Koch, Boehm Lead Random Vandals 1-2, BMW Class Sweep

Photo: Fred Hardy/SRO

Kenton Koch and Kevin Boehm won the opening race of the Pirelli GT4 America weekend at Sebring International Raceway for Random Vandals Racing, which racked up victories in two classes in a team 1-2 and a perfect day for BMW.

After starting the race in sixth overall and fifth in the Silver class, Boehm made up a pair of class positions after a safety car restart before handing the car off to Koch, who emerged from the pits just behind Tyler Gonzalez’s No. 68 RAFA Racing Team Toyota GR Super GT4 EVO2.

An uncharacteristic mistake from Gonzalez in the laps following the pit sequence saw the reigning Toyota GR Cup North America champion run wide and allow the No. 97 BMW through for the class and eventual overall lead.

Koch opened up a significant gap, taking the checkered flag a comfortable 12.194 seconds clear of Josh Green and Sam Craven’s Pro-Am-winning No. 94 Random Vandals entry.

Green won out in a second-stage battle with Parker Thompson, with the JTR Motorsports Engineering driver initially emerging from pit lane in the class lead after a slow pit stop for the early favorite and overall pole-sitting No. 9 ACI Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport.

Green quickly applied pressure and made the pass for the lead within a few laps to secure the Pro-Am victory for the Paul Sparta-led team and bring home a team 1-2 overall.

Luca Mars held off multiple attacks from Zac Anderson’s Auto Technic Racing BMW that he shares with Colin Garett to finish on the final step of the podium and second in Silver, with Gonzalez recovering to round out the top five overall.

In Am, Charlie Postins and James Clay took home the win for BimmerWorld Racing after Postins got by the pole-sitting No. 606 Thunder Bunny Racing Supra mid-race.

A significant accident at the beginning of the race halted running under the race’s only full-course caution and saw multiple entries collected after separate offs for Jonathan Neudorf’s No. 3 JMF Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT4 Evo and the No. 23 Nolasport Porsche of Michael Auriemma separately went off in Sector 1.

Auriemma collected Tyler Stone’s No. 53 Auto Technic Racing BMW while rejoining the pack, resulting in significant and race-ending damage for both. The melee also forced Judson Holt and Tim Savage off track, though they both appeared to rejoin at the rear of the field without incurring serious damage.

Stricken cars and debris were cleared and the field returned to racing 12 minutes later.

Later on, Michael Kanisczak was handed a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility after hitting and spinning the No. 72 RAFA Racing Supra GT4.

During the mid-race pit cycle, the No. 20 FAST MD by Remstar invitational-class Audi R8 GT4 LMS found the tire barriers, but Farhan Siddiqi was able to limp his car back to pit lane without interfering with race running.

Race 2 of the weekend goes green at 11:10 a.m. EST with live streaming coverage available on SRO’s GT World YouTube and on Twitch channels.

Results: Race 1