Conquest/JMF Mercedes Snatches Race 1 Victory after RS1 Last-Lap Heartache

It’s never “over” until it’s over. Just ask Michai Stephens and Gavin Sanders. Or, ask Eric Filgueiras and Stevan McAleer.

The #34 Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Stephens and Sanders was on its way to finishing second to a dominant #18 RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport, before the green and white Porsche appeared to run out of fuel coming out of the final corner at Sunset Bend!

Before this dramatic turn of events, Filgueiras and McAleer were running a textbook race from pole position. They had to wait nearly 40 minutes to get going because of delays in prior races. But once Filgueiras and the rest of the 31-car field finally rolled out, he led from the start of the race until it was time for him to turn the wheel over to McAleer for the closing stint.

The Silver class leaders were followed by the #34 Mercedes of Stephens, who moved into second overall after working his way past a the #80 Rooster Hall Racing BMW M4 GT4 driven by Johan Schwartz, who qualified a strong second overall.

McAleer resumed with a lead of around three seconds to Sanders. When 60 minutes elapsed, everyone watching expected the #18 Porsche to take its ninth overall win of the season when it came out of the last corner, only for the white and red Mercedes to come streaking past it.

Instead, it became the second overall victory of the season for Stephens and Sanders. Both were somewhat fortunate of course – at VIR Race 2, they got the benefit of a Safety Car that came out at the wrong time, but like in that instance, the winner almost always makes their own good fortune.

McAleer limped home to second overall and second in the Silver Cup. But he and Filgueiras still have the opportunity to clinch the Silver Championship tomorrow if they can win their class in Race 2 with the #34 Conquest/JMF Mercedes of Stephens and Sanders finishing third or lower in the category.

And keeping the title fight alive into Indianapolis Motor Speedway won’t be easy for the Conquest/JMF crew, who have to start from the rear tomorrow after an issue in the second phase of qualifying – while Filgueiras and McAleer start from the pole yet again.

Rounding out the overall and Silver podium was the #51 AutoTechnic Racing M4 (Austen Smith/Zack Anderson) in third.

Anderson took the chequered flag just ahead of what turned out to be a photo finish for the Pro-Am class win: The #55 Accelerating Performance Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 of Moisey Uretsky and Justin Piscitell led their class, virtually from wire-to-wire. But in the closing laps, the #8 Flying Lizard Motorsports Vantage GT4 (Elias Sabo/Andy Lee), was closing in quickly.

Lee quickly cut the deficit down to Piscitell, and at the line, the two Aston Martins were running tail-to-nose – with the bright yellow #55, still carrying its bare carbon bonnet and bumpers after a Friday practice crash, just holding on to the class victory (fourth overall) by 0.172 seconds!

The #50 Chouest Povoledo Racing Vantage GT4 (Ross Chouest/Aaron Povoledo) completed an All-Aston sweep of the Pro-Am podium, finishing in seventh place overall ahead of the Silver class #68 Smooge Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 (Kevin Conway/John Geesbreght), then the fourth-ranked Pro-Am #15 BSport Racing Vantage GT4 (Bryan Putt/Kenton Koch) and the #52 AutoTechnic M4 (Tom Capizzi/John Capestro-Dubets).

Race 1 was a big day in the Pro-Am points standings: The #120 Premier Racing Cayman RS (Adam Adelson/Elliott Skeer) entered the day leading the #47 NOLASPORT Cayman RS (Scott Noble/Jason Hart) by eight points. But just six laps into the race, the black, red, and yellow Porsche of Adelson ground to a halt with a suspected electrical issue. The car was able to drive back to the pits, but they would finish 31st and last overall – and more importantly, out of the top ten in Pro-Am, scoring no points.

Meanwhile, Noble and Hart would finish sixth in class, and 11th overall, to bring the two teams level in the championship on 144 points each – though Adelson and Skeer still hold the tiebreaker advantage with three wins to one.

While the Silver and Pro-Am titles will be decided another day, James Clay and Charlie Postins clinched the Am Championship in style, piloting their #36 BimmerWorld M4 to sixth overall and their seventh class win of the year.

Postins ran comfortably inside the overall top ten for most of the race, staying within striking distance of the #80 Rooster Hall M4 of Schwartz. After the compulsory pit window for driver changes, Clay got on board and overtook Todd Brown to take the class lead. Brown would spin out on the following lap, then take a drive-through penalty later in the race.

This dominant season – still with three races left – was never meant to happen: Clay was all set to drive a new BMW M4 GT3 in GT World Challenge America, before a testing accident for their other car forced a reorganisation of BimmerWorld’s racing efforts. The team wheeled out a second M4 GT4 for GT4 America at Sonoma, and Clay and Postins struck gold from their first weekend together.

The #83 RS1 Cayman RS (Nelson Calle/Juan Martinez) and the #53 AutoTechnic M4 (Rob Walker/Alex Filsinger) finished 13th and 14th overall, second and third in Am.

GT4A RACE 1 RESULTS >>

GT4 America’s weekend concludes with Race 2, starting tomorrow at 11:10 AM EDT.

Images © Regis Lefebure, Fabian Lagunas / SRO Motorsports Group America