Eric Filgueiras and John Capestro-Dubets enjoyed a perfect weekend in GT4 America, driving their #28 RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 to victory in both races at VIRginia International Raceway over the weekend.
Capestro-Dubets won the pole for Race 1 on Saturday, ahead of the #34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Jake Cowden. Cowden was driving solo this weekend after Demi Chalkias was ruled out due to illness, and JMF Motorsports’ GR Cup driver Braydon Arthur was not approved to race.
It was Capestro-Dubets and Cowden that led the opening stanza of Saturday’s 60-minute sprint race, running nose-to-tail with the #28 Porsche able to maintain its advantage. A great pit stop from the RS1 crew allowed Filgueiras to take over with a bigger lead, now ahead of the #51 AutoTechnic Racing BMW M4 GT4 of Zac Anderson – which was locked in a fierce battle for second with the #97 Random Vandals Racing BMW of Kenton Koch.
Filgueiras maintained that advantage all the way to the chequered flag, three seconds ahead of the #51 BMW of Anderson and Colin Garrett.
Koch and Kevin Boehm were at least looking good for third place overall until the #97 BMW ran out of fuel with less than four minutes left. Cowden, who’d dropped down the order after the compulsory pit stop window, moved back up into third place ahead of the #68 Smooge Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 (John Geesbreght/Tyler Gonzalez).
The #7 ACI Motorsports Porsche of Curt Swearingin and Kay van Berlo finished fifth overall and won Pro-Am after Van Berlo overtook the #89 RENNtech Motorsports Mercedes (Michael Auriemma/Matheus Leist) on the last lap of the race, following a close battle for the class win. It was ACI’s second Pro-Am win of the season.
Two Nissans finished behind them, the #23 TechSport Racing Nissan Z NISMO GT4 (Jonathan Neudorf/Michai Stephens) in seventh, and the #5 Flying Lizard Motorsports Nissan (Damir Hot/Rodrigo Baptista) in eighth.
The #53 AutoTechnic Racing BMW with its new lineup of Mark Brummond and IMSA GTD driver Mike Skeen finished ninth, ahead of the #24 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT4 (Gray Newell/Roman de Angelis) in tenth.
Two-time and defending Am class champions Charlie Postins and James Clay finally scored their first class victory of the year as the #36 BimmerWorld BMW drove to a 15th place overall finish; the Am podium was completed by the #099 Rotek Racing Porsche (Robb Holland/Jaden Lander) and the #98 Random Vandals Racing BMW (Paul Sparta/Kris Wilson), in 17th and 18th.
In Race 2, Cowden started on pole position alongside the #51 AutoTechnic BMW of Anderson. Cowden led the first couple of laps before conceding first place to Anderson, then second to the #28 RS1 Porsche of Filgueiras.
Just before the ten-minute pit window opened up, the #20 Carrus Callas Raceteam BMW of Chris Walsh spun off at Oak Tree Corner – and was then hit by the #22 TechSport Racing Nissan of Eric Powell, bringing out a Safety Car.
After those pit stops, the #28 Porsche was back in the lead, with Capestro-Dubets set to restart ahead of the two AutoTechnic BMWs, the #51 of Garrett and the #53 of Brummond.
With 21 minutes left, Cowden – who’d dropped to sixth – went in too deep into the Roller Coaster chicane, cut the course and collected the #68 Smooge Racing Toyota of Geesbreght, bringing out a second Safety Car intervention.
The race restarted with six minutes remaining and Capestro-Dubets successfully held his advantage over the field, while Garrett spun out of the Climbing Esses and yielded second place to the #97 Random Vandals BMW of Boehm.
From there it was smooth sailing for the black, white and green #28 RS1 Porsche on the way to its fourth overall win of the 2024 season, and second weekend sweep following the Sebring meeting.
Those victories helped Filgueiras and ‘JCD’ re-take the Silver championship lead by 21 points over Boehm and Koch, who would go on to finish second overall.
The last step on the overall podium went to the #43 P1 Groupe Mercedes of Alex Vogel and Matt Elwin Bell, which led portions of Race 1 but got the result they were looking for in Race 2 – their first Pro-Am win of the season. Race 1 Pro-Am winners Swearingin and Van Berlo finished fourth overall and second in class.
It was also a first win in the Am class for the #099 Rotek Racing Porsche of Holland and Lander, which finished fifth overall, ahead of the #53 AutoTechnic BMW of Brummond/Skeen, the #82 BimmerWorld BMW (James Walker Jnr/Tyler McQuarrie), and the #9 Blackdog Speed Shop Nissan (Tony Gaples/Michael Cooper).
The #98 Random Vandals BMW of Sparta/Wilson was ninth, with the #24 Heart of Racing Aston Martin in tenth – the #98 BMW also finished second in Am ahead of the #52 NOLASPORT Porsche (David Peterman/Lee Carpentier).
Swearingin and Van Berlo now lead the Pro-Am championship standings by 38 points over Walker and McQuarrie – and in Am, Sparta and Wilson now have a commanding 63-point lead with Holland and Lander moving into second place.
GT4 America will return on 16-18 August for a double-header at Road America.
Images © Fred Hardy III / SRO Motorsports Group America
