Saturday, April 1, 2023

Pirelli GT4 America: Sonoma, Race 1

We are set and ready to go for the opening 2023 race of SRO America's Pirelli GT4 America category, here in the wine country of northern California at Sonoma Raceway.  A brand new season brings a brand new challenge to the drivers and teams in this championship.  The welcome mat is rolled out for 2023.  We join Ryan Myrehn and Calvin Fish in the commentary box, and Amanda Busick reporting from pit lane and we are looking, ladies and gentlemen, at the strongest grid ever assembled in the series' history, perhaps.  40 cars are set to start and it is hard to pick a favorite from any of the three class in Silver, Pro-Am, and Am.  This is the final race of Saturday.  Conquest Racing and Jesse Webb sharing with Michai Stephens are ready to go and we have a great field of drivers.  Isabella Robusto will run solo this weekend as her intended co-driver has been injured, who is Jose DaSilva and we will see him later in the season.

43 cars will start.  Nissan is debuting their new Nissan Z GT4 today.  A great field and mix of machinery.  Let's get this season and the party started.  Two drivers sharing a car in a one hour race with a pit stop window right in the middle for a driver change only.  No tire changes.  Green flag and away we go!  Michai Stephens takes the lead from Matt Travis as we see cars thee wide in the middle of the pack and one of the Heart of Racing Aston Martin's has just spun off and stacked up a ton of cars!  It is a traffic jam and the track is completely blocked.  Goodness gracious!  

Did I jinx it when I said we needed to stay clean?  Everyone is backed up with that Heart of Racing Aston facing the wrong way.  I can see three other cars facing he right way on the course.  I think that is the new Nissan Z GT4 and there are a couple of Porsche Cayman's also bottled up in this mess.  Local yellow for now as everyone drives away.  All cars involved can continue but a difficult start for some of the competitors.  Hannah Grisham is one of the drivers caught up in the mess on her debut with an all-female team for The Heart of Racing Aston Martin team in Pirelli GT4 America.  Hannah Grisham sharing the #26 car with Rianna O'Meara-Hunt from New Zealand.

At the front it is Conquest Racing.  They rattled RS1's cage in the championship last year and of course RS1 are now in GT World Challenge America.  A new driver lineup at Conquest that features Michai Stephens and another Canadian, Jesse Webb.  Webb leads Matt Travis and third place is Francis Seldorff the second of the three ACI Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport's.  Seldorff sharing alongside veteran Porsche driver Andrew Davis.  The BMW drivers say the handling on the new 2023 M4 has great handling.  They are down on power but they are going for it.  Zack Anderson sharing with John Capestro Dubets.  

Zack Anderson has a chance to run at the pointy end of the field.  Auto Technic Racing is the team and they are ready to start 2023 off with a bang.  Zack Anderson is in his late 30s.  A ton of damage there on the #99 Toyota GR Supra.  That is the #999 TGR Hanley Motorsports Toyota GR Supra GT4 Evo.  Daniel Hanley sharing the car with Canadian Parker Thompson who is at the wheel of it now and he has damage aplenty and will have to get to pit lane for repairs.  The #32 GMG Racing Porsche Cayman is also stopped on course.  Kyle Washington is at the wheel of it, sharing with James Sofronas, longtime world challenge driver and principal of the GMG Racing team.  

By criminy!  We have another car in the lanr as well being worked on.  That is another Toyota Supra.  It is red, and I am trying to catch the number and the team who runs it.  That is the #37 TGR Skip Barber Racing School Supra being driven by Carter Fartuch and Matt Forbush.  Carter Fartuch ran in the touring car ranks last year in SRO America and has moved up to GT4 but this is not the way he wanted his first career GT4 event to pan out.  Matt Forbush currently at the wheel of the Supra.  Conquest Racing leading Nolasport, two of the best teams in the SRO GT4 America seasons in the past.  Matt Travis leading Pro-Am.  He is surrounded by Silver ranked cars as we are under safety car.  Matt Travis and Jason Hart won the title in 2021.  

