Race Two was a treacherous affair for the Pirelli GT4 America field as a yellow flag punctuated the first ten minutes of the race and set the tone for the action that was still to come. From daring overtakes, setbacks and penalties, and phenomenal racecraft – this race had it all.
Conquest Racing overcame some setbacks and wrote themselves a fairytale ending as they claimed the final Silver Class win of the season. Smooge Racing had an excellent second stint and went on to clinch the PRO-AM victory, while Heart of Racing Team completed a perfect drive to perform a clean sweep in the AM class.
Silver Class
The drama unfolded very quickly in the Silver Class. An incident on the opening lap involving multiple cars brought out the yellow flags early, but there would be more argy bargy to come.
The No. 999 Hanley Motorsports Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO of Parker Thompson was running third overall and first in class, but was involved in a collision with a PRO-AM competitor on the race restart, resulting in a drive-through penalty and damage that ultimately ended his race.
Andrew Davis was therefore promoted to first in class in the No. 19 ACI Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport, just as Michai Stephens moved up into second in class as he completed an overtake over the No. 92 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4 of Kenton Koch. Stephens continued to utilize out-of-class traffic to his advantage to propel himself up the overall running.
The driver changes saw little to no changes in the running order, but the gap between Francis Selldorff in the ACI Motorsports machine and Jesse Webb in the Conquest Racing challenger was getting smaller and smaller with twenty minutes to go.
Webb was the fastest car on track and it didn’t take long before he moved up into the overall lead, and shifted his focus to building up a gap to the rest of the field as he had an impending 2.185 second post-race time penalty for a short pit stop.
The Conquest Racing outfit went on to claim the final victory of the season with a substantial 15-second gap over the rest of the field, and clinched second place in the Silver Class championship in the process. ACI Motorsports concluded the race in second place, with the final step on the podium belonging to the Random Vandals Racing team.
PRO-AM Class
There were big swings in momentum from the get-go in the PRO-AM Class. Roman DeAngelis pulled off a sweeping overtake into Turn 1 on board the No. 24 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 to move up into the lead over the No. 2 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 of Michael Cooper. The full course caution emerged later in that same lap.
The aforementioned contact between Parker Thompson and Michael Cooper saw the latter drop down the running order, ultimately ending both their races as a result of damage to the cars. Kay van Berlo swooped past into second overall in class in the No. 7 ACI Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport.
The attention turned over to Curt Swearingin and Kevin Conway in the No. 68 Smooge Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO who were battling hard for second and third in class as the final ten minutes of the race approached. Conway was on the charge, overtaking Swearingin before setting his target on Gray Newell up the road.
With just five minutes remaining, Conway took over the top spot in the PRO-AM Class and never looked back, powering his way to the checkered flag to secure the final win of the season. Meanwhile, Swearingin further improved to second place with just one minute remaining on the clock, with Newell bringing it home in third.
AM Class
Terry Borcheller started off the race with a massive advantage in the opening stint in the AM Class in his No. 20 Carrus Callas Raceteam Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO, with over ten positions separating him from the next-closest class competitor as he ran sixth overall.
The battle raged on for the remaining podium positions and Carrus Callus Raceteam maintained their class lead following the mandatory driver changes. Charlie Postins and Hannah Grisham were battling it out for second and third in the No. 36 BimmerWorld BMW M4 GT4 and No. 26 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4.
Meanwhile, Nelson Calle was sitting closely behind in fourth in the No. 83 NOLASPORT Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport, ready to capitalize on any possible mistakes from the competitors ahead.
However, the action was far from over. The final minutes saw the Heart of Racing machine storming through the field and could not be stopped. As the minutes and laps ticked away, they only had the victory in mind, and completed their mission as they overtook on the final laps to claim their second consecutive win and sweep the weekend. Carrus Callus Raceteam finished second, with BimmerWord picking up third place.
- Provisional Results
The 2023 Season
The calendar is complete for the Pirelli GT4 America series. Competitors will celebrate their season’s end in a lavish SRO Motorsports America prize-giving ceremony. Then, all attention turns to 2024.