There are still two races left in the SRO GT4 America and TC America series, but BMW teams and drivers were able to clinch championships this past weekend in the penultimate rounds of the series at Sebring. BimmerWorld Racing won their second consecutive SRO GT4 America Am class championship with drivers James Clay and Charlie Postins, and Rooster Hall Racing claimed the TC America TCX class championship with driver Colin Garrett, after Garrett finished second in the championship by just two points last season.
The GT4 America championship had three races at Sebring: the usual two they have on any race weekend, as well as a makeup race for a round that was canceled earlier in the year at NOLA Motorsports Park. The BimmerWorld duo made the most of that makeup race, taking the win in the Am class with their #36 M4 GT4. It was their seventh win of the season.
Clay and Postins finished fourth in the second race at Sebring and second in the third race, which was enough to win the title before the final two races at Indianapolis. “Last year we started out hot and we kind of kept a steady momentum throughout the year,” said Postins. “This year we got off to a horrible start, but when we found our pace, we got six in a bounce there in the middle of the season, which was incredible. Quite frankly, I think the competition has been a little bit harder this year, so this one feels a little more special.”
James Clay (left) and Charlie Postins won their second consecutive Am class championship.
BimmerWorld teammates Tyler McQuarrie and James Walker, Jr. also came into Sebring with a slim lead in the Pro-Am class championship and were able to hold onto it with their #82 M4 GT4. The pair finished third in the makeup race but were behind the second-place Nolasport Porsche that is their primary contender for the title, and finished third in the second race while the Nolasport Porsche took the win. The Nolasport pair of Jason Hart and Matt Travis looked set to the take the lead in the championship in the third race but had an issue with the car that resulted in a DNF, while McQuarrie and Walker, Jr. finished fourth. The Pro-Am title will be decided at Indy.
Auto Technic Racing was also able to retain the lead in the Silver class with driver Zac Anderson. Anderson and John Capestro-Dubets (JCD) have been contenders all year in the #51 M4 GT4, but were separated in the points when JCD had to sit out the two races at Road America with a broken tailbone and vertebrae. Anderson went on to finish third and first on his own in the two races at Road America. Amazingly, JCD recovered from his injuries to be back in the car at Sebring. They finished second in the first two races at Sebring and third in the third to keep the points lead, even though their primary rival, the Conquest Racing Mercedes at Jesse Webb and Michai Stevens won the third race.
Zac Anderson and Auto Technic Racing lead the Silver class points going into Indy.
Another BMW team that has a shot at the Silver class championship in the final two races at Indy is the Random Vandals pair of Kenton Koch and Kevin Boehm. Driving the #92 M4 GT4, the pair finished third, first and second in the three races at Sebring and moved closer to the Auto Technic and Conquest Racing drivers in the points. There was some fantastic racing action between the Random Vandals and Auto Technic cars at Sebring, and it’s going to be an exciting final pair of races at Indy.
Random Vandals drivers Kevin Boehm and Kenton Koch are in reach of the Silver class championship.
In the TC America series, Rooster Hall Racing with driver Colin Garrett clinched the TCX class championship on the strength of Garrett’s two wins at Sebring in the #44 M2 CS. Garrett came into the season as the driver to beat after finishing second by just two points to Jacob Ruud last season and put in two controlling drives at Sebring to win the championship. “I felt like today was probably my best race of the year,” said Garrett after the second race. “I can’t thank these guys enough. They worked super-hard to get this car to where it needed to be. I probably should have been doing this a year earlier, but better late than never!”
Colin Garrett (also in top photo) won the TC America TCX championship.
The final two rounds of the SRO GT4 America and TC America races will take place at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on October 5th-8th.
—David Haueter
[Photos courtesy SRO]