But they are reunited.  Travis pulled a Nico Rosberg, winning a title and disappearing but then coming back.  Jesse Webb in the Conquest Racing car raced street stock production cars in Canada.  There is another stranded car.  He did some short track stock car racing and some road racing.  He is driving for the first time in a true race car and he loves the Mercedes-AMG GT4.  Longtime engineer Ian Willis is an engineer for their team at Conquest Racing.  JMF is John Farrow, a Canadian businessman and racing enthusiast.  He decided to do so "gong show" type shootouts for finding great drivers and Jesse Webb is the next prospect.

So, let's see what has happened in the shemozzle.  It is game over for Todd Coleman and Billy Johnson  Broke suspension.  They will be back tomorrow.  Carter Fartuch said that they need to replace bodywork and a punctured tire.  It is great to have 43 cars starting these races but you know that there is bound to be contact.  The cars run great in large packs and the racing can be a wee bit too close sometimes.  The racing is good thus far.  You know Conquest want things to go by the book and run competitively.  Toyota is the official vehicle of SRO America.  A Toyota Supra safety car and a Toyota Highlander SUV medical car.

Go check out the Toyota GR Cup one make series on SRO GTWorld on YouTube.  I think you will like what you see.  Another car to have a Captain Cook at is the new McLaren Artura GT4 which replaces the 570S GT4 which was a design that was very long in the tooth.  That car debuted back in 2017.  The GT4 game is raising the bar and the cars are getting better and better.  McLaren has answered the bell.  The car is a hybrid in street form but for GT4 they take the hybrid unit out. Tim Pappas and Jeroen Bleekemolen will share the car.  They have run together in several championships over the years and are looking to do well with the new McLaren Artura platform.

48 minutes to go as we are set for a restart.  Jesse Webb is set to lead the field on the restart.  Green flag.  Webb leading Travis who is the Pro-Am class leader as well.  Single file restart and I think everyone will be able to get through without falling like dominos.  Zack Anderson is now chasing Francis Selldorff.  Mercedes, Porsche, Porsche, BMW, Toyota Supra, BMW and so on down the list with a great mix of brands and models at the top of the shop.  GT4 is booming globally.  I am so sorry.  I just have not been able to get to any GT4 European Series action from last year and now they too will have their season beginning soon.  I do apologize.

We are now watching Chris Walsh aboard the #96 Valkyrie Velocity Racing Porsche Cayman.  They have three cars entered and Walsh is sharing with Dominic Starkweather.  Their other two cars are #95 and #97.  #95 has the duo of Rob Ferriol and Canadian Mac Clark, and #97 is being piloted by Sean Gibbons and Sam Owen, two drivers who are longtime competitors in Pirelli GT4 America racing.  Good start by Conquest and Zac Anderson is chasing Francis Selldorff.  Again, a great mix of manufacturers.  Walsh passing Tyler Maxson.  Maxson is a touring car racing expert and he is picking up the mantle in GT4 America in 2023.

Tyler Maxson is sharing with Tyler Gonzalez.  It is the Tyler and Tyler show at TGR Copeland Motorsports in the #74 Toyota GR Supra GT4.  Chris Walsh has made the pass and poor old Tyler Maxson is in a spot of bother.  Our past touring car champion in SRO America, Kevin Boehm, he is getting his feet wet in GT4 now and sharing a BMW M4 GT4 with Kenton Koch driving for CrowdStrike Racing by Random Vandals.  That is the first of two cars they have in the championship in 2023.  The sister car is the #98 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4 driven by Al Carter and Paul Sparta and like other BMW teams they are using the new Gen II M4 platform this year.

