With the postponement of the first Pirelli GT4 America race at NOLA until later in the season, and set for a makeup date at another track on the schedule, because of the rainstorm yesterday, today we will move into the second scheduled race for the championship here at NOLA and tell you all about it. After a washout yesterday and a rescheduling of the planned race, Pirelli GT4 America returns to action at NOLA Motorsports Park just outside of New Orleans, Louisiana. 41 cars entered. Flowing esses, bone jarring bumps, and mother nature's whims, make this track one to be reckoned with. This is race one of the weekend and race two will be run at a later date maybe at a different venue. We'll have to see. Perfect weather today for this hourlong race.
We have a great field of cars assembled for this race. 60 minutes and take care of your tires. There is a specific regulation change and because of the abrasive nature of the track here at NOLA, the stewards and officials will allow teams to change one joker Pirelli P Zero tire if need be due to the unbelievably abrasive nature of the track surface here at NOLA Motorsports Park. It is a joker tire and does not come out of the allocation and is only to be used if absolutely necessary. Of course, it is only one race and we'll see a makeup race at a different venue later in the season and we don't know yet what that will be. Meet an 84 second pit time while the driver change is underway. Easy peasy.
2.75 miles and 16 corners is the layout here at NOLA. It is a great flowing layout for the GT4 cars. Sector one is where we will see the most overtaking. Ryan Myrehn, Calvin Fish, and Amanda Busick will be our commentators as always. Michai Stephens and Jesse Webb at Conquest Racing on the pole in the #34 Mercedes AMG GT4. They do have a target on their back, but they are going for it just like everyone else. Jesse Webb starting the race in #34, the young Canadian driver. The Mercedes makes speed in the corners more than it does on the straightaways and we have a long straightaway here at NOLA.
We have a massive 42 car field for GT4 America. There is a class dynamic based on driver ratings. Have some respect and give your comrades some room. The one and only GT4 America race here at NOLA is green! Let's go! Two, three, four wide in the middle of the pack. Zack Anderson in the #51 BMW I believe, goes for the lead as everyone is three, four wide into turn one but we have a clean start, a squeaky-clean start. The polesitter has dropped down to third already. Oh no! We have a big crash to deal with, two cars absolutely destroyed! More than two. There is a Nolasport Porsche Cayman, the Todd Coleman driven Archangel Aston Martin, and a third car.
Safety Car deployed. Well, well, well. The first 1/3rd of the lap was fine and in replay we can see three cars tangle in turn three. I want to say one of the Smooge Racing Toyota Supra's got crossed up and tangled up in that shemozzle at the back of the queue. I think Todd Coleman and co-driver Billy Johnson are headed for the house. Coleman ran extremely well in GT America earlier on this weekend including in the second race today. Game over. The right rear totally and completely askew. Zack Anderson, I was right, leads the motor race over Tyler Gonzalez with Jesse Webb running in third spot. Anderson in the #51 Auto Technic Racing BMW M4 GT4.
David Peterman in the Am division has crashed out. Peterman sharing with Lee Carpentier are out. NOLASport who runs their Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport will be gutted! This is NOLASports home track. They are based right within the grounds here at NOLA Motorsports Park! Todd Coleman is in limp home mode and the Smooge Racing Toyota is game over. The #67 Toyota Supra of Joey DaSilva and Isabella Robusto is out. DaSilva had a non-racing related injury and the team had to miss the season opener at Sonoma Raceway in California. Isabella Robusto did drive but she was involved in an accident and cannot drive after a stock car wreck.
Nothing has gone to plan for the #67 team. They are still on the back foot. Todd Coleman, too, is on the back foot. Smooge Racing is having a look at the damage as Joey DaSilva brings the car to the pit lane. Is the suspension, OK? Hopefully it is not tweaked. Evaluate the car. Is it safe to run? This team at Smooge Racing is supported by Ave Motorsports. Poor Joey DaSilva. He will not get to race. He has touring car experience in SRO America. Game over for #67. Such a shame. Game over too for the #52 Nolasport Porsche Cayman as we mentioned. The mandatory pit stop window is from 25-35 minutes into the race with the mandatory driver change and optional tire change.
