By John Goolsby, Motorsports Editor
LEEDS — The UAB Medicine GT World Alabama benefiting Teal Wings of Hope saw a full weekend of SRO sports car racing and entertainment at Barber Motorsports Park.
GT America powered by AWS took to the track for Race 2 early Sunday, with veteran driver Memo Gidley adding another victory to his dominant season. Gidley recorded his 10th win of the year after clinching the championship Saturday despite being unable to start the weekend’s first race because of a mechanical issue.
The weekend also featured the TC America powered by Skip Barber Racing School series and the Pirelli GT4 America series.
Birmingham driver Tyler Stone and Frankie Muniz took the GT4 win on Saturday.
Muniz and Stone celebrate win. Credit: John Goolsby
Off the track, the weekend included car clubs, fan entertainment, and a Saturday concert featuring the Velcro Pygmies.
Barber Museum’s classic Porsche 90. Credit: John Goolsby
In Sunday’s headliner, Manny Perez Companc and Frederik Schandorff claimed the overall victory in the three-hour GT World Challenge America race, leading an 18-car field in Round 6 of the championship.
Driving the No. 12 AF Corse USA Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO, Perez, Companc, and Schandorff completed 125 laps in 3 hours, 36.357 seconds.
The Ferrari pair finished 5.638 seconds ahead of the No. 34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO of Michai Stephens and Mikael Grenier, which finished second overall.
Aaron Telitz and Todd Coleman gave Archangel Motorsports the Pro-Am class victory with a third-place overall finish in the No. 69 Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO. They finished 12.737 seconds behind the winning Ferrari.
RS1’s Dylan Dyszelski and Jan Heylen were second in Pro-Am and fourth overall in the No. 28 Porsche 911 GT3-R, while McCann Racing’s Michael McCann Jr. and Jeroen Bleekemolen rounded out the overall top five in another Porsche.
The top eight cars were separated by just 37 seconds after completing almost 300 miles of racing.
Schandorff recorded the fastest lap in the Pro class, turning a 1:21.815 on Lap 86. Telitz posted the quickest Pro-Am lap at 1:21.654 on Lap 88.
AF Corse USA also captured the Am class victory. J. Schreiber and Oswaldo Negri finished 16th overall in the No. 163 Ferrari 296 GT3 after completing 119 laps. Negri recorded the fastest Am-class lap at 1:22.496.
The GT World Series heads to Indianapolis next month.
