Cooper Wins Again; Nolasport Victorious in SprintX on Sunday

Photo: Gavin Baker/SRO America

Michael Cooper doubled up with his second Pirelli GT4 America Sprint victory of the weekend in Race 3 Sunday at Virginia International Raceway.

Cooper, in the No. 10 Blackdog Speed Shop McLaren 570S GT4, took over the lead from pole-sitter Spencer Pumpelly on Lap 6, prior to a full-course caution for Mark Klenin, whose SIN R1 GT4 stopped on track.

The McLaren factory driver extended his lead following the restart, finishing 1.575 seconds ahead of Pumpelly’s No. 66 TRG Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport, who finished in second.

Jarett Andretti, who was on track for a podium finish, ran wide through Turn 9 and took his No. 18 Andretti Autosport McLaren for a wild ride through the downhill section.  

It handed the final podium position to the No. 19 Stephen Cameron Racing BMW M4 GT4 of  Greg Liefooghe, who was subbing for the team’s regular Sprint driver Sean Quinlan.

Andretti managed to finish fourth, with Drew Staveley completing the top-five in the No. 12 Ian Lacy Racing Ford Mustang GT4.

Michael Dinan claimed his fourth GT4 Am victory in five races this season following a late-race pass on Jeff Courtney for the class win.

The Flying Lizard Motorsports driver got around Courtney’s No. 99 Mercedes-AMG GT4 with less than eight minutes to go to take the eventual class victory in his Aston Martin Vantage GT4, which placed seventh overall in the 13-car starting field.

Dinan was the only GT4 America driver to sweep all three races this weekend.

RESULTS: Race 3

Photo: Gavin Baker/SRO America

Hart Holds Off Auberlen for GT4 SprintX Win

Jason Hart overcame a challenge from Jarett Andretti and a hard-charging Bill Auberlen to take victory in Race 3 in GT4 SprintX.

The Nolasport driver took his No. 47 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport to a 0.776-second win over Auberlen, who along with James Walker Jr., were seeking a sweep of the weekend in their No. 82 BimmerWorld BMW M4 GT4.

Auberlen recovered nearly ten seconds in his stint, having taken over the car in 7th overall and charging through the field in the second half of the 60-minute race.

Hart shared top overall and GT4 Pro-Am class honors with Matt Travis.

The No. 18 Andretti Autosport McLaren 570S GT4 of Colin Mullan and Jarett Andretti finished third overall, taking GT4 Silver class honors, despite a late-race off for Andretti, who was running second overall and challenging Hart for the lead at the time.

Greg Liefooghe and Jon Miller completed the top-five in their respective BMW entries, which were all hit with 10 kg weight additions in an overnight Balance of Performance change by SRO.

Zac Anderson made a late-race pass on Derek DeBoer to give Nolasport GT4 Am class honors as well in the No. 7 Porsche he shared with Sean Gibbons.

Sunday’s SprintX race served as the make-up round for the canceled race at Long Beach.

RESULTS: Race 3

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John