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Pirelli GT4 America

Flying Lizard’s Bell, Cooper Win Race 2 at COTA

Three-car accident on restart results in 60-minute race ending under yellow…

Photo: Bob Chapman/Autosport Image

Jason Bell and Michael Cooper have come out on top in the second Pirelli GT4 America race of the weekend at Circuit of The Americas, which ended under yellow after a multi-car accident.

An overcut strategy got Bell’s No. 2 Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT4 out front ahead of the No. 999 Hanley Motorsports Toyota GR Supra GT4 of Daniel Hanley just moments prior to the race’s first full course caution with 26 minutes to go.

A subsequent yellow on the restart, triggered by the No. 88 STR38 Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 of Jon Miller slamming into both Tim Pappas and Kevin Boehm in Turn 1, resulted in the 60-minute race ending under caution due to track cleanup.

The Pro-Am entry of Bell and Cooper, in their first weekend of the year, shared top overall honors, with Hanley and co-driver Parker Thompson taking Silver class honors with a second place overall result.

Thompson led the race outright early on thanks to a move around pole-sitter Jeroen Bleekemolen at the start.

The Dutchman, in the No., 54 Black Swan Racing McLaren Artura GT4 retook the top position on Lap 7 prior to the round of pit stops and driver changes, which saw the car drop to second behind Bell’s Aston Martin.

Co-driver Pappas, however, was eliminated from the race on the restart after contact from Miller that also collected the No. 92 Random Vandals Racing BMW of Boehm.

Saturday’s race winners Zac Anderson and John Capestro Dubets completed the overall podium with a second place finish in the Silver class, ahead of the No. 82 BimmerWorld BMW of James Walker Jr. and Tyler McQuarrie in fourth.

Nolasport’s Matt Travis and Jason Hart completed the top-five, meanwhile.

The No. 36 BimmerWorld duo of Charlie Postins and James Clay claimed Am class honors with a ninth place overall finish.

RESULTS: Race 2

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

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