- Porsche Tops the Silver Class Charts
- Mercedes Fastest Overall and in Pro-Am
- BMW Quickest in Am Class
- Practice 1 Results
The Crown Coins Casino GT World weekend kicked off in style at Road America as a full field of 25 Pirelli GT4 America entries took to the legendary 4.048-mile circuit for their opening practice session.
With the sun shining on the National Park of Speed, Dome Motorsport set the pace with three minutes remaining in the session, topping both the overall and Pro-Am standings. VPX Motorsport set the benchmark in the Silver class, while Fast Track Racing led the Am contingent, giving an early glimpse of the battles to come.
Silver Class
Alex Ellis set the benchmark early on for VPX Motorsport, leading both the category and the overall standings for much of the session on board his No. 77 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport.
Championship leader Kenton Koch ran second in class and third overall in the No. 97 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4 (G82) EVO, showcasing yet again that they will be amongst the frontrunners. Marco Polo Motorsports’ Sean Elghanayan and Nicolai Siljehaug held steady in third in the Silver class, capping off the session in seventh overall.
Pro-Am Class
The Pro-Am class saw early dominance from Michael Auriemma in the No. 23 NOLASPORT Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport, who held first in class and second overall until the midway point of the session. With 15 minutes remaining, Tyler McQuarrie and James Walker Jr. surged to the top in their No. 82 BimmerWorld Racing BMW M4 GT4 (G82) EVO.
In the closing minutes, Marc Miller and Edward Killeen brought the Dome Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT4 into contention, with Miller posting both the fastest Pro-Am lap and the quickest overall time of the session just three minutes before the checkered flag. The NOLASPORT Porsche reclaimed second in class and third overall, with the BimmerWorld BMW completing the top three.
Am Class
Judson Holt and Denny Stripling led the way in the Am class in his No. 188 Fast Track Racing BMW, running just outside the top ten overall. Meanwhile, Thunder Bunny Racing’s Allen Patten and Laura Hayes made a strong debut in their new No. 606 BMW, going second in class as they gradually got to grips with their new machine.
The Am battle was especially tight, with Anthony Geraci and Kenny Schmied taking third in class in their No. 72 RAFA Racing Team Toyota ahead of the No. 36 BimmerWorld BMW of Charlie Postins and James Clay in fourth. The top five was rounded off by Paul Sparta and his new Random Vandals Racing teammate Darius Trinka in the No. 98 BMW.
Let’s Get Racing
The Pirelli GT4 America field will return to the track for Practice 2 on Friday afternoon, August 15th at 5:15 PM CT.
If you can’t make it to Road America, be sure to tune-in to SRO’s free live streams all weekend long on YouTube (GTWorld) and Twitch (SROMotorsports) and follow all the action through our social media channels and the event hashtag #GTRoadAmerica.