The cars and stars of the Pirelli GT4 America series had to wait a while to race at NOLA Motorsports Park. Race 1, scheduled for Saturday afternoon, had to be postponed to a later date and venue due to heavy rain which disrupted the entire afternoon schedule.
But when what was originally set to be Race 2, the only race of their weekend, finished, fans were treated to a pulse-pounding sprint for the victory in a finish which literally had to go to video review: John Capestro-Dubets edged out Michai Stephens by the width of a thread, giving “JCD” and Zach Anderson the win in their #51 AutoTechnic Racing BMW M4 GT4!
When the field of 42 cars plunged into turn one, it was Anderson who led in the BMW, while polesitter Jesse Webb was shuffled back to third in the #34 Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4. Further back in the pack, a three-car collision between David Peterman in the #52 NOLASPORT Porsche and Todd Coleman in the #069 Archangel Motorsports Aston Martin took both cars out of the race and took out Joey DaSilva in the #67 Smooge Racing Toyota with them, triggering the first Safety Car intervention of the race.
Peterman was given penalty points and a pit lane start for the next race. Curiously, Coleman was also placed on probation for “multiple incidents of unacceptable on track behavior” throughout the weekend as noted by the Race Director and Driving Standards Steward.
The Safety Car came out again when the #09 Zotz Racing Porsche of Chris Ruppel went off into the gravel after 16 minutes. The pit window opened once the Safety Car withdrew with 33 minutes left, where teams completed their compulsory pit stops and driver changes. Capestro-Dubets resumed with the lead in the #51 BMW, now ahead of Stephens in the #34 Mercedes.
Capestro-Dubets’ three-second advantage was erased when the Safety Car was deployed for the third time with just over 18 minutes remaining in the race. Rob Walker had gone off course in the #253 AutoTechnic BMW, while Byran Heitkotter had stopped along the frontstretch in the #23 TechSport Racing Nissan Z GT4.
This turned the battle for the Overall and Silver class wins into a nine-minute sprint to the flag between JCD, Stephens, and Chandler Hull in the #88 STR38 Motorsports BMW.
On the last lap, heading into turn 11, Stephens braked as late as he dared to overtake Capestro-Dubets around the outside. Even when he ran wide through turns 13 and 14 it appeared that Stephens had done enough to snatch a sudden victory. He was half a car length ahead coming out of turn 14.
The announcers called it, and timing and scoring had called the race in favour of Webb and Stephens by four milliseconds – which would have been their third Silver class win in a row.
The finish was then sent to video review, where the outcome was reversed! Capestro-Dubets had held on by the smallest of margins, he and Anderson would learn that they’d taken the victory while in parc ferme after the race – officially, by 0.001 seconds!
“I was told we had two laps to go and I knew that Michai had a strong car. My rear tyre was starting to drop off so I was doing everything I could to hang on,” Dubets said after the race. “Michai gave me so much room out there, and so much respect. It was a drag race to the finish line and he was challenging us the whole way. It’s been a long road for us coming here, but I’m racing with my best friend and it’s amazing.”
“This has been years in the making,” added Anderson. “I have the pleasure of driving with my best friend. AutoTechnic prepared an incredibly fast machine. We have been the best BMW in this series for a while now. It’s incredible to race with JCD and to get my first overall and Silver win.”
Despite a protest from Conquest Racing team owner Eric Bachelart filed after the race, the result stood, with Webb and Stephens in second. Their consolation isn’t terrible, as they continue to lead the Silver class championship after three races.
Hull and Jon Miller in the #88 BMW finished third on the road, less than a tenth behind that epic drag race between JCD and Stephens. But they were hit with a post-race time penalty for going under the minimum pit time, which elevated the #74 Copeland Motorsports Toyota GR Supra GT4 of Tyler Gonzalez and Tyler Maxson to third overall and in class.
In fourth place overall was the Pro-Am class-winning #24 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 of Gray Newell and Roman de Angelis.
De Angelis, the reigning IMSA GTD series champion, was filling in for Ian James – who, under extraordinary circumstances, was in Spa-Francorchamps racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Early on, the #7 ACI Motorsports Porsche of Curt Swearingin led the Pro-Am class, but he was given a drive-through penalty for a jump start after the second Safety Car. Swearingin and Kay van Berlo finished 30th overall and 11th in Pro-Am. That then moved the #24 Aston Martin in position to win.
With ten minutes left, the #47 NOLASPORT Porsche of Jason Hart overtook De Angelis for the class lead. But five minutes later, the #47 Porsche was called into the pits to serve a drive-through penalty as they too had gone under the minimum pit time – dashing NOLASPORT’s hopes of a win at their home track!
De Angelis held on for the class win, the first for Heart of Racing Team since Race 1 at Watkins Glen last year. Louisiana’s own Ross Chouest and Aaron Povoledo were right behind them in the #50 Chouest Povoledo Racing Aston Martin, followed by James Walker Jnr and Tyler McQuarrie in the #82 BimmerWorld BMW. The drive-through penalty for the #47 NOLASPORT Porsche dropped Hart and Matt Travis down to 32nd overall and out of the Pro-Am points.
This allowed Chouest and Povoledo to extend their lead in the Pro-Am championship standings over Travis and Hart.
Hull and Miller dropped to seventh overall after their post-race time penalty, followed by the #8 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin (Elias Sabo/Andy Lee) in eighth, the #68 Smooge Racing Toyota (Kevin Conway/John Geesbreght) in ninth, and the #44 Rooster Hall Racing BMW (Johan Schwartz/Colin Garrett) in tenth.
BMW won two out of the three classes as defending Am class champions Charlie Postins and James Clay took a class win in their #36 BimmerWorld BMW, their first of the year.
Postins led the class early on, but then the #438 STR38 Motorsports BMW opted to overcut the rest of the field during the compulsory pit cycle. This resulted in Robert Mau, the goat from the Sebring 12 Hours, taking the class lead in NOLA, but eventually BimmerWorld founder Clay was able to get past and retake the class lead after the final restart.
NOLASPORT salvaged an Am podium from a difficult race with the #83 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport of Juan Pablo Martinez and Nelson Calle finishing second. In the team’s first race of the season, the #72 KRUGSPEED Toyota of Anthony Geraci and Jaden Lander finished on the Am podium in third, after Mau and Chris Allen were given a post-race time penalty for yet another short pit.
Out of all this, the #20 Carrus Callas Raceteam Toyota of Nicholas Shanny and Terry Borcheller, which finished eighth in its class, will leave NOLA with the Am championship points lead – but now, they’re only six points ahead of Martinez and Calle, and seven points ahead of Postins and Clay.
GT4 America will return to action in three weeks’ time as the series makes its return to Circuit of the Americas in Texas.
Images © SRO Motorsports America
