New and “old” Corvettes post mixed results in SRO GT America Season Opener

Ross Chouest in his # 50 C8 Z06 GT3.R finished 4th in the 40-minute sprint race on Saturday March 28 at Sonoma International Raceway.

Chouest fell to 12th on Sunday March 29, set back by a puncture to his left rear tire resulting from a multi-car crash triggered by Marc Muzzo # 22 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo.

Mirco Schultis finished 12th in his # 70 C7 GT3 on Saturday, racing mostly for the fun of it.  This year marks a farewell tour because the folks from the SRO series will no longer homologate this historic Corvette, chassis 001 built in 2015 by Callaway Competition in Leingarten, Germany.  

That said, Schultis delighted Corvette fans to win a fight for 5th on Sunday. 

Memo Gidley in his # 56 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II won on both days in a field of 20 cars.  The native Californian’s Audi, owned by Kent Hussey who happens to have solid Corvette connections, was entered in jest as team SKI (“Some Kid’s Inheritance”).

SRO GT America, (successor to the USA World Challenge series) lost the # 36 DXDT Z06 GT3.R from last year which leaves Chouest the sole Corvette team in the foreseeable future.

Historic racing is the next logical move for the Callaway C7 GT3 where chassis 002 is doing quite well in the hands of Charles Wicht.  Yet rumors persist about a more powerful version coming out of Leingarten.

Let’s hope for better in the next race at CoTA on April 24-26.

Photo Credits Sports Car 365 John Dagys