Pirelli GT4 America ready for the fifth race of the season. Cars formed up and we have a green flag with a 37 car field for race one of two. Eric Filgueiras leads from the pole. Filgueiras leading the pack to the green. RS1 looking for their fifth win of the year, sharing with Stevan McAleer. Tow and three wide as Gavin Sanders pressing Filgueiras already, the Canadian, going for it. Porsche over Mercedes. Ah. Kris Wilson, the veteran racer moves past Sanders. Welcome back, Capstone Motorsports. Kris Wilson will be sharing the car with Cole Ciraulo for this one hour race. Porsche Cayman looking strong. Full Course Yellow. Dear me.
That is the #47 Nolasport Porsche Cayman GT4 off the road. Jason Hart, his co-driver, raced last weekend at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a JMW Ferrari. Noble, buried in the tire bundle. A frantic start to this race and GT4 globally has grown in a massive way but especially in SRO GT4 America. We were expecting to see 40 some odd cars but there's still a tremendous field with Pro-Am driver lineups with a lot of downforce. The budgets are reasonable compared to GT3 as well. Every car is GT4 homologated while the classes are based on driver gradings by the FIA. Silver, for Silver rated drivers younger and older. Then there is Pro-Am, for Silver and Bronze, and Am is for nonprofessional drivers. Wilson got a run on Sanders and Edgar Lau in the Ford Mustang almost crashed as well!
That was a close one. Eric Filgueiras leads the motor race. Eric Filgueiras and Stevan McAleer are doing all they can to emerge as de facto favorites week in and week out. Big damage including on the rear wing of the Nolasport Porsche Cayman. They will have to thrash because of having to be ready for race two tomorrow. Jason Hart and Scott Noble lead the championship. Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer are their rivals who won NOLA last time and Adelson won GT4 in the GT America race we saw earlier in the day today.
Premier Motorsports has a lot of the team from the old White Lightning team from the American Le Mans Series and the Grand A Rolex Sports Car Championship, as we have an extended delay. In GT4, these are initially production cars. From that point on, certain chassis' are selected for racing and then homologated by the SRO technical team and so you get a great variety of cars, different brands, different engines, and so on. Horses for courses is the case depending on the circuit. Many great platforms we have seen. Tons of great cars in the field as the Random Vandals Racing BMW is stopped on the road, car #98, BMW M4 GT4 dead stick. Earlier in the weekend, the new BMW M4 GT4 was unveiled for racing next year.
Customer cars are bought by enthusiasts who want to go racing. Things for parts and adjustments on these cars in GT4 are becoming more accessible and the new car will be even more user friendly and easier to work on with customer racing and dedicated support teams on site for every race. Cole Ciraulo says he is gettng used to transitioning to the Mercedes AMG GT4 compared to the BMW M4 GT4. He likes the car using a sequential gearbox. Cole Ciraulo says the team has gotten podiums at VIR and he loves the atmosphere of the track as well.
We are going red flag for barrier repairs. This is the last race of the day. We can stop the clock and get the full race in. The tire barrier needs to be repaired. A quick barrier repair for a red flag and now the race is back undreway with 40 minutes to go. Ryan Dexter being chased by Tom Capizzi who is loose and James Walker Jr. has moved to second place. Warren Dexter sliding through the esses. Clean the tires. Off and on for the BMW of Austen Smith! Yikes! Capizzi and Walker Jr. both pass. Capizzi leading the Pro-Am class. Watch the marbles on the side of the road.
Side by side between Kris Wilson and Gavin Sanders. Wilson slams the door in Sanders' face. Wilson has been at the motor racing game for decades while Sanders is a GT4 rookie. Filgueras is motoring away. Capstone Motorsports has an affiliation with the engineering program at the University of Alabama and are located near Road Atlanta. So, through the Rollercoaster they go, a 90 foot punge down to the Hog Pen corner. Not quite the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca but it is close. Wilson not opening the door on Sanders. The cars are slipping and sliding a wee bit but the tires are still relatively fresh.
Kevin Conway and Ryan Dexter are next in the order. Pit window will open next time by. The pit stop is required within a ten minute window. Oh dear. Incident in turn one as Steve Saleen is off in the Saleen S1 and Chris Gumprecht may also be off the road. Yes. Gumprecht has a lazy spin all by his lonesome. Pit window not open yet. The leaders don't get first dibs at it. Yellow flag. Local yellow as Tim Horrell is stranded on the road and we might be seeing a yellow. Many cars diving for the lane. Adam Adelson, Tom Capizzi, Jason Bell, Chris Cagnazzi, Sam Owen, and more. The strategists are on pins and needles right now.
The second RS1 Porsche is in, #83. 71 seconds the minimum pit stop delta as Damon Surshzyn hands his car to Greg Liefooghe. The mandatory delta for GT4 is 71 seconds including the stop. Filguieras and Sanders are in the lane. Capstone Racing rolling the dice. Kris Wilson stymied in traffic under yellow. He will not be able to uncork a fast lap. He will get leapfrogged. Horrell is still there. This is tricky for the stewards. 1:56 dead is the Crowdstrike fastest lap for Kris Wilson. Tim Horrell is compromised. Guy Cosmo now takes the fastest lap of the motor race. Wilson's times are still competitive as well.
