SONOMA, Calif – The No. 47 NOLASPORT duo of Jason Hart and Matt Travis found themselves in the winner’s circle once again during the second round of Pirelli GT4 America competition Sunday at Sonoma Raceway.
After sweeping both qualifying sessions and claiming both overall wins, it was a magical weekend for the Pro-Am duo.
“What a weekend! I can’t believe it, the magic is happening!” said Travis.
Thirty-two cars took the Pirelli GT4 America Race 2 start with the entire field through cleanly on the opening lap ofr the 60 minute contest.
Race one winner Hart started from pole and kept the lead with Jeff Westphal and the No. 888 Rearden Racing Audi R8 LMS and Patrick Gallagher in the No. 00 Notlad Racing by RS1 Aston Martin Vantage GT4 settling for second and third overall and in the Pro-Am class.
Kenton Koch in the No. 15 BSport Racing Aston Martin and Andy Lee in the No. 8 GMG Racing Audi would get the jump on the No. 59 and No. 062 entries and claim fourth and fifth positions overall by the end of lap one.
Ten minutes into the race Koch would move to the inside of Gallagher and take over the third overall position at turn seven and start to chase down the No. 888 Audi for second.
Koch’s attack would pay off two laps later as the No. 15 would snag second position from Westphal and quickly close on Hart for the lead.
Back in the Silver division, Ryan Dexter and the No. 062 Dexter Racing Aston Martin would lead as Christian Szymczak and the No. 72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 would battle Mads Siljehaug and the No. 71 Marco Polo Motorsports KTM X-Bow Evo GT4 for second position in class, ninth overall.
After starting eighth overall, Spencer Pumpelly and the No. 66 LaSalle Solutions TRG Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 would quietly move into the top six, getting past Brandon Davis’ No. 59 WR Racing Aston Martin at the final hairpin with 42 minutes left on the clock.
Pumpelly would continue his charge and sweep past Lee’s Audi at turn five for fifth overall with Davis also getting past the GMG Audi two turns later.
Seven minutes later Pumpelly would track down the Gallagher-driven No. 00, passing the Aston Martin at turn nine for fourth overall and in the Pro-Am division.
After the pit window closed for the required driver changes at the halfway point of the race, the No. 47 NOLASPORT Porsche, now with Travis driving, remained in the overall and Pro-Am lead, the No. 71 KTM with Nicolai Elghanayan took over control of the Silver class sitting sixth overall, and the No. 16 Capstone Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 of John Allen led in Am, ninth overall.
With 23 minutes remaining, Derek DeBoer and the No. 66 LaSalle Solutions TRG Porsche get around the No. 888 Rearden Racing Audi of Kris McCoy for second overall.
Paul Terry in the No. 59 Aston Martin would then get past McCoy a few minutes later for third overall and in Pro-Am.
The Silver class lead battle would then see Kenny Murillo, now piloting the No. 72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG, close on leader Elghanayan and battle nose to tail for fourth overall.
Murillo would move past the KTM for the Silver-class lead as the two battled through turn one with 14 minutes remaining.
Minutes later Paul Terry’s No. 59 Aston Martin took advantage of a mistake by Deboer’s Porsche and nab the second position in Pro-Am. At the same time Murillo got past both DeBoer and Terry for second overall, sitting comfortably in the Silver class lead.
Ryan Dexter and the No. 062 Aston Martin, the race one Silver winners, moved past Elghanayan for second in the Silver class and DeBoer’s Porsche for fourth overall.
Deeper in the Pro-Am field, Black Swan Racing moved up into the sixth position, ninth overall, gaining a whopping 23 positions from the start of the race with Porsche Ace Jeroen Bleekemolen and Tim Pappas driving.
With eight minutes remaining, Pappas would move up even higher, slipping past both the No. 888 and No. 15 for fourth in Pro-Am and seventh overall, where the car would ultimately finish.
On the white flag lap, the Am battle would heat up as John Geesbreght’s No. 68 Smooge Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 got around the No. 16 Capstone Motorsports Mercedes-AMG to take possession of the class lead.
As the checkered flag flew, the No. 47 NOLASPORT entry of Hart and Travis took the overall and Pro-Am win with the No. 59 WR Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 and the No. 66 LaSalle Solutions TRG Porsche second and third.
Black Swan Racing’s No. 54 Porsche was fourth with the No. 15 BSport Aston Martin fifth.
The Silver class saw the No. 72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG of Kenny Murillo and Christian Szymczak win, with the No. 062 Dexter Racing Aston Martin and the No. 71 Marco Polo Motorsports KTM taking second and third, respectively.
The Am win went to the No. 68 Smooge Racing Toyota in only the team’s second race, followed by the No. 16 Capstone Motorsports Mercedes-AMG and the No. 46 NOLASPORT Porsche 718 Cayman GT4.