After the #18 RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport RS (Eric Filgueiras/Stevan McAleer) led Practice 1 for GT4 America at NOLA Motorsports Park, a different Porsche stepped to the forefront as the #120 Premier Racing Porsche of Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer set the top time in final practice.
The track temperature fell gradually over the course of the 45 minute session, from 47°C down to 44°C. But it was still rather hot and humid on track as drivers continued to cope with the intense conditions.
It was Skeer who set the fastest time within the first ten minutes of the session, with a time of 1’43.581. That surpassed McAleer’s best time set in Practice 1.
There was only one red flag, caused by a stoppage from the #53 AutoTechnic Racing BMW M4 GT4 (Rob Walker/Alex Filsinger). The session resumed without any further incidents.
Skeer’s time stood at the top, but McAleer fought back later in the session with a best lap of 1’43.685 to put his and Filgueiras’ car second on the overall leaderboard, making it a Porsche 1-2.
The #15 BSPort Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 (Bryan Putt/Kenton Koch) was third fastest, followed by the #8 Flying Lizard Vantage GT4 (Elias Sabo/Andy Lee) in fourth, then the #34 Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 (Gavin Sanders/Michai Stephens) in fifth.
The #24 Heart of Racing Vantage GT4 (Gray Newell/Ian James) went sixth-fastest, followed by the #47 NOLASPORT Porsche (Scott Noble/Jason Hart) in seventh, and the #2 GMG Racing Vantage GT4 (Jason Bell/Andrew Davis) in eighth.
Cracking the overall top ten was the Invitational category #49 Saleen 1 (Steve Saleen/Eric Curran), in ninth. Curran’s best time of 1’44.437 was within a second of the overall best.
The #016 Hattori Motorsports Toyota GR Supra GT4 (Seth Lucas/Matt Plumb) completed the overall top ten. In 13th was another Toyota GR Supra, the Carrus Callas Raceteam entry piloted by Nick Shanny and the ageless Terry Borcheller, the latter of whom set the best time for the Am Cup.
No times were set by the #60 Dexter Racing Ginetta G56 GT4 (Ben Anderson/Matt Rivard) or the #80 Rooster Hall Racing BMW M4 GT4 (Todd Brown/Johan Schwartz).
GT4 America’s qualifying sessions start at 10:25 AM and 10:45 AM (local time), respectively.
Images © Brian Cleary / SRO Motorsports Group America
