Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We have some bonus coverage coming your way in our SRO America coverage from Sebring this weekend. This is the makeup race for Pirelli GT4 America that was cancelled at NOLA Motorsports Park in New Orleans, Louisiana, last spring, when there was a biblical rainstorm in "The Big Easy" that did not allow it to run because drivers needed boats, not cars, to get through all the rain. So, very soon, we shall get this makeup race underway. Stay tuned for the bonus race. You don't want to miss this one. Sebring International Raceway welcomes the cars and the stars for a tripleheader weekend of action. The championship battles are in focus now with only five races to go in the season.
We have the usual cast of characters calling this motor race on GTWorld today with Ryan Myrehn and Calvin Fish in the broadcast booth and Amanda Busick reporting from pit lane. Now, this motor race, ladies and gentlemen, is going to be a different kettle of fish than what we are used to. The starting grid for this first race of the weekend, which counts as a third race at Sebring was set by qualifying times at NOLA Motorsports Park before the washout, before Noah's flood came to the Big Easy. A different track and a different set of circumstances at this track, the rough old concrete runways of Sebring International Raceway and the rough old concrete of this former WW. II. B-17 and B-25 bomber training base.
Let's talk about how the championship scenarios are unfolding with so few races to go before the 2023 season is done and dusted. In the Am class Charlie Postins and James Clay are on their way to repeat and they could clinch before this weekend of racing is over. But believe you me, the battles in Pro-Am and in Silver, they are red hot. It is moving day today for the championship contenders. James Walker and Tyler McQuarrie have 20 points as a cushion over Matt Travis and Jason Hart. They have won something like the last three races we have seen in GT4 America, so, I think that dates back to a couple of the races we saw last month at Road America, and I want to also say the second event of the weekend at Virginia International Raceway which ran back in June. However, I could be wrong.
The Porsche Cayman's could very well have an extra turn of speed at Sebring this weekend. Something to keep an eye on as the weekend unfolds today, as well as in the regularly scheduled races for GT4 America tomorrow and Sunday. Zac Anderson at Auto Technic Racing, John Capestro-Dubets is back sharing the car. He is a rocket ship driver and he rehabbed himself quickly and is now ready to go for it. Auto Technic are going to and from the Air B&B to keep JCD rested and refreshed. They have worked together for a long time and their partnership came together ten days before the season began at Sonoma Raceway back in April.
The team, the pit crew, the support staff, should be given all the credit. The heat here at Sebring is brutal. It zaps you as a driver. It is 140-150 degrees Fahrenheit in the cockpit and the air conditioning in the car is worthless. Zac Anderson is the 2020 Pirelli GT4 America Am class champion. He has a 25-point lead over Michai Stephens and Jesse Webb in the #34 Conquest Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4. Conquest had great pace at NOLA. Recall in the one race we had at NOLA that Conquest were involved in that photo finish with the Auto Technic boys. That was a wild one!
The Mercedes will have something to say as we look at the major drivers and cars in this field. We are looking at Michai Stephens and Jesse Webb in the #34 Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsport Mercedes. It seems as though SRO have made some Balance of Performance tweaks. The BMW M4 GT4 should be in the zone of where we'd expected them to be before. They had three cars in the top ten in Free Practice 2 but they won't be as on the button as they were at Road America.
We've got about half a dozen drivers in contention for the title. We can see a 79-point between the top five drivers, and a number of them are teammates in one car, tied on their points they've earned in 2023 so far. Zac Anderson on his own at the top of the shop because John Capestro-Dubets missed the doubleheader of races at Road America after injuring his back. He is back in the car this weekend. Random Vandals Racing with Kevin Boehm and Kenton Koch are hovering around in contention as well and if they are going to make hay while the sun shines here in Florida, they have to go for it right from the start as we get closer to go time this afternoon.
For Random Vandals, this weekend at Sebring, is make or break. James Walker Jr. and Tyler McQuarrie lead the Pro-am points by 20 markers over Matt Travis and Jason Hart with the teams of Elias Sabo and Andy Lee as well as Ross Chouest and Aaron Povoledo, mathematically in contention. Jason Hart is the two-time defending Pirelli GT4 America champion with two different co-drivers, reunited this year with Matt Travis. Off the track, Matt Travis and James Walker Jr. are incredible buddies and travel to the races, together. It is a friendly rivalry but a rivalry, nonetheless. In racing, you've got to find a way to keep your friendship and your competitive rivalry, separate. I may be your best mate off the track, but on the track, pal, I am going to pass you and I am going to be the winner.
