This weekend, the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida come alive with the sounds of race cars for the annual professional auto racing event, the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Todd Coleman Racing, supported by Archangel Motorsports will make its team debut, racing the No. 69 Aston Martin Vantage GT4. Team principal Todd Coleman will race the car in both the GT America Powered by AWS, and in the Pirelli GT4 America with Billy Johnson. Johnson will also act as the team’s coach as Coleman contests the single-driver GT America series.
“I couldn’t be more excited to partner up with Billy for the SRO America championships,” said Coleman. “He is an incredible talent that I am confident to learn a lot from over the course of the season. We have put together a dream of a season with our partners at Archangel Motorsports and Aston Martin, with more events to be added. We are looking forward to getting back on the track starting with St. Petersburg this weekend.”
Coleman earned three podiums last year in the GT America series, laying the groundwork for what should be a strong 2023 season. Running as a 40-minute sprint series, the GT America series provides the perfect proving ground for bronze-rated drivers, with two races each race weekend, in which only one driver per car can compete. In the Pirelli GT 4 America championship, Coleman and Johnson will split the driving duties in the No. 69 Aston Martin Vantage GT4 in each weekend’s pair of races, both needing to complete a minimum amount of drive-time per race.
Johnson, a professional race car driver with experience in the American Le Mans Series, Rolex Sports Car Series, and NASCAR will be a strong addition to the team. He started racing in go karts at 13 years old, going on to become the 2016 IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge champion and development driver for Multimatic Motorsports and Ford Performance. Coleman and Johnson will compete together in the GT4 America Pro/Am class, against other two-driver lineups. The GT4 America season will begin March 30th at Sonoma Raceway.
“I’m really looking forward to racing with Todd in the GT4 America series this year,” said Johnson. “The whole Todd Coleman Racing team with Mike Johnson and Archangel running the Aston Martin GT4, I feel like we have the team, car, and driver lineup that is capable of challenging for wins.”
The Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will ring in the 2023 race season on March 3-5 by closing down the city streets to create a 2.897, 14-turn temporary race course. GT America will be one of five series racing on the course throughout the weekend, running in support of the NTT INDYCAR Series. The GT America competitors will have limited track time, participating in two practices, one qualifying session, and race one all on Friday, March 3. Race two will be the following afternoon on Saturday, March 4. The tight, unforgiving concrete walls of the temporary street course offer little margin of error for the drivers, fighting the excitement over the several-day race weekend.
Source. KBru Communications
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