Curt Swearingin is the Pro-Am leader aboard the #7 ACI Motorsports Porsche Cayman he is sharing with Kay van Berlo. ACI Motorsports have been stalwarts in Porsche single make championships. Three cars in GT4 America and a car in Fanatec GT World Challenge America. Of course we saw Pedro Torres absolutely flying in the opening ten minutes of the GTWC America first feature race here at NOLA yesterday sharing with Spencer Pumpelly. Charlie Postins and James Clay won seven races last year. Alain Stad was second in Am last year and this year he is driving with Rotek Racing in the #099 Porsche Cayman sharing with Robb Holland.
For James Clay and Charlie Postins, they are looking for continued success. Now, we see some interesting spectators here on the bayou. The alligators are interested in what is going on with the races. The SRO America crew with Amanda Busick, Calvin Fish, and the whole SRO team went out on a swamp tour. GT4 series manager Jack Baldwin was very interested in the alligators. You can fry and eat alligator tail. Hmmm. That would be an interesting delicacy. I would rather eat the gator than have the gator eat me. Meanwhile, Postins and Clay scored seven wins and 11 podiums. Both of them together won the BMW M Sports Trophy for custmer drivers.
Postins was going to retire. Forget it. He is back racing again in 2023. The cleanup continues for the lap one incident that took out three cars that are all headed for the scrapyard. From 42 starters to 39. Zack Anderson and John Capestro-Dubets were not on the original entry list for the race here at NOLA. But they are here and in the lead of the motor race in the opening moments. They are in the Silver class and are a formidable driver pairing. Zack Anderson and JCD driving together. We have seen JCD in other championships for other teams in GT4 as well. JCD is an unheralded ace in a BMW GT4 car, a lot like another great GT4 driver, Greg Liefooghe.
James Clay is asked about doing a team reset and responds that doing a team reset between seasons or between races is not always a good idea. Postins knows to stay clean and go fast. James Clay is the head cheese behind Bimmerworld and has been in World Challenge for a long time. Scrub and prep the tires, crank in the steering input and run the throttle against the brake. Further back in the queue we look at Gray Newell who had a top ten in qualifying now working with Roman De Angelis. He is a great GT3 driver. Heart of Racing of course picked up an entry in the FIA World Endurance Championship when Paul Dalla Lana retired from racing to pursue an ever-growing business and so, Ian James, Newell's usual teammate and company went over to Spa Francorchamps to run the World Endurance race which you read about here a couple weekends ago.
Roman De Angelis had a late call up for this race then of course. Safety Car is off with 46 minutes to go. Green flag. Zack Anderson leads the motor race and now we see the fight further back and Kevin Boehm moves past Jesse Webb for third place. Boehm in the BMW M4 GT4 gives it up in the Random Vandals supported by Crowdstrike car. Boehm is a two-time SRO America touring car champion and Jesse Webb has raced in the Canadian Touring Car Championship a lot. Both of them are going at it hammer and tongs in GT4 cars.
Webb looks inside Boehm. Tyler Gonzalez in the Toyota Supra tried doing something with the Random Vandals BMW but no. The sister Random Vandals Racing #98 BMW M4 GT4 in the Am class is also being harried. This is the Paul Sparta and Al Carter entry and Sparta has his hands full with Elias Sabo. Sabo won a massive victory in GT America for Flying Lizard. Side by side with the BMW boys all together. No shortage of the new BMW M4 GT4's in this field plus a smattering of the previous generation model. Anderson's gap is 8/10ths of a second. Our overall top six includes Zack Anderson, Tyler Gonzalez, Kevin Boehm, Jesse Webb, Harry Gottsacker, and Curt Swearingin.
