SONOMA, CALIF. – The Pirelli GT4 America Sprint and SprintX series will be back in action June 7 to 9 at Sonoma Raceway’s challenging and picturesque 12-turn, 2.52-mile road course. Thirty-seven entries across both championships piloting machinery from 10 of the world’s top manufacturers will compete. The Pirelli GT4 America Sprint series features a single-driver, 50-minute double-header race weekend, while SprintX showcases a pair of two-driver, 60-minute races with pit stops.
Pumpelly Leads Pirelli GT4 America Sprint Series Competitors Coming into Rounds 8 and 9
Petaluma, California based team TRG – The Racers Group, return to their home track with driver Spencer Pumpelly set to pilot the team’s #66 Porsche Cayman GT4 CS-MR. He won his second race of the 2019 season at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and jumped to the top of the Pro Division driver’s championship standings with 98 points.
Panoz driver Ian James won Round 1 at the Circuit of the Americas and looks to get back into victory circle in Sonoma. He comes into the weekend trailing Pumpelly by a mere five points in the championship standings. He will pilot the #50 Team Panoz Racing Panoz Avezzano GT4.
Three-time series champion Michael Cooper won Round 2 at Long Beach and sits third in championship points with 90. Cooper has won at Sonoma before and will drive the No. 10 Blackdog Speed Shop McLaren 570S GT4.
Gar Robinson comes into the weekend fourth in the championship with 82 points and will pilot the #74 Robinson Racing Chevrolet Camaro GT4. Rounding out the top five in the class is Shane Lewis who will drive Robinson Racing’s second entry – the #72 Chevrolet Camaro GT4.
Of note, Jarett Andretti had a dominating Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) weekend winning both races and has been promoted to the Pro Division. He will drive the Andretti Autosport #18 McLaren 570S GT4.
Also entered in the Pro division is the #71 Marco Polo Motorsports KTM X-bow that will be driven by Nicolai Elghanayan – he won his first race of the 2019 season at CTMP – while CRP Racing brings its #20 Porsche Cayman GT4 CS-MR for Matt Brabham, the grandson of three time Formula One World Champion Sir Jack Brabham.
In the Am division, with Andretti moving into the Pro Division, Ford Mustang GT4 driver Drew Staveley sits atop the driver’s championship standings, he’ll drive the #12 Ian Lacy Racing entry.
Park Place Motorsports driver Alan Brynjolfsson comes into the weekend second in the driver standings 12 points behind Staveley and will drive the #7 Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR. Two drivers returning to series action are 2016 TC Driver’s Champion Toby Grahovec in the #26 Classic BMW BMW M4 GT4 and Marko Radisic – he’ll pilot the #22 Precision Driving Tech BMW M4 GT4. Series veteran Tony Gaples will drive the #11 McLaren 570S GT4 – Gaples has over 160 starts in the series.
Sonoma based Stephen Cameron Racing will look for victory at their home track and have entered two BMW M4 GT4’s with Sean Quinlan in their #19 M4 GT4 and Henry Schmitt in the #88 machine. Another Sonoma-based team, Flying Lizard Motorsports enters their #30 Audi R8 LMS GT4 for Erin Vogel.
Rounding out the Am field is Frank Gannett piloting the #24 Ian Lacy Ford Mustang GT4, Mark Klenin in the #62 KPR McLaren 570S GT4, GMG Racing’s Jason Bell in the #2 Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR. Rearden Racing bring two entries – Dmitri Novikov in the #80 BMW M4 GT4 and the #91 Audi R8 LMS GT4 for Jeff Burton.
Hart and Travis Continue Dominance in SprintX
Several Sprint Series competitors will do double duty over the weekend in SprintX competition. Porsche team Matt Travis and Jason Hart continued their dominance in SprintX winning the Friday race at CTMP – their third win of the 2019 season. They will co-pilot the #47 NOLASPORT Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR. NOLASPORT will also have its #46 machine on the grid for Mike Vess and John Capestro-Dubets.
Also representing Porsche is TRG – The Racers Group. They bring two entries to race at their home track with James Rappaport and Derek DeBoer in the #17 Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR, and the #67 718 Cayman CS MR for Chris Bellomo and Kevin Woods.
Southern California’s GMG Racing pairs Jason Bell and former series champion Alec Udell in the #2 Audi R8 LMS GT4. Rearden Racing will also race the Audi R8 LMS GT4 at Sonoma with two entries – the #43 for Sarah Cattaneo and Owen Trinkler, and the #91 for Jeff Burton and Vesko Kozarov.
Ginetta will also have a couple of entries with Casey Dennis and Jeff Bader co-piloting the #5 USRD Ginetta G55, while the #24 Ian Lacy Racing entry will be driven by Frank Gannett and Drew Staveley.
Several teams will also showcase the BMW M4 GT4 over the weekend with the #16 Auto Technic Racing entry for Kris Wilson and John Allen. Sonoma-based Stephen Cameron Racing brings the #19 machine for Sean Quinlan and San Francisco based Gregory Liefooghe. ST Racing enters two M4 GT3’s for the weekend – the #38 for Samantha Tan and two-time series champion Jason Wolfe and the #28 for Harry Gottsacker and Jon Miller.
Andretti Autosport brings its #36 McLaren 570S GT4 for Jarett Andretti and Karl Thomson, while Team Panoz Racing brings its #51 Panoz Avezzano GT for Preston Calvert and Matthew Keegan.
Mercedes-AMG will be represented by Murillo Racing’s Christian Szymczak and Kenny Murillo driving the #34 Mercedes-AMG GT4.
GT4 classes get their first official track time starting with Sprint practice on Friday, June 7 at 9:20 am Pacific. Qualifying begins Saturday, June 8 at 9 am Pacific, with the first Pirelli GT4 America Sprint race later that day at 12:40 pm Pacific. The first SprintX race is set for a green flag start at 5:30 pm on Saturday.
All Sprint and SprintX races will be streamed live on gt4-america.com and via audio simulcast on SiriusXM satellite radio Ch. 383 (983 on the app). CBS Sports Network coverage for SprintX races at Sonoma airs June 22nd at 6:00 pm ET with Sprint coverage immediately following at 7:00 pm ET. Check your local listings for additional broadcast time and channel information.
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Event Hashtag: #GTSonoma
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Pirelli GT4 America Sprint ENTRY LIST – PDF LINK
Pirelli GT4 America SprintX ENTRY LIST - PDF LINK
Event Timetable – PDF LINK
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