The final two races of the SRO GT4 America season took place at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this past weekend. BMW teams were in the hunt for championships in both the Silver and Am classes coming into the weekend but came away empty-handed in both categories, though BMWs did take class wins in the final race.
The Random Vandals Racing team came to Indy just five points behind the RS1 Porsche team in the Silver class standings narrowing the gap considerably in the first race on Saturday, when Kenton Koch and Kevin Boehm drove the #97 M4 GT4 to a second-place finish ahead of the #28 Porsche that was the points leader. That finish narrowed the gap to just two points coming into the final race on Sunday, with the advantage to the BMW since they qualified ahead of the Porsche.
The Random Vandals Racing M4 GT4 of Kenton Koch and Kevin Boehm finished second in the Silver class championship.
The final race on Sunday was all going the way of Random Vandals until just after pit stops, when Kevin Boehm made contact with another Porsche and suffered a broken suspension, ending their day prematurely and handing the championship to the RS1 Porsche team and drivers John Capestro-Dubets (who raced an M4 GT4 last season) and Eric Filgueiras. A BMW did win the Silver class in the finale, with Auto Technic Racing drivers Zac Anderson and Colin Garrett (shown in the top photo) taking the class win after a heated battle with the #34 Mercedes-AMG.
With the #97 Random Vandals Racing BMW out of the picture, the team turning its focus to the #98 M4 GT4 of Kris Wilson and Michael Kanisczak. Wilson led the Am class championship by just two points coming into the weekend. He lost that lead to the #099 Rotek Racing Porsche on Saturday but looked set to take the championship on Sunday, as Kanisczak was leading the class late in the race, with James Clay running in second in the #36 BimmerWorld Racing BMW and the #099 Porsche in third.
James Clay and Charlie Postins won the Am class race on Sunday.
Drama ensued for the Random Vandals team once again on the last lap, when the #98 car inexplicably lost pace with just a few turns to go, slowing enough that James Clay went by to take the class win (with co-driver Charlie Postins) and the #099 Porsche swept past to finish in second. The #98 Random Vandals BMW finished in third in class, losing the title within sight of the finish line, in what turned out to be a heartbreaking day for the team. The Carrus Callas Raceteam M4 GT4 of Chris Walsh and Nicholas Shanny ended up in fourth in the Am class.
BMW teams may have not won any championships this year in GT4 America, but they did have a strong season, with 16 wins in 14 races among the three classes (Silver, Pro-Am, Am) along with 24 other podium finishes. BMW teams were in the hunt for the championships in all three classes throughout the season and could have easily come away with championships in the Silver and Am classes if things had gone a little differently at Indy.
Chris Walsh and Cameron Steller finished second and third in both TC America races.
The TC America championship also held its final two races at Indy, but the championships had already been decided in the previous rounds, with Chris Walsh taking the TCX class championship in his Carrus Callas Raceteam M2 CS, and PJ Groenke winning the TCA class championship for the MINI JCW race team. Walsh had strong races at Indy despite having weight added to the M2 CS in a balance of performance adjustment, finishing second behind the Acura Integra Type S of Celso Neto in both races. Walsh had a total of eight wins on the season in the M2 CS. Cameron Steller finished in third in both races in the #23 Fast Track Racing M2 CS.
The TC America class will undergo changes next year, as the series will drop the TCA class and combine the TC and TCX classes into one group. BMW M Motorsport is working on a new car to compete in this class based on the M240i, but that car will not be available until the 2026 season. —David Haueter
https://www.gt4-america.com/
https://www.tcamerica.us/
[Photos by Ingrid Kretschmann]