Double Sebring Pole for Filgueiras and McAleer
Eric Filgueiras and Stevan McAleer took a small, but not insignificant step towards wrapping up the Silver class Drivers’ Championship in Pirelli GT4 America. Filgueiras and McAleer drove the #18 RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport to pole position in their respective qualifying sessions at Sebring International Raceway.
In the first session, Michai Stephens set the early benchmark aboard the #34 Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3. Then, on his second flying lap, Filgueiras drove to pole position in Race 1 with a time of 2’10.789, more than a second ahead of the field at his home race.
Stephens would finish second and the #34 Conquest/JMF Mercedes will start today’s race on the front row, but there were issues during the second session as Gavin Sanders did not set a lap time.
Barring any other penalties, the #34 Mercedes of Stephens and Sanders will have to start 31st and last in tomorrow’s race – not what they needed as they try and chase down a 47-point deficit to Filgueiras and McAleer this weekend.
Johan Schwartz put the #80 Rooster Hall Racing BMW M4 GT4 third overall in the first session, the fastest Am Cup car, ahead of the Silver class #51 AutoTechnic Racing M4 of Austen Smith in fourth, and the Am championship-leading #36 BimmerWorld M4 of Charlie Postins in fifth.
Moisey Uretsky will start sixth, his repaired #55 Accelerating Performance Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 was the fastest Pro-Am car in the session, ahead of the #50 Chouest Povoledo Racing Vantage GT4 of Ross Chouest, and the #53 AutoTechnic M4 of Rob Walker.
Pro-Am championship co-leader Adam Adelson qualified ninth for Race 1 in the #120 Premier Racing Cayman RS, ahead of Elias Sabo in the #8 Flying Lizard Motorsports Vantage in tenth, Tom Capizzi in the #52 AutoTechnic M4 in 11th, and Scott Noble in the #47 NOLASPORT Cayman RS in 15th. Adelson and Elliott Skeer lead Noble and Jason Hart by eight points with four races remaining.
McAleer followed up on Filgueiras’ performance in the first session with another pole for Race 2 on Sunday, setting a 2’10.753.
In total, that’s ten poles for 12 races for the duo, and the fourth time this season that the green and white #18 Porsche has swept both phases of qualifying.
But the #47 NOLASPORT Porsche of Hart wasn’t far off, setting a 2’10.907 to take second overall on the grid – and the top time in the Pro-Am category.
Aaron Telitz was third-fastest in the #69 Smooge Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4, then title contender Andy Lee was fourth in the #8 Flying Lizard Vantage.
Alexandre Premat showed elite speed as anticipated, driving his and Jay Logan’s #71 GMG Racing Cayman RS to fifth overall on the Race 2 grid, followed by Devin Jones in the #82 BimmerWorld M4, and Kenton Koch in the #15 BSport Racing Vantage.
Skeer went eighth-quickest aboard the #120 Premier Racing Cayman, while John Capestro-Dubets was ninth in the #52 AutoTechnic M4 – while team mate Zac Anderson rounded out the overall top ten in the #51 car.
The fastest Am car in second qualifying was the #83 RS1 Cayman RS, driven by Juan Martinez, in 11th place.
But it’s Postins and James Clay who could clinch the Am Drivers’ titles by the end of Race 1 this afternoon. They lead NOLASPORT #19 driver Alain Stad by 81 points heading into today’s race – which begins at 4:05 PM EDT.
Images © Regis Lefebure, Fabian Lagunas / SRO Motorsports Group America
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