C8 Corvettes outclassed in SRO World Challenge opening round at Sears Point Sonoma Raceway

Veteran Mirco Schultis in his aging # 70 Callaway C7 GT3.R Mishu Motors Corvette finished third in SRO World Challenge GT America 40-minute sprint races in a 2-day format on Saturday under clear skies and in the rain on Sunday.

The striking new look brandishes Paulaner Sunset German brewed orange cola.

Newcomer Ross Chouest, in one of two brand new # 50 C8 Z06 GT3.R Corvettes was last on Saturday and failed to finish on Sunday.

George Kurtz # 04 Crowd Strike AMG GT3 and # 32 Kyle Washington Porsche 992 GT3 won the Saturday and Sunday races.

Turning to the longer 90-minute races in the SRO World Challenge America Series, Ross Chouest and Aaron Povoledo piloted another # 50 C8 Z06 GT3.R which is virtually identical.  The team says it switched from AMG Mercedes to Corvettes for better service and support offered by Pratt & Miller.

A mid-race mandatory stop for fuel, tires and change drivers during a 10-minute window plays a major role among diverse drivers in evenly-matched cars.  That factored into 11th and 8th place results on Saturday and Sunday. 

Seasoned Pro Matt Bell and Blake McDonald driving # 11 C8 Z06 GT3.R for DXDT with a new paint job fared worse by finishing 12th and 10th on Saturday and Sunday.

McDonald stands to improve under the tutelage from Bell and DXDT team manager Bryan Sellers.

Mikael Grenier and Michai Stephens # 34 AMG GT3 won overall on Saturday.

Connor DiPhilippi and Kenton Koch # 99 BMW M4 GT3 won overall on Sunday.

Photo credits: Chouest, DXDT, SRO

Round 2 comes next at CoTA on April 25-27