Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing Teams CrowdStrike Racing with Riley, TR3 Racing and TKO Motorsports Sweep Fanatec GT World Challenge and GT America Powered by AWS Race Weekend at VIRginia International Raceway

Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams CrowdStrike Racing with Riley, TR3 Racing and TKO Motorsports combined for a perfect six-for-six Mercedes-AMG GT3 race win sweep in Fanatec GT World Challenge and GT America powered by AWS competition this weekend at VIRginia International Raceway. The victories were highlighted by overall Fanatec GT World Challenge triumphs by George Kurtz and Colin Braun in the No. 04 CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3 on Sunday and a debut win by the first-time Pro-class driver pairing of Daniel Morad and Kenton Koch in the No. 9 TRG Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 on Saturday.

The run of race wins also kept Mercedes-AMG Motorsport customer teams undefeated in GT America competition with a perfect 10-for-10 record in the year's opening races.  

The VIR GT America winner was Memo Gidley who swept both of the weekend's 40-minute sprint races in the No. 101 TKO Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 to build his season win total to a series-leading six victories. Gidley came into the VIR weekend leading the GT America championship and expanded his first-place points margin after his second weekend sweep of the season.

Gidley also won both races at NOLA Motorsports Park in April in addition to a Sunday victory in the season-opening race weekend at the St. Petersburg Grand Prix and a Saturday triumph one race later in Sonoma.

Sunday marked the second GT World Challenge Pro-Am win of the weekend for Kurtz and Braun who picked up their first victory in the class while finishing third overall on Saturday.

Morad and Koch in turn finished third overall in Sunday's final GT World Challenge 90-minute race but ahead of all other Pro-division competitors for their second class win of the weekend.

The six victories were part of a weekend tally of 10 total podium finishes at VIR that included a third place showing by Kurtz in Saturday's first GT America race and a Pirelli GT4 America podium.

Michai Stephens and Jesse Webb rebounded from a frustrating opening race Saturday to secure third place overall and a Silver-class finish Sunday in the No. 34 Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4.

Other podium players at VIR included CRP Racing GT America drivers Todd Treffert and Jason Daskalos. Treffert, making just his seventh professional race start, broke through for a second-place finish Saturday in his No. 41 CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. Daskalos, a two-time GT America race winner this season, stepped up to finish second in Sunday's final GT America race in his No. 27 CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4.

Saturday's top three of Gidley, Treffert and Kurtz was the second Mercedes-AMG GT3 podium lockout in the last three GT America race weekends. At NOLA, Gidley led a GT America Mercedes-AMG GT3 victory lane sweep that included Kurtz in second and Daskalos in third.

The VIR weekend's perfect winning performance didn't come without its fair share of challenges. Koch lost some time in the pits in Saturday's GT World Challenge race when he had trouble locating the TR3 Racing pit stall.

Morad took over the No. 9 only to rebound from a strange incident of his own when the car's roof radio antennae came loose and dangled into the cockpit. Morad went slightly off course and lost the lead when the swinging antennae hit him in the eye but recovered to retake first place a lap later.

Next up for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams in SRO Motorsports America competition is a GT America doubleheader feature race at the Music City Grand Prix in Nashville, August 4 – 6. The next SRO Motorsports America all-series weekend of competition will be held at Road America, August 18 – 20.

Daniel Morad, Driver – No. 9 TR3 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: "Saturday's race wasn't the easiest win. We only had one session of preparation to get the car dialed in before qualifying. We just used each session as a test leading to the next, and we were getting there with the car. Clearly, it was there with being able to control Saturday's race, and Kenton did a great job in his opening stint to open up a gap. He wanted to try a 'three-stop strategy' when he couldn't find our pit box! Then in my stint our car's roof antennae came loose and poked me in the eye. I was making a turn and went off, but luckily not too far off, and a lap later was able to get the lead back. From there it was smooth sailing. Kenton gave me a race-winning car in a race-winning position in the first race and it was even better on Sunday. It's a testament to the Mercedes-AMG GT platform and how easy it is to get it in the window, and the TR3 engineering team worked hard and did great."

Kenton Koch, Driver – No. 9 TR3 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: "It was really cool just to have the opportunity compete in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 again, and with TR3 Racing and at VIR, which is a good place. I have had good luck here in the past, and this is a good bunch of guys to be able to help get me up to speed in the limited time we had but we made progress throughout the weekend. In Saturday's race, that was the best I could have done with what I had. I think we did OK, but going into the pit box was very interesting! It was a sea of black suits and orange boards, and I just couldn't see our pit. I couldn't see it, but the one orange thing I could see was Daniel in his driver's suit jumping up and down! That was the only orange thing that stood out. I was super bummed and disappointed in myself, but things happen, people are human, and it all worked out for the win. It was a little bit harder Sunday but getting the car from Daniel with fresh rubber in the second part of the race made it easier to drive through some competitors. It's always good to drive a Mercedes-AMG GT3."

George Kurtz, Driver – No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing with Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3: "It was a great weekend. The CrowdStrike and Riley guys gave us a great car, the competition was fierce, and we feel very fortunate to be the overall winners on Sunday, not just in Pro-Am. We closed in on the points lead and we are excited about going into the next race. I had lots of pressure throughout the race, but I just think toward the end we just had with the Mercedes-AMG GT3 a better tire degradation program. We were able to build a bit of a gap and close it out. Credit to Mercedes-AMG, it's a great chassis and a great car, and we are fortunate to be driving it."

Colin Braun, Driver – No. 04 CrowdStrike Racings with Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3: "Obviously, a great weekend. We had a couple days of testing beforehand. It gave us a chance to work through a lot of things and the Riley/CrowdStrike guys just did a great job. We worked really hard on those test days and, as always, George puts a big effort in – working, working, working – and it is nice to see all of that hard work pay off. We had a little bit different setup philosophy, more long-run focused, and today that paid off. At the end we have good pace there on the tires. We will keep our heads down and keep chipping away at it."

Memo Gidley, Driver – No.  101 TKO Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3: "It was great to get some first-place finishes and collect all the points we could. It is just awesome, very nice, very nice! Coming here, this is our first year with the Mercedes-AMG GT3, everything is new with the car, new with the team. Coming here I was definitely not feeling the love with the car, but we just kept tweaking on it and it just got a little bit better, a little bit better, a little better, and that includes from Saturday's race to Sunday's race. As a driver, when you can get in that spot with the car where you can just balance it on the edge consistently everywhere, it is just very satisfying. That's where the TKO car was on Sunday."

Todd Treffert, Driver – No. 41 CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: "In a race of attrition, I was able to keep the car clean and lasted them out on Saturday. Just staying out of trouble was the key, but the car was great and ready to go. CRP Racing put together a great Mercedes-AMG GT3, they are a great team, and I am figuring out how to drive it.  My first race was just Sonoma this year and I didn't know what I was doing. I was all over the place, so coming to a track like VIR you are familiar with makes all the difference."

Michai Stephens, Driver – No. 34 Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4: "The Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 team took on the challenges of VIR head on! Given the track's configuration, the team knew that the undertaking was going to be massive, but as a unit we leaned into the challenge, pushing with everything we had. Such desire resulted in a personal mistake into the Oak Tree turn on Saturday, ultimately dropping us from the podium in the first race after a monster drive from Jesse. In race two we looked to capitalize where and when we could, placing us in third before a lengthy caution period brought the race to a conclusion. Simply put, we took it on the chin this weekend and will be stronger because of it!"

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