The #92 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4 of Kevin Boehm and Kenton Koch received Pirelli GT4 America Race 1 from Indianapolis following a devastating retirement from Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsport’s Jesse Webb and Michai Stephens.
Stephens was main with 5 minutes to go after co-driver Webb managed the race from pole position, however appeared to expire of gasoline coming onto the backstretch.
The #34 Conquest/JMF Mercedes-AMG GT4 wanted that victory to maintain their hopes of contending for the Silver class championship alive, however that chance slipped away in heartbreaking style.
Koch drove on to take the general and Silver class win, the third of the yr for himself and Boehm, whereas sixth place for the #51 Auto Technic Racing BMW of John Capestro-Dubets and Zac Anderson – and third in Silver – was sufficient for Anderson and AutoTechnic to clinch the 2023 Silver class championship over Stephens and Webb.
It’s Anderson’s second GT4 America championship. He received the 2020 Am class title when he was driving for NOLASPORT. For the Connecticut-based AutoTechnic Racing workforce, it’s their first.
In the Pro-Am class, the #24 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT4 of Gray Newell and Roman de Angelis took a come-from-behind class win in second general. It’s their third Pro-Am win of the yr – however the #47 NOLASPORT Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 of Matt Travis and Jason Hart that completed behind them took as massive of a runner-up end in school that one might think about.
Just 5 minutes into the race, with Travis main the category from pole position, championship leaders Rob Walker Jnr and Tyler McQuarrie have been knocked out of the race. Walker and the #82 BimmerWorld BMW received hit in flip ten by the #8 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin of Elias Sabo, inflicting terminal harm to the BMW.
Travis handed the #47 Porsche off to Hart, however De Angelis went on a cost throughout his closing stint and grabbed the category lead with 20 minutes to go.
But the 18 factors gained by Travis and Hart have been sufficient for them to shut to inside only one level of Walker and McQuarrie with only one race remaining, which might be held Sunday morning, the day after the Indianapolis 8 Hour.
The #19 ACI Motorsports Porsche (Francis Selldorff/Andrew Davis) was fourth general and second within the Silver class. Sabo and Andy Lee completed fifth within the #8 Flying Lizard Aston Martin, and second in Pro-Am, forward of the Silver champion Anderson and co-driver Capestro-Dubets.
The #88 STR38 Motorsports BMW (Chandler Hull/Harry Gottsacker) completed seventh, whereas the #68 Smooge Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 (Kevin Conway/Aaron Telitz) recovered from a spin to complete eighth general.
Telitz was substituting for John Geesbreght who was dominated out for this weekend after a heavy crash at Sebring final spherical. Ironically, Telitz was spun out by his Vasser Sullivan Lexus team-mate in IMSA, Parker Thompson. Thompson obtained a drive-through penalty for the collision that dropped him and Daniel Hanley to fifteenth general within the #999 Hanley Motorsports Toyota.
Heart of Racing Team took a double victory, and the importance of the Am class win was nice: Hannah Grisham and Rianna O’Meara-Hunt turned the primary all-female driver mixture to win a race in any class of GT4 America within the young historical past of the collection.
Grisham received the pole in her class and certified a formidable sixth out of 32 automobiles, then held the lead all through her opening stint, giving O’Meara-Hunt sufficient of a margin to carry off the competitors and take the Am class victory with a ninth-place general consequence.
It’s the end result of a journey that started with a search for only one lady to drive for Heart of Racing Team, however when the workforce couldn’t resolve on one winner between the 2 of them, each of them obtained the chance to drive collectively.
The #44 Rooster Hall Racing BMW (Johan Schwartz/Colin Garrett) rounded out the general prime ten.
Sharing the Am class podium with Grisham and O’Meara-Hunt have been the #20 Carrus Callas Raceteam Toyota (Nicholas Shanny/Terry Borcheller) in second and the #438 STR38 Motorsports BMW (Robert Mau/Chris Allen) in third.
The #36 BMW of newly-crowned, two-time Am class champions Charlie Postins and James Clay was taken out of the race in a first-lap crash – on what proved to be a troublesome day for BimmerWorld’s GT4 efforts.
Images © Brian Cleary / SRO Motorsports America
