SRO America waves the green flag on 2020 season

Spring is just around the corner, which means the SRO America racing series is about to kick off its 2020 season. The first competition takes place at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, and will feature all three SRO America series: GT World Challenge America, Pirelli GT4 America and TC America. Engines from seven different manufacturers will go head to head as they look to start the season off with a strong result.

In the GT World Challenge America series, defending champions Martin Barkey and Kyle Marcelli of Racers Edge Motorsports will try to build on a remarkable 2019 season, during which the Canadian drivers finished on the podium nine times in 14 races.

The Pirelli GT4 America Sprint series, meanwhile, is guaranteed to have a new champion this year after 2019 winner Ian James chose not to return in 2020. Among the favorites is last year's second-place finisher, Michael Cooper, who racked up three wins in 2019 and already has three season-long championships on his resume.

The TC America competition will feature a strong 34-car TCR, TC and TCA field, with two of last year's champions returning for the 2020 season. Michael Hurczyn will look to defend his TCR Driver's Championship in his #71 FCP Euro Volkswagen Golf GTI, while the 2019 TCA Driver's Champion and Rookie of the Year, Tyler Maxson, will move into the TCR class this year behind the wheel of the new #74 Copeland Motorsports Hyundai Veloster N.

In addition to opening the new season, this weekend's action also will mark the debut of a new tire on the World Challenge America cars. The Pirelli P Zero DHE tire will replace the P Zero DHD2 tire used during the 2019 SRO America regular season. The P Zero DHE is expected to make its debut in the GT World Challenge series in Europe and Asia, as well.

SRO founder and CEO Stephane Ratel believes the new tire will keep pace with the needs of the constantly evolving cars, while also allowing the race teams to build on the knowledge gained in previous seasons. Pirelli has also made enhancements to its GT4 tire for the 2020 season, upgrading it to GT3 technology. The changes were made in response to the growth of GT4 technology.

The competition at Circuit of The Americas this weekend will include a wide variety of makes and models, such as the Porsche 718 Cayman, McLaren 570S, Aston Martin Vantage and Ford Mustang GT4 in the Pirelli GT4 America competition; Ferrari 488, Mercedes-AMG, Bentley Continental and Porsche 911 GT3 in the GT World Challenge America race; and Honda Civic Type-R, BMW M240i Racing Cup, Hyundai Veloster N TC and Subaru BRZ tS in the TC America competitions.

After the action wraps in Austin this weekend, the Pirelli GT4 America and TC America circuits will head to the Streets of St. Petersburg in Florida the following weekend, March 13 through 15. The GT World Challenge America, meanwhile, is off until May, when it competes next at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park outside Toronto.