26th place starter, Eric Powell, is driving Marco Solo in the #22 TechSport Racing Nissan Z GT4. His co-driver Colin Harrison, not here this weekend. We have one hour of racing coming your way, with a field of 32 cars. As always in Pirelli GT4 America, at pit stop time, we will see only driver changes, and no tire changes in this championship. The Pirelli P Zero tires you start the race on, that one set of boots must last the duration. 17 corners, 3.74 miles, with tons of character, built in the early 1940s on the old bomber base as we explained. Flat as a pancake but bumps ahoy. Turn 17, Sunset Bend, is not just one of the most harrowing, challenging corners on this circuit, but in all of motor racing anywhere.
Setting the car up to be compliant on those bumps through turn 17 is a bugbear for the engineers and always will be whether you are racing a GT4 car, a GT3 car, a prototype, a touring car, whatever. Again, this place was a B-17 training base between 1941 and 1946. Aeronautical engineer Alec Ulmann thought this place would make a wonderful racetrack and sanctioned a race here on New Year's Eve, 1950, and the first 12-hour endurance race here was run in 1952 and has been ever since. March 15th, 1952. Sebring also hosted the first ever U.S. Formula 1 Grand Prix in 1959. People talk about resurfacing the track.
Drivers and diehard fans like me then begin screaming, "no! No! No! Are you mad?! Don't touch it! Respect the bumps! Leave it alone!" The nuance of this track is incredible, and it is a fun one to race at, whatever is racing here. The fans love it, and we get three races this weekend. Drivers like Parker Thompson and Kay van Berlo have raced here plenty before. Having track experience can make all the difference in the world. The bumps put you in a different place than you expect. Three races this weekend with the heat and humidity. Two weeks out you begin hydrating, and training, using a sauna and so forth.
It is hot in the paddock and everything, but it is a wee bit cooler than the scorcher we had here last year. Last year in 2022, the heat was scorchio and totally unbearable. Five races to go, titles in three classes up for grabs. We're about to turn the field loose for the first of three times this weekend. The safety car pulls off. Kenton Koch vs. Parker Thompson on the front row of the grid. Green flag! Away we go! Two by two at the front but thre and four wide into turn one at the back of the pack. Parker Thompson will send it early doors around the inside even though he knows Kenton Koch is fully in the middle of the championship fight here in GT4. Kenton Koch assumes the lead and here we see Kay van Berlo in the Porsche Cayman beginning to flex his muscles as well.
van Berlo in the green and white Porsche, the #7 ACI Motorsports Cayman model he shares alongside Curt Swearingin. Terry Borcheller is being harried already by Michai Stephens. Toyota Supra vs. Mercedes-AMG. Stephens is in the Silver division championship fight so he has to punch it and begin motoring, now, if he is going to make inroads and give his rivals a tough run for their money. Borcheller has a wide margin leading the Am class as Michai Stephens is chasing down Kay van Berlo and we watch Andy Lee in the #8 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT4, the car he shares with Elias Sabo.
Sabo, side by side through turn seven with John Capestro-Dubets. Koch is feeling the heat from Parker Thompson and here comes Jason Hart with his elbows out on Tyler McQuarrie I believe. Into turn 13, the Tower Turn, accelerate with a head of steam down the short chute and running up to Bishop corner. Onto the Ulmann straightaway, this is a dyno run to showcase horsepower, straightaway speed, and aerodynamic efficiency. Kenton Koch leading with Parker Thompson hot on his heels. He wants a bite of the cherry, definitely. Thompson has the power off turn 17 and is going for the lead down the frontstretch!
Thompson carves the corner and now into turn one, Koch pokes his nose back in front! Koch holds him off. Don't go off in no man's land beyond the curb there. There's sand on the outside and if you run over it, blimey, you are going for a ride! Thompson, driving the Toyota Supra for Hanley Motorsports, they have had the pace all year long but have not necessarily had the results to show for it in 2023. They want to put that right this weekend and this is their first of three chances to do it. This whole program came together only mere days before the season began back in April at Sonoma Raceway, which we have alluded to. Now, look, Stephens is pouring the steam on van Berlo! Boy oh boy! It is getting spicy early doors here at Sebring ladies and gentlemen.