Charlie Postins, too, is back at it, racing with James Clay.  Postins said at the end of last year that he was not sure he'd come back to race but he changed his mind and said "OK, I'm back.  I am having way too much fun doing this!"  Glad to see the Brit back in the series.  Postins is challenging Kevin Conway aboard the #68 Smooge Racing Toyota Supra.  Conway sharing the second car in that team with John Geesbreght.  Of course the second car was meant to be the #67 of Jose DaSilva and Isabella Robusto.  We will see them racing more later in the year at other tracks visited by Pirelli GT4 America I am sure.  

ACI Motorsports another new team in GT4 America but not new to having Porsche based equipment.  This is the car of Curt Swearingin, #7.  He is sharing this Cayman with Kay van Berlo.  Their second car is the #19 of Andrew Davis and Francis Selldorff that we've mentioned already.  Plus, the third car on the team is the #58 entry being shared by Richard Edge and Matt Halcome.  Swearingin is a driver but is also the team boss of ACI Motorsports based out of Chattanooga, Tennessee.  Great to see Kevin Conway and John Geesbreght racing.  They ran Am in 2021, Silver in 2022, and are now in Pro-Am in 2023.  Former NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year is Kevin Conway.  

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, it is all quiet on the western front.  Jesse Webb is two seconds to the good in the lead of the motor race, to Matt Travis running in second spot.  It should be noted Travis is indeed the Pro-Am class leader.  Again, classes based on driver ratings while every car in the field from all the different brands with their models and shapes, is built to GT4 specification.  Side by side racing down the hill through turn number four.  Wow.  Oh dear!  As we were watching Custodio Toledo make a pass, Tim Pappas has spun the new McLaren Artura GT4 and has lost a wheel in the process!  Full Course Yellow.  Not only did the McLaren lose the wheel but the car is spewing fluid out the back which is being dumped onto the racing surface.

Yikes!  It looks like there is an Aston Martin also involved in this shemozzle.  Cannot catch the number or the team it is for.  The door opens in The Carousel.  But as soon as you crest the hill, you are without any front end grip and you just wash out and hope and pray that you'll recover.  That did not happen here.  Tim Pappas was the innocent victim.  Who is the villain of the peace?  It appears to be Gray Newell.  Oh my!  The right front corner on that Aston is totally smashed.  The innocent bystander is another Aston Martin.  It is the van der Steur Racing #428 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 being driven by Brady Behrman and Coby Shield.

We are familiar with van der Steur from another GT4 series, the IMSA sanctioned one.  But, I think this is their first foray into SRO GT4 America.  Full Course Yellow for the second time with 43 minutes left on the board.  Before that (so she is indeed in this race and coming forward), we say Isabella Robusto gain a place aboard the #67 TGR Smooge Racing Toyota Supra.  That is the sister car to the Conway/Geesbreght #68 entry.  Isabella Robusto is running solo and was supposed to run with Jose Dasilva.  He hurt his hand weeks ago and was not ready to go racing.  Isabella Robusto is driving solo, and so, when she makes the pit stop for the driver change (since she does not have a co-driver for this event), get out of the car, go to the cold side of the pit wall, put one foot down, jump through a hula hoop and then get back in the car and spend an additional three seconds in the lane before getting back on track.

OK.  OK.  All kidding aside.  Isabella does not have to jump through a hula hoop!  These are racing drivers, not acrobats.  That hula hoop reference was a joke.  Tim Pappas and the Black Swan Racing McLaren is very secondhand and a cooler got split.  So, it is game over for that team on Saturday and I am not sure if they will make it for the race tomorrow either.  We'll have to see but I have my doubts.  Should we go back to green, pit lane will open in six minutes or so.  Jeroen Bleekemolen will not get to race today.  Haas Automotive is in the paddock with spares.  Now. there are three Haas teams.  This is Carl Haas, the famous Champ Car team owner from years gone by who partnered with the late, great Paul Newman.  It is not Gene Haas who owns the Haas Formula 1 team nor is it the Haas people who run Haas RT who won the Creventic 12 Hours of Mugello in Tuscany, Italy, last weekend.

