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Pirelli GT4 America

Andretti McLaren Doubles Up in SprintX; SCR Wins Title

SprintX Pro-Am champions crowned as Andretti, Mullan win for the second time in Vegas…

Photo: Gavin Baker/SRO

Jarett Andretti and Colin Mullan took both Pirelli GT4 America SprintX wins in Las Vegas as Stephen Cameron Racing clinched the Pro-Am title in a dramatic conclusion.

The Andretti Autosport McLaren 570S GT4 claimed a sweep of the 60-minute SprintX races after Mullan made a key pass on Alan Brynjolfsson just after the driver swaps.

Behind them, a battle for the championship raged between the Stephen Cameron Racing BMW M4 GT4 of Sean Quinlan and Greg Liefooghe, and the Nolasport Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport of Matt Travis and Jason Hart.

Hart ran third for much of the opening stint, behind ST Racing BMW driver Harry Gottsacker and pole-sitter Guy Cosmo in the RENNtech Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4.

After 26 minutes, the Nolasport driver made a speculative lunge down the inside of Gottsacker into the tight Turn 1-2 chicane.

While Hart initially got through, his Porsche lost momentum after nearly hitting the left-side tire barrier, which enabled two cars – including the Andretti McLaren – to overtake.

Hart handed over to Travis in the mandatory pit window but the Nolasport car was 10th and, crucially, now behind Quinlan in the Stephen Cameron BMW.

Quinlan, who took over from Liefooghe, had around 10 seconds in hand to Travis but that gap was erased when the safety car was called to allow for the retrieval of Sarah Cattaneo’s stricken Audi.

At the restart, Travis made his way past fellow Porsche racer Michael Dinan to be right on the tail of the BMW, and made a last-ditch effort to win the championship at Turn 11.

But Travis couldn’t quite make his outside lunge stick, with the Nolasport Porsche skewing wide off-course.

This enabled Quinlan and Liefooghe to finish ahead, which was enough for the Stephen Cameron drivers to be crowned Pro-Am champions.

At the front, Mullan led the remainder of the race after his pass on Brynjolfsson to claim the Andretti squad’s third SprintX victory of the season.

Mullan’s co-driver Andretti made  a brilliant start, progressing from eighth on the grid to be fourth heading into the driver changes.

Second place went to Gottsacker and Jon Miller in their ST Racing BMW which also scooped the West Pro-Am class win, while Cosmo and Patrick Byrne completed the overall podium.

Behind Quinlan in fifth were Michael Dinan and James Sofronas – both in Porsches – while Travis came through in seventh ahead of Classic BMW’s Chris Ohmacht and  Toby Grahovec.

Sofronas and Jason Bell were victorious in the nationwide Am class, while West Am category honors went to TRG’s Derek DeBoer and James Rappaport.

Brynjolfsson and his co-driver Trent Hindman ultimately finished ninth after their Park Place Motorsports Porsche – which jumped to the lead in the pits – faded in the final stint.

RESULTS: Race 2

Daniel Lloyd is a UK-based reporter for Sportscar365, covering the FIA World Endurance Championship, Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, among other series.

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