- Random Vandals Racing On Top in Silver and Am class
- Flying Lizard Motorsports Best in Pro-Am
- Practice 1 Unofficial Results
The Pirelli GT4 America drivers were put to the test on a hot and humid Friday afternoon at VIRginia International Raceway. The 45-minute session was briefly interrupted by a short red flag, but the field made the most of their time on track.
Random Vandals Racing prevailed in both the Silver and Am classes, with Kevin Boehm and Kenton Koch topping the overall timesheets in the No. 97 BMW M4 GT4 G82, while Paul Sparta and Kris Wilson set the pace in the Am class in the No. 98 machine. In Pro-Am, it was Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Damir Hot and Rodrigo Baptista who clocked in the best time in the No. 5 Nissan Z NISMO GT4.
Silver Class
Eric Filgueiras was the quickest driver on track for most of the session in the No. 28 RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport, with his teammate John Capestro-Dubets taking over for the second half of the session.
In the final fifteen minutes of Practice 1, Kenton Koch moved up to top of the leaderboard in his No. 97 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4 G82, putting in a lap time of 1:54.112 to establish a 0.3 second margin between himself and Filgueiras in second. Third place was occupied by Zac Anderson and Virginia-native Colin Garrett in the No. 51 AutoTechnic Racing BMW M4 GT4 G82.
Jonathan Neudorf and Michai Stephens were rapid as well in the No. 23 TechSport Racing Nissan Z NISMO GT4, slotting themselves ahead of Parker Thompson and Daniel Hanley in the No. 999 Hanley Motorsports Toyota Gazoo Racing GR Supra GT4 EVO.
Pro-Am Class
Damir Hot and Rodrigo Baptista went fastest in the Pro-Am class and fourth quickest overall on board their No. 5 Flying Lizard Motorsports Nissan Z NISMO GT4, setting the scene for an exciting weekend ahead.
James Walker Jr. and Tyler McQuarrie were competitive yet again as they followed suit in the No. 82 BimmerWorld BMW M4 GT4 G82, while Curt Swearingin and Kay van Berlo reunited in the No. 7 ACI Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport to go third-fastest in class.
New teammate pairing Mark Brummond and Mike Skeen had a productive opening practice session as they got up to speed quickly in their No. 53 AutoTechnic Racing BMW M4 GT4 G82, while Colin Harrison and Eric Powell provided Nissan with another appearance in the Top 5 with their No. 22 TechSport Racing Nissan Z NISMO GT4.
Am Class
Kris Wilson and Paul Sparta had a strong opening practice session in the No. 98 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4 G82, claiming the fastest time in the Am class. The team will be one to watch this weekend following their Lonestar Enduro win as they seek a repeat performance at VIR, Sparta’s home track.
BimmerWorld’s Charlie Postins and James Clay, who swept the weekend in last year’s event, were also in contention with their No. 36 BMW M4 GT4 G82. They set the second-quickest time in class, just ahead of Lee Carpentier and David Peterman in the No. 52 NOLASPORT Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport.
Jaden Lander and Robb Holland in the mix as well in the No. 099 Rotek Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport, with Nicholas Shanny and Chris Walsh wrapping up the session in fifth in the No. 20 Carrus Callas Raceteam BMW M4 GT4 G82.
Let’s Get Racing
The Pirelli GT4 America field will return to the track for Practice 2 later in the afternoon on Friday, July 19th at 5:15 PM ET.
If you can’t make it to VIR, be sure to tune-in to SRO’s free livestreams all weekend long on YouTube (GTWorld) and Twitch (SROMotorsports) and follow all the action through our social media channels and the event hashtag #GTVIR.