The fourth round of the 2025 VSCA SportsCar Championship brought teams to the scenic and ever-challenging WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. A staple of the series and known for its tight layout and chaotic race history, the 2.24-mile, 11-turn circuit lived up to expectations once again—albeit with fewer competitors and a revised class structure. This year’s Course De Monterey marked the second round of the 2025 Sprint Cup and saw only three classes take the green flag, as the GT PRO class sat out, making GT AM the sole GT representation on the grid.
The smaller, 38-car field still delivered plenty of action in the Saturday evening event, which began under clear skies and 19°C temperatures at 5:59 p.m. local time and concluded in full darkness at 8:39 p.m. One full-course yellow slowed the race for 19 minutes after an incident 50 minutes into the event, but clean racing resumed shortly thereafter.
At the checkered flag, it was Vulture Motorsports that stole the spotlight with an impressive 1-2 finish in GT AM. The #65 Ford Mustang GT3, piloted by 34-year-old Jeff Carollo from McHenry, IL, and 47-year-old Erol Ureksoy from Tampa, FL, claimed victory with a dominant drive, leading 56 laps en route to a decisive 11.103-second win—the closest GT AM finish so far in 2025 and the fifth-closest in series history.
Their teammates in the #64 Mustang, 24-year-old Justin DeLano and 55-year-old Gary Brown, weren’t far behind, securing a strong second-place result and locking out the top two steps of the podium for the team.
Portuguese Duo Completes the Podium
Rounding out the podium was the #555 PULSAR eSports Team McLaren 720S GT3 EVO. The Portuguese pairing of Marco Vilela and Roberto JM Artur drove a consistent race to bring the car home in third, keeping pressure on the leaders while holding off several mid-race challenges. Their result not only secured valuable points but also elevated the team to second in the GT AM Sprint Cup standings.
The #83 Off in the Esses Racing McLaren of Joseph Okopien and Michael Garrone finished fourth after a clean and methodical run, followed closely by the #34 Wastegate Racing Corvette of Neill A Forbes and Tamer Elbaga in fifth, which moved them up to third in the overall GT AM championship standings.
Standouts and Surprises
One of the standout performances of the evening came from the GT AM championship-leading #94 SWF Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992). After starting in 15th position, Jason Brothers and Rich Wright stormed through the field to finish in seventh, gaining eight spots in a commendable recovery drive. Their consistency continues to pay off, as they maintain the lead in the GT AM championship standings with 1201 points.
The #81 Penor Competición Porsche, driven by Spaniards Rafael Penades Belda and Diego Palacio Rodríguez, claimed sixth, while eighth went to the #554 RedLab Motorsport Corvette of Daniel Perez Santiago and Fernando Torres.
Gowin Racing, last year's LMP2 class runners-up, made their long-awaited return to the series. Setting the fastest lap in qualifying and earning pole position honors, Jack Hedgcoxe and Matthew Rice in the #18 Gowin Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 fell to ninth at the finish, unable to convert their qualifying pace into a podium, following a car contact incident with the #81 Porsche in turn five, that sent the Gowin machine into the outside track barriers.
Completing the top ten was the #515 Wolf Motorsport Simracing Porsche, with German duo Markus Jung and Claudio Di Santo holding off late pressure to secure valuable points.
Post-Race Quotes
Erol Ureksoy, #65 Vulture Motorsports Ford: "Absolutely thrilled! Laguna being Laguna, we put in a ton of practice time for this race and it really paid off. The car was magic, the setup was perfect – stable, predictable all the way through the stint, we couldn’t have asked for more out of the Mustang GT3."
"Two in a row is huge for us, and we want to keep that streak going! And a team P1 and P2 is the best result we could hope for. We feel like we have the momentum going in our favor now and want to keep riding that momentum into VIR in a few weeks."
Jeff Carollo, #65 Vulture Motorsports Ford: "It was a good race, and the setup we had built was amazing. Traffic with the GTPs and LMP2s for sure split the top six up from each other early on. But maintaining the gap and putting a charge on after the yellow flag was huge. And having the 64 car finish p2 behind us is awesome. I'm glad they were able to play as our 2023 era checo at Laguna Seca."
Gary Brown, #64 Vulture Motorsports Ford: "We are very excited to have a solid finish. Laguna was a challenge for me to get down and be able to complete safe laps consistently so I am super happy with my performance for sure and really happy with Justin's run and the team as a whole."
"It felt good to come back after Sebring and bring the result home again. It was a real gut punch after Sebring to get that penalty so we were really happy to have a solid performance in the next race to show it was not a fluke."
"It is going to take dedication and practice each race to be ready for the grind. With the proper preparation and practice, I think we can keep the results coming and hopefully have a run at the championship!"
Justin DeLano, #64 Vulture Motorsports Ford: "We had the pace in this race but what really set us apart was the strategy. We made the call after the safety car to switch up strategy and by the end of the race we were challenging the sister car for the win. We lost about five seconds on the driver swap going off strategy and got tangled with a GTP that caused us to get a drive through but we had the strategy so perfect that everyone’s last round of pit stops put us up at the front."
Robert JM Artur, #555 PULSAR eSports Team McLaren: "We feel amazing. This P3 result is the culmination of two weeks of intensive work where finally all our value and potential translated into points and a podium. We're very happy, even though I think we let the victory slip through our fingers a bit, so it's also a little bit bittersweet for us."
"We had a well-defined strategy that ensured any and all eventualities, including regardless of where the full course yellow came from. We were fast, consistent and prepared for everything. Unfortunately, we made an unintended tire change on the last pit stop, due to a technical error, where we lost an unnecessary 40 seconds, ending up 30 seconds behind the leader."
"Unfortunately, luck has not been on our side. We have achieved excellent results, but unfortunately, due to external factors, podiums and victories have been taken away from us. But we are focused, strong, united and this year will be the turning point."
Marco Vilela, #555 PULSAR eSports Team McLaren: "It was so good to be back in the car and competing. After some personal issues, tackling this event was just amazing because during the preparation and the race, I managed to completely disconnect from the problems and focus on the racing."
"Honestly, I was surprised by my pace, both in the race and especially in Qualifying, because it's not a track where I'm usually fast. Starting from P4 was really good, and from there it was just about doing what I do best – managing the traffic and following our strategy."
Championship Picture Shifts Ahead of VIR
With four rounds now completed in the 2025 VSCA SportsCar Championship, the title fight continues to heat up. SWF Motorsports still leads the GT AM standings, but the margin has narrowed. Off in the Esses Racing remains in second, 51 points behind, while Wastegate Racing’s consistent results have propelled them into third.
In the Sprint Cup standings, the win gives Vulture Motorsports’ #65 Mustang a commanding lead, followed by the #555 McLaren and their own #64 Mustang in third. The championship resumes on April 26 at Virginia International Raceway for the fifth round of the season. With momentum now clearly on the side of Vulture Motorsports, the rest of the GT AM field will be eager to respond.
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