The times at the top of both sessions of GT4 America qualifying were changing rapidly in chilly autumn conditions.
At the end of the first session of qualifying, Stevan McAleer won the pole in his #18 RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport, moving himself and co-driver Eric Filgueiras another bit closer to clinching the Silver Cup Drivers’ and Teams’ Championships.
With three minutes left in the session, McAleer recorded the first sub-1’30 lap time among all GT4 cars. His time of 1’29.745 would not be beaten as he gave the green and white RS1 Porsche its 11th pole of the season, four-tenths ahead of the #34 Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Michai Stephens.
McAleer and Filgueiras just need to finish the race in order to clinch the titles tomorrow morning in Race 1, which starts at 9:15 AM EDT.
Back after a horrifying crash at Road America and a subsequent one-weekend suspension, Gray Newell answered any questions about his all-around performance by giving his #24 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 the pole in Pro-Am, qualifying third overall with a time of 1’30.608.
He finished ahead of the #50 Chouest Povoledo Racing Vantage GT4 of Ross Chouest, who followed up GT America class pole with fourth overall and second in Pro-Am. Custodio Toledo was fifth-fastest in the #35 Conquest Racing AMG GT4, good enough for the Am Cup pole.
The #68 Smooge Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 of Kevin Conway was sixth fastest, followed by the #120 Premier Racing Cayman RS of Adam Adelson, the #8 Flying Lizard Motorsports Vantage GT4 of Elias Sabo, and the #47 NOLASPORT Cayman RS of Scott Noble, the top three cars in the Pro-Am championship starting seventh through ninth tomorrow.
In Qualifying 2, the Pro halves of the Pro-Am lineups had their chance to shine. Former Road to Indy prospect Aaron Telitz shined brightest, taking his second pole of the season aboard the #69 Smooge Racing GR Supra which he shares with co-driver Todd Coleman.
This was another session where the rankings changed dramatically as drivers worked to get their tyres up to temperature. In the final minutes, Telitz took provisional pole from the #47 NOLASPORT Cayman RS of Jason Hart, first a 1’29.868, then improving gradually to a 1’29.823, his pole-winning time.
Pro-Am cars will share the front row on Sunday, as Hart was able to consolidate second in his Porsche. Hart and Noble currently lead the GT4 America Pro-Am Drivers’ Championship by ten points over the #120 Premier Racing Cayman RS of Adelson, and Elliott Skeer, who qualified fourth behind the #8 Flying Lizard Vantage GT4 of Andy Lee.
Fifth-fastest in the session was Gavin Sanders in the #34 Conquest/JMF AMG GT4, who took the Silver pole ahead of Forbush Performance’s GT4 newcomer, Caleb Bacon, in sixth in their #33 Toyota (with Matt Forbush).
The #50 Chouest Povoledo Vantage GT4 of Aaron Povoledo was seventh, ahead of the #51 AutoTechnic Racing BMW M4 GT4 (Austen Smith/Zac Anderson*), the #18 RS1 Cayman of Filgueiras, and then the debuting #7 ACI Motorsports Cayman RS of Curt Swearingin, and Parker Thompson, who was tenth-fastest overall.
Am Cup pole in Race 2 went to the #20 Carrus Callas RaceTeam GR Supra of Nick Shanny, and Terry Borcheller who was 13th overall in the session.
Qualifying didn’t quite go as hoped for Pro-Am title dark horses Tom Capizzi and John Capestro-Dubets. Their #52 AutoTechnic M4 GT4 could only manage 15th for Race 1 via Capizzi, and ‘JCD’ was 17th for Race 2.
Images © Fabian Lagunas / SRO Motorsports Group America
