Pilgrim Holds Off Kurtz For GT America Victory in Elkhart Lake

2004 24 Hours of Daytona winner Andy Pilgrim – at 66 years young – held off SRO3 championship leader George Kurtz to give SKI Autosport their first GT America series win in Race 1 at Road America today.

Pilgrim, at the wheel of his vintage #56 Ferrari 458 Italia GT3, withstood the pressure of the premier class’ points leader over the final three laps of the race for his first win of the season – his first win in SRO America competition since 2013.

It was a remarkable achievement for Kurtz to come back after being spun out in the first corner on the very first lap, dropping him back through the field. He was turned around after being stuck in the middle of Jason Daskalos and Jason Harward in a three-wide attempt at the start of the race.

The two Jasons would soon battle tail-to-nose for the race lead, the newer #88 Zelus Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan GT3 of Harward, versus the older #27 Audi R8 LMS Ultra of Daskalos. It was on lap three that Pilgrim closed in on the two leaders – then when Harward tried a lunge at Canada Corner on Daskalos and spun the Audi around, Pilgrim went past both of them to take the lead.

Harward would retreat to the pits with damage, while Daskalos retired in the gravel at turn 14, resulting in a Safety Car.

Kurtz was now back up to fifth place overall after the restart, and picked his way past the pack before taking second place. Setting repeated fastest laps of the race, Kurtz was able to take the lead down from over five seconds, to just 2.3 seconds with three laps left. Both drivers had to fight their way through traffic in the final laps, and as they took the white flag, less than a second separated Pilgrim from Kurtz.

He kept the pressure on all the way to the exit of the final corner, but Kurtz was careful not to jeopardise his own race, and in the end, Pilgrim held on by 0.439 seconds to take the victory, the first for the Atlanta-based SKI Autosport team.

Kurtz, meanwhile, now extends his lead in the SRO3 Championship to 70 points over Daskalos, who retired and scored no points.

Mirco Schultis (#70 MISHUmotors Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R) completes the SRO3 podium in third overall, overtaking Kyle Washington (#032 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3-R) in the final ten minutes of the race. CJ Moses (#58 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT2) finished in fifth overall, his best finish of the season.

SRO America and BTCC veteran Robb Holland, driving the #99 Rotek Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport, continued his hot streak in the GT4 class – taking his third win of the season with a sixth place overall finish.

Holland made quick work to grab the lead on the opening lap, sweeping past pole sitter Bryan Putt (#15 BSport Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4) and front row starter Adam Adelson (#120 Premier Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4). Behind them, Moisey Uretsky (#55 Accelerating Performance Vantage GT4) was taken out at turn one by Custodio Toledo (#35 Conquest Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4).

Uretsky retired from the race, while Toledo was given a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility.

After the Safety Car was withdrawn, Holland gradually built up his lead at the front of the field while the rest of the GT4 field battled it out behind him. He would hold on for his third win of the season, following up his weekend sweep on the streets of Nashville.

The final laps built towards a thrilling battle between Adelson and 16-year-old Seth Lucas in the #016 Hattori Motorsports Toyota GR Supra GT4. Lucas put the pressure on Adelson late, but just as he did when he had Pilgrim behind him in a GT4 class battle at Nashville last time out, Adelson held him off and took second in class by just 0.103 seconds, ahead of Lucas, who overcame his 20 kilogrammes of extra performance ballast to finish third in class.

Putt would go on to finish fourth, followed be Ross Chouest (#50 Chouest Povoledo Racing Vantage GT4) in fifth place, then Elias Sabo (#8 Flying Lizard Motorsports Vantage GT4) in sixth, and GT4 championship leader Jason Bell (#2 GMG Racing Vantage GT4) in seventh.

And heading into tomorrow’s Race 2, the top three in the GT4 standings are now separated by 13 points. Bell (134 points) still leads Chouest by eight points, and Holland is now within serious striking distance on 121 points. Adelson jumps to fourth in the standings after his runner-up finish, 42 points behind Bell.

GTAM RACE 1 RESULTS >>

Images © Brian Cleary, Fred Hardy / SRO Motorsports Group America