Nolasport’s Hart, Travis Continue Win Streak at COTA

Photo: Brian Cleary/SRO

Jason Hart and Matt Travis have claimed victory in the first Pirelli GT4 America race of the weekend at Circuit of The Americas, which was marred by a heavy crash and lengthy red flag period.

Hart took his No. 47 Nolasport Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport to a 7.756-second win over Jeroen Bleekemolen, who made a late charge in his No. 54 Black Swan Racing Porsche.

It marked the duo’s third win in as many races so far this season.

The Porsche 1-2 finish came after a strong early showing by the contingent of BMW M4 GT4 machinery from BimmerWorld and Classic BMW.

Stevan McAleer led early in the No. 11 Classic BMW entry ahead of the No. 94 BimmerWorld car of Jon Miller after gearbox trouble hit the No. 72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Kenny Murillo on the opening lap.

It was followed by a 30-minute red flag period for barrier repairs due to an airborne accident from the No. 00 Notlad Racing by RS1 Aston Martin Vantage GT4 of Matt Dalton.

Dalton climbed from the car under his own power.

The stoppage set up 33-minute shootout to the finish that included a truncated round of pit stops and driver changes in the two-driver SprintX-style race format.

Aaron Povoledo finished third in the No. 89 RENNtech Mercedes ahead of Bill Auberlen’s No. 34 BimmerWorld entry, which ended up being the highest-placed BMW.

The No. 52 Auto Technic Racing BMW of Tom Capizzi and John Capestro-Dubets completed the top-five overall. 

Silver class honors went to the No. 94 BimmerWorld entry of Miller and Chandler Hull, who finished seventh after dropping from second overall during his stint.

Smooge Racing’s Kevin Conway and John Geesbreght, meanwhile, picked up Am class honors in their Toyota GR Supra GT4, which came home eighth overall.

Race 2 for GT4 America competitors gets underway Sunday at 11 a.m. CT with live streaming available on SRO’s GT World YouTube page.

RESULTS: Race 1

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