Nine-Point Swing: Washington and Sargent Take the Lead Back at Barber

The No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo left Barber Motorsports Park on Sunday with a third-place Pro-Am finish in the three-hour race and, more to the point, with the GT World Challenge America Pro-Am driver and team championship leads back in Kyle Washington and Tom Sargent's hands. They arrived in Alabama three points down after Road America knocked them off the top of the standings for the first time this season. The podium was worth a nine-point swing, and the No. 32 now carries a six-point lead into the double-points Indianapolis 8 Hour season finale at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, October 8 through 11.

Getting a car to the grid at all was the first job, and it was a big one. In the weeks after the Road America crash the crew replaced the chassis tub on the damaged car and flew a second Porsche in from France, reassembled and fully prepared before it landed in Alabama. Then, early in the race weekend, the same crew pulled an engine and gearbox swap nobody had planned for, on a car that by that point had been apart more than it had been together.

The race added its own problems. Washington was turned around in the opening minutes by a class competitor, who was penalised for it, and the No. 32 went a lap down. Pit-side strategy and a quick pace from both Washington and Sargent, who closed the race, put the car back into lead-lap contention.

"There are a lot of mixed emotions," said GMG Racing Founder and Principal James Sofronas. "We definitely had the car to win this weekend, but in racing, it's not all about speed. You have to put everything together. But no doubt, the team worked above and beyond to not only prepare a new car from Europe and then have to replace an engine and a gearbox. With the commitment from Kyle to see this through and the commitment from the team to get everything done, third-place here is almost like a win after all of the adversity we faced and the contact we had today."

Washington has nothing but praise for the crew, and the result has him pointed squarely at Indianapolis.

"We flew in a new car, re-tubbed one of the original cars, then had to replace the engine and gearbox as there was collateral damage from the incident at Road America," Washington said. "So, to get a podium out of that is pretty incredible. The crew was unbelievable. I was really depressed after the Road America incident, and now I'm pumped again. Indy is a double-points race, which you have to take into consideration. It means everything. We are going to stay focused, work out for the next 10 days, study Indy and go get it done."

Sargent took over and went to work immediately, passing several competitors on the way to the checkered flag to secure the podium.

"We were all over the place the whole race, with Kyle getting turned around at the start and going a lap down, so to come back to a podium is huge," Sargent said. "The car took a lot of hits back there, but it held together in the end. It wasn't the most pleasant thing to drive, but we pulled it together and the car did an amazing job. We did what we came here to achieve. We put the championship back where we deserved it to be, and we have a small buffer going into Indy."

It is the fourth Pro-Am podium of the season for Washington and Sargent, alongside wins at Sonoma Raceway and Sebring International Raceway in the first year of the series' three-hour race format.

"Taking the points lead to Indy helps," Sofronas said. "We are back on the right track, but now we've got to regroup, clean these cars up, make sure they are as fast as they were here and look forward to hopefully winning Kyle's first championship."

Next for GMG Racing in SRO America competition is the GT World Challenge America season finale, the Indianapolis 8 Hour at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, October 8 through 11.