It is time for the second race of the weekend in Pirelli GT4 America as the championship is going down to the wire, here on the legendary concrete runways of Sebring International Raceway. The season is coming down to the wire. Eric Filgueiras and Stevan McAleer will be battling Michai Stephens and Gavin Sanders for the Pro-Am class. We have a 31 car field for race two today. No elevation change here at Sebring and this place has character even with no elevation change. We are ready to race. Safety car lights off down the Ulmann straight. Polesitter, RS1 and the #18 Porsche Cayman of Eric Filgueiras and Stevan McAleer. Jason Hart outside pole with Scott Noble! Green! Five wide already! John Capestro-Dubets, no, Zack Anderson, pressing hard. James Clay, is off the the road with damage and so is the Rob Walker and Alex Filsinger BMW.
McAleer going for it and here comes Jason Hart as well through Big Bend for the first time. Jason Hart really pushing. RS1 vs. Nolasport in Porsche Cayman's. Aaron Telitz, Alexandre Premat, Kenton Koch, and more. Argy bargy already as Gavin Sanders is pushing hard out of Tower corner. A one hour sprint race as Alexandre Premat tries Zack Anderson on the curbs. Track limits. 60 minutes, two drivers, and mandatory pit stop at halfway only for the driver change. Pro's start and Am's take it home as Jason Hart is second on the road.
The Porsche teams are fighting for the title. Zack Anderson jumps to seventh and second in Silver with Premat losing places. The Pirelli P Zero tires will be up to pressure and the tires will be greasy with the heat. Debris on the road someplace. Oh man! Elliott Skeer divebombs over the curbs! The Am class champions, James Clay and Charlie Postins, have trouble. He got tagged or made contact. McAleer opening his lead as Jason Hart is chasing. Aaron Telitz in P3 sharing that Toyota Supra with Todd Coleman. Kenton Koch passes Andy Lee for third in Pro-Am. Lee sharing with Elias Sabo. The B Sport car I believe is tied with the BMW M4 GT4 of John Capestro-Dubets and Tom Capizzi.
McAleer half a second up. 2:13.4 to 2:13.9 for Jason Hart as there is still debris on the track. The Conquest Mercedes of Gavin Sanders has moved up to 19th place in six minutes after starting caboose on the grid, fifth in Silver. Stevan McAleer leading the motor race. They had a fuel pump parts failure in the race yesterday. Filgueiras says they need to do their job and focus on what they can control. Maximize performance and execute. Trouble with the engine for the Conquest Mercedes. #34 has to finish second to be in contention for the title when we get to the finale at Indianapolis. Terry Borcheller driving through a dust cloud sharing a Toyota Supra in Am with Nick Shanny.
That is the Karas Kallas Racing car. Borcheller due to age is a Bronze rated driver but he is still extremely quick. Anderson had to run wide racing with Alexandre Premat who is a GT racer and also spent time in Australian Supercars for a spell. Andy Lee is pushing hard against Kenton Koch who moves to second past Aaron Telitz with Andy Lee right on his six. Elliott Skeer too, is sixth overall and has moved up a couple places, fifth in the Pro-Am class. The SRO race stewards have been begging the GT4 drivers to clean up the racing and the drivers have listened.
Andy Lee though, has forced his way past Aaron Telitz. Gavin Sanders is still going up. Sanders passes Caleb Bacon for fourth in Silver. Stevan McAleer is now two seconds up on Jason Hart and Zack Anderson in seventh is the next Silver rated driver. Premat has his hands full with John Capestro-Dubets. Sanders' co-driver Michai Stephens waits to be interviewed as we have reception trouble at the end of the pit lane. Rats. Sanders is 18 seconds down on McAleer. He is chasing Zack Anderson however. Still 45 minutes on the board. They'll keep digging at Conquest. That is for sure. Part two after the pit stops, the Am drivers will be racing against a Pro-Am car with an Am driver in the seat.
Stephens will make hay while the sun shines. There are sprinkles. The team is rolling out rain tires. Second place is where Stephens and Sanders have to finish and they believe the impossible can be possible. Dive into the unknown and see what on earth happens. No fear. Stay in the moment. Push it and push hard. Good scrap between Aaron Povoledo, Justin Piscitell, and Devin Jones. BMW M4 GT4 vs. two Aston Martin Vantage GT4's. Andy Lee is pushing hard, cutting a 2:12.8, 3.10ths up on Kenton Koch and chasing Jason Hart.
