The rain held off for the first Pirelli GT4 America race at Road America on Saturday afternoon. The rising heat was felt both in the air and on track, as the 33 cars offered up a piping hot show.

Race one Saturday…Silver

Right as the green flag waved to commence the race, the #18 RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport of Stevan McAleer set sail and never looked back. After completing their mandatory pit stop, Eric Filgueiras took over from his Scottish co-driver, and won with an impressive 15.048 margin over the second overall car. The teammates now have eight wins under their belts.

“We have a mechanism in the car that tells us the pit time, and it wasn’t working,” explained Eric Filgueiras after his stint. “So in the pit box we gave up roughly 9 seconds, as we found out afterwards. We didn’t know how long our stop was going to be, we ended up losing time and then I was by myself and not really sure what was going on out on track. It’s a testament to Stevan McAleer’s driving ability. His job today was to give me a car in a position to win, and that will be my job tomorrow. We’re very proud, the RS1 guys work so hard.”

What looked like a promising and intense battle on track between the #34 Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Gavin Sanders and Kevin Conway’s #68 Smooge Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 ended dramatically on pit road as Conway hit the back of Sanders’ Mercedes when both cars came in for their pit stops.

With these two cars out of podium contention, the undoubtedly deserving #112 Dexter Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 co-driven by Ryan Dexter and Dominic Starkweather claimed second place. There was still a ‘silver lining’ for Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports in the Silver class, as multiple competitors had a bad day, giving Gavin Sanders and his teammate Michai Stephens the chance to climb on to the final podium position as they rounded up the Top 3.

Pro-Am

All eyes were set on the Pro-Am battle. Right from the start of the race, all the way to the checkered flag, the Top 4 were nose to tail, all fighting to get on the top step of the podium.

Early on in the race, the #24 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 of Gray Newell and co-driver Ian James was chased down by the #47 NOLASPORT Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport of Scott Noble and by Adam Adelson in his #120 Premier Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport. A few Am cars were also in the mix as they tried to secure a Top 5 overall finish.

Once the driver changes were done, the battle continued between Ian James, Elliott Skeer (#120 Premier Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport) and Jason Hart (#47 NOLASPORT Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport). James was holding on to the class lead as Skeer was busy keeping Hart behind him, but once the NOLASPORT driver passed, all bets were off.

With 5 minutes remaining, it was all or nothing for Hart, who made a pass on James for the lead. Both cars made contact, with Hart going off in the grass. Although Ian James crossed the line first in class, it was the duo of Elliott Skeer and Adam Adelson who won the race, ahead of Jason Hart and Scott Noble. The Heart of Racing drivers rounded off the Top 3.

The two-place penalty for the #24 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 is bittersweet for the NOLASPORT drivers, as this allows Premier Racing to grab the Championship lead by 3 points.

Am

The Am class also stole the show, along with the Pro-Am class. The #36 BimmerWorld BMW M4 GT4 of Charlie Postins and James Clay and the #80 Rooster Hall Racing BMW M4 GT4 of Todd Brown and Johan Schwartz heated up the battle in the Pro-Am class during the first half of the race. Both Postins and Schwartz were looking at finishing in the overall Top 5, an impressive feat on this challenging track.

Opting for a different strategy, Johan Schwartz was the last driver to come down pit road, giving the wheel of the #80 Rooster Hall Racing BMW M4 GT4 to Todd Brown with 26 minutes remaining on the clock. It didn’t go as planned, as not only Todd Brown went off the track and lost the lead, but the team had to serve a drive-through penalty for a pit lane violation.

Patience and consistency paid off for the #72 KRUGSPEED Toyota GR Supra GT4, with drivers Anthony Geraci and Jaden Lander claiming their first win of the season.

“We had such a bad qualifying session; we just kept trying to learn the car,” said Anthony Geraci. “The team did awesome, and luckily we had a really good start. I have a great teammate so we’re blessed.”

Jaden Lander echoed Anthony’s thoughts; “Anthony made up 10 positions on the first three laps, and from then on I just tried to keep it on the road. We had some contact, but we kept it clean and came in first.”

BimmerWorld’s James Clay and Charlie Postins came in second, followed by the #19 NOLASPORT Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport of Alain Stad and Matt Travis, who are currently sitting in second place in the Championship standings.