Gottsakcer in the STR38 BMW M4 GT4 sharing with Chandler Hull. He ran with Jon Miller at Sonoma who is now the team boss. The Pro-Am lead battle is hot and heavy.
1. #7 Swearingin/Van Berlo ACI Motorsports Porsche Cayman
2. #24 Newell/De Angelis The Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4
3. #50 Chouest/Povoledo Chouest Povoledo Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4
Ross Chouest's family built this track. He had a wonderful victory in GT America yesterday. Swearingin leaves the door op-en and Newell can't do anything with it as we have a car beached in the gravel trap! That is the #09 car. That is the Zotz Racing/CCDP Racing Porsche Cayman in the hands of Chris Ruppel sharing with Eric Zitza. This car is in Am and this calls for a safety car scramble. Ruppel needs a tow to get out of the gravel. This I think is in turns five and six and he is buried up to the axles in pea gravel. They will be cleaning gravel out of that Porsche for months!
The field is going to be compressed behind the safety car and this Full Course Yellow will delay the pit stop window until further into the race. Terry Borcheller and Nick Shanny won Am and overall at Sonoma of course. Maybe the emergency tire change might not be necessary. We'll see. A good crew though will not have trouble changing a single tire. I would take it for advantage of more performance as a race strategist. No tire warmers or ovens allowed.
Anderson continues to lead and has done so since lap one. Jesse Webb runs fourth and Kevin Boehm transitioning from front wheel drive touring cars to a rear drive GT4 car and still drinking from a firehose. Kay van Berlo tells us that it has been OK. In hot practice sessions it did not work as well on Friday, but it did on Saturday qualifying and it is a tad warmer today, but it seems to be working out well. Car #7 was quick at Sonoma and is quick here at NOLA too. "The Flying Dutchman", someone has called van Berlo that before. The ACI Porsche Cayman has the speed, and they are in it to win it if they can.
Kay van Berlo came stateside to study business management at the University of Miami. But now he is racing in addition to wrapping up his degree. He won in IMSA LMP3. His brother Glenn van Berlo is also a rising star. Car #26 is under investigation for incorrect starting driver in the car from Q1. The pit window is delayed. The #26 is the second Heart of Racing Aston Martin. Rianna O'Meara-Hunt is in the car, the lady driver from New Zealand, and it should be her American teammate and co-driver Hannah Grisham at the wheel right now. This is an Am class entry of course. Plus both of them are identically graded and you need to turn the paperwork into the stewards. It has to be an administrative issue of some kind.
Rianna O'Meara-Hunt should be in the car for the next half of the race. Very cool initiative from The Heart of Racing to identify and promote female racing drivers. The Porsche Cayman that was stuck has been released. Have a Captain Cook, (as we get ready to restart) at Tyler Gonzalez aboard the #74 Copeland Motorsports Toyota Supra. That is the Tyler and Tyler show. Tyler Gonzalez sharing with Tyler Maxson. Zack Anderson can jet away and here comes Gonzalez and Boehm. Boehm sweeps into P2! Anderson got the jump and then Gonzalez tried to protect but Boehm just poked his nose through the door. A lockup from Gray Newell has him facing the fury of Ross Chouest, the Louisiana native. Jesse Webb is quick too but his restarts have been a bear.
Harry Gottsacker is right behind Jesse Webb. In Pro-Am Curt Swearingin is the leader. Matt Travis is coming fast as well, the benchmark Am driver in Pirelli GT4 America sharing with Jason Hart. James Walker Jr. feeling the heat from Johann Schwartz as well and the pit window is open, and everyone piles in. Some of the Silver class cars will stay on track as Harry Gottsacker stays on track and will cycle to the top of the shop for a wee while. Conway stays out and cycles to third while Allen in the ST Racing car is second. We are seeing a split strategy at The Heart of Racing and that is the Grisham/O'Meara-Hunt entry staying out.
Go for clean laps and do the overcut. Rihanna O'Meara Hunt has stayed out and right behind her is another of the Toyota Supra's. This is the #72 KRUGSPEED Toyota Supra. Anthony Geraci in the car right now and he should hand off to Jared Lander at pit stop time. Geraci to the inside for the second spot in Am and he decides discretion is the better part of valor. That is a wise move. Nolasport have made their pit stop and the #47 Porsche Cayman now has Jason Hart at the wheel of it. Roman De Angelis knows the GT3 Aston Martin but has to reacclimate to the GT4 Aston Martin and look for a podium.
Johan Schwartz is doing all he can to make up for a poor qualifying effort sharing the #44 Rooster Hall Racing BMW M4 GT4 with Colin Garrett. Garrett ran GT4 action earlier this morning in GT America. Everyone is struggling on cold tires. The professional drivers are on pace immediately. Did any teams elect to change one tire? Oh dear. Kenton Koch has to stop on track and do a reset in the #92 CrowdStrike Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4. Koch of course having taken over from Kevin Boehm who did the first stint. That car was top three overall before the pit window. Kevin Boehm did a fabulous job, but they had to do a Control, Alt, Delete. He passes by the BMW for STR38, another M4 GT4. Harry Gottsacker started that one and it should now have Chandler Hull driving.
In case you are wondering (and I was, too), that is the #88 entry if you are keeping score at home. Hard to tell where everyone fits into the puzzle on this pit window. Michai Stephens going hunting. He is pressing forward in a big way. Many drivers have not pitted yet. Random Vandals, we hear from Amanda Busick in the pit lane, elected to use a joker tire on both of their cars. Both the Koch/Boehm car and the sister entry #98 of Paul Sparta and Al Carter. BMW's have done the left front and Mercedes the left rear. Use one tire when you want and on whichever corner you'd like.
Michai Stephens now is monstering Chandler Hull trying to play with his mind, saying, "let me by!" This is a feisty little scrap indeed, look. Stephens knows he has to push. The Mercedes can turn fast laps but also is aware the Mercedes Benz AMG GT4 just does not have the straightaway speed as the OGH/Valkyrie Velocity #97 Porsche Cayman in the hands of Sam Owen has a quick spin. It seems like he just took that car over from co-driver Sean Gibbons. This is an Am class car. In the meantime, Hull has second in the Silver class and Michai Stephens still wants it. Now then, Kay van Berlo has a bead on Tyler Maxson.
Chandler Hull pulling double duty of course and will run the Bimmerworld BMW M4 GT3 in Fanatec GT with Bill Auberlen and we will have that race for you later today. It seems Michai Stephens is probably miffed with Chandler Hull and thinking, "why don't you just move over, buster?!" Kay van Berlo tries a late inside lunge, but it won't work and Tyler Maxson will indeed hold him at bay. This all comes out in the wash. Now the battle is on in Pro Am! De Angelis on the inside of Kay van Berlo! The Dutchman will have his hands full with the Canadian here! De Angelis goes the long way and Maxson is ahead but in a different class.
De Angelis is probing. Jason Hart has now moved up to third in the car started by Matt Travis. Travis is reeling these two in hand over fist. Michai Stephens has finally made the pass on Harry Gottsacker and is plotting an escape plan. It is hammer time now, a qualifying lap. Jumped restart drive through penalty for Kay van Berlo. Major move by Chandler Hull to the inside and he is closing on Stephens even more so. Harry Gottsacker tells us that in qualifying they opted to gamble and use the same set of tires for both qualifying rounds and this most recent stint.
