The #18 RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport RS of Eric Filgueiras and Stevan McAleer won a rain-shortened GT4 America Race 1 at NOLA Motorsports Park, impacted by severe weather and multiple accidents.
The race originally began at its scheduled time of 3:15 local time, under cloudy skies. But on the opening lap, there was a multi-car incident involving the #53 AutoTechnic Racing BMW M4 GT4 (Rob Walker), the #15 BSport Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 (Bryan Putt), and the #82 BimmerWorld Racing M4 GT4 (James Walker Jnr).
All three cars were forced to retire, a big blow for the BSport Racing duo of Putt and Kenton Koch who were leading the Pro-Am standings heading into NOLA. The Safety Car was brought out to retrieve the cars. But due to severe weather – rain and lightning in the vicinity – the race was red flagged with 40 minutes, 24 seconds on the clock.
After one hour and 40 minutes under the red flag, the race resumed under the Safety Car. Polesitter Filgueiras led the field to green on lap 11.
Moments later, the #2 GMG Racing Aston Martin of Jason Bell and the #98 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4 of Paul Sparta both aquaplaned off course and into a tyre barrier at turn 13. Both drivers were okay.
The race was brought under a Full Course Yellow, then a Safety Car, as the pit window for driver changes opened up and almost everyone came into the pits for their compulsory stops. The #34 Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 (Gavin Sanders/Michai Stephens) had been in third place after the restart, but Sanders got crossed up on the radio and missed his cue to pit for a driver change, dropping him down the order once the Safety Car was brought out.
Ultimately, the race never resumed due to the extensive work needed to repair the tyre barriers, and the chequered flag was waved under the Safety Car after the leader completed 18 laps – only two run under green flag conditions.
It’s a third consecutive overall and Silver Cup win in 2022 for the Filgueiras/McAleer led RS1 Porsche.
‘This felt like a true endurance race,” said Filgueras after the chequered flag. “The work we put in during qualifying helped us keep it in with this weird racing scenario we had today.”
Pro-Am Cup victory and second overall went to the #120 Premier Racing Porsche of Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer, the first win for Adelson and for the Premier Racing team.
Speaking of his young co-driver, Skeer said, “This kid put in the qualifying lap of his life, and then to hang on the wet never being here, I couldn’t be more proud, he made my job really easy today.”
The overall podium (second in Pro-Am) was completed by the #52 AutoTechnic M4 GT4 of Tom Capizzi and John Capestro-Dubets. Behind them, was the #68 Smooge Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 (Kevin Conway/John Geesbreght), followed by the #51 AutoTechnic M4 GT4 (Austen Smith/Zac Anderson) in fifth. They were second and third in Silver Cup, respectively.
Third in Pro-Am, sixth overall, was the #24 Heart of Racing Vantage (Gray Newell/Ian James). Local favourites Scott Noble and Jason Hart finished seventh in the #47 NOLASPORT Porsche.
Charlie Postins and James Clay won the Am Cup with an eighth overall finish in their #36 BimmerWorld M4 GT4, a class win that gives them the lead in the series championship. The #10 Fast Track Racing M4 GT4 (Tim Horrell/Raphael Matos) and #83 RS1 Porsche (Nelson Calle/Juan Martinez) completed the overall top ten.
Local driver Ross Chouest had fought back from 29th on the grid, but he and Aaron Povoledo were stripped of a top ten overall result due to a pit stop time infringement for their #50 Chouest Povoledo Racing Vantage.
Race 2 is scheduled to start at 11:00 AM local time.
Images © SRO Motorsports Group America
