Blackdog Racing ended its racing season in one of the most satisfying ways possible by winning both Pro-Am rounds of Pirelli GT4 America on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Michael Cooper and Tony Gaples teamed in the sweep of a weekend for their first time as a pairing. They won Saturday in the No. 33 Blackdog Performance McLaren Artura GT4 from Cooper’s overall pole position and repeated Saturday following a solid P3 starting spot from Gaples on a wet and windy Sunday.
The weekend results at Indianapolis – the team’s first two victories at the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course – elevated Cooper, Gaples and Blackdog Racing from fourth in the Pro-Am Drivers and Teams championship at the start of the weekend to third following Sunday and just 12 away from the title.
Blackdog Racing bookended its season with two victories at Indianapolis to end it after opening the year with a win at Sonoma in its first year with the Artura GT4 and a return to McLaren after the 2021 season.
The team now has 46 all-time GT4/GTS victories in SRO/World Challenge history to lead all entrants.
Cooper began on pole position Saturday but spent much of his time in the race behind the safety car following a significant crash on the opening lap of the race. He handed over to Gapes with 25 minutes to go and a 13-second lead in the class. Drama came, however, with a nearly 10-second post-race time penalty but Gaples drove steadily to the finish and still took the victory by more than that margin.
He continued his strong form in the early portion of Sunday’s race, which took place on a much colder and damp track compared to Saturday. Gaples critically held his position with the Pro-Am leader starting its Pro driver. The Blackdog team made the switch to Cooper after 25 minutes, who carved his way through the field to go from 34 seconds behind the class leader with 23 minutes left to a win by more than six seconds.
MICHAEL COOPER, NO. 33 BLACKDOG PERFORMANCE McLAREN ARTURA GT4: “It was interesting last night when the guys said it was still mathematically possible and then your mind goes to the little things that happened over the course of the year that cost you those points. But an incredible job by McLaren and an incredible job by Blackdog Racing all season – Ray Sorenson (team manager), our engineer Eric Miller and the whole team. Tony did an amazing job this weekend. I'm just so happy to cap off another win at IMS."
TONY GAPLES, NO. 33 BLACKDOG PERFORMANCE McLAREN ARTURA GT4: "I felt really good this weekend. I'm really excited for these two wins. Indy hasn't been our best track in the past. So we're just really happy with the results from this weekend. Ray loves coming here and it's his favorite place to go. So we're all really happy for that, too. I have a great teammate here who has a lot of good data that I can look at. We just did really well. I really enjoyed being in the McLaren this year and it’s good to be back with them. I'm really happy for all the team that we were able to do this."
About Blackdog Racing
Ever dreamed of piloting a real SRO GT race car? Blackdog offers rental and “arrive and drive” racing in addition to purpose-built cars. Email sales@blackdogspeedshop.com to discuss the best way to put you in the driver’s seat!