Oh dear.  The cleanup is nearly done.  How will Jesse Webb handle another restart?  We have had glitches on timing and scoring and Grey Newell was the car that spun Tim Pappas around.  They ran touring cars elsewhere and now are running Aston Martin's in multiple GT4 championships.  There is still a car being rescued and the mandatory pit window for the driver changes is between 34:59 and 25:00 but that changes if the pit window opening coincides with an active safety car scramble.  The minimum pit lane time delta is 92 seconds.  

It is Jesse Webb who qualified and is starting for Conquest Racing.  The second drivers are suited and booted and are ready.  By regulation, in race one in the Pro-Am cars, the Am starts and gives way to the professional driver.  So, some heavy hitters in fast race cars are coming up as there is more debris on the road.  We could have to wait for a good, solid five or so minutes before getting back to green flag racing.  We should restart with just over half the race remaining.  The first race ever held here at Sonoma was an SCCA enduro race on December 1st, 1968.  A lot of people still call this place Sears Point.  The reason for that is, since the early 1900s, there was a farm here called Sears Point Farm.  It no longer exists.  But, that is where the original name came from.

You learn something new every day, even about motor racing history.  It has gone through a few name changes since but is now Sonoma Raceway.  Jason Hart is ready to go for his driving stint.  With the Pro-Am lineups, get your Am driver out of the car, and maximize the time for the Pro.  Jason Hart is now reunited with Matt Travis, his co-driver and pal, and they won the title together in this championship a couple years back in 2021.  Jason Hart and Scott Noble won last year with two wins, six podiums, and a team's championship for Nolasport.  Two second place finishes and two first place finishes between 2019 and 2022.  Jason  Hart drove a Ferrari for JMW at Le Mans last year and drove with some drivers we have seen in other SRO America races, as part of a team in the Creventic 24 Hours of Dubai back in January.

Elliott Skeer, Adam Adelson, Seth Lucas, and Jason Hart were second in a Pro-Am class in that race.  Hart has been up against some stiff competition and has done the job.  He is in Porsche Carrera Cup for the MDK Motorsports team as well as running for Nolasport in Pirelli GT4 America.  He is doing IMSA endurance races as well.  A man who is in demand due to his performance and what he can do behind the wheel of a sports car.  We're into the pit window now indeed and as soon as the race is restarted, one lap by and then we'll see wholesale pit stops for the driver changes.  No tire changes in Pirelli GT4 America.  

Normally, driver one has to take care of the tires but because of the extended safety car period that is something we don't have to worry about in race one this afternoon.  Execution in the driver change and the release of the car from the box.  92 seconds is the full delta from pit in to pit out including the stop.  Jason Hart tells us that it is great to be back with Matt Travis, the Nolasport team and their Porsche Cayman.  The weather is beginning to change and he says that we might have to turn up the oven a tad.  Our pal Gregg Creamer who used to call races for SRO America called Matt Travis "the world's fastest accountant/"  Creamer I believe is now calling motorcycle races for the most part.

The track sweeper is dispersing the speedy dry.  It is never a good feeling to run over speedy dry, the cement dust.  It is in the back of your mind as a driver, for sure.  Being the leader, speeding through that cement dust, is an uneasy feeling.  One more lap behind the safety car as the lights are not extinguished yet.  The drivers are weaving back and forth to heat the tires and the brakes.  Will drivers roll the dice?  We're going to have to find out.  What will the pace be like?  We need to hope that it does not go yellow again immediately.  That is a massive risk.

Cleanup continues.  We saw a couple cars involved in this most recent incident.  Game over for both Tim Pappas and Brady Behrman.  Other drivers were also caught up in the first Full Course Yellow we saw, Kyle Washington, Peter Atwater, Daniel Hanley, and Todd Coleman, are also all retirements from GT4 America race one at Sonoma.  They'll be back tomorrow to give it another go.  But they were caught in the first shemozzle that brought out the Full Course Yellow as everyone is giving the speedy dry a really wide berth.  Don't pick that up on hot Pirelli tires.  That's for dead sure.  

