TechSport Racing’s Jonathan Neudorf was able to snatch the lead away from Rennsport One’s John Capestro-Dubets on the first lap. From there, Neudorf led until he stopped to hand over to Michai Stephens. Stephens then led the rest of the way to win Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Race No. 1 at Sebring International Raceway Saturday (May 4) on the road.
However, you have to be able to survive post-race technical inspection. The No. 23 Nissan Z GT4 was found to be underweight. As a result, they were moved to the rear of the field. Capestro-Dubets and Eric Filguerias inherited the victory, their first of the year.
The margin of victory was 2.373 seconds over Hanley Motorsports’ Daniel Hanley and Parker Thompson. Random Vandals Racing’s Kevin Boehm and Kenton Koch were third, then AutoTechnic Racing’s Zac Anderson and Colin Garrett. ACI Motorsports’ Curt Swearingin and Kay van Berlo were fifth.
The top-fout overall finishers were also the top-four teams in the Silver class. Smooge Racing’s John Geesbreght and Tyler Gonzalez were fifth in class.
Capestro-Dubets started from the overall and Silver class poles in his Porsche. However, Capestro-Dubets’ advantage lasted for only a couple of hundred feet before Neudorf was able to take the lead.
Neudorf attempted to drive away from the field, but the safety car came out when OGH Motorsports’ Sam Owen spun off and hit the wall on the entry to turn 14 after contact from Kaia Teo. Owen was ok, but done for the day.
Once the race restarted, Neudorf opened up a sizable advantage over the rest of the field. That allowed him to pit later in the pit window for the switch to Stephens and easily maintain the lead.
Matt Bell in the P1 Groupe/OnlyFans Racing Mercedes started on the Pro-Am pole in fourth overall. During the first half of the race, Bell was very strong and drove up to third in the race.
However, their fortunes turned when Alex Vogel got in the car. Vogel spun the OnlyFans Mercedes exiting turn 16 while running sixth overall. While he was able to resume, the spin cost him the class lead.
Vogel’s spin gave the Pro-Am lead to Dan Dyszelski, who was making his Pirelli GT4 America SprintX debut with a new team, RySpec Racing. However, he had to deal with van Berlo.
With 12 minutes to go, Dyszelski ran up on Smooge Racing’s Tyler Gonzalez on the Uhlmann Straight. He was forced to take the outside line in Sunset Bend, which allowed van Berlo to get a run on him.
Dyszelski was able to hold his Mercedes on the outside of Gonzalez, but lost momentum. That allowed van Berlo to take Dyszelski and Gonzalez three-wide entering turn 1. Van Berlo was able to clear both drivers to take the class lead.
From there, van Berlo held on to take the Pro-Am class win in fifth overall with Swearingin. Their margin of victory was 1.820 seconds over Dyszelski and Johan Schwartz. Blackdog Speed Shop’s Tony Gaples and Maxwell Root were third in their Nissan, then the Mercedes of RENNtech Motorsports’ Michael Auriemma and Matheus Leist.
In the Am class, Rennsport One’s Roland Krainz started on pole in 11th overall. Meanwhile, defending Am champion Charlie Postins was forced to start from the rear of the field. In the opening laps, Postins was on a tear, moving up to 20th overall from 29th.
Just after the first restart, Postins spun off at turn 16. He was able to resume, but lost all of his track position and finished ninth in class.
Roland Krainz led until the mid-race pit stops. Here, the Rennsport One team lost their advantage to Rotek Racing’s Robb Holland.
Austin Krainz was able to run down Holland and retake the class lead with 17 minutes to go. While Holland was forced to deal with a scrum with The Heart of Racing, Random Vandals Racing and AutoTechnic Racing, the Krainz’s were able to pull away for the class victory in 11th overall.
Austin and Roland’s margin of victory was 2.532 seconds over Random Vandals Racing’s Paul Sparta and Kris Wilson. Holland and Jaden Lander finished third on the road. However, the Rotek Racing team’s pit stop was .579 seconds too quick. That translates to a 5.79-second penalty added to their race time. The penalty dropped Holland and Lander to sixth.
As a result of the penalty, AutoTechnic Racing’s Ryan Keeley and Matt Million were classified third in their BMW, then Carrus Callus Raceteam’s Terry Borcheller and Nick Shanny. The Heart of Racing’s Hannah Greenemeier and Hannah Grisham were fifth.
Pirelli GT4 America SprintX: Sebring Race No. 1 Results
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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