SONOMA, Calif. – The Flying Lizard Motorsports duo of Michael Dinan and Robby Foley scored a dominant, flag-to-flag Pirelli GT4 America Pro/Am SprintX win at Sonoma Raceway Sunday morning.
NOLASPORT’s Matt Travis and Jason Hart finished second, while Bsport Racing’s Bryan Putt and Kenton Koch finished third.
CCR Team TFB’s Tim Barber and Cole Ciraulo won in the Silver division, while NOLASPORT’s Sean Gibbons and Zac Anderson won the Am division race.
From the pole Foley, in the No. 21 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT4, launched successfully into the lead over Koch. Am category driver Kris Wilson slotted into third overall and first in class, while GMG Racing’s Andrew Davis slotted into fourth overall and third in Pro/Am.
While Foley built a 1.4-second lead over Koch by lap nine, behind them Wilson had moved around Bell into third overall and first in Am, while Hart held onto fifth overall and fourth in Pro/Am. Dexter Racing’s Cody Ware slotted into 12th overall and first in the Silver division.
At the 25-minute mark of the race the pit window opened and of the leaders Ware was the first into the pits to changeover to teammate Ryan Dexter. Foley, Koch, Wilson, Davis and Hart all entered near the end of the window for driver changeovers. Pro/Am driver Jen Heylen was the last into the pits to changeover to teammate Charlie Belluardo.
At the end of the window, Dinan and the No. 21 machine remained in the lead, ahead of Putt now in the No. 15 machine, and Belluardo. Allen, now behind the wheel of the No. 16 machine, slotted into fifth overall and first in Am.
By lap 19, Dinan grew his lead by seven seconds over Putt, and Belluardo. Allen fell to sixth overall, but still first in Am, while Dexter slotted into 12th overall and first in Silver.
On lap 21, Gibbons moved around Allen and into the lead of the Am class, while Travis now in the No. 47 machine closed on Belluardo and executed a pass for position on lap 22. On a charge, Travis then moved into third around Andrew Bell who had taken over for Davis through turn seven.
With Dinan pulling away from the field and up to a 19-second lead in the late stages of the race, the action behind him was heated as Travis closed on Putt, while Barber, in the No. 25 BMW M4 GT4, engaged Dexter for the lead in Silver.
On lap 28, Barber took over the Silver division lead getting around Dexter through turns four and five. Then on the white flag lap Travis passed for second while a heated door-to-door battle continued between Barber and Dexter with the driver of the No. 25 machine deftly defending challenges from the driver of the No. 63 machine.
At the checkered, Dinan won by more than 21 seconds while Travis crossed ahead of Putt by 1.7 seconds. Barber crossed ahead of Dexter by .920 seconds, while Gibbons won in Am.
ST Racing’s Harry Gottsacker teamed with Nick Wittmer and finished third in the Silver division in their No. 28 BMW M4 GT4s. Allen and Wilson finished second in Am, while the TRG LaSalle Solutions No. 17 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 driven by Derek DeBoer and James Rappaport finished third in class.
“Robby did an incredible job in his stint, he opened a big gap for me,” said Dinan. “It was all about putting in consistent laps, not making any mistakes and staying calm in my head. Super happy to get a win here, it’s Flying Lizards home track.”
“Traffic didn’t help me yesterday, traffic helped me today to catch up to the Ginetta,” said Barber. “Sometimes luck just goes your way.”
“It’s my first visit here and to come away with the win is great,” said Gibbons. “The Porsche that NOLASPORT gave us was so good.