Adam Adelson has moved past Premat and so has John Capestro-Dubets. Elliott Skeer, sharing with Adam Adelson, he is drawing a bead on Aaron Telitz. Roll speed through the apex of the turn. Diving to the inside of the BMW, they make contact, and the BMW barges over the curbs. Premat, Anderson, Capestro-Dubets. James Sofronas looking on, team boss at GMG, and a champion racer in his own right in this form of racing, in SRO. Skeer is monstering Telitz with 40 minutes left on the board. Jason Hart still second.
Oh wow. Premat and Anderson still side by side through turns 15 and 16 headed for Sunset Bend. Capestro-Dubets watching to see where on earth he can make his move. The pit window will open soon, in five mnutes, for a ten-minute window for driver changes only. Lee monstering Koch but Kenton Koch is a tough cookie. Gavin Sanders caught Al Carter at Random Vandals Racing but cannot get by the #98 BMW M4 GT4 he shares with Paul Sparta. Al Carter showing the pace, 15th overall and second in Am behind Terry Borcheller. Many of these cars cannot afford dirty air. Watch your dashboard and your engine temperature gauges and alarms.
Don't put the car in default mode. Slipstreaming is important with these cars, but they are much more road based compared to the GT3 cars. Premat chasing hard. He is regaining his footing and catching up to the Pro-Am competition for fourth and fifth place. Kenton Koch and Andy Lee in a battle for the Pro-Am podium just behind Jason Hart. Koch keeping Lee at bay for now. Their amateur drivers, Scott Noble, Bryan Putt, and Elias Sabo, respectively, will have work to do before we get to Indianapolis in two weeks for the final races of 2022. McAleer and Filgueiras are maximizing the drive time.
Sabo gearing up. Team manager at Flying Lizard Motorsports, Steven Costello, checking in on things as Johann Schwartz takes over the #80 Rooster Hall Racing BMW M4 GT4 to Todd Brown. Stevan McAleer has had the pace in Pirelli GT4 America and in other championships too. He has run GT4, GT3, LMP3, a lot of different places. McAleer is a nervous flyer but he can fly in a race car on terra firma just the same. Jason Hart and Matt Travis won the title last year with nine wins and 11 podiums. Tim Horrell finishing his stint, carried to the wall, driving with hand controls as Raphael Matos is next into the car.
85 seconds is minimum stop time in Pirelli GT4 America. Everyone must serve their pit stops by the 25 minutes remaining mark. Stevan McAleer to the pit lane with 31 minutes to go. Eric Filgueiras will take over and finish this race out. Good stop at RS1. Conquest are in with Michai Stephens getting into the car, replacing Gavin Sanders who has completed his stint. Pit trouble for the #18? That can't be right. 85 seconds, minimum delta. Some teams using their jokers today. More pit stops. Koch and Lee keep scrapping hard. Lee is running extremely well. Alex Premat in for GMG Racing and now Jay Logan takes over the car #71.
Koch and Lee are the ones we are watching. Next time by all these cars should be in the lane. Nobody running afoul of the pit lane delta and a few are using their jokers. Jaden Lander hands to Anthony Geraci, and James Walker Jr. takes over from Devin Jones. Hart turns the #47 over to Noble. Bryan Putt takes over from Kenton Koch and Elliott Skeer hands over to Adam Adelson and now Elias Sabo takes over the Flying Lizard Aston Martin. Sabo loses some time. So the positional battle is Nolasport vs. BSport. Teams continue looking at the radar. We could see raindrops before this race ends. Could mother nature throw a wrench in the works? Now it is Filgueiras vs. Noble for the overall lead. Bryan Putt chasing but cannot quite get there.
Elias Sabo still on the button and he is doing all he can to move in. At Conquest, Michai Stephens has less traffic and has gained a place over Kevin Conway and Smooge Racing's Toyota Supra. 22 minutes to go. Todd Coleman under attack from Austen Smith and now, Michai Stephens wants it too. He elbows past Coleman. Into Kristensen corner, a TRG Porsche is off and so is Coleman with damage to the right front corner, however he has regrouped. Check that. No damage to the Toyota Supra. Target acquired, but it is a hornet's nest in Pro-Am with a couple Silver class cars mixed into this scrum. Coleman being harried by Tom Capizzi.
Behind these two it is the Smooge Racing Supra of Aaron Telitz and John Geesbreght. For second place and the Silver running order, it is Michai Stephens going after Tom Capizzi. One of two drive through penalties for speeding in the lane is Jay Logan, co-driver for Alexandre Premat at GMG Racing. The #10 Raphael Matos car shared with Tim Horrell has served a penalty. Austen Smith runs wide in turn 12. Wow. Michai Stephens must find a solution to this riddle. He is hanging tough, going for it trying to catch Kevin Conway and John Geesbreght at Smooge Racing. Andy Lee says good things about Kenton Koch and BSport, having fun battling them.
