Andretti Autosport Sweeps Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Weekend at Las Vegas

Andretti Autosport Sweeps Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Weekend at Las Vegas

The final Pirelli GT4 America SprintX and SprintX West race took place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway under sunny but windy skies.  A mere one point separated the SprintX Pro-Am championship contending lineups in the #19 Stephen Cameron Racing BMW M4 GT4 and #47 NOLASPORT Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR.  Due to a car swap earlier in the weekend, the Gregory Liefooghe-driven #19 would start from eleventh position instead of pole with the #47 starting third for the 60 minute race.

Guy Cosmo (SprintX Pro-Am) and the #89 RENNtech Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT4 would lead the field to the green flag with SprintX West Pro-Am champion Harry Gottsacker chasing in the #28 ST Racing BMW M4 GT4.

Jarrett Andretti (SprintX Pro-Am) and the #36 Andretti Autosport McLaren 570S GT4 quickly moved up to the fourth position with Trent Hindman (SprintX West Pro-Am) sliding into fifth overall, attacking the #36.

With 43 minutes remaining, Liefooghe and the #19 BMW M4 GT4 had advanced to the eighth overall position, fourth in class.  Minutes later Owen Trinkler in the #43 Rearden Racing Audi R8 LMS GT4 would then power past Hart with championship rival Liefooghe just behind.

Just before the pit window for mandatory driver changes opened with 35 minutes remaining, Jason Hart went for a pass at turn 1 over Harry Gottsacker but would go wide, allowing Andretti and Hindman both through to the third and fourth positions overall.

With 29 minutes to go, Hart would again go wide at turn 1, dropping down to the ninth overall position, fifth in class.  Liefooghe would then find himself fourth overall, third in the SprintX Pro-Am class.

After the pit window had closed, it was the #36 Andretti Autosport McLaren 570S GT4, now with Colin Mullan (SprintX Pro-Am) driving, leading overall with Jon Miller (SprintX West Pro-Am) and the #28 ST Racing BMW M4 GT4 second overall, first in class.  Alan Brynjolfsson (SprintX West Pro-Am ) and the #77 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR ran third overall, second in class, with Patrick Byrne (SprintX Pro-Am) and the #89 RENNtech Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT4 dropping to fourth.  Sean Quinlan (SprintX Pro-Am) in the #19 Stephen Cameron Racing BMW M4 GT4 would sit fifth overall, third in class, looking good to claim the championship as Matt Travis (SprintX Pro-Am) in the #47 NOLASPORT Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR sunk to tenth overall, sixth in class. 

With 20 minutes to go, Byrne would then slip past Bryjolfsson for third overall, second in class.

With 14 minutes left on the clock, the #43 Rearden Racing Audi R8 LMS GT4 of Sarah Cattaneo (SprintX West Pro-Am) would lose the right rear wheel before turn 3, causing the first and only full course caution of the day to be called.  This caution would pack the field up and bring Matt Travis to within two cars of Sean Quinlan as the two fought for the Pro-Am championship.

The race would go back to green with only 3 minutes remaining with Colin Mullan still leading Jon Miller with Alan Brynjolfsson diving past Byrne for third overall.  Third place was short lived as Brynjolfsson would run wide at turn 12, dropping to ninth overall, second in the SprintX West Pro-Am class.  Mullan would not be challenged over the remaining three minutes and go on to take the teams second SprintX win of the weekend. “Amazing, a fantastic way to close out the season.  We went out on a high note getting our first two overall SprintX wins so hats off to this Andretti Autosport crew, I can’t believe it!” said Mullan.

Matt Travis would move into the fifth position, just behind Quinlan going into the final lap of the race to decide the championship.  Travis would make a diving pass attempt at turn 10, but run wide, handing Quinlan, Liefooghe, and Stephen Cameron Racing the 2019 Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Pro-Am Championship.  “This has been a weekend of ups and downs since the first practice for us,” said Liefooghe, “But the team never gave up, we were nervous, but we got it done and brought the championship hope for Cameron Racing.  Im am so happy right now!”

“It was exciting! More exciting than I wanted, but I’m glad we got to race for it!  We slowly picked up our game this year, but have been clicking and it all paid off with the championship!” said Sean Quinlan. 

Behind Mullan was Jon Miller and the #28 ST Racing BMW M4 GT4 finishing second overall, first in class with Patrick Byrne and the #89 RENNtech Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT4 third overall, second in class.

Sean Quinlan would come home fourth overall, third in class, in the championship winning #19 Stephen Cameron Racing BMW M4 GT4, with Michael Dinan and the #21 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR fifth.

James Sofronas and the #2 GMG Racing Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR would finish sixth overall, first in the SprintX Am class.

Derek Deboer in the #17 TRG Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR would take the SprintX West Am victory, finishing twelfth overall.

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SPRINTX RACE 2 RESULTS - PDF Link