- Pro-Am’s van Berlo and Swearingin Quickest Overall
- Filgueiras and Capestro-Dubets Fastest in Silver Class
- Walsh and Shanny Top the Am Charts
- Practice 1 Unofficial Results
The Pirelli GT4 America field were eager to get started at Barber Motorsports Park, taking over the circuit in the early afternoon for Practice 1. A brief red flag emerged in the opening fifteen minutes in order to clear some debris on track, but the green flag running quickly resumed, allowing the drivers to learn the ins and outs of the complex layout. However, another red flag was brought out in the final ten minutes for a car stopped on track.
Curt Swearingin and Kay Van Berlo were the ones to beat, putting the Pro-Am No. 7 ACI Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport first overall. In the Silver class, it was the No. 28 RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport of John Capestro-Dubets and Eric Filgueiras that had the best time, with that same accolade going to Chris Walsh and Nicholas Shanny in the Am class in the No. 20 Carrus Callas Raceteam BMW M4 GT4 G82.
Silver Class
Championship leaders RS1 had a tumultuous opening practice session, as the duo of John Capestro-Dubets and Eric Filgueiras scored the top time in the Silver class in their No. 28 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport. However, in the closing minutes of the session, their car came to a halt on track, bringing out a red flag.
Tyler Gonzalez and Corey Lewis secured the second-quickest time in class, separated from the frontrunners by only 0.009 seconds in their No. 68 Smooge Racing Toyota Gazoo Racing GR Supra GT4 EVO. Zac Anderson and Colin Garrett wrapped up Practice 1 in third place in the No. 51 AutoTechnic Racing BMW M4 GT4 G82.
They were only 0.026 seconds ahead of Kenton Koch and Kevin Boehm, who occupy second position in the championship standings in the No. 97 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4 G82. The No. 34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Demi Chalkias and Jake Cowden finished in fifth place.
Pro-Am Class
Kay van Berlo was on the charge in the Pro-Am class in his No. 7 ACI Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport, locking in the quickest time both overall on his sixteenth flying lap with a time of 1:28.437.
Behind him, Matheus Leist and Roman De Angelis followed suit in second and third in their respective No. 89 RENNtech Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 and No. 24 Heart of Racing Team. As the latter is also vying for the championship title, the tight margins are promising for the close battles that await.
James Walker Jr. was also looming closely to the top three, just on the other side of the bubble in his No. 82 BimmerWorld BMW M4 GT4 G82, accompanied by the No. 9 Blackdog Speed Shop Nissan Z NISMO GT4 of Michael Cooper and Tony Gaples to close out the top 5 in Pro-Am.
Am Class
In addition to going fastest in this morning’s TC America practice session, Chris Walsh topped the GT4 America Am class charts as well in the No. 20 Carrus Callas Raceteam BMW M4 GT4 G82. He was in good company, as Jaden Lander sat just behind in his No. 099 Rotek Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport.
BimmerWorld’s James Clay and Charlie Postins were in third in their No. 36 BMW M4 GT4 G82, just narrowly ahead of newcomer Michael Kanisczak in the No. 98 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4 G82, who is filling in for the team on behalf of Paul Sparta. Finally, David Peterman and Lee Carpentier joined them in the top 5 on board the No. 52 NOLASPORT Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport.
Let’s Get Racing
The Pirelli GT4 America field will return to the track for Practice 2 later in the afternoon on Friday, September 6th at 5:15 PM CT.
If you can’t make it to Barber Motorsports Park, 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.