Carrus Callus Raceteam’s Terry Borcheller and Nick Shanny scored an unexpected overall victory Sunday (April 2) in Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Race No. 2 at Sonoma Raceway. It is the first time that an Am-class team has won a race overall.
Borcheller and Shanny inherited the victory post-race after the TGR Hanley Motorsport No. 999 Toyota of Daniel Hanley and Parker Thompson was penalized for failing to meet the driver change regulations. They made the proper driver change, but did it while the pits were closed.
Chouest-Povoledo Racing’s Ross Chouest and Aaron Povoledo finished second, then Skip Barber Racing School’s Supra for Carter Fartuch and Matt Forbush. TechSport Racing’s Nissan Z GT4 for Colin Harrison and Eric Powell were fourth, while NOLAsport’s Jason Hart and Matt Travis were fifth.
Hart, fresh off of his victory on Saturday, started from the pole. From there, he quickly moved out to a three-second lead. Meanwhil, SMOOGE Racing’s John Geesbreght was able to get past Kay van Berlo on the first lap. That was short-lived as van Berlo was able to get second back.
The trouble started when van Berlo’s Porsche ground to a halt near the start-finish line, 22 minutes into the race. That resulted in a safety car period right before the mandatory mid-race stops.
Under these circumstances, the pits would open at the end of the first lap back under green. On that first lap, Geesbreght was hit by Thompson exiting turn 5 and hit the wall. In addition, a chain reaction in turn 7 resulted in SP Motorsports’ Jaden Conwright and NOLAsport’s Lee Carpentier spinning out. These incidents brought out another safety car. While Carpentier and Conwright were able to continue, Geesbreght was out on the spot.
Hart waited until the third time past the pits after the restart to make his pit stop with 17 minutes left. He was able to get out ahead of anyone else that had stopped.
Borcheller qualified his No. 20 Toyota GR Supra GT4 on the Am-class pole. From ninth overall, Borcheller was able to drive up to sixth while his competition in class fell away.
Unlike Hart, Borcheller chose to stay out to the absolute last minute before stopping to hand over to Shanny. Just before he pulled into the pits, BimmerWorld Racing’s Charlie Postins was clipped by Archangel Motorsports’ Todd Coleman. Postins spun and hit the wall hard, moving the barrier in the process and collecting Rennsport One’s Austin Krainz.
The crash brought out the third safety car of the race. Hanley, who had stopped right as the second safety car period was coming out, was in the lead at that point. It would not stand.
Borcheller beat the caution by roughly 10 seconds to make the switch to Shanny. Shanny never drove under green during the race.
STR38 Motorsports’ Chris Allen and Robert Mau were second in Am, while SMOOGE Racing’s Isabella Robusto was third. TR3 Racing’s Jon Branam–Paul Kiebler combination and OGH/Valkyrie Velocity’s Sean Gibbons and Sam Owen were fourth and fifth.
In Pro-Am, the Chouest-Povoledo squad just beat out the safety car to make their stop. With the rest of the field at a reduced pace, the switch from Povoledo to Chouest was made in time for them to take the class win.
Fartuch and Forbush in their Toyota were second, followed by Harrison and Powell. Hart and Matt Travis were fourth, while Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Andy Lee and Elias Sabo were classified fifth.
In the Silver class, Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsport’s Michai Stephens started on pole, but quickly lost the advantage to Random Vandals Racing’s Kenton Koch. However, Stephens was able to get the spot back and pulled away.
Had the last caution not come out, the overall race would have come to a duel between Matt Travis and Jesse Webb. However, that was not meant to be.
Stephens and Webb settled for the Silver class win in sixth overall. Second went to AutoTechnic Racing’s Zac Anderson and John Capestro-Dubets, followed by STR38 Motorsports’ Chandler Hull and Jon Miller. Copeland Motorsports’ Supra for Tyler Gonzalez and Tyler Maxson was fourth, while ACI Motorsport’s No. 19 Porsche for Andrew Davis and Francis Selldorff was fifth.
PIRELLI GT4 AMERICA SPRINTX SONOMA RACE NO. 2 RESULTS
Note that the results linked are provisional results. As of this writing, the official results have not been released, but the No. 999 has been penalized and dropped down the order.
About the author
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.
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