Stephens, you can see on the screen, he is proactive in his line choice into the braking zone for turn seven, the hairpin curve here at Sebring. The sole race we had at NOLA Motorsports Park in Louisiana, Stephens's race craft to nearly pull of the victory was superb. I recall being wired up calling that photo finish! That truly was something! Jason Hart wants by Terry Borcheller at all costs. Roman De Angelis in the purplish-blue Heart of Racing Aston Martin is trying to make a move, running a wee bit wide onto the dirt. A couple of snarling BMWs back here trying to make their presence known. This is Capestro-Dubets and McQuarrie both going for it hard early doors.
Hart looking in on Borcheller but he is left vulnerable to the fight from De Angelis and Capestro-Dubets, you know he wants by these blokes, fast. McQuarrie is in this and now, look, we have Aaron Povoledo answering the bell in the Chouest Povoledo #50 Aston Martin. Well, well, well. De Angelis did the smart thing, running clean, and allowing Hart to get back to the apex. Not Hart. Excuse me. Caoestro-Dubets. Hart passes Borcheller for overall position, for sixth. But this is not a class battle because Borcheller is leader, at the top of the shop in the Am class, to be completely clear.
Borcheller looking to keep a buffer for co-driver Nick Shanny when we see driver changes at the halfway mark in the motor race. The next Am class driver is Al Carter sharing with Paul Sparta in the #98 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4. Koch is keeping Thompson at bay while both are opening a gap on everyone else. Hmmm. That's fascinating. I was just looking at the screen and noticed that, while everybody else is getting scrappy behind them. Stephenas has to catch Thompson and in order to do so, for battling for honors in Silver, he has to leapfrog Kay van Berlo ASAP.
This is fabulous racing and as clean as a whistle so far. James Walker Jr. is now being put under pressure for 20th spot by Roland Krainz in the #18 RS1 Porsche Cayman he shares with brother Austin Krainz. One Austrian, and one American. Andy Lee has passed Jason Hart and is now moving in on Pro-Am class leader Michai Stephens. Recall in the Sportscar365 article I posted earlier, Andy Lee and Jason Hart were joint quickest in Free Practice 1 to the thousandth of a second! How close do you like it?! Lee and Sabo coming into the weekend are only 35 points out of the lead, and if they manage to score a boatload of points this weekend, they could be in the pound seats to be title contenders by the time we get to the final two races of the year at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in just a couple of weeks.
Andy Lee has passed Kay van Berlo and poor old van Berlo has push to keep Michai Stephens from going by him. The Dutchman, the college student, he has his hands full. van Berlo, not going quietly into the night, scraps his way through the hairpin, and says to Michai Stephens, take that, buster! Recognize your competitor. Jason Hart closing up on this battle working his way to sixth overall and third in class. The #68 Smooge Racing Toyota Supra has driven through the pit lane with John Geesbreght at the wheel of it, sharing with Kevin Conway, former NASCAR driver turned sports car racer.
The two of them made their prototype racing debut last weekend at Indianapolis in the IMSA race there in the LMP3 class. Geesbreght serving a drive through penalty for a start violation. Good ding dong battle for 11th in the overall. Povoledo being chased by Carter and they are catching the two cars ahead of them with Tyler McQuarries for Bimmerworld in the #82 BMW M4 GT4 and Roman De Angelis in the #24 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4. Thompson is now right on Koch's decklid. Thompson turning up the heat, gradually. Yesterday, speaking of heat, in practice, Kevin Boehm and company had no working air conditioning in the car, so the cockpit temperatures were sizzling at 130 degrees!
I think, though I cannot say for sure, in SRO, but in other championships with closed cockpit cars (which the vast majority of production-based and prototype sports cars are today), I think there is a certain cockpit temperature that is a threshold you cannot go over, for the comfort, the safety, and the endurance of a driver so they don't overheat and dehydrate. It is pretty toasty when you are wearing a layer of Nomex underwear and a four- or five-layer Nomex firesuit as well as your balaclava and your helmet. This is the hours in the gym doing weightlifting, doing cardiovascular workouts on the bike, hydrating like mad. Racing drivers are athletes just like anyone else, so soccer players, football players, baseball players, whatever.
