BMW teams competing in the SRO TC America and GT4 America championships competed at Virginia International Raceway this past weekend, and some of them left with strong positions to fight for the championships in the second half of the season.
In TC America, Chris Walsh of Carrus Callas Raceteam (shown in top photo) was the only BMW M2 in the field. The Rigid Speed Racing cars of Lucas and Joseph Catania were not on the entry, and the Kaplan Racing Systems was on the entry list but didn’t compete in either race. We’re not sure what happened to the Kaplan car, but the Catania’s initially were paired up in an M4 GT4 entry in the GT4 America race, but then that entry changed to an entry for Joseph alone in GT America.
Walsh had won every TCX class race in the season coming into VIR but had his first second place finish of the season in race one when he had an unspecified issue with his M2 CS, which dropped him back to the rear of the field. Once the car was fixed, he drove through the field to finish in second behind the winning Acura. Walsh made up for it in the second race, winning from the pole and building a seven second gap to second place by the end. He has now won seven races on the year and is certain to clinch the TCX class championship.
Christian Perocarpi got his first win of the year in the TC class of TC America in race two.
In the TC and TCA classes, the MINI JCW Team had second place finishes in both classes in race one, with Christian Perocarpi finishing second in the TC class and PJ Groenke finishing second in the TCA class. Perocarpi put in a great drive in race two to take the lead over Jeff Ricca’s Hyundai and get his first win of the year. “It’s been amazing,” said Perocarpi. “I’ve just been around a great group of people surrounding me. I knew what I had to do this morning. I’m just so thankful to MINI USA for making sure I get to go drive a race car and have fun with all my friends and family. Thank you to everybody on the team and everybody that supports us.” PJ Groenke finished second once again in race two.
PJ Groenke finished second in both races in the TCA class.
In the highly competitive GT4 America series, there were three BMWs on the podium in the first race. The BimmerWorld duo of James Clay and Charlie Postins have had an uncharacteristically bad year in the Am class with their #36 M4 GT4 but put in a commanding performance in race one to take the win in the Am class, with the Random Vandals Racing #98 M4 GT4 of Paul Sparta and Kris Wilson following in third. In the Silver class, Zach Anderson and Colin Garrett drove their #51 AutoTechnic Racing M4 GT4 to a second-place finish behind the winning RS1 Porsche. The #97 Random Vandals Racing M4 GT4 looked to be on course for a third-place finish but ran out of fuel with minutes left in the race. In Pro-Am, the #82 BimmerWorld car of Tyler McQuarrie and James Walker Jr. finished in sixth.
James Clay and Charlie Postins won the GT4 America Am class in race one.
In race two, there was a great battle going on in the Silver class between Zac Anderson in the #51 AutoTechnic Racing BMW and Eric Filgueiras in the #28 Porsche, with Anderson taking the lead until pit stops, when the Porsche got out in front. Colin Garrett was running in second on the final lap in the #51, but spun off the track, moving the #97 BMW of Kevin Boehm and Kenton Koch into second behind the winning Porsche.
Kenton Koch and Kevin Boehm finished second in the Silver class in GT4 America race two.
In the Pro-Am class, the #53 AutoTechnic Racing M4 GT4 of Mark Brummond and Mike Skeen finished on the podium in third, followed by the #82 BimmerWorld car of McQuarrie and Walker Jr. in fourth. In the Am class, the #98 Random Vandals Racing M4 GT4 of Paul Sparta and Kris Wilson finished in second to get two podiums in two races and strengthen their competitive points position in class.
The Random Vandals Racing cars pushing hard through VIR’s famous esses.
Next up for TC America and GT4 America is the Road America rounds in mid-August.
Zac Anderson and Colin Garrett finished second in the Silver class in GT4 America race one.
—David Haueter
[Photos by Ingrid Kretschmann]