Grey rain clouds were replaced by bright blue skies as the Pirelli GT4 America field returned to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for their two fifteen-minute Qualifying sessions on Friday morning. Both sessions ran green all the way through to the checkered flag and provided a preview for all the action-packed competition that is still yet to come.
Conquest Racing and Hanley Motorsports scored pole positions in the Silver Class for Race One and Race Two, with NOLASPORT and Flying Lizard Motorsports earning top honors in PRO-AM. The AM class saw Heart of Racing Team and Carrus Callas Raceteam rising to the top of their respective class leaderboard.
Silver Class
It was a revolving door of changes for the top spot in the Silver Class, with the leaderboard drastically changing lap after lap.
It was Jesse Webb who lit up the track in Qualifying One, clocking in purple sectors on board his No. 34 Conquest Racing / JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4. His rapid time of 1:30.805 was simply untouchable, securing pole position for Race One later today and establishing some distance between himself and the next closest class competitor. Kevin Boehm followed closely in the No. 92 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4, just 0.089 seconds away from Webb’s time. Current championship leader JCD Dubets will start from third in class with his No. 51 Auto Technic Racing BMW M4 GT4.
The intensity continued to rise for Qualifying Two, this time with Parker Thompson showing off his mighty pace in the No. 999 Hanley Motorsports Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO to secure pole position for Sunday’s race. Andrew Davis will roll out in second in class on board the No. 19 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport, and Kenton Koch secured another Top 3 for the No. 92 Random Vandals Racing machine.
PRO-AM Class
The PRO-AM Class proved to be highly competitive yet again, with the Top 5 separated by the smallest of margins, in addition to raising a significant challenge for positions on the overall leaderboard.
Matt Travis had an excellent opening Qualifying session, storming into first in class and second overall in his No. 47 NOLASPORT Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport. Kevin Conway also had a strong lap, and will follow just a couple of places behind on the starting grid as he set the second-fastest time in the PRO-AM class and the fourth quickest time overall in the No. 68 Smooge Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO. Jason Bell wrapped up the session third in class and will line up just a few places behind in the No. 2 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4.
Drivers continued to bring their A-game in Qualifying Two as well, with Michael Cooper storming into first in class and first overall in his No. 2 Flying Lizard Motorsports machine, in addition to setting the fastest time across both Qualifying sessions with a time of 1:29.605. Roman DeAngelis will be starting just alongside after he completed the session in second overall for the No. 24 Heart Of Racing Team entry. Kay van Berlo will be kicking off Race Two from the second row after a strong Qualifying session that earned the No. 7 ACI Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport third position in class and fourth overall.
AM Class
Hannah Grisham was the one to beat in the AM Class, clinching pole position for Race One in her No. 26 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 in addition to claiming the fifth best time overall. She will be further benefitting from a healthy buffer between herself and the next closest car in class, the No. 67 Smooge Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO of Tony Ave, who will be starting Race One second in class and thirteenth overall, with Robert Mau following closely behind in the No. 438 STR38 Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 (G82).
Qualifying Two saw the No. 20 Carrus Callas Raceteam Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO of Terry Borcheller rise above the rest with a highly competitive lap that earned them the best time in class as well as the sixth-best time overall. The Top 3 in AM was further completed by Juan Pablo Martinez in the No. 83 NOLASPORT Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport, and the No. 26 Heart of Racing car earned another great Qualifying result with the likes of RiannaO'Meara-Hunt.
LET’S GO
The series will be back on track for Race One at 5:25 p.m ET, followed by Race Two on Sunday at 10:35 a.m ET. Fans can follow progression with Griiip Live, live timing. The studio makes it easy to follow class battles, lap times, and pit strategy for the five SRO America series. Stream the races live on the YouTube page, GT World or join the conversation on Twitch.