SEBRING, FL (Sunday, September 24, 2023) – Record-holding eight-time Sebring 12 Hour class winner Johnny O’Connell pulled off another Sebring masterclass in GT America today with a hard-charging run to third place.
Starting seventh on the grid, the SKI Autosports veteran showed stunning pace to charge through the field – making moves on the fifth and fourth-placed rivals on the same lap to score third place.
After Saturday’s sixth-place finish, set-up changes to the Audi R8 LMS and cooler weather brought the No.3 car alive for the early 8:40am Sunday morning green flag.
In addition to today’s podium, O’Connell again took the Masters Class win in both races on the weekend, moving closer to the race-within-a-race championship title.
Additionally O’Connell was named the EBOOST Super Fuel Hard Charger of the race.
“Melissa and I are so proud of the team and the great results in today’s race,” said SKI Autosports team owner Kent Hussey.
“Since we were not able to race in the first two events of the season (missing four individual races) and could not realistically hope to be in the fight for the overall GT America title, we have had our sight set on the Masters Class Championship, and these two Sebring race wins in the category have really helped in that effort.
“We hope to run the full season in 2024, but for this year we are aiming for the Masters Class Championship and to score as many podium finishes as possible.
“We are hitting our strides to meet our lofty goals. Johnny rightly gets all the credit for his remarkable driving abilities however, he will be the first to tell you it starts at the shop with Phil Crieghton and his team and our secret weapon, Rossella (Manfrinato) engineering and setting up the race cars at-track.”
With one race remaining on the 2023 SRO America calendar, SKI Autosports will have a quick turnaround back at their Atlanta-based race shop, heading to the Racing Capital of the World, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, on October 5-8 for the final two sprint races of the season.
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JOHNNY O’CONNELL
“Pretty great event for us today. We started seventh and finished third. We had some great racing, good dices with the guys. I have to give a shout out to the team; Will, Alton, Raphael, and of course Rossella who gave me a great car. Lots of fun.
“Kinda nice finding my rhythm and I’m really looking forward to the final round of the season at Indianapolis, to getting a couple more podiums and maybe another win. Thanks to everybody for cheering us on and we are going to keep digging.”