Race two Sunday..Silver

After a day filled with no shortage of action in other series, Pirelli GT4 America race took to Road America’s picturesque circuit one more time before heading to Sebring in late September. After an eventful ending to Race 1 on Saturday, Sunday’s race ran a little smoother, with great battles happening in each class and across the entire lineup.

Right as the green flag waved to commence the race, the #18 RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport of Eric Filgueras led the field across the start/finish, but not without Pro-Am’s Aaron Telitz (#69 Smooge Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4) right on his bumper for a good chunk of the first half. Then, a quarter of the way into the race, Telitz was able to slip past after Filgueras suffered a mechanical issue and parked his car in a runoff area. This brought out the race’s first full-course yellow flag.

A tad further back in the pack, everyone got down to business after the driver change. The #68 Smooge Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 of Kevin Conway got into a heck of a scrap with Gavin Sanders in the Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports #34 Mercedes-AMG GT4. Austen Smith wasn’t too far away behind the wheel of the #51 Auto Technic Racing BMW M4 GT4.

Ultimately, the Toyota was able to keep ahead with just enough steam left before an impact elsewhere on track brought out the second full-course yellow, which then turned to an early checkered flag with less than eight minutes remaining in the race.

When the race concluded, it was Conway across the line first, followed by Sanders and Smith.

“It was nice to dig out of what happened yesterday and stay ahead of the Conquest Mercedes for points,” Conway said. “Knowing that McAleer and Filgueras had issues, that gave us the opportunity to capitalize. This one's been a long time coming: this series is really tough to win in, it’s very competitive, and we’re just incredibly thankful for every guy and girl on Smooge Racing, they worked really hard this weekend.”

Pro-Am

Bryan Putt (#15 BSport Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMG GT4), Todd Coleman (#69 Smooge Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4), and Elias Sabo (#8 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4) were in quite the battle at the front after the pit stop. Sabo made several clean, skillful passes on his way to joining in on the fun.

Adam Adelson (#120 Premier Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport) joined in the mix later, getting past Coleman to secure a third place finish. Coleman dropped back to sixth overall by the race’s end.

Before Putt grabbed the lead, both Coleman and his teammate Aaron Telitz led the field for a combined nine laps. Putt led for six before the race’s end.

Further back, the #47 NOLASPORT Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport (Scott Noble/Jason Hart) held strong for most of race, including keeping ahead of the #124 ARG/Rotek Racing Ford Mustang (Edgar Lau/Jaden Conwright). At the finish the #47 was sixth in class (eighth overall) while the #124 finished eighth in class (tenth overall).

With less than nine minutes remaining, the #4 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 driven by Zane Hodgen impacted the wall, which brought out the second yellow flag of the race. This then turned to the checkered flag due to the amount of track cleanup that was required.

At the race’s conclusion, Putt grabbed the win, followed by Sabo and Adelson. This was the first win for the BSport team since Putt and Kenton Koch swept the season opening races at Sonoma.

“It feels really good,” Putt said in response to how it felt to win Race 2 at Road America. “We’ve had an up and down season, some adversity, some self-inflicted, but we’ve worked hard and tried to do the right thing. Kenton ran an amazing stint and gave me a great car—man it just feels really good and I’m thankful to be here.”

Am

After a solid performance in the first half of the race, Alex Filsinger (#53 Auto Technic Racing BMW M4 GT4) passed the baton to teammate Rob Walker, who drove the Bimmer home to a first place finish. It wasn’t easy, however, as Charlie Postins was right behind him in the #36 BimmerWorld BMW M4 GT4, as well as Krugspeed’s Anthony Geraci in the #72 Toyota GR Supra GT4.

“Just staying focused in the front, having a lot of help from my crew, and driving ‘em down,” said when asked what it took to hold onto P1.

All three crossed the finish line in that order, wrapping up the Pirelli GT4 America race weekend at the Midwest’s picturesque, legendary Road America.

The next rounds will be at Sebring International Raceway on September 23-25. Tickets are on sale now. The SRO Motorsports America season will conclude at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on October 7-9. Tickets for this weekend, which will include the Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS are on sale now.

Can’t make it to the track? Watch the races live and on demand on the GTWorld YouTube Channel, as well as on GT4 America’s Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages.