- The duo of Ashton and Harrison and Mario Farnbacher take Pro class championship fight down to the final race of the season
- Team battles back after early-race contact, additional setbacks for 4th-place Pro finish
The season-ending Indianapolis 8-Hour presented by AWS race saw a few early unlucky issues force the Racers Edge Motorsports trio of Ashton Harrison, Mario Farnbacher and Kyle Marcelli repeatedly have to battle their way back into championship contention in the exhausting event. A resilient 4th place Pro class finish for the trio in their Acura NSX GT3 Evo secured them 2nd place overall in the season ending standings.
Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS
The 14-turn, 2.4-mile road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway played host to the only endurance race of the SRO GT World Challenge America season. Entering Saturday’s finale, the Racer Edge Motorsport Acura NSX still had a chance at the overall championship against a 22-car field at the Brickyard.
The team had a rough start to the long race, with early contact causing Kyle Marcelli to spin to the back of the field. After battling their way back into to the top ten in the second hour, a second contact with the same competitor led to another off-track delay. Unfortunately, the damage left the NSX GT3 EVO22 running wounded the remainder of the race. Although they weren’t able to contend for the overall win, the drivers and crew kept pushing to secure a 4th place in class finish. The strong team effort on a difficult day was what they needed to do to secure 2nd place overall in the championship by just 2 points.
Quotes
Ashton Harrison (#93 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 Evo22), following her first stint of Saturday’s race: “We had a lot of highs this year, and some lows. Unfortunately for us, the lows appeared over these last two rounds [Sebring and Indianapolis]. Our Racers Edge Acura has been really strong all day, but we’ve been on the back foot since we were spun out at the beginning of the race. So, we’re doing our best, and have been all day, and I’m so proud of this Racers Edge team, my co-drivers Mario and Kyle, and Acura. We battled all year long and took the championship down to the last race of the season. That’s really about all you can ask.”
Ashton Harrison, post race: “It was a pleasure to share the Harrison Contracting Acura NSX with Mario again all year and to have Kyle Marcelli as our 3rd driver for the Indy 8-Hour. That was an exhausting race; just a lot of unlucky issues for us, but as always, the Racers Edge Motorsports crew pushed through, and we kept our heads down and came out 2nd in the Pro Championship and 4th in the race itself. We’ll continue to celebrate the high moments of the season and the hard work of the crew. The Acura NSX has been a great platform and I really appreciate all of the support from Honda/HPD Racing and Harrison Contracting.”
Kyle Marcelli, post race: “It was a tough, tough race; I felt like were on the back foot from the beginning, getting turned around in the first stint of the race. Going to the back and then racing our way forward. At that point, I thought we had good pace; I think we got up to 10th before the first pit stop. Then we had more contact with the same car later in the race which caused some damage and left us wounded for a good four or five hours. We just made the most of it; everyone pushed the best they could, and just never stopped working hard. We made a huge swing on the car set up from qualifying to race day, for the better, for sure. It was a great call, so kudos to Jim (our engineer) for working his magic overnight and giving us the best car we could have for today’s race. The crew executed flawless pit stops and everybody put their heart into it, as always, but it was just a rough race. Congratulations to Ashton, Mario and Racers Edge Motorsports for their second-place finish in the championship and thank you to the whole group for having me a part of it.”
Mario Farnbacher, post race: “Obviously, tough race; we all expected a different outcome, and we just couldn’t get there. I’m a little bummed, but that’s racing, and we tried our best and things just happen which don’t go our way. But that’s just how it is. We finished 2nd in the championship and had some great moments to the season. But just a tough race today, with some damage from contact, and trying to drive a damaged car for most of the race was difficult. I enjoyed driving with Ashton again this season and thank you to the Racers Edge Motorsports crew for all of their hard work this year.”
Next
This weekend’s races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway closed out the 2023 Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS season. The 2024 season gets underway April 5-7 at Sonoma Raceway in California.
Fanatec GT World Challenge America Powered by AWS Saturday Race Results
4th Pro - #93 Ashton Harrison, Mario Farnbacher and Kyle Marcelli, Racers Edge Motorsports NSX GT3
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