Keeping it clean in the lane with this massive field is going to be a bugaboo, perhaps.  Normally it is spread out, but with 40 cars diving for the lane at the same time with a tight pit lane with a curve in it, that'll be bonkers.  Jesse Webb leads the field.  We're going to see a stack up, maybe.  Green flag!  Webb leads back up the hill.  You can pass immediately before the start/finish line in 2023.  Things are clean now, cresting the top of turn three and down the hill through turn for, up through five and back down through The Carousel.  Zack Anderson runs off into the speedy dry and spins off the road!  I knew something was going to happen when they got to the speedy dry!

No grip for Anderson.  He recovers but, man oh man, he nearly went completely off the road!  Chris Walsh is trying to pass and now we see Elias Sabo, Johann Schwarz, James Walker Jr. and others in a scrum for position.  Andy Lee, Sabo's co-driver is even more focused and Flying Lizard Motorsports are racing at their home track this weekend.  Pit window is open and it is true, there are cars diving for the lane in Pro-Am.  A good number of takers but by no means is it everyone.  Jesse Webb in the meantime is motoring away from everyone and Zack Anderson is in second place.  

The cars staying out are gambling that it will stay green.  Driver change at Nolasport.  Likewise for the second Conquest Racing car.  Paolo Carasci is taking over from Custodio Toledo I believe.  Nolasport leads the queue out of the pit lane and back on track as we are well into the second half of race one in Pirelli GT4 America here at Sonoma.  Kenton Koch takes over the Random Vandals Crowdstrike BMW M4 GT4, car #92.  He is right behind the #37 Skip Barber Racing School Toyota Supra shared by Carter Fartuch and Matt Forbush.  Now, maybe that is Copeland Motorsports who are actually running a spare car from the Skip Barber Racing School team.  Therefore it could be the #74 Supra of the two Tyler's, Gonzalez and Maxson.

Jesse Webb in the pit lane from the lead, handing the car over to Michai Stephens who is a fast driver, a former winner of the Team USA scholarship.  Stephens was really the only bloke who could truly take the fight to the RS1 duo in GT4 America last year.  Jason Hart is pushing hard and we shall see where the #34 Conquest Mercedes comes out on track after the stop.  Jason Hart exits turns 11 and 12.  The Conquest car gets nipped and Nolasport lead the motor race in Pro-Am and overall.  Well, well, well.  Just by a whisker!  Less than 20 minutes of racing to go.  This is not a battle in class.  It is Pro-Am vs. Silver.  Everyone is counting points.

These are not fresh tires you are going out on track on.  Remember, no tire changes in Pirelli GT4 America.  We now watch the #52 car in the lane doing the driver change and we'll be back with that one in a minute.  You just don't know as the second driver what the car is going to feel like in your stint when you first go out.  The #52 is another Nolasport Porsche Cayman being driven by Lee Carpentier and David Peterman.  One of the other BMW's is in and I think that is the Bimmerworld M4 GT4.  That is one of their two cars.  Cannot tell which one.  #36 is the Am entry for Charlie Postins and James Clay and #82 is the Pro-Am entry for James Walker Jr. and Tyler McQuarrie.

For Jason Hart and Matt Travis, they know what to expect.  Managing tires much easier during all the yellow we have had.  Al Carter (sharing with Paul Sparta) in the second Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4 is passed by Anderson Tanoto in the #899 SP Motorsports Porsche Cayman.  The Indonesian driver sharing with American Jaden Conwright who we have seen racing in other sports car championships as well and who is gaining success in his career.  Here comes the #38 STR38 BMW M4 GT4.  This team is affiliated with ST Racing from GT World Challenge America, and this car is being shared by American Robert Mau and New Zealand's Chris Allen.  This is the team's Am entry.