Harry Gottsacker grew up racing go karts with current IndyCar star Pato O'Ward. A massive gaggle of cars again. Andy Lee, Robert Mau, James Clay, and Andrew Davis, in three different classes. It is a lot to mentally sort through behind the wheel and for this blogger writing about it. John Capestro Dubets is leading the motor race by nearly three seconds as we watch Roman De Angelis leading the Pro-Am division. Stephens is quicker than Capestro Dubets. Once again, we continue following Roman De Angelis who had no idea until a week ago that he'd come and race at NOLA. Jason Hart knows this track like the back of his hand and he is chasing down the Aston Martin driver.
Rob Walker has spun the sister Am class Auto Technic BMW M4 GT4 onto the grass. He did not spin. He pulled off with mechanical troubles. He is in a safe haven, possibly. Hard to tell. In the meantime, Chandler Hull is keeping the pressure on Michai Stephens. Over the past three, four seasons, Chandler Hull has established himself. He moves to the inside into the esses and is coming in a hurry. Michai Stephens is pushing but the safety car is now on the circuit for the stranded BMW in no man's land. You don't want other cars spearing off the road and this car needs to be moved ASAP. Stephens is going to be in a world of pain if his restart is not spot on.
Jason Hart, Aaron Povoledo, John Geesbreght, and others in the back half of the top ten are chomping at the bit to make a move when we do go back to green. Robert Mau is the Am class leader. Mau in the #438, another STR38 Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 he shares with Chris Allen, car #438. They were able to pass the #36 Am class BMW M4 GT4 for Bimmerworld of James Clay and Charlie Postins. Clay has been closing in on Mau hand over fist before the safety car was dispatched. 17 minutes of racing to go. We have the third safety car of this single race. Yesterday was supposed to be race one but it was delayed and cancelled due to the rain and the second one will be made up at a future date at another track.
Chris Allen says that his team is going fast and the BMW is a great car. They are happy to be here in the race and they want to push to the end and hold on for a class victory. They are running the full season, both Chris Allen and Robert Mau with the STR38 team and they have high hopes for the next race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, as well. Brian Heitkotter is stopped on track in the #23 car. Did he take a wave by? Is he having mechanical trouble? Heitkotter aboard the #23 TechSport Racing Nissan Z GT4 he shares with Tyler Stone. Momentarily the car was in the lead in class. Heitkotter has been a star for Nissan for years winning the GT Academy contest with Nismo and Gran Turismo.
Drivers have catapulted to racing stardom through that program, names like Lucas Ordonez and Jann Mardenborough for instance. There is a new movie about Jann Mardenborough being released this year. These drivers came through video game to real life racing and Heitkotter has done so. He has done club racing, karting, and sim racing. Brian Heitkotter was a runaway champion in sim racing during the pandemic era. So he was on the horn to Nissan telling them, "I need to and want to be here in real life, full metal racing", and Nissan said, "sure thing, mate." When he won the GT Academy title he beat 53,000 competitors! Holy mackerel! That was in the early days of people recongizing the value of sim racing.
It does prep you but it is not the same whatsoever, compared to real cars that do not have a reset button. You cannot do a reset or an instant damage fix in the real world like you can in a video game. To quote Frank Valiant from "Heroes on Hotwheels", the children's cartoon about racing, "this sure isn't the same as racing in a simulator!" No, it isn't. It is real life, boys and girls. This is how you become a racing driver. We are not sure what the trouble is for Techsport and poor old Brian Heitkotter. A tough break. One less chance for success today. He'll be back. But at the top of the shop, Stephens wants to reel in JCD but still has van Berlo to contend with.
Tyler Maxson in the Copeland Motorsports Toyota Supra has also been pushing. The top three in Pro-Am are interesting. Roman De Angelis, Jason Hart, and Aaron Povoledo. JCD's co-driver Zack Anderson says BoP has been an issue and for the first time this weekend, the G Series BMW is a monster compared to the F Series model previously. They are looking for victory today. Best corners, one foot in front of the other. A shoutout to their pal and teammate Austen Smith, too. Safety car lights off and this race is going to be a scrap, a barnburner to the bitter end.
