On the same weekend that Random Vandals Racing swept both GT World Challenge America races at Sebring International Raceway, the team’s BMW M4 GT4 EVOs finished 1-2 in both Pirelli GT4 America races.
The other common denominator was Kenton Koch, who partnered Kevin Boehm in the #97 BMW and won both GT4 America races – giving the tall California-born driver four wins this weekend.
Kay van Berlo, once again standing in for Loek Hartog, took the pole for Race 1 in the #9 ACI Motorsports Porsche Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport. Luca Mars was the surprise Race 2 polesitter in the #39 Van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4. VDSR and co-driver Max Hewitt moved up from the single-driver GT America series starting this weekend.
Race 1 on Saturday evening began with a multi-car accident coming out of turn five, which knocked the #23 NOLASPORT Porsche of Michael Auriemma and the #53 Auto Technic Racing BMW of Tyler Stone out of the race with damage. Using the ‘alternate’ driver deployment strategy, Van Berlo led the first half of the race in his #9 Porsche, with Hewitt in second overall and leading the Silver class.
Boehm moved up from sixth to fourth, but took the net lead after its pit stop. The #68 RAFA Racing Team Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 of Tyler Gonzalez ran wide at the Hairpin (turn seven) and allowed the orange and white BMW of Koch to overtake for position.
That turned into ‘P1’ overall after the #9 ACI Porsche finally made its pit stop, but when Dan Sibille couldn’t get his safety belts fastened, the ACI Motorsports car bled time in the pits and tumbled down the overall and Pro-Am order, eventually finishing 23rd overall/ninth in Pro-Am.
Koch drove away to the win while all eyes focused on the battle for second place overall. Mars spent his second half of the race fighting off the #52 Auto Technic BMW of Zac Anderson, but on the final corner, young Josh Green in the #94 Random Vandals BMW overtook them both to take second overall, and the Pro-Am class win, by less than two-tenths of a second over the #39 VDSR Aston Martin in third, and the #52 BMW of Anderson and Colin Garrett in fourth.
Gonzalez and Gresham Wagner wound up fifth in the #68 RAFA Racing Toyota, ahead of a close battle for second in Pro-Am that went the way of the #69 JTR Motorsports Engineering Toyota (Anthony McIntosh/Parker Thompson), in sixth, just in front of the #33 Blackdog Racing McLaren Artura GT4 (Tony Gaples/Michael Cooper).
The #7 ACI Motorsports Porsche (Curt Swearingin/Riley Dickinson) came home in eighth, followed by the Silver class #77 VPX Motorsport Porsche (Danny Dyszelski/Alex Ellis) and the #4 JMF Motorsports Aston Martin (Braydon Arthur/Mike David Ortmann).
Am class honours went to the #36 BimmerWorld Racing BMW of James Clay and Charlie Postins in 12th, two positions ahead of the #606 Thunder Bunny Racing Toyota (Laura Hayes/Allen Patten) in 14th, and the #188 Fast Track Racing BMW (Judson Holt/Denny Stripling) in 16th.
The next day, Mars’ pole advantage lasted less than a corner as the #33 Blackdog Racing McLaren of Cooper sailed past him into the overall lead. Koch started 11th but gained three positions on the first lap, then eventually fought his way past the #43 Dome Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Marc Miller for seventh, and then past the #68 RAFA Racing Toyota of Gonzalez for sixth.
Cooper was in control until Lucas Catania in the #17 Rigid Speed Company BMW broke down near the Hairpin. Several cars spotted this and rushed to the pits before Race Control finally deployed the Safety Car. Despite the pit-lane frenzy, the #33 McLaren – now in Gaples’ hands – kept its lead ahead of the #94 Random Vandals BMW of Sam Craven in second, and the Silver class #94 BMW of Boehm in third, which jumped ahead of the #39 Aston Martin of Hewitt.
Craven sailed around the outside of Gaples to take the overall lead on the restart with 19 minutes to go. Random Vandals ran 1-2 overall, though Boehm would pass Craven for the lead with 12 minutes left.
Boehm secured the #97 Random Vandals BMW’s second win of the weekend, taking the win just 3.1 seconds ahead of Craven and Green, who swept Pro-Am in the #94 BMW.
The #68 RAFA Racing Toyota of Wagner and Gonzalez finished third overall and second in the Silver class, followed by the #52 Auto Technic BMW of Garrett and Anderson, and the #77 VPX Motorsport Porsche of Dyszelski and Ellis, rounding out the overall top five.
These results gave Boehm, Koch, and the #97 Random Vandals BMW the lead in the Silver class championship by just five points after five races, as they overtook COTA 3 Hour race winners Wagner and Gonzalez.
The #33 Blackdog McLaren of Gaples and Cooper consolidated second in Pro-Am and sixth place overall, finishing ahead of the #39 VDSR Aston Martin of Hewitt/Mars in seventh, and the #69 JTR Motorsports Toyota of McIntosh/Thompson in eighth (third in Pro-Am).
Cracking the overall top ten were the #82 BimmerWorld Racing BMW (James Walker Jnr/Tyler McQuarrie) and the #3 JMF Motorsports Aston Martin (Jonathan Neudorf/Jesse Webb). Walker and McQuarrie hold onto the lead in the Pro-Am standings, but now they only lead Craven and Green by 11 points.
In a photo finish, the #36 BimmerWorld BMW of Clay and Postins held off the #606 Thunder Bunny Toyota of Hayes/Patten for the Am class win (12th overall) by just 0.051 seconds at the line. A repeat Am podium saw Holt/Stripling finish third in the #188 Fast Track BMW.
With three wins in a row, including COTA, Clay and Postins have vaulted to the lead in the Am standings – while Anthony Geraci and Kenny Schmied had to settle for fifth-place points in both races and dropped to third in the standings.
Geraci and Schmied had incidents with the #98 Random Vandals BMW (Paul Sparta/Michael Kanisczak) in both races, though the #98 team came away worse in both instances – serving a drive-through penalty in Race 1, and retiring due to damage with just a few minutes left in Race 2.
Pirelli GT4 America returns with the rest of the SRO America field in two months, competing at VIRginia International Raceway from 18-20 July.
Images © Fred Hardy / SRO Motorsports America