They also have an identical M4 GT4, #88, in the Silver class, driven by Chandler Hull and Jon Miller.  STR38 debuted at Indianapolis last year.  Great camera angle flying up the hill.  These GT4 cars are speedy and on the adhesion limits.  We are also watching Isabella Robusto and I am not sure if she has been into the pit lane yet to do that unique pit stop where she must get out of the car and then back in again since she is driving solo as her co-driver for the season, Jose DaSilva, is currently recovering from a hand injury as we mentioned earlier.  He will be back later in the year.

Isabella Robusto in that white and purple #67 Toyota Supra makes a pass on an Aston Martin, and no, I am not sure who it is.  Isabella Robusto is actually featured in a Toyota female driver initiative commercial for their NASCAR program.  She has been doing short track stock car racing and was third in a prestigious short track stock car race, the South Carolina 400 late model race and one of the driver's she beat was Dale Earnhardt Jr.!  She drove from 30th to third spot.  I am sure Dale Jr. went up and shook her hand in congratulations.  

Meanwhile, Jason Hart continues to lead in the Nolasport Porsche Cayman.  Michai Stephens is next up and in third place it is John Capestro-Dubets in the #51 Auto Technic Racing BMW M4 GT4.  Zack Anderson started that car.  JCD is the real deal, a real major driver who has the speed.  Jason Hart can beat some of the top GT drivers on the planet and has proven that.  Dubets being chased by Kay van Berlo who has run a lot of Porsche single make championships.  Originally from The Netherlands, and attending college at the University of Miami, wrapping up his school career this year.  James Clay is leading the Am dvision after Charlie Postins put in a great stint earlier on.

They won seven races in 2022 en route to putting the championship in their pocket early.  James Clay says the team is confident with the new generation BMW M4 GT4.  Paulo Carcasci, sharing in an all-Brazilian duo is next up.  He is at the wheel of the #35 Conquest Racing Mercedes AMG GT4 sharing with countryman Custodio Toledo who we've mentioned already I believe.  Carcasci is a veteran driver in the gray and orange Mercedes.  Many moons ago he drove Formula Ford's in England.  Carasci has been coaching Custodio Toledo.  He was a driver coach for many years and had not been in a race seat since making a single start in Indy Lights way back in 1996.

He still had the speed despite 26 years out of the cockpit.  Kenton Koch, sharing with Kevin Boehm in this BMW M4 at Random Vandals Racing with Crowdstrike sponsorship.  Of course Kevin Boehm is a touring car champion in SRO America competition as well.  Kenton Koch, Kevin Boehm, and Crowdstrike as well as Random Vandals Racing.  Paul Sparta from Random Vandals Racing has stepped up their program.  Kenton Koch was snapped up for this program as Bryan Putt and BSport Racing decided not to race in Pirelli GT4 America in 2023.  Kevin Boehm is a smart, quick driver.  The deal came together very late after ironing it out in January, or trying to.  The ink on the contract was still drying when they tested in the pre-season test at NOLA Motorsports Park.

Kenton Koch is now chasing after Andrew Davis.  Kevin Boehm says that he is learning about how to drive a GT4 car.  He says "I am really glad we were able to hang with the leaders, and gain places before bringing the car in to hand it to Kenton.  It would be sweet if we could get a podium.  It is all about learning this new car and I have a long learning curve ahead of me."  Boehm will learn quick.  Kenton Koch is an experienced driver who has the ability to really be the backbone of a team and deliver as well as teaching the amateur drivers how things work.  People like Andrew Davis and Spencer Pumpelly are the same way.  They bring a lot of wisdom and experience and even though they are veteran drivers, they still have the speed.