Get deep into the stint and don't have any physical compromises to perform behind the wheel of this finely tuned race car. Great battle again, look, with Michai Stephens harrying Kay van Berlo. van Berlo drops the wheels off the lefthand side and now, this might open the door for Stephens. van Berlo, the minnow, and Stephens, the hungry shark. Stephens has extra incentive. John Capestro-Dubets has walked into the room and said, "boys, I'm right here!" He is side by side with Jason Hart as we speak. Into turn one, a tight squeeze between Thompson in the Dan Gurney All American Racers tribute livery Supra vs. the BMW of Kenton Koch.
Thompson makes his move stick into Kristensen Corner. Parker Thompson is not in the fight for the championship. He wants a win, so he can throw caution to the wind and make a banzai move whether the championship contenders like it or not. What does Kenton Koch's co-driver Kevin Boehm have to say about all of this? Boehm explains risk vs. reward and also how the car handles now vs. how it will handle later on. Koch has to save the tires on this hot weekend and the tires have been screaming for mercy in the heat. The heat is excruciating in the car as we talked about. But, you just don't prepare for this on purpose unless you absolutely have to.
It is hard to do. Cloud cover over the track here at Sebring might cool things off for the drivers in this portion of the race even though we're only 1/4 of the way through. Well, well, well. Just as we talk about these chaps, Kenton Koch goes out and sets the CrowdStrike Fastest Lap of the motor race at 2:12.164. Dan Hanley, the co-driver for Parker Thompson, he has been drinking from a firehose to get seat time behind the wheel of any race car not just doing things with the GT4 Toyota but also running in things like single make Porsche competition. With no tire changes on the sole pit stop in these GT4 America races, these Pirelli P Zeros are surely an exhaustible commodity.
If you use the tires up in the first stint, you co-driver will have zero to work with and the tires will turn to jelly before the race is over. The top ten as they stand with 15 minutes gone is Parker Thompson, Kenton Koch, Andy Lee, Kay van Berlo, Michai Stephens, John Capestro-Dubets, Jason Hart, Terry Borcheller, Roman De Angelis, and Tyler McQuarrie. Roman De Angelis, the Canadian, is a stout driver, with lots of experience, but he is indeed coming under pressure and that shows how stiff the competition is in this championship and in worldwide sports car racing across the board.
Juan Pablo Martinez is dropping like a stone having to pit this lap, flying Plummet Airways down to 22nd spot in the #83 Nolasport Porsche Cayman. Martinez, the American driver, sharing with Venezuelan Nelson Calle. This is the team's Am class car. All the cars are the same SRO GT4 homologation, and the only difference is the FIA driver rating. A well driven car in any class can factor in at the front of the pack. Clean race so far. Not too much argy bargy or hip and shoulder. There are still two more races to run . van Berlo left hung out to dry as Michai Stephens passes in turn 16 down the Ulmann straightaway and JCD has caught the next car in is class in Silver.
John Capestro-Dubets actually came back into racing last weekend in a couple of single make Lamborghini races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and is now here in Pirelli GT4 America at Sebring. He had a big accident in one of those single make Lamborghini races at Road America and injured his back in that race landing hard after going airborne and the compression I believe is what injured his back. However, he has indeed recovered. Racing drivers are made of stern stuff and are able to recover quickly from most injuries. Jesse Webb will have quite the deficit to make up when he takes over from Michai Stephens in the #34 Conquest Racing Mercedes in the second half of this race.
We'll be into the pit window I think in the next ten minutes. The #51 BMW team will come in a wee bit early. I wonder because coming back from a back injury at a track like Sebring is a risky proposition. This track, with all the bumps is somewhere between being in a paint shaker and riding a mechanical bull. Eric Powell, meanwhile, has spun through the grass in the Nissan Z GT4. He loses the rear end in the braking zone for the hairpin and is sent spinning. John Capestro-Dubets, meanwhile, has passed Michai Stephens for position.
This is for fourth overall but for third, the last step on the podium in the Silver division. OK. Ross Chouest, the Louisiana native is getting ready for his stint as Aaron Povoledo has moved their Aston Martin to 12th place currently. Elias Sabo is readying to take over the Pro-Am leading #8 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT4. The pit window will open next time by. Who will duck first to the lane? Stephens staying with Capestro-Dubets for fourth place as Roman De Angelis has his hands full again with Tyler McQuarrie.
