More prizes and a Championship win for AMR teams in GT4 America
Monday, September 21, 2020
As the 'heads' of the Aston Martin Racing family were busy (winning as it turns out) in their Vantage GTE’s over at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, their American relatives were also out doing likewise as the SRO sanctioned GT4 America Series revisited the Circuit of the America’s in Austin, Texas.
Still running to a heavily revised and ‘catch up’ programme, this penultimate round of the GT4 America Series would eventually see not only more AMR Customer and Partner teams take various class accolades but also Flying Lizard Motorsport Gentleman driver Michael Dinan secure the Sprint Am Class Drivers title.
In a meeting of three fifty minute Sprint races but just two hour long Sprint X races, the challenges of multiple race meetings in quick succession again proved problematic with (this time) the #15 BSport Racing AMR Vantage GT4 of Bryan Putt and Kenton Koch suffering from heavy front end damage to their car during the events wet Free Practice sessions.
Rebuilt overnight by the team and with the help of CSJ Motorsports, that loss of track time and Qualifying opportunity affected the Pro-Am duo from their more recent string of race results with a DNF in race 1 before recovering the situation somewhat with a P6 overall / P4 in class in race 2.
Rearden Racing’s two car entry for Paul Terry in Sprint and Jeff Burton in both Sprint and Sprint X gave that duo four podium finishes between them after capitalising on Dinan’s absence from the events on Saturdays securing themselves a class 1-2 in Sprint Race 2 before Dinan redressed the balance on Sunday with a class win that secured his Sprint Series Am Class Championship.
That still leaves plenty of titles to be decided at the season finale from Indianapolis at the end of the month with the available 50 points for two race wins making all the difference in who wins the Sprint X Pro-Am Team, Sprint X Pro-Am Drivers as well as the runners up position in Sprint Am Class Championships.
The #33 Notlad Racing Rennsport 1 AMR Vantage GT4 of Matt Dalton and Pat Gallagher will not be competing at the final round of the season as they are of course entered into the main event at Indianapolis that weekend in the eight hour Intercontinental GT Challenge
