- Porsche, RS1 Win Pro Class
- BMW, Turner Motorsport Top the Charts in Pro-Am
- Provisional Race 1 Results
The hills of VIRginia International Raceway provided the perfect backdrop for the opening race of the weekend in the GT World Challenge America powered by AWS championship. Race 1 delivered on all fronts, with different strategies, pit lane gambles, shifting weather, and intense multi-class battles defining a dramatic 90-minute contest.
After four runner-up finishes this season, RS1 finally stood on the top step of the podium in the Pro class, as Jan Heylen and Alex Sedgwick delivered a breakthrough victory. In Pro-Am, championship frontrunners Turner Motorsport returned to their winning ways with Robby Foley and Justin Rothberg, but the outcome was only decided at the last possible moment.
Pro Class
Kenton Koch held onto the class lead in the early stages from Pro pole in the No. 99 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT3, fending off pressure from Alex Sedgwick in the No. 18 RS1 Porsche 992 GT3 R. Varun Choksey, driving the No. 51 Random Vandals Racing sister car, made a clean move on Michai Stephens in the No. 34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 to place the second BMW into third.
With light rain falling just over 20 minutes into the race, strategies started to evolve. Driver changes took place as the halfway mark loomed, but drama unfolded for Random Vandals Racing when Bill Auberlen, who took over from Choksey, re-entered the pits after the race returned to green, suspected to be due to a short pit stop. That was followed by a pit lane speed violation, resulting in a costly stop-and-go penalty.
As the race entered its final half hour, it was Jan Heylen who began closing in on Connor De Phillippi for the Pro class lead. With 22 minutes to go, Heylen launched a bold dive down the inside to claim the top spot, and he never looked back.
RS1 earned their first win of the 2025 season, followed by the Koch and De Phillippi duo in P2 and JMF Motorsports in third with Stephens and Mikael Grenier.
“ I’m a bit relieved,” expressed Alex Sedgwick at the podium. “We've been chasing the whole season. We’re working as hard as we can and it's starting to come together. We had a good feeling. Jan did an awesome job at the end of the race. Hopefully this is the first of many.”
“I don't know if many people knew, but our timer wasn't working,” shared Jan Heylan. “So we probably lost about 10 seconds in the pit lane. There was a bit of luck with the yellow, but it was frustrating at the same time to be so far behind the car leading the class. Today we just had a good car and I'm so happy that we were finally able to put it together. This comes after a lot of hard work from the whole team and I am really proud of the effort because it hasn't been the easiest season.”
Pro-Am Class
Overall polesitter Philip Ellis got a brilliant launch in the No. 91 Regulator Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, quickly pulling away from the rest of the field. Behind him, Christian Hahn was rock solid in second in the No. 16 AF Corse USA Ferrari 296 GT3, while Justin Rothberg slotted into third after a slick move on the DXDT Corvette of Blake McDonald.
But the Pro-Am class never stays quiet for long. Rothberg made a slight error and went off-track, allowing McDonald to retake the position.
A full course caution emerged as the LAB Motorsport Porsche had a big moment, ending up in the tire barriers, thus bringing out a full course yellow in the process. This resulted in Regulator Racing losing their momentum and advantage over the rest of the field as the gap Ellis had built up was diminished completely.
The real shakeup came post-pit stop, when Aaron Povoledo returned to the track in the class lead on board the No. 50 Chouest Povoledo Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, but an undercut pit stop later proved too short, putting their lead in jeopardy.
With the race restarting, the final 15 minutes turned into all-out warfare. Darren Turner, sharing the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin with Gray Newell, was hunted down by Robby Foley, who went on to make a critical pass to secure second on track.
In a dramatic twist, Povoledo dove down pit lane to correct the drive time error, handing the Pro-Am win to Turner Motorsport. Foley and Rothberg fought hard to recover from the early setback. Meanwhile, the Heart of Racing Team duo secured their first podium finish of the season, with Matt Bell and Blake McDonald rounding out the top three for DXDT.
Race 1 winner Robby Foley expressed that; “We had a unique scenario with the yellow there and everybody pitting early, which was kind of smart, but put the field on its end. So we started towards the back. We made up a few spots in the restart, we used the strength of this BMW M4 GT3, and we had a great day, and more great points towards the championship.”
“I'm still mad at myself for my stint,” admitted Justin Rothberg. “I made a mistake, but it's really nice having someone to come in and save it for me, so it all worked out in the end.”
Am Class
It was a tough result for Dollahite Racing, as the No. 6 Ford Mustang GT3 was forced to retire early after debris caused electrical issues, robbing the team of a potential win. That opened the door for the AF Corse USA No. 163 Ferrari 296 GT3, as Oswaldo Negri and Jay Schreibman inherited the top step of the podium in the Am class.
Let’s Get Racing
The GT World Challenge America powered by AWS series will return to the track for Race 2 on Sunday afternoon, July 20th at 2:45 PM ET.
If you can’t make it to VIRginia International Raceway, be sure to tune-in to SRO’s free live streams all weekend long on YouTube (GTWorld) and Twitch (SROMotorsports) and follow all the action through our social media channels and the event hashtag #GTVIR.