before making the pass with just under 15 minutes remaining and holding the position until the finish.

The class of the Pirelli GT4 America field in the final half of last season, the Conquest/JMF No. 34 team quickly built on this weekend 2021's closing run that saw them close out the year with five straight podium finishes, including four victories.

Team newcomer Sanders, 19, proved quick out of the box and won the overall Pirelli GT4 pole for Saturday's race. Sanders and Stephens battled for the win in both Saturday's and Sunday's 60-minute races, crossing the finish line second overall and in the Silver class both days.

The weekend's other pole winner was the No. 6 US RaceTronics (USRT) Mercedes-AMG GT3 that made a successful GT World Challenge debut in the hands of co-drivers Steven Aghakhani and Loris Spinelli. Both drivers qualified well, with Spinelli stepping up to win the overall pole for Sunday's race in his GT World Challenge debut.

Aghakhani and Spinelli co-drove to a second place overall and Pro-class finish in Saturday's first race and appeared on pace to take the victory on Sunday. Spinelli led the majority of the race's first hour and Aghakhani continued the race leading pace after taking the wheel of the No. 6.

Aghakhani was just minutes into his race closing stint, however, when a right front wheel technical issue sent him back to the pits. The USRT team quickly got Aghakhani and the No. 6 back in the race, but any chance of a victory or repeat podium finish was gone.

Winward Racing picked up the chase for Sunday's victory from there with co-drivers Russell Ward and Philip Ellis securing second-place honors in the No. 33 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3.

Sonoma's other podium showings came in the weekend's twin GT America, single-driver, 40-minute sprint races that were held Saturday and Sunday.

Kurtz's second-place Saturday finish continued a GT America hot streak he started in February in St. Petersburg. The runner-up result backed up a victory and third place showing at St. Petersburg to give a Kurtz a championship-contending run of three straight podium results to open the GT America season.

In Sunday's GT America finale, Chris Cagnazzi shook off both a DNF (Did Not Finish) in the St. Petersburg doubleheader and competitor contact issues early in the Sonoma weekend. He led the opening race laps and finished second in the GT4 class to give team owner Steve Cameron a podium at his home track in the No. 39 Stephen Cameron Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4. Stephen Cameron Racing is based on the grounds of Sonoma Raceway.

Later on Sunday, Guy Cosmo joined Cagnazzi in the No. 39 for the Pirelli GT4 race and the duo scored a career-best fourth-place finish in that series.

Another encouraging performance on the weekend came from the No. 35 Conquest Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Manny Franco and Josh Hurley. The debuting duo battled in the Pirelli GT4 top 10 in both weekend races.

A late penalty Saturday thwarted a top-10 finish in their first race, but the No. 35 team and Franco and Hurley rebounded well with a sixth place Silver class finish and 11th overall showing on Sunday.

Next up for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams in SRO America competition is the inaugural race at Ozarks International Raceway, May 20 - 22.

George Kurtz, Driver – No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3: 'It's all about consistency, being on the podium and seeing where it all shakes out in the end. Hats off to Colin. That was a monster start Sunday in picking up seven spots. He put me in a good spot to try and attack later in the race. We put the pressure on a few folks and get the job done. We really feel lucky in coming away with two podiums, a second and third. Thanks to CrowdStrike Racing by Riley Motorsports for giving us a good Mercedes-AMG GT3. We'll look forward to the next event.'

Colin Braun, Driver – No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3: 'I'm excited about the weekend as a whole. We didn't qualify where we wanted to for Sunday, so I was happy to be able to make up some spots on the start and get us back into contention. The guys had a great pit stop, and George did a super good job on his stint to get us back on the podium. It was a real team effort. That shows the strength of a team long-term. Not flashes of brilliance but always being in the mix. I was happy to turn what wasn't a great start to the day into a podium finish. That's what puts in contention to be a championship contender all year. The big thing here at Sonoma is tire degradation. With the track being as abrasive as it is, the Mercedes-AMG GT3 is really strong on degradation, and we'll only improve it once we get a chance to go test a little more and work at it. It's a good foundational start to the year.'

Steven Aghakhani, Driver – No. 6 US RaceTronics Mercedes-AMG GT3: 'This weekend was definitely a very big learning curve for everyone on our team, especially for myself, my co-driver and all the crew guys, mechanics included. You can prepare so much and then have something happen on the race weekend that throws everyone completely off-guard. It's just a very unfortunate scenario but you have to live and learn with it. We had a decent first race and ended up taking second place, which was nice going into the start of the second race. Loris was behind the wheel, he knows what he is doing, and wheeled the hell out it. He kept it in first the entire time. He came in for the driver change and I got maybe halfway around the track and had the front right go out on us. You can prepare so much but have the most random thing go out on you, but we did manage to make it back around to pit lane and get back out there.'

