A Treacherous Tale Unfolds in Race Two in GT4 America

A Treacherous Tale Unfolds in Race Two in GT4 America
  • Hanley Motorsports Take Victory in Silver
  • Flying Lizard Motorsports Clinch PRO-AM and Overall Win
  • BimmerWorld On Top in AM Class
  • Results 

Clouds loomed over Circuit of the Americas as the Pirelli GT4 America field took to the grid for their second race of the weekend. The track surface gradually began to dry up following some light rain early Sunday morning, but conditions remained challenging and unpredictable. 

The race was punctuated by a number of full course cautions, with the race ultimately finishing under yellow flags. 

Silver Class

It was a clean start in the Silver class with a lot of movement from front to back. Parker Thompson sailed ahead in the No. 999 Hanley Motorsports Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO, with Kenton Koch sitting second in class on board the No. 92 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4, separated by a few PRO-AM entries. 

The pit lane window opened just before the halfway mark of the race, with pit stop strategies coming into play as some teams opted to come in for their driver changes while others stayed out a little longer. 

The yellow flags waved briefly for a car that had temporarily stopped on the side of the track, but the race took a very dramatic turn at the restart, with the frontrunners in class, Kevin Boehm and John Miller, being taken out in a turn 1 crash, in addition to Jesse Webb sent spinning and tumbling down the leaderboard. 

Daniel Hanley was able to settle back into the class lead and take the checkered flag in first place for Hanley Motorsports, followed by Zac Anderson picking up some more hardware in the No. 51 Auto Technic Racing BMW M4 GT4, followed by Tyler Maxson in third place in the No. 74 Copeland Motorsports Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO. 

PRO-AM Class

A battle quickly emerged between Michael Cooper and Jeroen Bleekemolen in the No. 2 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 and the No. 54 Black Swan Racing McLaren Artura GT4. As Bleekemolen continued to set fastest laps, he created distance between himself as his competitors behind, setting his sights on the overall lead. 

A full course caution emerged with a little over 25 minutes remaining on the clock, further spicing up the running order as Cooper and Bleekemolen handed over their cars to their teammates a couple of laps prior, with Jason Bell moving the Flying Lizard Motorsports machine up into the lead, with Tim Pappas waiting in anticipation right behind him for the restart. 

As the race resumed, Pappas was taken out of the race after getting clipped from behind going into turn 1, while Bell managed to escape the wreckage unscathed. 

As the race came to a close, Bell went on to secure the victory in class in addition to grabbing the overall win. James Walker Jr. followed up in second place in the No. 82 BimmerWorld BMW M4 GT4, with Matt Travis completing the podium in the No. 47 NOLASPORT Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport. 

AM Class

Terry Borcheller kept his No. 20 Carrus Callas Raceteam Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO comfortably in the lead in the AM class, while some fierce competition was shaping up between James Clay in the No. 36 BimmerWorld, Chris Allen in the No. 438 STR38 Motorsports BMW M4 GT4, and Coby Shield in the No. 428 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4, all staying within a second of each other. 

Pit stops, full course cautions, and restarts shook up the running order, with the BimmerWorld beast beating out the rest as Charlie Postins added another win to the team’s collection. Robert Mau crossed the line in second, completing a very successful weekend for STR38 Motorsports. The No. 77 TR3 Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 of Paul Kiebler and Jon Branam completed the Top 3. 

Up next! 

The fourth round of the Pirelli GT4 America championship will take place in Alton, Virginia at Virginia International Raceway from June 16-18. 

All race sessions are streamed live on the GT World YouTube page. Join Ash Vandelay on Twitch by following the SROMotorsports channel. Vandelay hosts six-hour programs Saturday and Sunday, where she is joined by drivers while chatting with fans and giving an interesting insight into that day's races.