McQuarrie and James Walker Jr. are getting good resutls and Terry Borcheller goes off the road and back on at the Tower Turn and he probably has more laps around Sebring than darn near anyone. He has raced the 12 Hours of Sebring for many decades. Gosh, I remember Terry Borcheller winning a 12 Hours of Sebring here, in a Saleen S7R GT car in 2001 or so. Gosh, time flies or I'm old. I don't know which. Borcheller back in the saddle. Now, if you get hooked on the dirt in there, you will create more headaches for other racers. The more people drop wheels there, the worse it will get and the ruts and chuckholes will only get deeper.
De Angelis looking to the inside of Borcheller, gets his nose chopped off as the veteran driver slams the door in his face. Will this bring the BMW into the picture any closer? Stephens to the lane to hand off to Jesse Webb and interestingly, we see John Capestro-Dubets going around for another lap before he hands off to Zac Anderson. The gap is visible as we see Parker Thompson's lead over Kenton Koch has ballooned to four seconds or so. Andy Lee, the Pro-Am class leader, lurking in third in the overall. Colin Garrett brings the #44 Rooster Hall Racing BMW M4 GT4 to pit lane, the American handing off to his Danish co-driver Johan Schwartz.
Brian Heitkotter in the second Techsport Nissan Z GT4, car #23 passes Aaron Povoledo in the #50 Chouest Povoledo Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4. Heitkotter sharing with Tyler Stone. Parker Thompson in the Toyota Supra #999, our race leader, resets the CrowdStrike Fastest Lap at 2:11.545. Thompson is booking it, half a second clear of everyone else. JCD to the lane to hand off to Zach Anderson. The pit exit here at Sebring is deceiving because it vaults you right into the middle of turn one so you could have a wicked crackup if you aren't careful.
Driver change underway and tire pressures being checked, bleeding pressure away to assist handling on the car. This is now hammer time for Jesse Webb to try and accomplish the undercut. Webb is chasing Anderson for class position as we have gone past the halfway mark. Well, a large, juicy cherry ripe on the vine here for Mr. Webb if he can make his move. Both Conquest and Auto Technic have executed to perfection and now, Webb is chasing Anderson for position. Big juicy cherry? Maybe. That would actually be an orange since we're right in the middle of citrus country here in Florida among the orange groves and the Spanish moss of central Florida.
There should still be good tire temperature to work with as we see more pit callers. Brian Heitkotter in handing off to Tyler Stone. Kenton Koch handing off to Kevin Boehm. Parker Thompson will stay on track for as long as possible. The minimum stop time today is 84 seconds. Kenton Koch a known commodity in a GT4 car but Kevin Boehm, for the first time in 2023, making the step from a front wheel drive touring car into a rear-wheel-drive GT4 car for the first time ever. Anderson is pressing hard dropping a wheel at corner exit in turn one.
Big lockup for Parker Thompson standing on the anchors into pit lane! No tire changes and you don't often see a GT4 car spewing brake dust unless it is an endurance event where brakes would need to be changed, but not in this sprint format race. Dan Hanley, from Colorado, he will now take over the Toyota All American Eagle racer days with Dan Gurney's team. Everyone thought Parker Thompson was going to be Canada's next big star at the wheel of an IndyCar. He slipped through the net for a while but then Toyota picked him up and he has excelled. Big news to come about Parker Thompson I am sure. Watch this space. Toyota does have higher positions. They have their Lexus GT3 program in another championship. They have a World Endurance Championship Hypercar team. They have NASCAR teams.
Parker Thompson is definitely making himself known and could climb the Toyota ladder. Flying Lizard Motorsports completes their pit stop and Elias Sabo replaces Andy Lee at the wheel of the #8 Aston Martin, the orange and black 5.11 Tactical machine. Sabo, the Pro-Am leader, is about to have his hands full with this Silver class battle between Jesse Webb and Zac Anderson. Anderson has a run on Sabo, makes the move, and now, Sabo is a pick between Anderson and Webb and poor old Webb cannot afford these shenanigans at all. He is going to have get around Sabo come hell or high water. Anderson slices to the inside, Webb forces the issue.
Not for class position, but Sabo is giving it everything! His crew chief needs to be on the radio and say "simmer down, Elias. Those blokes were in a battle of their own. Let them go." The top four are Silver ranked. Sabo is the Pro-Am leader, Curt Swearingin next in line taking over for Kay van Berlo, but behind Swearingin, have a Captain Cook for Matt Travis, who is followed by Gray Newell, and James Walker Jr. Paul Sparta in the #98 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4 has the similar car of Harry Gottsacker right on his six. Gottsacker in the #88 STR38 Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 he shares with Chandler Hull.
