RS1, Chouest Povoledo, and Auto Technic Racing Score the Final Wins of the Year at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with RS1, Nolasport, and BimmerWorld Taking the Championships

RS1, Chouest Povoledo, and Auto Technic Racing Score the Final Wins of the Year at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with RS1, Nolasport, and BimmerWorld Taking the Championships
  • Championship winning RS1 team takes it to 11 with another win in Silver
  • Chouest Povoledo becomes eighth different winner in Pro-Am
  • Nolasport holds on for Pro-Am championship
  • Auto Technic BMW scores their second Am win of the season
  • Provisional Results

Indianapolis, Indiana - Drama was served cold and often in Race 2 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the Pirelli GT4 America field took to the track for its final race of the 2022 season. While the Silver championship was decided for RS1 on Friday, and Am was claimed by BimmerWorld at Sebring, the Pro-Am championship was still brutally close between Nolasport and Premier Racing. However, after a two-driver sprint race-turned-war of attrition—mainly caused by repeated drama in Turn 1—it would be Nolasport who’d survive flying BMWs, Aston Martins, Porsche, and Toyotas and make it across the finish line—Premier Racing wasn’t so lucky.

Silver

After massive drama in Turn 1, Lap 1, Eric Filgueiras (#18 RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport) jumped ahead with season-long rival Gavin Sanders  (#34 Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4) not too far behind. It would only be a short matter of time before the two were in a fantastic scrap.

After the driver change, McAleer took over for Filgueiras and never looked back. His spot was lightly contended by Michai Stephens (#34 Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4) in the end, but otherwise he had a pretty clean run to the checkers.

Further down the running order, Ryan Dexter (#112 Dexter Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4) was handed a drive-through penalty for contact made with #50 Chouest Povoledo Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 (Ross Chouest/Aaron Povoledo) taking him out of fifth in class and clearing the way for Kevin Conway (#68 Smooge Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4) and Matt Forbush (#33 Forbush Performance Toyota GR Supra GT4) mixed in with some Am traffic.

Across the line it was McAleer, Stephens, and Conway. RS1 earned the CrowdStrike Fastest Lap by setting a 1:31.295.

“This is a massive deal for us,” McAleer said. “The chemistry between Eric and I from the get-go—we had a great opening round at Sonoma and never looked back. I think every team has some rocky races, which we did, but credit to the RS1 team and thanks for the opportunity.”

Pro-Am

Elias Sabo (#8 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4) and Elliot Skeer (#120 Premier Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport) made contact in Turn 1, Lap 1, resulting in the Premier car taking on damage and being put out of the race, thus ending their championship bid.  Premier Racing can reflect on a strong year that included three wins including a sweep at NOLA.  

The opening move of the race, weaving through the spinning cars at turn 1 was from the #52 Auto Technic Racing BMW of John Capestro-Dubets (#52 Auto Technic Racing BMW M4 GT4) who picked up over a dozen positions.

After the driver change, Tom Capizzi, taking over for Capestro-Dubets, held off James Walker Jr. (#82 BimmerWorld BMW M4 GT4) for P1 in class, but had to reel it in for a yellow flag brought on by contact between Nick Shanny (#20 Carrus Callas Raceteam Toyota GR Supra GT4) and Gray Newell (#24 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4).

After the restart, drama in T1 punted off the #82 BMW of Walker Jr., opening the door for Ross Chouest (#50 Chouest Povoledo Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4) and Toby Grahovic (#10 Fast Track Racing BMW M4 GT4) who took over from Tim Horrell. Chouest and Grahovic made it to P1 and P2, which stuck across the line.  This was the second win of the day for Chouest who had already won in the GT America race.  This was also the first career podium for Tim Horrell.  Horrell races with hand controls developed by the Fast Track Racing team.

“I can’t think of a better place to have such a great weekend—three wins and seal the championship in GT America,” Chouest said. “As a kid we used to come to the 500 every year. I literally can’t think of a better place to win this.”

With Premier knocked out, the #47 Nolasport Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport (Scott Noble/Jason Hart) cruised to a fifth place finish becoming the 2022 Pirelli GT4 America Pro-Am champions. 

Am

While the battle was on in Pro-Am and Silver, there was still the rest of the championship podium to fill out in Am.

With BimmerWorld already locked in the Am championship with Nolaport driver Alain Stad in second, third place was still up for grabs between RS1, Carrus Callas, and Auto Technic.

In the final moments of the race, mixed in with both Silver and Pro-Am runners, Alex Filsinger (#53 Auto Technic Racing BMW M4 GT4) made a sturdy move on Charlie Postins (#36 BimmerWorld BMW M4 GT4), grabbing the lead. Ramana Lagemann (#38 STR38 Motorsports BMW M4 GT4) wasn’t far behind.

Two corners later it was Filsinger across the line first, followed by Postins and Lagemann.

“I just did everything I could,” Filsinger said. “I went as deep as I could possibly go, gave as much as I could and got lucky. Charlie made a mistake at the last second that gave me a hole so I ran with it.”

The Am championship top five was as follows:

  1. James Clay & Charlie Postins (BimmerWorld BMW)  262 points 
  2. Alain Staid (Nolasport Porsche) 158 points
  3. Alex Filsinger and Rob Walker (Auto Technic BMW) 127 points
  4. Nelson Calle & Juan Martinez (RS1 Porsche) 113 points
  5. Terry Borcheller & Nick Shanny (Carrus Callas Toyota) 110 points

Porsche earned the GT4 manufacturers championship over Mercedes-AMG, Aston Martin, Toyota, BMW, and McLaren. 

Replay the  action on the GTWorld YouTube Channel, follow Pirelli GT4 America on Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, and Twitter.