The penultimate event of the Pirelli GT4 America championship will take place in Birmingham, Alabama as the field heads to Barber Motorsports Park for the tenth and eleventh rounds of the season. A total of 29 cars will be on the hunt for glory and vital points as they set off around the 2.38-mile, 17-turn circuit from September 6th to 8th.
Barber Motorsports Park is the newest addition to the SRO America calendar, and as a result will bring an added element of uncertainty to the two 60-minute sprint races. It is a highly technical layout, featuring elevation changes and blind corners, serving as a true challenge from drivers across all three classes.
Those in attendance will be able to dive into the open paddock activities, which include autograph sessions, local vendors, a Car Corral, and the pre-race grid walk for Sunday’s feature Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS event.
Silver Class
The previous event at Road America was a successful weekend for RS1’s John Capestro-Dubets and Eric Filgueiras, who scored a third-place finish in Race 1 on board their No. 28 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport, before going on to take the victory in Race 2.
The strong results allowed them to further extend their Silver class championship lead, carrying a 28-point advantage over Kenton Koch and Kevin Boehm in the No. 97 BMW M4 GT4. The Random Vandals Racing duo scored the opening win, putting more distance between themselves and current third-place pairing Zac Anderson and Colin Garrett in the No. 51 AutoTechnic Racing BMW M4 GT4.
Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeier earned a third-place finish with their No. 26 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4, claiming their first podium since being promoted to the Silver class. Smooge Racing stood on the podium as well, but are set to feature a new driver lineup this time around, as Tyler Gonzalez will be co-driving the No. 68 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR Supra GT4 EVO with Brent Crews.
Comparatively, it was a challenging round for JMF Motorsports, who were involved in an early incident in the first race that took them out of contention. However, Jake Cowden and Demi Chalkias bounced back to a fourth-place result in the No. 34 Mercedes-AMG GT4 the following day.
Additionally, the Silver class will be giving a warm Southern welcome to new entrants Danny Dyszelski and Alex Ellis, commanding the No. 77 VPX Motorsport Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport.
Pro-Am Class
ACI Motorsports returned to victory lane once again, as Curt Swearingin and Kay Van Berlo added another win to their tally in the No. 7 ACI Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport. They hold a notable 46-point lead over Roman De Angelis and Gray Newell in the No. 24 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4, who also scooped up a first-place finish of their own at Road America. This moved them ahead of James Walker Jr. and Tyler McQuarrie in the Pro-Am standings, who now sit third with the No. 82 BimmerWorld BMW M4 GT4.
The battle between fourth and fifth has gotten closer than ever, as Michael Auriemma and Matheus Leist in the No. 89 RENNtech Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 and Tony Gaples and Michael Cooper in the No. 9 Blackdog Speed Shop Nissan Z NISMO GT4 are separated by one single point.
Two teams scored their first podium finishes since joining the Pro-Am field, with the likes of Jonathan Neudorf and Johan Schwartz claiming second-place in the No. 23 TechSport Racing Nissan Z NISMO GT4 in Race 1, while RS1’s Austin and Roland Krainz took home third in Race 2 in the No. 18 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport.
Flying Lizard Motorsports are back in the fold with Damir Hot and Rodrigo Baptista in the No. 5 Nissan Z NISMO GT4, and Todd Parriott and Tom Dyer in the No. 13 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4. TechSport Racing are also returning with a second entry, but this time Colin Harrison is paired alongside Elivan Goulart in the No. 22 Nissan Z NISMO GT4.
Birmingham will also see the return of Alex Vogel and Matt Bell in the No. 43 P1 Groupe Mercedes-AMG GT4, as well as Lucas Catania and Joseph Catania in the No. 33 Rigid Speed BMW M4 GT4 G82, Tyler Stone and Matt Million in the No. 53 AutoTechnic Racing BMW M4 GT4 G82.
Random Vandals Racing continues to expand their fleet, adding another entry to their lineup with Sam Craven and Josh Green in the No. 94 BMW M4 GT4 G82. Finally, familiar faces are re-joining the competition, as 2023 Pro-Am driver champions Matt Travis and Jason Hart are coming back with their No. 47 NOLASPORT Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport.
Am Class
Rotek Racing had a clean sweep at Road America, with Robb Holland and Jaden Lander taking back-to-back wins in the No. 099 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport. This further expanded their gap in the rankings over Carrus Callas Raceteam’s Nicholas Shanny and Chris Walsh, who were the runner-ups in both races in the No. 20 BMW M4 GT4 G82. Similarly, Anthony Geraci and Lance Bergstein walked away with a pair of third-place results in the No. 72 KRUGSPEED Toyota Gazoo Racing GR Supra GT4 EVO.
Random Vandals Racing retained the championship lead despite the fact that their weekend came to an early end. However, for the upcoming races, Kris Wilson is joined by Michael Kanisczak in the No. 98 BMW M4 GT4, stepping in for Paul Sparta.
BimmerWorld’s James Clay and Charlie Postins are still within reach of the top 3 in the Am class with their No. 36 BMW M4 GT4, while David Peterman and Lee Carpentier have been seeing more consistent results of their own in the No. 52 NOLASPORT Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport.
Let’s Get Racing
The Pirelli GT4 America field is set to take to the track during Practice 1 on Friday, September 6th. Click here for the full schedule of the GT4 America weekend.
If you can’t make it to Birmingham, 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 #GTBHM.