NOLASPORT Sweeps Pirelli GT4 America Qualifying Sessions at Sonoma Raceway
The opening Pirelli GT4 America qualifying session of 2021 went the way of the Porsche as Matt Travis and the #47 NOLASPORT Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 laid down a very quick 1:45.725 lap time to claim the pole position ahead of Saturday afternoon’s Pirelli GT4 America Race 1. Derek DeBoer and the #66 LaSalle Solutions TRG Porsche will start the 60-minute tussle from second position overall with James Clay and the #36 BimmerWorld BMW M4 GT4 starting third in Pro-Am, fourth overall.
The top of the Silver class went to the #062 Dexter Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 after posting a 1:46.629 lap, good enough for third overall. Kenny Murillo will start the #72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 second in class, fifth overall with Tim Barber’s #22 CCR Racing/Team TFB BMW third in class, tenth overall.
The #46 NOLASPORT Porsche entry claimed the top spot in the Am division after Patrick Byrne posted a best lap of 1:47.301, placing him eighth fastest overall. Just behind the #46 is the #68 Smooge Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 of John Geesebreht with Aurua Straus and the #43 Murillo Racing Porsche third in class, fifthteenth overall.
The Pros took the track for the second 15-minute qualifying session to set the grid for Sunday’s Race 2 and it was once again the #47 NOLASPORT entry, now driven by Jason Hart, who laid down the top time of 1:44.970 to grab the overall pole position. Hart is the only GT4 driver of the weekend to crack the 1:45 mark. Jeff Westphal and the #888 Rearden Racing Audi R8 LMS GT4 was just .031 seconds slower than Hart and will start second overall with Brandon Davis and the #59 WR Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 third.
The #00 Notlad Racing by RS1 Aston Martin Vantage GT4 and #15 BSport Racing Aston Martin round out the top five overall and in Pro-Am.
Christian Szymczak placed the #72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 on the Silver class pole with a 1:45.307 fastest lap and will start sixth overall. Ryan Dexter in the #062 Dexter Racing Aston Martin will line up second in class, tenth overall with the #71 Marco Polo Motorsports KTM X-Bow Evo starting third in class, eleventh overall.
Kris Wilson stormed to the Am pole in the #16 Mercedes-AMG GT4 with Christina Neilsen’s #43 Murillo Racing Porsche starting second and the #46 NOLASPORT entry rolling off the grid third in class.
Pirelli GT4 America Race 1 goes green later this afternoon at 4:05 PM local time. Follow all of the action live at https://www.gt4-america.com/live.