SONOMA, Calif. – Matt Travis and Jason Hart drove the No. 47 NOLASPORT Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 to victory in Friday’s Pirelli GT4 America SprintX event at Sonoma Raceway.
Nicolai Elghanayan, aboard the No. 71 Marco Polo Motorsports KTM X-Bow GT4 Silver class entry, led the Pirelli GT4 America SprintX field to the green flag for Friday’s 60-minute race.
Travis would slot into second overall and first in the Pro-Am division, with Colin Mullan, aboard the No. 36 Andretti Autosport Motorsports McLaren 570S GT4 in third overall, second in Silver.
Michael Dinan, driving the No. 21 Flying Lizard Aston Martin Vantage GT4, slotted into fourth overall, second in the Pro-Am class, with Jon Miller driving the No. 38 ST Racing BMW M4 GT4 in fifth overall, third in Silver.
The Am division would see Michael McGrath, piloting the No. 14 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS, lead the way with Derek DeBoer in the No. 17 TRG LaSalle Solutions Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 second and Bryan Putt in the No. 15 Bsport Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 third.
After the pit window closed for the required driver changes, the No. 71, now with Mads Siljehaug driving, would remain in the overall and Silver lead with the No. 47, with Hart now driving, just behind in second overall, first in Pro-Am.
The No. 21 Flying Lizard Aston Martin, now with Robby Foley in the driver’s seat, would slip past the No. 36 with Jarrett Andretti driving for third overall, second in Pro-Am. Cody Ware, in the No. 63 Dexter Racing GInetta G55 GT4, would slot into fifth overall, third in the Silver class.
With 18 minutes left on the clock the leading No. 71 KTM would face a mechanical issue and drop down the running order, handing the overall and Pro-Am lead to Hart in the No. 47 with Foley and the No. 21 landing second overall and in Pro-Am. Hart would go on to claim NOLASPORT’s fourth victory of the season.
“I hate to see the KTM struggle with an issue, but we’ll take the win,” said Travis on the victory.
“Like what Matt said, we’re sorry to see the Marco Polo guys have their race end with a mechanical issue, but we’re happy for the win and are going to come back for more tomorrow,” said Hart.
Andretti and the No. 36 would inherit the Silver class lead, running third overall. Andretti would hang on to the Silver class win with Ware claiming second in class and Nick Wittmer in the No. 28 ST Racing BMW M4 GT4 in third.
“That was an intense race and I’m so happy to have the victory at my home track of Sonoma,” said Mullan.
“We’ve been searching for pace, so we’re just making the best of what we’ve got for now, and we’re really happy to grab the Silver win today,” said Andretti.
The Am class would see Zac Anderson, in the No. 7 NOLASPORT Porsche 718 Cayman GT4, get past the No. 14 GMG Audi in the final minutes to grab the victory.
“We had a very tough start, but were able to save some tires, then move through the grid and grab the win in class,” said Anderson, who co-drove the No. 7 with Sean Gibbons.