As they look to extend their winning streak in the Pirelli GT4 America series, the #18 RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport RS of Eric Filgueiras and Stevan McAleer set the fastest time of the day during Practice 1. Practice 2, on the other hand, was halted after just eight minutes due to lightning strikes near VIRginia International Raceway.
Conditions were sunny and dry around midday for the duration of Practice 1, which ran from start to finish without incident. McAleer, the ace of the #18 Community Beer Works-sponsored RS1 Porsche, set the fastest time overall with a 1’54.041.
The Silver Cup points leaders were followed in their class by the #34 Conquest Racing with JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 (Gavin Sanders/Michai Stephens), and the #68 Smooge Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 (Kevin Conway/John Geesbreght). The Mercedes was fourth overall out of 36 cars that posted a representative time, and the Toyota was ninth.
In Pro-Am, the #2 GMG Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 (Jason Bell/Andrew Davis) set a 1’54.349 courtesy of their Silver-graded driver Davis, good enough for second overall. Behind them was the #15 BSport Vantage GT4 (Bryan Putt/Kenton Koch) in third overall, and the #79 RENNtech Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 (Chris Gumprecht/Kyle Marcelli), third in class and fifth overall.
However, mechanical gremlins kept the blue RENNtech Mercedes from taking part for the rest of the day, frustratingly reminiscent of their lost weekend in Sonoma.
Am Cup was led by the #21 Carrus Callas Raceteam GR Supra (Nick Shanny/Terry Borcheller), with the veteran two-time Daytona 24h winner Borcheller just 0.004 seconds ahead of the red #89 RENNtech Mercedes and their new driver lineup of Paul Kiebler and Jon Branam. Third in class was the #98 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4 (Paul Sparta/Al Carter).
Practice 2 was the final session of the day, and it began just as dark clouds began to roll in over the town of Alton and the nearby city of Danville.
After eight minutes and 47 seconds of running, Davis in the #2 GMG Vantage GT4 had set the fastest time with a 1’54.431, just 0.006s ahead of Filgueiras. Then, the red flag was shown for lightning strikes in the area. Rain began to fall with 20 minutes left on the clock, and heavy wind gusts were also a problem.
It didn’t take long for the session to be called off, with Davis, Filgueiras, and Koch in the overall top three, and local hero James Clay leading Am Cup in the #36 BimmerWorld M4 GT4.
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