AutoTechnic Racing’s Zac Anderson took the lead away from Tyler Maxson on the opening lap. From there, Anderson and teammate John Capestro-Dubets ran off and hid en route to victory in Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Race No. 1 at Circuit of the Americas Saturday (May 20). It is their second straight victory after winning the sole race at NOLA Motorsports Park last time out.
Anderson and Capestro-Dubets’s margin of victory was 9.436 seconds over JMF Motorsport/Conquest Racing’s Michai Stephens and Jesse Webb. STR38 Motorsports’ Chandler Hull and Jon Miller were third in their BMW, followed by Random Vandals Racing’s Kenton Koch and Kevin Boehm. Copeland Motorsports’ Maxson and Tyler Gonzalez were fifth. These five were also the first-five finishers in the Silver class.
Maxson started from pole in his Toyota GR Supra GT4. Unfortunately, a 41-car field funneling into a tight first turn is a recipe for trouble.
Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Elias Sabo stopped short in turn 1 and was hit by the McLaren Artura GT4 of Tim Pappas. OGH/Valkyrie Velocity’s Sam Owen was also involved. Both Pappas and Owen were effectively out on the spot, bringing out the safety car.
Just before the safety car was deployed, Anderson was able to take the overall lead away from Maxson. Once the green came out, Anderson was able to pull out a decent advantage.
Further back, STR38 Motorsports’ Miller was on a roll, driving his BMW M4 GT4 up to second overall. Despite back, Anderson’s lead was 4.711 seconds by the time the mid-race pit window opened.
Most of the top teams pitted almost immediately. Anderson ended up being the exception to the rule. Despite getting caught up in traffic during one of his extra laps, he was able to hand over to Capestro-Dubets and expand his advantage up to eight seconds over Hull.
From there, Capestro-Dubets continued to pour it on, expanding his lead ever so slightly. The advantage was nearly 11 seconds before he backed it down in the final couple of laps.
In Pro-Am, SMOOGE Racing’s Kevin Conway started from the pole in his Supra in third overall. After the early caution, Conway fell into the clutches of Rooster Hall Racing’s Johan Schwartz.
Schwartz was able to take the lead early on, then drove away from the Supra. However, a slower pit stop allowed the SMOOGE Supra with John Geesbreght at the wheel to get back into the class lead.
The race ended up being a three-car battle between Geesbreght, Rooster Hall Racing’s Colin Garrett and NOLAsport’s Jason Hart. Garrett was able to get the lead back from Geesbreght, who dropped back to third.
Hart tried to make a move for the lead on Garrett in turn 15 with 17 minutes to go and got into Garrett. Garrett went for a slide, but saved his BMW. Despite the save, both drivers lost their momentum, allowing Geesbreght to slip past to re-take the lead.
Once back in front, Geesbreght was able to open up a decent advantage while Garrett and Hart got back into their rhythms. While both Garrett and Hart were a little quicker, the lost momentum gave Geesbreght more than enough of a gap to hold on for the win.
Conway and Geesbreght’s margin of victory was 5.118 seconds over Garrett and Schwartz. Hart and Matt Travis were third in their Porsche, followed by Cooper and Jason Bell. Sabo and Andy Lee recovered from their contact at the first corner to finish fifth.
BimmerWorld Racing’s Charlie Postins started on pole in ninth overall. The Heart of Racing’s Hannah Grisham was Postins’s closest in-class competition and ran well for only doing her fourth race in the series.
During the mid-race stops, STR38 Motorsports’ Chris Allen was able to take over the class lead when Postins pitted to hand over to James Clay. Clay was able to run him down and take the lead back in mixed class traffic.
That was just the beginning of a back-and-forth battle between Clay and Allen that lasted for most of the rest of the race. Parker Thompson from the Silver class and Michael Cooper from the Pro-Am class were also mixed in with them.
Allen was able to make a move for the lead in turn 20 stick with 14 minutes to go. From there, he was able to pull away and take the Am victory in 12th overall.
Allen and Robert Mau’s margin of victory was 3.927 seconds over Clay and Postins. AutoTechnic Racing’s No. 253 BMW for Satakal Khalsa and Rob Walker were third, followed by Random Vandals Racing’s Al Carter and Paul Sparta. SMOOGE Racing’s No. 67 for ARCA Menards Series points leader Jesse Love and Joey DaSilva was fifth.
PIRELLI GT4 AMERICA SPRINTX: COTA RACE NO. 1 RESULTS
Race No. 2 is scheduled to start at 11:50 a.m. ET Sunday morning. Coverage will start at 11:45 a.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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