BRASELTON, GA (Sunday, March 26, 2023) – SKI Autosport and driver Johnny O’Connell walked away with two overall wins in this weekend’s International GT event at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta – running the car this weekend in preparation for the team’s upcoming SRO GT America assault.
The first outing for the team’s new Audi R8 was a huge success. With tough competition from other Audis and many very fast Porsches, O’Connell navigated his home track with precision.
Team owner Kent Hussey said, “We really didn’t know what to expect this weekend. The past few years, we have raced the Ferrari 458 and know the car well. However, this foray into the Audi world is new to us all.
“We couldn’t be more pleased with the results. We ran a great sprint yesterday and enduro race today to get the overall wins.
“We encountered an electrical issue in the second sprint race, which Phil Creighton and his crew easily handled but lost us some time. However, that’s why we are here – to learn the car and get these little gremlins out of the way before we debut in the SRO GT America race at NOLA next month.”
SKI Autosport won the Maranello Cup championship with International GT in 2021 with a dominant team performance all season.
“It’s great to be back in the IGT paddock,” Hussey said.
“Everyone is so friendly and supportive. There were many podium comments about how excited the other drivers were to compete against a legend like Johnny O’Connell.”
Up next SRO GT America, NOLA Motorsports Park, April 28-30, 2023
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JOHNNY O’CONNELL
“We were all pretty pleased with this first race. We’re so early learning what this car likes and what it doesn’t like. Certainly, for me there are a lot of cobwebs to shake off. It was a good race, a little bit dicey at the beginning with the damp track, and a couple of places were a bit sketchy.
“But as the track dried out, we got to do what we wanted to do, use this as a test session to find out what the car is going to do over a longer run and learn more about the Audi.
“The electrical gremlins in the second race were a bit disappointing, but that’s what we are here for this weekend – to test and learn.
“Today the plan was to just run a couple of laps to make sure the electrical issue was fixed. We weren’t going to chance running in the rain, but the weather held off, and we just kept going and took the win – just before the heavens opened up and everyone got soaked!”
“I’m really looking forward to the GT America season ahead with SKI Autosport – this was a great way to kick things off with this car
