Multiple GT4 America champion NOLASPORT will make its GT4 European Series Powered by RAFA Racing Club debut in the biggest event of the year at Spa-Francorchamps, and is bringing two highly decorated drivers to the grid.
The team, based in New Orleans, Louisiana – hence the NOLA – will field a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS for drivers Jason Hart and Matt Travis at Spa, with the car running in the Pro-Am class. NOLASPORT has an impressive record in GT4 America, having won the Pro-Am championship in each of the last three years.
Drivers Hart and Travis are also no strangers to success, with the pair securing the Pro-Am Drivers’ title twice together in the last three years (2023 and 2021). Hart is also a three-time champion, sharing a car with Scott Noble to also win the 2022 Pro-Am title and achieve three in a row Stateside.
Both drivers have raced for NOLASPORT since 2016, and are both very familiar with the Porsche, which will wear a cougar livery inspired by the Talladega Nights movie. That should equip the team well to take on what is expected to be a huge GT4 European Series field for two races across the centenary CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa weekend.
Matt Travis says: “Like most Americans, we weren’t entirely sure how to speak European… let alone figure out where Europe is on a map, so we knew we had to go check it out! There are so many unanswered questions, like ‘What’s a kilometer?’ and ‘Does that Celsius temperature stuff mean it’s hot or cold?’… Who knows?! We’re just gonna lick the stamp and send it.”
Jason Hart says: “When the guys told me we were going to race Spa, I was happier than a tornado in a trailer park. My prior experience at Spa has been in the rain, so I’ve been praying to 8-pound 6-ounce tiny newborn Jesus that it rains this time too!”
Volker Holzmeyer, President and CEO, Porsche Motorsport North America adds: “It will be exciting to see NOLASPORT travel to Spa to face the best GT4 teams from across Europe. The team, Matt and Jason have proven themselves with a long list of GT4 America wins and championships in the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport. GT4 racing in North America is as intense and competitive as it is anywhere in the world, and we have complete confidence that NOLA will show why they are champions on the world stage in Spa.”
Top image: Halston Pitman