Gottsacker running fifth in the Silver division. There was just no way we could have run the second race of the weekend in New Orleans with the biblical rain and the lightning. There was a massive lightning storm that weekend, too, as I recall in New Orleans. Terry Borcheller's great stint has now seen co-driver Nick Shanny inherit the lead in the Am class. That is the #20 Carrus Callas Race Team Toyota Supra GT4 Evo. Paul Sparta running well and so is Roland Krainz. Let me correct myself. Roland and Austin Krainz are father and son. It appears in the picture that Elias Sabo, through turn seven, has some understeer in that Aston Martin.
Nick Shanny is gaining both confidence and speed as a racing driver by leaps and bounds. Kevin Boehm is making inroads on Dan Hanley. He has 6.7 seconds to make up in 20 minutes. Meanwhile, Jesse Webb continues chasing down Zac Anderson. John Capestro-Dubets is so happy and excited to be back in the races. He has great respect for Roman De Angelis and fighting too with Michai Stephens and Kenton Koch as well. Jason Hart came over and gave John Capestro-Dubets a fist bump. John Capestro-Dubets is one of the good guys in the world of sports car racing for sure, on a 13-year journey to get to this level.
Motor racing is so data driven these days. A couple penalties after the pit window. A minor time penalty for Colin Garrett and Johann Schwartz and Colin Garrett while the other Heart of Racing Aston Martin, car #25 of Hannah Grisham and Rianna O'Meara-Hunt have been assessed a drive through penalty by the stewards for a pit stop violation. Whoa! Dan Hanley gets a tad squirrely and he carries too much speed through three, up on the curb and does a wheel stand but keeps it together! There is still a quarter of the race left to run. Boehm is catching Hanley but has Anderson coming in a hurry and behing harried massively by Jesse Webb, too, look.
Hanley is the outlier and the other three are scrapping for a title at the end of the season with two more races to go this weekend. Boehm, Anderson, and Webb, I believe are the title contenders. Boehm for his own good has to stay ahead of these two chaps who are chasing him down. Boehm's gap over Anderson is steadily eroding. The gap is only two and a half seconds. His biggest ally might be Jesse Webb if he runs side by side with Zac Anderson. This could give Boehm a cushion. James Walker Jr. passes Gray Newell for fourth in Pro-Am, ninth overall. Walker Jr. leads the Pro-Am championship with Matt Travis second in class and in the points in Pro-Am.
Travis did pass Curt Swearingin a few laps back. Matt Travis looking for his second championship in Pirelli GT4 America and has been racking up wins over the last five years and he might not race for a full season in 2024 either. Ross Chouest racing side by side for 13th with Nick Shanny and now, Charlie Postins is on the move along with James Clay. He is going for his sixth win in a row and they could even clinch before we get to Sunday. Paul Sparta third in Am. Now, Postins has to be patient and Paul Sparta is applying the heat.
Shanny leads Postins in Am with Sparta next in line. Nick Shanny is being helped by Terry Borcheller and this is his first time in sports of any kind, stick and ball, whatever. Time is running out. Postins to the outside of Chouest who really wants to bail out of this whole shemozzle. This is not his fight so he can lay back and take it easy with just over nine minutes left on the board. Through Sunset Bend, Postins moves by Chouest and now he is in the fight for the Am class lead with Nick Shanny! This is going to get spicy, ladies and gentlemen!
Postins has the preferred line into turn one and Shanny relents. Postins looking for a sixth consecutive Am class victory in Pirelli GT4 America competition in 2023. Johann Schwartz is now fighting for 18th place with Chris Allen. Not for class position. Anthony Geraci also in the wars here down the order. Chouest tries Shanny, but no, and now he is vulnerable to Paul Sparta, and you know Paul Sparta is going to try any trick in the book to make a pass. Roland Krainz just off the podiim in Am and Geraci slides, looking to the inside of Chouest. Wow! Geraci made a massive move or tried to and couldn't quite make it.