In Am, Robert Mau leads but James Clay is pushing and coming in a big hurry. This will get spicy. Green flag! John Capestro Dubets leads over Michai Stephens and here comes Chandler Hull and Jason Hart has moved around Roman De Angelis! Wow! You knew he was going to strike. De Angelis second with Aaron Povoledo to the inside trying to take second spot and De Angelis fights back on the inside as Tyler Maxson protects the line in the Toyota Supra. Side by side between De Angelis and Povoledo and here comes John Geesbreght!
The Toyota Supra looming large and he nearly wipes out! Andy Lee flying in the Flying Lizard Aston Martin #8. Chandler Hull all over Michai Stephens in turn chasing Dubets. he is the Mercedes meat in the BMW roundel sandwich! Hull to the outside, no grip, no dice. Stephens is bearing down but Hull is keeping him honest. Clay catches Mau for the lead in the Am division. Stephens to the inside and is now stuck. He has to hang tough. Stephens to JCD's flank! Stephens using all the road and goes for it! He was working as a painter in Chicago Googling how to be a racing driver. Now he is living his dream.
Hart is in a conundrum meanwhile and backed up into the clutches of Maxson! The Toyota right on the back of the Porsche! Maxson is the wingman but not willing at all. This is Pro-Am fighting. Short stop for Hart? Say what? Tech issue? I wonder what this is about. De Angelis moves to the lead followed by Povoledo and Geesbreght in second and third. Well, well, well. This appears to be a drive through. It is. Stephens continues harrying Dubets. JCD not giving an inch. Stephens wants this and wants to follow up on the weekend sweep at Sonoma Raceway. A short pit stop at Nolasport! Deary me! Chandler Hull is not giving up. He too, won't roll over and have his tummy tickled. Not a lapdog but a greyhound on the run here.
Stephens not under pressure from Hull as Andy Lee is having a great run in the #8 Flying Lizard Aston Martin in hot pursuit of Tyler McQuarrie. This is just off the Pro-Am podium and a couple cars have come together, or not. Jeroen Bleekemolen in the Black Swan McLaren Artura, he is pushing too! He has driven any make and model you can imagine. Bleekemolen 17th overall but can make up ground, seventh in the Pro-Am class as a Gold rated driver. They have to carry 50 pounds more weight. That was a move for position in Am as Nelson Calle passes Robert Mau. Almost time for the white flag as the top three are in lock step.
Michai Stephens is still wrestling JCD! Don't hang it out too wide. Chandler Hull still on the gas. Pirelli GT4 America at its best! This is it. Through the esses for perhaps the final time. Stephens sends it around the outside and he takes the lead! Just a couple corners to go. He's wide. JCD inside. Who will win? Photo finish! A drag race! Who gets it? Stephens by four thousandths of a second! Hull third, De Angelis wins Pro-Am alongside Gray Newell, and Clay wins Am over Robert Mau and the rest. Holy smokes! That was a motor race.
Anyone who says motor racing is boring, check your pulse. This was fantastic!
Overall/Silver: #34 Stephens/Webb Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT4
Pro-Am: #24 Newell/De Angelis Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4
Am: #36 Clay/Postins Bimmerworld BMW M4 GT4
We stress that some of these results are provisional, as we cue the dance music to look at the results. Time penalties will be factored into the rsults and already have been, actually. #47 was outside the pit stop minimum time and there were a handful of cars that were in a position to win but hit with a penalty, Curt Swearingin and Kay van Berlo in the #7 Porsche Cayman. Nelson Calle finishes second and Lander and Geraci third behind Clay and Postins.
Fanatec GT World Challenge America still to come. Stay tuned for race two for the big boys and girls and the big toys, the GT3 cars. Next up for Pirelli GT4 America is Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, coming up in a week or so. We will have coverage of that event for you, very soon. So long for now, from the Louisiana bayou. Take care, everybody. We'll see you soon.
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