Kenton Koch is doing all he can to pass Andrew Davis for the final podium step in Silver.  Michai Stephens leads the Silver division followed by Dubets and Davis.  Aaron Povoledo is being harried by Andy Lee as well in a battle of the Aston Martin's.  Chouest Povoledo Racing are focusing on details and on car setup to make it consistent.  Ross Chouest ran the GT America races at St. Petersburg weeks ago.  The team had victories in GT America and in GT4 at the 2022 season finale at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last fall, too.  Chouest Povoledo Racing put the car on the shaker rig and then did some comparative track testing in the offseason as well.  If you can find tenths of a second in racing, that is massive.  

Just under eight minutes left as we watch Michai Stephens followed by Kay van Berlo running second in the Pro-Am division.  van Berlo driving car #7 with Curt Swearingen.  Fluid on the road and I think it is fresh.  I wonder if a car is chucking fluid out the back.  I wonder if it s from the Michai Stephens Mercedes.  John Geesbreght is third in Silver.  Co-driver Kevin Conway says that John Geesbreght has done very well and is now in Pro-Am.  He is doing a wonderful job and the Smooge Racing Team are running the Evo version of the Toyota Supra GT4 for the first time as they are also racing in the Toyota GR Cup Series too.  Geesbreght and Isabella Robusto are both development drivers for the Supra and for the GR86 for the spec one make championship.

The brakes, dampers, and engine have been developed further.  In the summertime heat, GT4 cars have struggled with the heat during the races.  The Supra's handling too, needs to be ironed out so the car is not too edgy.  Geesbreght runs a bit wide and it looks like he will be passed.  Those two Aston Martin's have been harrying him for a wee while.  He just got into the ABS a bit too much.  Now he can push and try to get back around a couple of the top drivers.  Kenton Koch, Andrew Davis, and more.  Kenton Koch is on the Silver class podium as Kay van Berlo has gone by Michai Stephens.  I don't know if he completed the pass either.

It has to be a thought that Jason Hart is the quickest car on track with about three minutes to go before the race ends.  Stephens is a smart driver and knows how to make car setups work.  Some drivers think about it too much.  Penalty issued by the stewards to John Capestro-Dubets in the #51 BMW M4 GT4.  It is a post-race time penalty for a short pit stop.  The one second joker for one of the two races is gone.  Two penalties.  Multiply advantages by five, half a second shy of the minimum stop time, and if it is over one second, you get pinged with a drive through penalty.  0.56 and change is what they were under.  Fine for last year, but not now.

Kenton Koch is currently going to be able to get to second place.  Andrew Davis runs 8/10ths of a second down.  Kay van Berlo though, he is pushing.  He will keep digging and hopes for a mistake from Jason Hart.  But Hart has responded and is still going for it.  White flag.  One lap to go.  The gap to van Berlo is 2.6 seconds.  But Hart can manage this as he has clear road.  The clock has gone to zero.  John Geesbreght has dropped down the order.  Now, we have a huge wad of cars coming down the front straightaway.  

It is led by Isabella Robusto in the #67 Toyota Supra and right behind her there are some hungry drivers who want the bite of the cherry.  All the chips on the table now.  But, think about tomorrow's race, too.  Jason Hart, the reigning two-time champion in GT4 America has caugh traffic!  Can van Berlo catch up?  No.  Jason Hart is opening the book in 2023 with a win at Sonoma Raceway.  Jason Hart, Matt Travis and Nolasport back in victory lane and Conquest Racing win Silver!  Jesse Webb on debut, and Michai Stephens, third overall and a win in class!  Conquest Racing will also win Am!  Paolo Carcasci and Custodio Toledo will win Am!  Wow!

Overall/Pro-Am: #47 Hart/Travis     Nolasport Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport

             Silver: #34 Stephens/Webb  Conquest Racing/JWF Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT4

             Am: #35 Carcasci/Toledo     Conquest Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4

A double victory for the Conquest team in Silver and Am and Nolasport takes the overall in Pro-Am.  That's a wrap of race one from Sonoma Raceway for Pirelli GT4 America, and another race is coming up tomorrow.  We'll see you then.  For now, good night from Sonoma Raceway and the northern California wine country.


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