Postins has checked out and Sparta has a massive head of steam on Shanny, look. Shanny is going for it door to door through Sunset Bend and Sparta goes to second! Shanny has to keep pushing for a podium and here comes Krainz in the Porsche Cayman and he does make the pass on Shanny. This is high speed, fast paced competition in Pirelli GT4 America! Geraci has to make a move on Chouest and poor old Ross Chouest has been the meat in the sandwich with the Am class cars and a late move sends Ross Chouest into a spin in the hairpin! This is a dangerous spot with Chouest facing the wrong way into oncoming traffic! Oy yoy yoy!
Not much damage to the car but Chouest is just sitting there, dead stick in the runoff area trying to put the fire in the hole to get the car started again. Dan Hanley's lead is 2.1 seconds over Kevin Boehm, although Boehm is beginning to turn it on in the closing moments. Boehm has his hands full and Anderson and Webb, both of them, are coming in a big hurry. If Boehm has to go defensive over Anderson, then Hanley will bolt. Boehm playing defense over Anderson.
Five races to go including this one. Boehm and Koch are mathematically in for the title, but the real contenders will be Zack Anderson and the #34 Mercedes duo of Jesse Webb and Michai Stephens. Boehm and Koch have to finished ahead of Anderson and Hanley has driven a solid stint after Parker Thompson built the gap up setting fastest lap of the motor race earlier. White flag next time by across the stripe. Boehm fighting the car for grip, sawing the wheel. Jesse Webb is making inroads again on the BMW's. Elias Sabo has the Pro-Am lead but Matt Travis is coming in a hurry. White flag. One lap to go.
Zack Anderson is right on Kevin Boehm's six! A car off the road and it is Anthony Geraci in turn 13 with a local yellow flag. Boehm has to play defense. Can Jesse Webb enter the fight? Can Dan Hanley hang on and pick up an overall win in the first of three races. Boehm covers off the inside through the hairpin. He is fighting the rear guard action from Zac Anderson and Jesse Webb. There's a four point swing from third to fourth spot. Through the technical part of the course, and Jesse Webb is coming in a hurry.
We stay under green with Geraci in limp home mode from the incident scene. One final run down the Ulmann straight. Kevin Boehm has hung on with an evil handling race car. The top four covered by one second. Parker Thompson and Dan Hanley have the race lead through Sunset Bend for the final time. Kevin Boehm fighting for all he's worth holding off a charge from Zac Anderson. Anderson inside Boehm! They touch! Webb can pounce onto the front straightaway! Hanley and Thompson win the race and second will go the way Zack Anderson and John Capestro-Dubets! Wow! Have you ever? No, I've never!
Boehm holds off Webb by eight thousandths of a second! How close do you like it?! I said it at NOLA back in May and I'll say it here. Matt Travis and Jason Hart in Pro-Am come up one position short and in the Pro-Am class it is the #8 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT4 of Andy Lee and Elias Sabo who are your winners! James Walker Jr. will hold off Curt Swearingin and for the seventh time this year and the sixth on the bounce, Charlie Postins and James Clay win Am in the second Bimmerworld car. Second place, Roland and Austin Krainz, the dad and lad pairing for RS1. Third in Am, Random Vandals Racing, Paul Sparta, and Al Carter.
Green flag racing is more fun! Parker Thompson, 2:11.545, CrowdStrike Fastest Lap.
Overall/Silver: #999 Hanley/Thompson Hanley Motorsports Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO
Pro-Am: #8 Lee/Sabo Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4
Am: #36 Postins/Clay BimmerWorld BMW M4 GT4
We get to do two more races in GT4 America this weekend. Keep it clean thinking of two more races this weekend. Cue the dance music for the race results. Dan Hanley was a mechanic for Parker Thompson in Porsche Cup at JDX Motorsports and now, they are co-drivers in Pirelli GT4 America in SRO. Wow. Just amazing. We still have two more races for Pirelli GT4 America to come this weekend here at Sebring International Raceway. Watch for Nolasport this weekend.
No surprise to see the top three Pro-Am championship teams sharing the podium going into the next two races here at Sebring and the final two races of the year at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The sun beginning to set here in central Florida and we have two more dayus of racing left to come and so many more races for Pirelli GT4 America, GT World Challenge America, TC America races and more. We will be up bright and early for qualifying for Fanatec GT tomorrow that you will see on video here on the blog. More racing coming, too, as the overall podium celebration is set.
Race one in the bag for Pirelli GT4 America with two more to come. Join us for both races. Thanks, everybody. Good night, for now.
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