Pro-Am drivers Roman De Angelis and Gray Newell were the overall winners in the Pirelli GT4 America championship at Barber Motorsports Park following a stellar strategy execution by the Heart of Racing Team. In the Silver class, Kenton Koch and Kevin Boehm have reduced the points gap once again by securing another victory for Random Vandals Racing. Meanwhile, Lance Bergstein and Anthony Geraci took the top step of the podium for the first time in the Am class.
Silver
Tyler Gonzalez started on the front row in the No. 68 Smooge Racing Toyota Gazoo Racing GR Supra GT4 EVO and moved up into the overall lead on the opening lap. However, a lap one incident involving multiple cars brought out an early safety car. As the yellow flags waved, Koch was running in second position in the No. 97 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4 G82, followed by Zac Anderson and John Capestro-Dubets in the No. 51 AutoTechnic Racing BMW M4 GT4 G82 and No. 28 RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport.
Troubles soon arose for Gonzalez though, who had to make a trip down pit lane after suffering a puncture, thus promoting his fellow Silver class competitors up one position each.
Driver changes began to unfold just before the halfway mark of the race, and the green flag running resumed shortly thereafter, as did some extra servings of drama. AutoTechnic Racing’s Colin Garrett had to serve a 90s stop-and-go penalty for incident responsibility caused by teammate Anderson.
Smooge Racing appeared as though they recovered well, beating everyone to the punch as Corey Lewis returned to first place following their driver change. However, he had to make another visit down pit lane with a drive-through penalty for a short pit stop.
Boehm was charging ahead in the No. 97 BMW, picking through traffic to slot himself into the class lead once again ahead of the No. 26 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 of Hannah Grisham.
The RS1 Porsche shuffled out of podium contention as Eric Filgueiras was forced down pit road to serve a drive-through penalty with 6m remaining in the race. Meanwhile, the end of the race was nothing short of thrilling as newcomer Alex Ellis had his sights set on a podium result. He did not hesitate to make his intentions known to Lewis in the last few laps. It was a mad dash to the finish between those two, swapping positions again and again. Ultimately, Lewis prevailed and secured third place, exchanging bodywork in the process with the No. 77 VPX Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport of Ellis.
Boehm claimed the Silver class win, and second place overall, with Hannah Grisham crossing the finish line in second place.
“ I knew the Random Vandals Racing crew gave us a good car today,” said Boehm. “I was just excited to get in and see what it felt like. It’s great to get this result today. We’ve just been out of reach a few times, but I don’t think this will be our last win.”
Pro-Am
Although Matheus Leist lost the overall lead on the opening lap, he retained the Pro-Am class lead in his No. 89 RENNtech Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4, staying just ahead of No. 82 BimmerWorld BMW M4 GT4 G82 of Tyler McQuarrie.
It was a heartbreaking day for championship leader Kay van Berlo as his No. 7 ACI Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport as he was struck and sent for a spin in the lap one incident, bringing his race to an early end.
Following pit stops and driver changes, Heart of Racing found themselves in prime position as their strategy played out perfectly. De Angelis returned to the track in the class lead on board the No. 24 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 EVO.
Johan Schwartz and Matt Bell were locked in a tight battle for second place, going nose to tail with their respective No. 23 TechSport Racing Nissan Z NISMO GT4 and No. 43 P1 Groupe Mercedes-AMG GT4 machines.
De Angelis built up a 12s lead over the rest of the field, but a secondary full course caution reduced that gap with just over 15m remaining. Nevertheless, the Canadian handled the restart perfectly, and had some Silver class competitors serving as a buffer to protect him.
It was a great day at the office for the Heart of Racing Team duo, executing perfectly and claiming their second victory of the season, and bringing the championship fight even closer heading into the final rounds. Bell was ultimately able to sweep past Schwartz for second place, while Schwartz fended off an attack from James Walker Jr. to retain third.
“I can’t take much credit for that one because, honestly, all I did was avoid getting caught in that massive crash,” Newell said. “On the radio, Ian calmly said, ‘Car spun ahead,’ and as I came over the crest, there was chaos unfolding right in front of me. Somehow, I managed to get through it when many others didn’t. Our team absolutely nailed the strategy. They were doing the math the entire time, and it paid off perfectly. So here we are, and I’ll gladly take this one.”
“It feels great,” De Angelis said. “We’re one of the teams running an alternate strategy in the Pro-Am class, with me qualifying and starting with the Am drivers in race one, and doing the finishing stint in race two, we really needed that caution to save us. The team made the right call to pit us early, and we basically jumped everyone. We were pretty far back after the accident, but Gray did an amazing job avoiding it. It’s good to get a win, but the focus is on the championship. Wins are great, but championship points are even more important. Big credit to the Heart of Racing for their strategy calls, and congratulations to the whole team.”
Am
Am class pole sitter Jaden Lander was ultimately unable to capitalize on any opportunities in race two, as his No. 099 Rotek Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport was swept up in the opening lap chaos along with Kris Wilson and James Clay in the No. 98 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4 G82 and No. 36 BimmerWorld BMW M4 GT4 G82.
Chris Walsh, who previously won the TCX championship in TC America earlier in the day, was able to avoid the mess, moving into the class lead in the No. 20 Carrus Callas Raceteam BMW M4 GT4 G82. However, Bergstein, at the helm of the No. 72 KRUGSPEED Toyota Gazoo Racing GR Supra GT4 Evo, took over the class lead when Walsh came down pit lane for a driver change with Nicholas Shanny.
Bergstein was further aided by a train of Pro-Am entries separating him from the battle for second between Shanny and the No. 52 NOLASPORT Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport of David Peterman.
“We had a great strategy, and we got really lucky at the start,” Geraci said. “That collision was just out of control, but Lance handled the pressure behind him incredibly well. I’m very proud of him.”
“The guys at Smooge Racing and KRUGSPEED gave me such a good car by the end of the race,” Bergstein said. “Even on old tires, I felt like I could still push, and we had great pace. We were just focused on running our race. There were cars around me from other classes, but we kept the big picture in mind and executed perfectly. It was awesome.”
The Pirelli GT4 America field will return for the season finale event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, October 3-6.