However, this is not the most efficient method of slicing the cake. Horrell is still stranded on the road as Guy Cosmo is pushing hard for Steven Cameron Racing shwitching from BMW to Mercedes. The Dexter Racing Toyota Supra is there and so is Andrew Davis in the GMG Racing Aston Martin in the car that was started by Jason Bell. One lap before the window closes. Wilson should be in next time by. The car is still stranded on the road. They have to go Full Course Yellow after the pit window as Andy Lee clocks in the fastest lap in the Audi he shares with Elias Sabo as Kris Wilson is in the lane.
Cole Ciraulo will take over the car for the first time since Sonoma in April. We will be watching Stevan McAleer very closely running laps in the 1:54 range compared to 1:56 laps for Wilson and now we go Full Course Yellow with the safety car deployed on the road. Stevan McAleer punches it again and on the restart, there's a huge battle, three wide into turn one with John Capestro-Dubets getting a massive head of steam. McAleer has left and we see Guy Cosmo and Andeew Davis locking horns! Oh man! That move was just not on.
Just a tad over 20 minutes to go, speeding through that uphill section in a GT4 car at 130 miles an hour. Michai Stephens and John Geesbreght moving up on Ciraulo. Capstone vs. Conquest, a couple Mercedes teams and Stephens hangs on over Ciraulo. John Geesbreght in the Toyota Supra waiting for a mistake from the leaders. That Toyota Supra is an incredible customer car. John Capestro Dubets is next up over Mike Skeen and Elliott Skeer. Mustang vs. Porsche. Skeen is not an easy bloke to pass. Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer swept the races at NOLA Motorsports Park last time out.
Big damage to John Geesbreght's Toyota on the rear bumper. John Capestro-Dubets wants a bite of the cherry. He is the first place Pro-Am car, fifth overall. He has to be freaked out by that loose bodywork on the Supra and for the final podium place in Silver, Geesbreght fighting Ciraulo. Big accident as Dominic Starkweather has a massive wreck in the Dexter Racing Supra through The Snake! Wow! Michai Stephens will be right on McAleer's six. Oh man! That looks like another big accident out of turn five! Zane, Ryan, and Warren Dexter. Zane, the father, Ryan and Warren, brothers. We have had races interrupted. Deep fields, and drivers getting their elbows out at these old school circuits.
Less than 14 minutes of this race left. Gavin Sanders says that his team can take the fight to the leaders. This is the same Conquest team Eric Bachelart ran in IndyCar and they have gotten into sports car and GT racing. Eric Bachelart was a great driver in his day. Now he is a team boss. Ten minutes on the board and we might be able to get a few more laps. Will the tire barrier be serviceable? That is the question. GT4 America is so successful. But as you add cars, the odds of a mistake are greater and the chances of accidents and delays in these races goes up.
Bimmerworld would love to win at their home track. James Clay sharing with Charlie Postins. Clay will take the car home. Seth Thomas got a late call up to replace Thomas Merrill who was the fastest Bronze driver in GTE Am at Le Mans. Thomas in the #19 NOLASport Porsche Cayman sharing with Alain Stad. John Capestro-Dubets (JCD), the GT4 racing in SRO is the most competitive and door to door racing he can find. He coaches other drivers. This team has been on the podium every race this year.
Professional drivers coach their students and then bring them up through the ranks to a top level like GT4 America and then they can collaborate if they are teammates. The coach and the student both benefit and it can extend a driver's caereer. Driver coaching has become really pervasive in the last decade especially in road racing, in sports car racing. Driver coaches can also read data and correlate it to what their students are doing. Go look at the data, and the video. Don't beat around with lap times. Take a break from driving for a day or so and have a reset.
So, we are at the make or break point of going to green or staying under yellow before the checkers and that's all she wrote. There's not enough time on the board to do another lap. They might have to flag it early if work is going on, on the circuit. Johann Schwarz, with Todd Brown, his mother has been watching his races on TV but she is watching her son race in person, and so is his sister who watches from Spain. This is the white flag lap with a minute on the clock. Johann Schwarz was gone for a year or two after racking up titles in touring car but he is back with Rooster Hall Racing in GT4 America.
Tomorrow, on Father's Day, we will have more races. Stevan McAleer will be on pole for tomorrow. John Capestro-Dubets, the Pro-Am leader. We will have a really mixed up candy dish of a grid, the Pro drivers starting tomorrow's race. We could see the B-Sport Aston Martin make a jump. For the fifth straight weekend, it is RS1 winning in Pirelli GT4 America.
Overall/Silver: #28 McAleer/Filgueiras RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport
Pro-Am: #52 Capestro-Dubets/Capizzi Auto Technic BMW M4 GT4
Am: #36 Clay/Postins Bimmerworld BMW M4 GT4
We have seen some penalties handed out. Not sure exactly what those are for. McAleer and Filgueiras, and their team have been at the top of the shop all season. Andy Lee, 1:54.727, is the fastest lap of the race in the #8 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT4 that Lee shares with Elias Sabo. Many teams will be burning the midnight oil in all classes before the second races tomorrow here at Virginia International Raceway as the cars return to the paddock area.
McAleer and Filgueiras have really been dominating the season so far. Anything can happen. McAleer will be managing the tires. With the competition and the heat, John Capestro-Dubets was amazed and the same is true with Tom Capizzi. They were having troubles all weekend, but Auto Technic are really pushing themselves to go for it. Have fun, friendship, and camaraderie. You have to dig deep. Believe in yourselves. James Clay and Charlie Postins have been win ing and they have won one race at their home track. Second one of the year in Am. Can they sweep up tomorrow?
We'll see about that tomorrow. See you tomorrow for more racing action. Good night, everybody.
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