NOLASPORT’s Jason Hart and Matt Travis Win Race 1 In Sonoma
A well-timed pit stop helped Matt Travis and Jason Hart pilot their #47 NOLASPORT Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport to victory in Race 1 of the 2023 Pirelli GT4 America opening round at Sonoma Raceway.
The two-time and defending Pro-Am champion team reunited the 2021 title-winning duo of Travis and Hart just before the start of the weekend. They would line up second on the grid behind the Race 1 overall polesitters, the Silver class #34 Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Jesse Webb and Michai Stephens.
Webb held the lead from his maiden pole position, ahead of Travis, and the #19 ACI Motorsports Porsche of Francis Selldorff. Behind them, all manner of first-lap dramas began when the debuting Hannah Grisham got spun around at the crest of turn two. Several cars were able to drive away after being backed up behind the spun #26 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4, while others took damage in incidents that kicked off around them.
Ultimately the Safety Car was deployed after Daniel Hanley’s damaged #999 Hanley Motorsports Toyota GR Supra GT4 came to a stop in the hairpin (turn 11) after suffering terminal damage in a collision with the #83 NOLASPORT Porsche of Nelson Calle.
Amidst all the early chaos, the #26 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin retired from the race, as did the #069 Archangel Motorsports Aston Martin of Todd Coleman, the #29 JTR Motorsports Engineering Mercedes of Peter Atwater, and the #32 GMG Racing Porsche of Kyle Washington. Five of the 43 starters didn’t get a chance to complete a racing lap.
Webb continued to lead from Travis after the ensuing restart. Deep in the pack, Tim Pappas was battling with Gray Newell for position in the Pro-Am category. As they plunged down the hill into the carousel (turn six), the #24 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin turned the new #54 Black Swan Racing McLaren Artura GT4 around. Brady Behrman in the #428 Van der Steur Racing Aston Martin had nowhere to go but into the path of Pappas’ stranded vehicle. The collision ripped the right front wheel off of Behrman’s car, which retired immediately.
All drivers involved were okay, but the Safety Car had to come out again to clean up fluid that had spilled out from under the #54 Black Swan McLaren and onto the racing line. For his trouble, Newell had to serve a one-minute penalty stop for incident responsibility – he and Ian James finished 35th overall and 12th in Pro-Am.
While the race was neutralised under the Safety Car for about 20 minutes, the compulsory pit window for tyre and driver changes had to be delayed some time. When the race restarted with 25 minutes to go, Race Control opened the pit window at the end of the restart lap.
At a critical juncture in the race, Travis brought the #47 NOLASPORT Porsche into the pits at the end of the lap, while Webb stayed out for another lap in the #34 Conquest/JMF Mercedes. With Hart aboard the Talladega Nights-themed #47 Porsche, he was able to use the strength of the undercut to his advantage, and he drove through into the overall net lead just as Stephens was pulling out of the pits in the #34 Mercedes.
But Hart still had one more challenger to fend off: Young Dutchman Kay van Berlo was on a tear aboard the #7 ACI Motorsports Porsche, which was up to tenth place overall after Curt Swearingin’s opening stint. They also pitted at the first opportunity, and with 15 minutes to go, Van Berlo had picked his way from fourth to third overall. With three minutes to go, Van Berlo got past Stephens for second overall. It wasn’t for positions in class, but it did give the green #7 Porsche the chance to go chase Hart for the overall and Pro-Am class win.
Van Berlo tried to cleave down Hart’s 2.6-second advantage as they began their final lap, but Hart would hold on by seven-tenths of a second for the overall and Pro-Am class victory in Race 1 at Sonoma.
“This win is fantastic, we’re happy to be back, and to win the first race of the season is huge,” said Travis. “It’s going to be a very competitive and exciting season. ‘Shake n’ bake!'” Hart, the two-time and defending Pro-Am champion, added: “I’m really happy to be here with Matt Travis, NOLASPORT and Porsche. We’re off to a great start and we’re going to do our best to keep it going.”
That quest will begin from the best possible position as Hart starts from pole position in Race 2 tomorrow.
After the race, Swearingin and Van Berlo’s car failed scrutineering checks and was dropped to 43rd in the final results – an effective disqualification.
Once the penalty was applied, this meant Stephens finished in third place and won the Silver category, collecting 25 points for himself and his new co-driver Webb.
“It’s an absolutely joyful experience, you couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season for us,” Webb remarked after taking a class win in his first GT4 America start. “It’s awesome having Michai (Stephens) as a teammate. We’ll enjoy the moment now, but we’ll keep our heads down and push on for tomorrow.” Stephens would add, “we have our sights set on the best possible result we can achieve this season. We have all the tools in the making right here.”
Following RS1’s “graduation” from GT4 America to GT World Challenge America, Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports, last year’s championship runners-up, have an opportunity to claim the Silver class titles in 2023.
The new #92 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4 (Kevin Boehm/Kenton Koch) and the #19 ACI Motorsports Porsche of Selldorff and Andrew Davis completed the Silver class podium in third and fourth place overall, respectively.
In fifth overall was the #50 Chouest Povoledo Racing Aston Martin (Ross Chouest/Aaron Povoledo), which earned third-place points in Pro-Am after holding off the #8 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin (Elias Sabo/Andy Lee) in sixth. The #51 Auto Technic Racing BMW (Zac Anderson/John Dubets) was seventh, even after a 2.8 second time penalty given to offset them going under the minimum pit stop time.
The #95 OGH/Valkyrie Velocity Porsche (Rob Ferriol/Mac Clark), #68 Smooge Racing Toyota (Kevin Conway/John Geesbreght), and STR38 Motorsports’ #88 BMW (Chandler Hull/Jon Miller) completed the overall top ten.
Paulo Carcasci and Custodio Toledo made a late-race charge to take their first Am class win of the 2023 season in their #35 Conquest Racing Mercedes. The hero of the day was not the ex-All Japan F3000 standout Carcasci, but his pupil Toledo, who caught and passed James Clay to take the class win with five minutes to go.
An overjoyed Carcasci said after the race, “I’m very thankful for Custódio, he gave me the opportunity to return to racing after a 30-year retirement and it feels fantastic. The team did a great job, we have a fantastic car from Mercedes. The whole crew works so hard, you have no idea just how much work they put in behind the scenes. It’s not just one key moment that brought us here, it was a lot of effort over a long period of time that brought us this win.”
“We’ve been working so hard for this. Paulo and I started this project a year and a half ago and it’s just amazing to get our first win here in GT4 America,” said Toledo. “I want to thank the entire Conquest Racing team, they did an amazing job and gave us a great car. It’s an incredible feeling.”
The #20 Carrus Callas Raceteam Toyota (Nicholas Shanny/Terry Borcheller) finished second in the Am class, ahead of the #36 BimmerWorld BMW of Clay and Charlie Postins. They were 13th, 14th, and 15th in the overall running order.
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