Coming off the mid-season break the Nissan Z NISMO GT4 teams were ready to race at VIRginia International Raceway. Weather was a key factor over the weekend with multiple practice and qualifying sessions being run in the rain.
Nissan weekend highlights included a pair of podium finishes in the GT America powered by AWS debut of Damir Hot in the Flying Lizard Motorsports #05 Nissan Z NISMO. Hot also scored a podium finish in the Saturday afternoon Pirelli GT4 America race with his Flying Lizard Motorsports #5 Nissan Z NISMO teammate Rodrigo Baptista.
“It was great to see the latest results for the Flying Lizard team. Damir Hot made a great debut in the GT America series. The support from the Applewood Auto Group for Damir and the team has been fantastic and builds upon their recent Knox Mountain hillclimb success.” said Mike Carcamo, program director, Sports Cars, NISMO Cars and Motorsports, Nissan Motor Corporation.
For 2024, the two-car TechSport Racing Team has been joined by single car entries from Blackdog Racing and Flying Lizard Motorsports, giving Nissan three teams with championship pedigrees.
VIRginia International Raceway Results:
Pirelli GT4 America Race #1
Team Start/Finish
Flying Lizard Motorsports #5 (Pro-Am) 3rd / 3rd
TechSport Racing #23 (Silver) 6th / 5th
Blackdog Racing #9 (Pro-Am) 12th / 9th
TechSport Racing #22 (Pro-Am) 6th / 7th
Pirelli GT4 America Race #2
Team Start/Finish
Flying Lizard Motorsports #5 (Pro-Am) 10th / 10th
TechSport Racing #23 (Silver) 6th / 7th
Blackdog Racing #9 (Pro-Am) 3rd / 5th
TechSport Racing #22 (Pro-Am) 8th / DNF
GT America powered by AWS Race #1
Flying Lizard Motorsports #05 (GT4) 3rd / 3rd
GT America powered by AWS Race #2
Flying Lizard Motorsports #05 (GT4) 3rd / 3rd
Not all of the Nissan fans were in Virginia. 2,500 miles away in Southern California, Downey Nissan hosted a large contingent of Z club members at a YouTube watch party for the Sunday morning race. The family friendly morning gathering included a car show, RC racing, and a high-performance driving simulator, not to mention free coffee and churros.
Upcoming races:
The 2024 Pirelli GT4 America championship consists of seven double-header weekends at some of the most challenging racetracks in North America. After VIR, the series goes on to:
Road America (Elkhart Lake, WI) – August 16-18
Barber Motorsports Park (Birmingham, AL) – September 6-8
Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Speedway, IN) – October 4-6
The Pirelli GT4 America championship is for privateer teams racing with homologated race cars. There are no factory teams.
All Pirelli GT4 America races are broadcast live and archived on the SRO Motorsports GTWorld YouTube channel.