International GT At Sebring
Season Kick Off Showcase

Sebring International Raceway might be one of the oldest and most iconic racetracks in the country but International GT’s 2021 season opener was full of firsts with a number of new cars, drivers and teams in the paddock. The event featured live stream of sprint race 2 on Saturday, fantastic weather after a brief shower during Q2 on Friday and great racing throughout the field all weekend. 

Maranello Cup

ANDY PILGRIM #4 SKI Autosport 458GT was the top finisher in Maranello Cup with class wins and an overall win in sprint race 1. International GT 2019 – 2020 Maranello Cup Champion BENOIT BERGERON #127 also in a 458GT from Etcetera Racing and co-driver JF DUMOULIN continue to learn a new car finishing second in Maranello GT.

Pilgrim finished the weekend on top of the points standings with a slight lead over JOHN PATRICK MULLANEY #36 Speed Works Ferrari 458. Mullaney swept the 458 class including the enduro with co-driver CHRIS HALL. Runner up in 458 class was ROLAND VEIT #16 Pocono Sportscar with a strong showing of second place finishes in the sprint races. 

Mission Foods GT3 Cup Trophy

Mission Foods GT3 Cup Trophy 4R Class saw TOM PANK #42 Porsche GT3R from Ultra Performance as the overall winner in the enduro combined with a class win in sprint race 1 and third in the second sprint race.  ELLIOTT SKEER #24 Porsche GT3R, 901 Shop, listed as co-driver with car owner ROB BLAKE put in the drive of the weekend.  Starting at the back of the grid for sprint race 2 he passed the 31 cars in the field and drove for the overall win. That kid might just have a future in racing – if any pro teams are listening!!! Rob and Elliott teamed up to take third in the enduro. JUAN LOPEZ-SANTINI#74, 901 Shop/AlterEgo Racing, who was awarded the prestigious Derek Bell Le Mans Trophy on Friday (more on that to come) finished second in sprint race 2 JUAN GONZALEZ #81 GT3R Car Amigo Mission Foods had a great run finishing second in sprint race 1.  MARK SANDRIDGE #58 GT3R Team Salad Porsche finished on the podium in third in sprint race 1 and second overall in the enduro.

The Mission Food GT3 Cup Trophy 3.6 class welcomed newcomer TOM MCGLYNN #17 901 Shop. McGlynn won both sprints and the enduro and even gave a few 3.8 liter cars a run for their money.  NICHOLAS KARAGELEN #76 Orbit Racing made the podium each race with two second place finishes in the sprints and a third in the enduro. The youngest member of the Pank family also joined the IGT podium celebration. NICKLAS PANK #41 Ultra Performance took home a pair of third place finishes in the sprint races and stepped up to second in the enduro.  Nicky had a great weekend for his first IGT race joining his brother Lukas and his Dad as podium finishers in IGT.

Mission Foods GT3 Cup Trophy 4 and 3.8 liter categories were intense and saw a variety of people on the podium. In the 4 liter category MARK GREENBERG #421 Extreme Velocity Motorsports won the first sprint. JASON MCCARTHY #11 SpeedSport Racing was second in sprint race 1 and went on to win sprint 2 and the enduro. New to IGT competition, ANDOR KOVACS #31 finished second in sprint race 1 and JERONIMO GUZMAN #22 TLM Racing finished second in sprint race 2.  TED GIOVANIS #64 Team TGM the 2020 Mission Foods GT3 Cup Champion was forced to go to a backup car due to mechanical issues finishing just off the podium for the weekend.  Look for him to rebound for a strong run at the championship. NICHOLAS GROOMBRIDGE #124 SpeedSport Racing had a terrific enduro race after a tough start to the weekend.  Groombridge helped SpeedSport sweep the 4 liter podium in the race with McCarthy winning, DAVID KUCHRAWY #331 taking second and third going to Groombridge. Great work from the Connecticut based race shop.

The Mission Foods GT3 Cup Trophy 3.8 category had the largest entry in the field and some of the most competitive racing. After joining the series for the 2020 season finale at Daytona, DAVID TUATY #68 brought out a host of cars under the TLM Racing banner. The ever enthusiastic Tuaty had a great weekend winning the 3.8 category in the first and second sprint races and coming in second in the enduro. He leaves Sebring tied for the lead in the Championship points with Jason McCarthy.  CHRIS RUPPEL #119, Zotz Racing, rejoined IGT after a couple years hiatus winning Sunday’s enduro with co-driver ERIC ZITZA, while also picking up podium finishes in both sprint races. A familiar face in the series, MICHAEL CHAIRAMONTE #18 Sicilian Racing, took a second and a third in the sprint races. ROBERT WISEN #27, Ultra Performance who made a great run at the 2020 Championship finishing just short, had a good points run at Sebring to go toward the season tally. There were a few new faces in the Mission Foods GT3 Cup 3.8 category including ALBERT LUKAZIK #56 who finished third in the enduro, and JODY MILLER #3 with co-driver PIPPA MANN in the TLM Racing entry.

Stuttgart Cup

The Stuttgart Cup saw new entrant MICHAEL MARTIN#5, Zotz Racing sweep the 3.8 category winning both sprint races and teamed with Eric Zitza to win the enduro. In the 3.4 category repeat 2019 and 2020 Stuttgart Cup Champion, WILL WACHS #017, Gator Gang Racing split the weekend with RUSSELL WITTENBERG #33. Will won both sprint races on Saturday and Russell took the win in Sunday’s enduro.

After a very successful season opening, the series now moves to Round 2 at Road Atlanta, another driver favorite circuit, March 25-28.

Sebring Video Intro To Live Streaming

We’ve received some great video from the Sebring race that we will share over the next few weeks. 

Here is a terrific one from Ben Cissell introducing the series for the start of the live streaming of the second sprint race on Saturday afternoon. Look for the entire video of the sprint race to be posted on YouTube later this weekend.

Round 2 – Road Atlanta
March 25-28

Next up for International GT is Round 2 at Road Atlanta. One of the highlights on the schedule is this Springtime event in the rolling red clay hills of North Georgia. Click on the photo above to register for the event and see the race schedule. If you have any registration questions please contact Julie@InternationalGT.net or call (770)380-7770

Marketplace

Selling a race car, trailer, equipment, etc? We’ll highlight it in our Marketplace section. This is free to International GT competitors and teams and will run for about 4 email blasts. Just send a photo, description and contact information to Julie@InternationalGT.net.