The SRO GT4 America series raced at Circuit of the America’s (COTA) in Texas this past weekend of April 26-27, 2025, in a unique race in the championship. It turned out to be a weekend to remember for the BimmerWorld Racing team, as they came away with wins in both the Pro-Am and Am classes.
The GT4 America COTA race is the only three-hour endurance race on the schedule. At every other race weekend in this series, there are two one-hour sprint races. As such, the COTA race counts for double points toward the championship, so doing well here is crucial.
There were several BMW M4 GT4 EVO entries among the various classes, but none of them did all that well in qualifying. Auto Technic Racing driver and former series champion Zac Anderson was the quickest BMW but was down in tenth overall and fourth in the Silver class. We’ve consistently seen that the M4 GT4 EVO (and GT3 EVO) usually race better than they qualify, and the BMWs showed more competitiveness once this race got underway.
James Clay and Charlie Postins won the Am class.
The #51 Auto Technic Racing BMW of Anderson and Colin Garrett worked their way to the front after pit stops and caution periods and were leading for many laps, as was the #94 Random Vandals BMW of Josh Green and Sam Craven. It all went south for both of those teams as the race went on. Anderson was in position to be on the podium after a late race restart but was penalized for hitting the back of an Aston Martin. The trio of Random Vandals BMWs, which are all competitive, had a weekend to forget, as all three had penalties of one sort or another (mostly pit lane-related) that took all of them out of contention.
Meanwhile, the pair of BimmerWorld Racing cars kept plugging away with consistent fast driving, good strategy and efficient pit stops. By the end of the race, the #82 M4 GT4 EVO of Tyler McQuarrie and James Walker, Jr. (shown in top photo) was in the lead in the Pro-Am class and the #36 car of James Clay and Charlie Postins was in front in the Am class. Both McQuarrie in the #82 and Postins in the #36 managed to hold off pressure in the closing laps after the restart to get wins, and the #82 car ended up in second overall. The #188 Fast Track Racing M4 GT4 EVO of Judson Holt and Dave Ogburn finished second in Am.
Judson Holt and Dave Ogburn finished second in Am.
The win was especially gratifying for the BimmerWorld drivers. “We knew we were in good hands,” said James Walker Jr. “We had a sizable lead built up, but the yellow compressed everything. We knew it was going to be a shootout to the finish. Tyler just did what he had to do. The crew gave us an amazing car all day, and he knew what he had to do and got it all done. So I’m indebted to him for pulling the whole thing off. I mean, it was just a fantastic drive.”
Postins also enjoyed the action in the race that left no margin for error. “On the restart, I was reassured by the braking that we had in this car,” he said. “We are really great in a straight line, but the braking is awesome. So I really knew that as long as I got a good exit, we would be OK. We looked after the tires when we had that gap that evaporated. So everything was going well at that point, and I saved some tires for the end. And during that dog fight, we had tires, and that was awesome. That was a lot of fun.”
Matt Million and Tyler Stone finished ninth overall and sixth in Pro-Am.
Only one other BMW finished in the top ten overall, with the #51 AutoTechnic Racing M4 GT4 EVO of Matt Million and Tyler Stone finishing ninth overall and sixth in the Pro-Am class. The GT4 America series will next race at Sebring International Raceway in Florida in mid-May.
—David Haueter
[Photos courtesy SRO]
