Dramatic End in Race 1 at Road America; RS1 Wins in Silver, Premier Racing First in Pro-Am and Maiden Win for KRUGSPEED

Dramatic End in Race 1 at Road America; RS1 Wins in Silver, Premier Racing First in Pro-Am and Maiden Win for KRUGSPEED
  • RS1 Porsche claims seventh win of the season
  • Premier Racing Porsche gain valuable points with their Pro-Am win
  • Maiden victory for KRUGSPEED Toyota in AM
  • Provisional Results

Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin - The rain held off for the first Pirelli GT4 America race at Road America on Saturday afternoon. The rising heat was felt both in the air and on track, as the 33 cars offered up a piping hot show. 

The Toyota Supras have been the quickest cars on numerous occasions throughout this weekend, namely during the race. Terry Borcheller was the winner of the CrowdStrike Fastest Lap award thanks to his impressive time of 2:18.251 aboard the #20 Carrus Callas Raceteam Toyota GR Supra GT4 co-driven by Nick Shanny in the Am class. 

Silver

Right as the green flag waved to commence the race, the #18 RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport of Stevan McAleer set sail and never looked back. After completing their mandatory pit stop, Eric Filgueiras took over from his Scottish co-driver, and won with an impressive 15.048 margin over the second overall car. The teammates now have eight wins under their belts. 

“We have a mechanism in the car that tells us the pit time, and it wasn’t working,” explained Eric Filgueiras after his stint. “So in the pit box we gave up roughly 9 seconds, as we found out afterwards. We didn’t know how long our stop was going to be, we ended up losing time and then I was by myself and not really sure what was going on out on track. It’s a testament to Stevan McAleer’s driving ability. His job today was to give me a car in a position to win, and that will be my job tomorrow. We’re very proud, the RS1 guys work so hard.” 

What looked like a promising and intense battle on track between the #34 Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Gavin Sanders and Kevin Conway’s #68 Smooge Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 ended dramatically on pit road as Conway hit the back of Sanders’ Mercedes when both cars came in for their pit stops. 

With these two cars out of podium contention, the undoubtedly deserving #112 Dexter Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 co-driven by Ryan Dexter and Dominic Starkweather claimed second place. There was still a ‘silver lining’ for Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports in the Silver class, as multiple competitors had a bad day, giving Gavin Sanders and his teammate Michai Stephens the chance to climb on to the final podium position as they rounded up the Top 3. 

Pro-Am

All eyes were set on the Pro-Am battle. Right from the start of the race, all the way to the checkered flag, the Top 4 were nose to tail, all fighting to get on the top step of the podium. 

Early on in the race, the #24 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 of Gray Newell and co-driver Ian James was chased down by the #47 NOLASPORT Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport of Scott Noble and by Adam Adelson in his #120 Premier Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport. A few Am cars were also in the mix as they tried to secure a Top 5 overall finish. 

Once the driver changes were done, the battle continued between Ian James, Elliott Skeer (#120 Premier Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport) and Jason Hart (#47 NOLASPORT Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport). James was holding on to the class lead as Skeer was busy keeping Hart behind him, but once the NOLASPORT driver passed, all bets were off. 

With 5 minutes remaining, it was all or nothing for Hart, who made a pass on James for the lead. Both cars made contact, with Hart going off in the grass. Although Ian James crossed the line first in class, it was the duo of Elliott Skeer and Adam Adelson who won the race, ahead of Jason Hart and Scott Noble. The Heart of Racing drivers rounded off the Top 3. 

The two-place penalty for the #24 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 is bittersweet for the NOLASPORT drivers, as this allows Premier Racing to grab the Championship lead by 3 points. 

Am

The Am class also stole the show, along with the Pro-Am class. The #36 BimmerWorld BMW M4 GT4 of Charlie Postins and James Clay and the #80 Rooster Hall Racing BMW M4 GT4 of Todd Brown and Johan Schwartz heated up the battle in the Pro-Am class during the first half of the race. Both Postins and Schwartz were looking at finishing in the overall Top 5, an impressive feat on this challenging track. 

Opting for a different strategy, Johan Schwartz was the last driver to come down pit road, giving the wheel of the #80 Rooster Hall Racing BMW M4 GT4 to Todd Brown with 26 minutes remaining on the clock. It didn’t go as planned, as not only Todd Brown went off the track and lost the lead, but the team had to serve a drive-through penalty for a pit lane violation. 

Patience and consistency paid off for the #72 KRUGSPEED Toyota GR Supra GT4, with drivers Anthony Geraci and Jaden Lander claiming their first win of the season. 

“We had such a bad qualifying session; we just kept trying to learn the car,” said Anthony Geraci. “The team did awesome, and luckily we had a really good start. I have a great teammate so we’re blessed.”

Jaden Lander echoed Anthony’s thoughts; “Anthony made up 10 positions on the first three laps, and from then on I just tried to keep it on the road. We had some contact, but we kept it clean and came in first.” 

BimmerWorld’s James Clay and Charlie Postins came in second, followed by the #19 NOLASPORT Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport of Alain Stad and Matt Travis, who are currently sitting in second place in the Championship standings. 

Race 2 starts at 11:10 AM ET on Sunday August 21.  

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