SKI Autosports’ Memo Gidley once again led flag-to-flag Sunday (March 29) to complete the GT America powered by AWS weekend sweep at Sonoma Raceway. It is his 15th career victory in the series and SKI Autosports’ first weekend sweep.
Gidley won by 1.224 seconds over GMG Racing’s Kyle Washington. Wright Motorsports’ Dave Musial was third in his Joker-themed Porsche, followed by Rennsport One’s Joel Cortes. Mishumotors’ Mirco Schultis was fifth in his Callaway Corvette.
By virtue of setting the fastest lap in Race No. 1 Saturday, Gidley started from the overall pole in his Audi. Unlike Race No. 1, it did not take long for trouble to break out.
On lap 1, Chouest-Povoledo Racing’s Ross Chouest spun his Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R in turn 3a. He was unable to get the car back underway. The full course caution came out, but not before the field came all the way around.
Replays showed that Chouest had contact with R. Ferri Motorsport’s Marc Muzzo on the start of the race. This shot Muzzo into Ruckus Racing’s Scott Blind, putting Blind into the dirt. Chouest’s left rear tire went down, triggering the spin. The incident ultimately ended his race.
When the green came back out, Washington was able to hold onto the rear bumper of Gidley’s R8 at first. However, the former CART regular was able to slowly pull out a decent advantage.
Further back, Cortes was able to move forward in his Porsche. He wasn’t exactly gentle in doing so as he drove over the inside curb in turn 7 hard, visibily causing the entire right front corner of his Porsche to flex.
Ultimately, Gidley was able to extend his lead to over six seconds. That allowed him to take it easy over the final couple of laps en route to victory.
In the Cup class, Gotham Motorsports’ Yousuf Nabi started first in his Ferrari Challenge car. Following the early restart, RacingSupport’s David Lecko was able to get his Ginetta back to the lead about 15 minutes into the race, then held on for the win.
GT America powered by AWS: Sonoma Race No. 2 Results
Next up for GT America will be a trip to Circuit of the Americas for a two-race weekend on the long course. Race No. 1 is scheduled for April 25 at 4:05 p.m. ET. The race will air live on the GT World YouTube channel.
