Gidley’s Audi, The Corvette, and a Ginetta Debut — SRO GT Racing Comes Alive at Sonoma

The 2026 SRO season opened at Sonoma Raceway with Memo Gidley’s Audi at the front of GT America, the return of the Callaway Corvette, David Lecko’s Ginetta debut and a Mercedes-AMG victory in GT World Challenge America.

SONOMA, Calif. — Set against the rolling hills of wine country, Sonoma Raceway proved the perfect stage for a weekend of GT racing that blended established names with fresh challengers. The circuit’s combination of elevation changes, technical corners, and sweeping sections tested every car and driver in the field — and produced racing that rewarded precision above all else.

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GT America: Gidley, The Corvette, and a New Challenger

The GT America race at Sonoma was defined as much by its characters as its competition. Three cars in particular captured the attention of everyone in the paddock and in the grandstands — each representing a different chapter in the story of GT racing in North America.

Memo Gidley arrived at Sonoma with the kind of pedigree that commands respect in any paddock. A veteran of Le Mans, Daytona, and some of the most demanding endurance races in the world, Gidley brought with him an Audi R8 LMS that immediately turned heads. The German machine, with its naturally aspirated V10 howl cutting through the Sonoma air, was a reminder of what made GT3 racing so compelling in the first place — manufacturer diversity, driver character, and machinery with genuine identity.

Sharing the grid with Gidley was the Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R — a car that has become something of a cult figure in SRO competition. Developed under exclusive GM authorization and built around a naturally aspirated 6.2-litre V8, the Corvette is unashamedly old-school in an era of turbocharged efficiency. At Sonoma, it drew fans to the fence at every corner exit, its V8 bark echoing off the hillsides long after it had powered through. For many in attendance, it was the car they came to see.

Perhaps the most significant storyline of the GT America weekend, however, was the arrival of a new name and a new machine. David Lecko made his GT America debut behind the wheel of a Ginetta GT, marking the British manufacturer’s first appearance in SRO’s North American GT competition. For Lecko, stepping onto one of the continent’s most competitive sprint racing stages represented a significant moment in his career progression. For Ginetta, it was the opening move in what could become a sustained campaign in the SRO ecosystem.

“Any debut weekend comes with a learning curve,” Lecko said. “But being part of bringing something new to the series with Ginetta raises the stakes in the best way. You’re not just learning a track or competitors; you’re helping build a program from the ground up.”

The Ginetta showed genuine flashes of promise throughout the weekend. Engineered with a focus on lightweight construction and driver-focused handling, it held its own against more established machinery through Sonoma’s technical sections, and the data gathered over the course of the weekend will only help the program develop further as the season progresses.

Together, Gidley’s Audi, the Callaway Corvette, and Lecko’s Ginetta told the story of what makes GT America special — a grid diverse enough to accommodate legacy machinery, fan favourite icons, and ambitious newcomers all racing wheel-to-wheel on the same circuit.

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GT World Challenge: Mercedes-AMG Takes the Spoils

While GT America provided colour and character, the GT World Challenge race at Sonoma delivered outright intensity. The higher-tier competition brought together some of the most capable GT3 machinery and sharpest driving talent in North American racing — and it was a Mercedes-AMG GT3 that ultimately emerged victorious.

The Mercedes-AMG GT3 has long been one of the benchmark cars in global GT3 competition — refined, consistent, and fast across a wide range of circuit types. At Sonoma, those qualities were on full display. Through the circuit’s demanding Esses and the long, sweeping Turn 9 complex, the Mercedes showed excellent mechanical balance, while its composure under braking gave its driver confidence to push deep into corners where rivals were lifting earlier.

The victory was a statement performance — not just for the manufacturer, but for the GT World Challenge’s continued strength as a series. With multiple manufacturers represented across the field and the kind of racing that regularly produces close finishes and genuine strategy battles, Sonoma was a reminder of why this platform continues to attract serious teams and drivers.

The Sonoma weekend as a whole painted an encouraging picture for SRO’s 2026 North American campaign. From the debut of new machinery to the return of fan favourites and the clinical execution of a GT World Challenge victory, the racing delivered everything the paddock had hoped for — and set the tone for a season that promises much.

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Continue Reading

• Three Hours at Sonoma
• The Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R in GT America
• David Lecko and Ginetta Make GT America Debut

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Photography by James Hedley. All images shot trackside at Sonoma Raceway, March 2026.