Elias Sabo is going for it and he was told by his team mate, go out and run qualifying laps, and that is what he is doing. He has been close to a podium and got a win in GT America earlier today in GT4 competition. Michai Stephens has made the pass. Could Elias Sabo get another win today? We shall see in another 16 minutes and change. Stephens and Conquest need a miracle. In Am we can see Nick Shanny and Paul Sparta scrapping for position. Anthony Geraci next up. Geraci has pace over Sparta and Shanny as well. Sparta to the inside taking the lead into Sunset Bend.
Wow. That is putting the cat among the pigeons. Gizmo the raccoon, their team mascot will love it. Geraci has Damon Surzshyn behind him. James Clay and Charlie Postins will not recover after dominating this season so far. Nick Shanny is really improving as a driver and Elias Sabo spins! Oh no! He is loose. The handling on that Aston Martin is not right. He went to the inside, bailed out, hit the dust, and spun off the road. Sabo is getting the handling back. Wow. That was wildly close. I think he rushed up on Bryan Putt, bailed out, and spun. Eric Filgueiras really wants to make this all work out after troubles yesterday.
They had a fuel pump issue in race one. The points fight is tightening up going into the Indianapolis doubleheader finale. Stephens in second in the Silver class. Gavin Sanders wants to see a yellow if they can get it. John Farrow, one of the team bosses at Conquest, he has really helped young drivers find a place in motor racing. Eric Bachelart also really in the fight. They had a great run yesterday in Fanatec GTWC America with Manny Franco and Alessandro Balzan. Custodio Toledo is third and looking for a first podium. He is also racing with Conquest Racing, running with Paolo Carasci, the 1991 Brazilian Formula 3 champion.
Elias Sabo now back on the button chasing down Bryan Putt. Putt, 2:16.7, and Sabo, 2:14.8! Holy smokes! Jay Logan, a lapped car. Michai Stephens is still really pressing hard. Turn up the pressure. It is go time. Scott Noble still leads Pro-Am running second overall. Corner speeds at Sunset bend range from 74.5 to 76.5 miles an hour with Anthony Geraci, and a mix of Toyota Supra's and Mercedes AMG GT4's. It is a long, long corner at Sunset Bend with a blind apex and bumps all over the place. Geraci and Toledo second and third in the Am class as Stephens has passed Sabo. Sabo needs to throw the anchor out if he is going to keep pushing.
Putt and Koch came in 15 points behind Sabo and Lee. Putt is not giving up the place to Stephens. This is a bear. Less than four minutes to go. Stephens and Sabo run over the debris and now, Geraci is in the lane. Krugspeed with a problem for their Toyota Supra! Oh man. Nick Shanny back on the Am podium and Johann Schwarz is going for it as well. He and Todd Brown can get a podium out of this as Bryan Putt is fending off the challenge from Michai Stephens and Putt slams the door in his face. Sabo though is right on top of Putt!
What is going to happen here? Two minutes left. Scott Noble leading Pro-Am. He is going for it as they were tied with Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer. 13 points would be the advantage headed to the finale at Indianapolis. Nolasport, a premier Porsche team in the country. RS1 as well, another team with great pedigree. White flag for Eric Filgueiras. No chance to clinch the title yet, but we shall see. It all went pear shaped yesterday for them. But today they might just make it. Final lap. Random Vandals too look like they are going to win Am if they can keep it together for one more lap. Toledo second and Tom Collingwood third but with Johann Schwarz steaming right along and coming in a hurry.
Paul Sparta and Random Vandals won in class and finished second here at Sebring a year ago. They are closing in on a first win in 2022. No worries for RS1. Filgueiras and McAleer win it! 2:12.321, fastest lap goes to Stevan McAleer and he set it in this race, early doors.
Overall/Silver: #18 Filgueiras/McAleer RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport
Pro Am: #47 Noble/Hart NOLASport Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport
Am: #98 Sparta/Carter Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4
Sabo gets around Putt who loses places! Something went wrong and he has bodywork damage does Elias Sabo! Oh man! Sparta and Carter are going to win in Am. Putt ran wide and lost speed. Out of petrol, maybe? No argy bargy. That was legit. Two races to go, in two weeks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the finale. We will see you next time, from The Brickyard. For now, bye bye. GT World Challenge America, coming up next with race two.
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