Van Berlo, Mars Claim GT4 Pole Positions in Sebring
Grids set for both GT4 America rounds at Sebring with ACI Motorsports and Van Der Steur Racing leading the way...
Photo: Fred Hardy/SRO
Kay Van Berlo and Luca Mars will start Pirelli GT4 America Races 1 and 2 from pole position at Sebring International Raceway this weekend.
Van Berlo led the way in first qualifying, storming his Pro-Am class No. 9 ACI Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport to the top of the times with a 2:10.556 lap to secure the Race 1 pole.
Just behind was the Silver class pole-sitting No. 39 Van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 Evo of Max Hewitt, missing out on pole by just 0.382 seconds in his first GT4 America qualifying session of the year.
RAFA Racing Team’s Gresham Wagner was third-fastest overall and second-best in Silver aboard the No. 68 Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 he shares with Tyler Gonzalez.
The two JMF Motorports Aston Martin Vantage GT4 EVOs were fourth and fifth-quickest for Braydon Arthur and Jonathan Neudorf, respectively.
Laura Hayes was the quickest of the Am class drivers and will start her No. 606 Thunder Bunny Racing Supra from the class pole later this afternoon.
Q2 saw Mars claim pole position for Van der Steur in the Silver class No. 39 Vantage GT4 Evo he shares with Hewitt, with his 2:09.753 benchmark time proving to be the quickest time across both sessions. Notably, this is the Pennsylvania-native’s first qualifying session in Aston Martin GT4 machinery.
Matheus Leist claimed the Pro-Am pole for Race 2 for Nolasport, finishing second qualifying a mere 0.129 seconds off of Mars’ benchmark time.
ACI’s Riley Dickinson was third overall with Michael Cooper’s No. 33 Blackdog Racing McLaren Artura GT4 in fourth.
Marc Miller, meanwhile, rounded out the overall top five in his Dome Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT4, and RAFA’s Kenny Schmied picked up the Race 2 pole in Am.
The closing minutes of the session saw a spin and recovery for the No. 007 ProSport Competition Aston Martin of Christopher Lee, though the incident only brought out a local yellow.
The only other incidents of note across both qualifying sessions were a handful of procedural and pit lane infractions handed out by race control.
Race 1 of the GT4 America weekend takes the green flag at 4:50 p.m. EST this afternoon ahead of Sunday’s Race 2. Live streaming coverage will be available on SRO’s GT World YouTube Channel and on Twitch.
RESULTS: Qualifying 1/Qualifying 2
