RS1 won both GT World Challenge America races at Sebring International Raceway this weekend – and as it turns out, the South Florida-based team is also just as good in the arena of GT4 America.
Eric Filgueiras and John Capestro-Dubets swept both races this weekend in their #28 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4.
But the story of Race 1 on Saturday should have been TechSport Racing getting the first global victory for the new Nissan Z NISMO GT4. Capestro-Dubets won the pole, but rookie Jonathan Neudorf got the holeshot from the front row and took the lead in his #23 TechSport Nissan.
The race’s only Safety Car came early, following a second-lap collision between Kaia Teo and Sam Owen at the back of the 29-car pack. Owen and his #17 OGH Motorsports Porsche hit the Armco barrier at Bishop Bend – he was able to walk away unhurt. The new #80 Orlando Motorsports McLaren Artura GT4 later retired due to damage.
The #23 TechSport Nissan of Neudorf and Michai Stephens led for all but a brief moment in the pit stop cycles, and Stephens sealed what looked to be a landmark win by 3.6 seconds at the end.
However in post-race inspection, the car was found to be underweight, and the #23 car was effectively disqualified.
This gave the win to the #28 RS1 Porsche of Capestro-Dubets and Filgueiras, by 2.8 seconds over the second-placed #999 Hanley Motorsports Toyota GR Supra GT4 (Daniel Hanley/Parker Thompson). The #97 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4 (Kevin Boehm/Kenton Koch) finished third, followed by the #51 Auto Technic Racing BMW (Colin Garrett/Zac Anderson)
Fifth place overall and the Pro-Am victory went to the #7 ACI Motorsports Porsche of Curt Swearingin and Kay van Berlo. Van Berlo was running third in class after the pit stop cycles, while Matt Elwin Bell had dominated the opening stint aboard the #43 P1 Groupe Mercedes-AMG GT3.
But co-driver Alex Vogel spun out and lost the lead, giving the lead to the new #635 RySpec Racing Mercedes of Dan Dyszelski, just ahead of Van Berlo. The two ran tail-to-nose for several minutes, but Van Berlo took the lead with less than 12 minutes to go, as he pulled off an incredible three-wide pass around Dyszelski and Tyler Gonzalez into turn one.
Dyszelski and Johan Schwartz finished sixth, ahead of the #9 Blackdog Speed Shop Nissan (Tony Gaples/Max Root) in seventh.
RS1’s Am class #18 Porsche of Roland and Austin Krainz took their first class win of the year, in 12th overall – just ahead of the #98 Random Vandals BMW (Paul Sparta/Kris Wilson) and the #53 Auto Technic Racing BMW (Ryan Keeley/Matt Million).
Max Root was filling in at Blackdog Speed Shop this weekend, with Michael Cooper honouring his Porsche Carrera Cup North America commitments in Miami. The 25-year-old only won the pole for Race 2 and led the first half of Sunday’s race.
Root built a five-second margin over Thompson and Filgueiras running second and third, but the race flipped when the #34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes of Jake Cowden stopped at the side of the Ullmann Straight, to bring out a Safety Car with less than 30 minutes to go.
That set up a restart with 21 minutes left, with Tony Gaples leading overall in his #9 Nissan, followed by Hanley and Capestro-Dubets. Hanley gave ‘JCD’ an opening at turn three and the #28 Porsche drove by into second place overall and the class lead. Coming out of Sunset Bend, Capestro-Dubets drew level with Gaples and sailed around the outside of turn one to take the overall lead.
Capestro-Dubets led the remainder of the race to cap off the weekend sweep for RS1 in GT4 America. Meanwhile, Colin Garrett put in a spirited drive of his own to go from fifth to second for the #51 Auto Technic Racing BMW team, just two-tenths ahead of the #23 TechSport Nissan of Neudorf and Stephens, who got some redemption in third. The #97 Random Vandals BMW of Boehm and Koch finished fourth.
Gaples may have lost the overall lead but he was able to finish fifth overall, and win the Pro-Am class – to deliver the Nissan Z GT4’s first victory, not just in SRO but in worldwide GT4 competition. Last month the revised Z NISMO GT4 should have won the first round of the Super Taikyu Series at Sportsland Sugo, but a transponder issue demoted Team ZeroOne to second place after the finish.
“No matter how long you’ve been racing, it feels good to do anything for the first time. Today is really special for all of us. We’re proud to do this for Nissan and for everyone at Blackdog Racing,” said team owner Gaples.
“Today was mega for all of us,” added super-sub Root. To be the first team to win a race with the Nissan Z NISMO GT4, and do it with Tony and the Blackdog team, is very special. Sebring is such a tough track and really bumpy. Tony did a phenomenal job under some tough conditions and pressure to help get us this win. I’m super proud of this whole team.”
Rounding out the Pro-Am podium was the #24 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT4 (Gray Newell/Roman de Angelis) in seventh overall, ahead of the #7 ACI Motorsports Porsche of Swearingin and Van Berlo.
Race 2 Am honours went to the #98 Random Vandals BMW of Sparta and Wilson, who finished tenth overall, ahead of the #18 RS1 Porsche of Roland and Austin Krainz, and the #26 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin (Hannah Greenemeier/Hannah Grisham).
Images © Fred Hardy / SRO Motorsports America
