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Stevan McAleer, Eric Filguerias Score Wet NOLA Victory

Rennsport One’s Eric Filguerias and Stevan McAleer claimed victory Saturday (April 29) in a delayed first race of the weekend for Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS at NOLA Motorsport Park. It is the duo’s second victory in three races, but it wasn’t easy in the final 20 minutes.

Mario [Farnbacher] got to me pretty easily on the first restart,” McAleer told SRO America’s Amanda Busick after the race. “The track got really difficult late. The two hairpins were dry on the inside, so I could make a defensive maneuver. When I saw Bill [Auberlen] have a run on me, I gave him two choices, on the dry line or the rain line. He just overshot us and we got the over-under.”

Filguerias and McAleer finished .284 seconds ahead of BimmerWorld Racing’s Auberlen and Chandler Hull. Conquest Racing’s Alessandro Balzan and Manny Franco were third, followed by Wright Motorsports’ Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer. DXDT Racing’s Bryan Sellers and Scott Smithson were fifth.

Sketchy weather was the name of the game at NOLA Motorsports Park. After being dry for qualifying and preliminary races, the heavens opened for the first Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS race of the weekend.

Unfortunately, NOLA Motorsports Park is at the lowest elevation of any major road course in North America (two feet below sea level). Heavy rains and somewhat swampy terrain don’t mix for racing. The track is also known to have issues with standing water. As a result, the start of the race was delayed for over two hours.

By the time the race started, the rain had stopped at the track, but the surface was still wet. Officials mandated a single-file start to cut down on spray.

Once the race started, Filguerias started from pole in his Porsche and the field tiptoed around the 2.748-mile road course. Franco made a move for the lead in turn 13, but was unsuccessful.

Despite the wet surface, the sun was out early in the race. That, combined with the treaded tires sweeping water off the track, led to a dry line quickly developing. In order to avoid an extra pit stop to change from wet tires to slicks, drivers would have to conserve their rubber.

By the time the mid-race pit stops came around, there was a dry line around the course, but there were still plenty of wet spots. Regardless, everyone came in and changed from wet tires to slicks.

Once the pit sequence was complete, McAleer ended up with a 20-second lead over Balzan, who was in a fierce battle for second with Mario Farnbacher. However, contact between Wright Motorsports’ Jan Heylen and Crowdstrike Racing with Riley Motorsports’ Colin Braun in turn 2 cut Heylen’s left rear tire.

Heylen attempted to drive his Porsche the two miles back around to the pits, but the tire came apart before he could, littering the track with debris. Eventually, Heylen pulled off, but not before the safety car was deployed.

When the green came back out with 22 minutes to go, McAleer continued to lead. Meanwhile, Farnbacher was able to get past Balzan for second and put the pressure on McAleer for the lead.

Then, Farnbacher made an unforced error and went wide into standing water while trying to make a move. Slick tires and standing water do not play well, so Farnbacher ended up losing control and spinning into the gravel to bring out a yellow. He would finish 16th overall, two laps down.

Farnbacher’s accident put Balzan back in second, but Auberlen was able to get by on the restart to take that spot. He then went after McAleer for the lead. With three minutes to go, Auberlen made one last gasp in turn 1 for the lead, but went wide. That was all McAleer needed to hold on for the win.

In Pro-Am, Adelson started from the pole in his Porsche and led early. However, the man on the move early was Pedro Torres in the ACI Motorsports Porsche. He was able to move himself up from ninth on the grid to fourth overall, right behind Adelson, in the first couple of laps.

Unfortunately, there was a reason for that. Torres jumped the start terribly and was given a drive-through penalty. That boosted Smithson to second.

Adelson held onto the lead until he gave way just before halfway to Skeer. Skeer continued to lead in fifth overall, but came under pressure from DXDT Racing’s Bryan Sellers late. Sellers was never quite able to get to Skeer as the veteran racer held on for the Pro-Am win.

Adelson and Skeer won by .698 seconds over Sellers and Smithson. The Racers Group’s Derek DeBoer and Valentin Hasse-Clot were third, followed by ST Racing’s John Edwards and Samantha Tan. TR3 Racing’s Ziad Ghandour and Daniel Morad were fifth.

FANATEC GT WORLD CHALLENGE AMERICA POWERED BY AWS: NOLA RACE NO. 1 RESULTS

Race No. 2 for Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS is scheduled to start at 2:45 p.m. ET. Coverage will start at 2:30 p.m. ET on the GT World YouTube channel.

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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