Loris Spinelli, Driver – No. 6 US RaceTronics Mercedes-AMG GT3: 'The team is all new to this, and I only know about the Mercedes-AMG GT3 because I drove it in Europe. The strong part of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 is with the traction because you can manage the speed. So far so good let me say. I have a good feeling with the guys on the team. We worked very well during the week, I'm quite happy and already looking forward to the next test before the Ozarks race.'

Russell Ward, Driver – No. 33 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: 'I thought at the restart I might have something for leader, but he just took off. They won here last year too and are just awesome at Sonoma, but it was still a good weekend for us. We had some awesome pit stops, and every time we came into pit lane we jumped a car, so our guys won us a second place. It made it really easy to just drive the car and keep it clean. So, I'm looking forward to the next one. I think at the next race we'll have a better shot. The new Ozarks track is going to be exciting. From what I heard, it's an amazing race track. It should be a lot of fun and hopefully we can keep it clean there and get a good result.'

Philip Ellis, Driver – No. 33 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: 'We had a really good pace. It was actually quite like last year. The winners had this one at Sonoma, but we gradually beat them at some other tracks. I'm confident we'll do the same again this year with the Mercedes- AMG GT3. The team made a big step from last year to this year, so it's good to see things are moving in the right direction. For sure we'll have some more tracks that really suit our Mercedes-AMG GT3 later in the season. It should be a good fight. It was very exciting today, quite nice, quite an entertaining race, especially where you had to fight some other cars off for the podium. So, basically everything you want in a race!'

Gavin Sanders, Driver – No. 34 Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4: 'I come from smaller-level touring car series up in Canada, so this is a large jump for me. The team has high expectations, and it takes a lot of determination. At the end of the day, we're satisfied but not overly pleased. We would be pleased with a P1 for sure, but I think we got the most out of our Mercedes-AMG GT4 today. It absolutely does wonders in terms of saving the tires, and in mid-corner and most of the corners it rules the speed like no other. I had four days of testing and prep time before this weekend, which is not a whole lot. Most of them were high-pressure, high-stakes days, and it's hard to take things in. It's a little more difficult taking in the car's characteristics and natural habits than it is during race time.'

Michai Stephens, Driver – No. 34 Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4: 'From the team's perspective, and from that on behalf of Mercedes-AMG, we are certainly feeling unified and are ready to just tackle the challenge. It's going to be one heck of a mountain this season, pretty tall, but we have a lot of hands on deck in order to climb it one step at a time. We welcome the challenge and want to get after it. The Mercedes-AMG GT4 was great this weekend, in particular through the esses and the back sections of the track. It was really, really phenomenal.'

Chris Cagnazzi, Driver – No. 39 Stephen Cameron Racing Mercedes- AMG GT4: 'It's completely satisfying to get on the GT America podium after the weekend and even season we have had. Not racing in either round at St. Petersburg after winning the pole was a tough thing, totally my fault, but yesterday I got taken out by another competitor in the SprintX race. To recover today and get a P2 in the final GT America race is great. It's our first podium with Stephen Cameron Racing and they worked hard. They are great guys.'

Guy Cosmo, Driver – No. 39 Stephen Cameron Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4: 'I was really pleased to see Chris rebound in GT America and have a good result. He almost had that win, and he is definitely improving. He's in the hunt. In Pirelli GT4, I believe our fourth place is the best finish we've had together as a pair, so it's a bit like a victory for us. We're happy to finally get that good result so we can now move forward. We're learning a lot and we have a real good plan going forward on testing, so I'm real excited about the upcoming events. The Cameron guys are great, and their experience is amazing. It's everything. Stuff is always being thrown at you on these race weekends, and between the support Mercedes-AMG provides and a team like Stephen Cameron Racing, we know that we can get everything that we need. It's a big relief.'

Josh Hurley, Driver – No. 35 Conquest Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4: 'I feel really good. We're still adapting to the Mercedes-AMG GT3. It's a great car, but we don't have much time in it yet. It's an awesome race car and we're really coming along. My goal was to contend Sunday after starting from 26th. We ended up P11, so that's a good thing to hang your hat on because in this competitive field, it's hard, hard, hard to pass. I think I gained four spots, we gained three on the pit stops and then Manny got another four. So, it was a nice, balanced effort from the crew and both drivers both days. Saturday, we were killing it. We were on track between fifth and third and unfortunately, we missed the pit lane time by .3 seconds. There was a little bit of miscommunication, but lesson learned. When you're new to a series, these things happen, we are learning, and hopefully we'll be on the top step sooner than later.'

Photo credit: Mercedes-Benz
posted on conceptcarz.com

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