Flying Lizard Dashes To Race 1 Victory – As RS1 Clinches Silver Crowns
A late restart gave Andy Lee all the opportunity he needed to grab the overall win for he, co-driver Elias Sabo, and the #8 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 in Saturday morning’s GT4 America race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
Jaden Lander’s No. 72 KRÜGSPEED Toyota GR Supra GT4 went into the turn four gravel after a right front suspension failure, causing a full course yellow with just over 17 minutes to go. Lee was in third place, behind overall leaders Eric Filgueiras (#18 RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport) and Gavin Sanders (#34 Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4) as the race went back to green flag conditions with under ten minutes remaining in the hour-long race.
Lee went to the outside groove in his tan and black Aston Martin to sweep around Filgueiras and Sanders to grab the overall lead. The Colorado native held on to win by 1.679 seconds over Filgueiras in second, and the #120 Premier Racing Cayman RS of Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer finishing in third place overall.
“I dreamt about this moment for a lot of years,” said Lee. “To do it with Elias, to do it together with this Flying Lizard team – they gave me the best car out there bar none, obviously. I’m so thankful!”
“To get a win here at the Brickyard – our season has been improving all year long, to get our first win here, and have it be an overall win? Just amazing! As always, Owen [Hayes] and the team gave us the best car in the paddock. It’s such a privilege to drive with Flying Lizard.”
The Flying Lizard’s victory in the Pro-Am class brings Lee and Sabo to within striking distance of NOLASPORT drivers Scott Noble and Jason Hart in the Pro-Am class championship with one race to go on Sunday morning.
Filgueiras’s runner-up finish overall was also a Silver class victory, their tenth of the season – more than enough to give the Florida native and his Scottish co-driver Stevan McAleer the series championship over Sanders and Michai Stephens.
Fourth overall and second in Pro-Am were Gray Newell and Ian James in the #24 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin ahead of Hart’s No. 47 NOLASPORT Porsche.
Sanders brought his #34 Conquest/JMF Mercedes to the flag in sixth, followed by the #51 AutoTechnic Racing BMW M4 GT4 (Austen Smith/Zac Anderson, the #71 GMG Racing Porsche (Jay Logan/Alex Premat), and the #52 AutoTechnic M4 (Tom Capizzi/John Capestro-Dubets (Pro/Am).
The #68 Smooge Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 (Kevin Conway/John Geesbreght) took the chequered flag tenth on the road, but Geesbreght was given a 57-second time penalty after the race for causing a collision with his team mate Aaron Telitz in the #69 Toyota (with Todd Coleman).
That elevated the Am Cup-winning #20 Carrus Callas RaceTeam GR Supra of Nick Shanny and Terry Borcheller into the overall top ten.
The Am class battle went down to the wire as the long-tenured American sportscar ace Borcheller passed the former All-Japan F3000 standout Paulo Carcasci with just three corners left in the race. Borcheller’s heroics gave Carrus Callas their first class win of the season, with Carcasci and co-driver Custodio Toledo finishing second in class (11th overall) in their #35 Conquest Racing Mercedes. 2022 Am champions Charlie Postins and James Clay in the #36 Bimmerworld BMW M4 GT4 finished third in their class, and 12th overall.
The race on the 3.925km road course got off to a slow start as Tim Horrell’s #10 Fast Track Racing M4 went into a tyre barrier on the backside of the circuit. That necessitated race control to deploy the Safety Car. With extra care needed to assist quadriplegic driver Horrell out of his car, the race was neutralised for over 16 minutes.
A few laps after the race resumed, the mandatory 10-minute pit window opened for all starting drivers to come to pit road for their driver change. McAleer and Stephens both pitted after running first and second, with Stephens handing off to Sanders. The Mercedes leapfrogged the Porsche, but Filgueiras passed Sanders going into turn seven while the duo raced behind the remaining cars that hadn’t made their pit stop.
With RS1 clinching the Silver Cup crown, the last battle to be settled is for the Pro-Am Championships. Noble and Hart had their lead over Adelson and Skeer cut to just four points. Sabo and Lee remain mathematically eligible upon winning their class, but they still have a lot of work ahead of them as they sit 20 points behind the leaders.
Images © Karl Zemlin, Matt Fraver, / Penske Entertainment Group; SRO Motorsports Group America
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