Avondale, Louisiana - Professional road racing returned to the track at NOLA Motorsports Park this weekend and did not disappoint. The weekend included a doubleheader for the Pirelli GT4 America series at the beautiful 2.75-mile road course. Race teams looked to get back to racing on a course that boasts 16 turns and a 5,800 ft. straightaway. With a stacked field, 31 cars lined up in the Pirelli GT4 America series for the first of two 60-minute races at NOLA Motorsports Park, the green flag dropped only to have several cars get caught up in contact forcing a full-course yellow from the start.

While the leaders accelerated towards turn one, rows five and six made contact near the start line resulting in three cars being eliminated and began a lengthy caution period. Three cars were too damaged to continue. With 40 minutes left to race, Race Control red-flagged the race due to severe weather conditions and the risk of lightning. At the time of the stoppage, the #18 Community Beer Works RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport driven by Eric Filgueiras was in the lead overall and in the Silver category.
Following the extended weather delay, the NOLA Motorsports Park crew worked rapidly to resume racing. During the delay time, teams were not permitted to work on the cars in any way until ten minutes prior to the re-start when teams were allowed to change to wet weather tires. After the race restart, the cars left the pit behind the safety car for two formation laps before full-speed racing resumed. Racing went back to full-course yellow with 30 minutes on the clock when two separate cars went into the tire barrier. Due to barrier repair that would require an extended amount of time to repair, race officials flew the checkered flag to end the race under yellow. In addition to winning overall and in class, RS1 driver Eric Filgueiras recorded the CrowdStrike Fastest Lap with a 1:59.057.

Porsche racers secured pole position in each class. The #18 RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport (Eric Filgueiras/Stevan McAleer) led the field overall with the #120 Premier Racing Porsche in front of the Pro-Am class The #83 RS1 sister Porsche of heading up the Am class.
From the drop of the green flag in the second race, Stevan McAleer led the pack to take the overall and Silver class lead. After the driver change, Eric Filgueiras maintained the lead McAleer built in the first half of the race. The #120 Premier Racing Porsche gave chase throughout the entire race for overall position. For the first half of the race, the #34 Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 was also a strong challenger for the top three overall after starting from the third row.

After Saturday’s Race 1 which only saw two full laps of green flag racing, Race 2 was a relatively clean race with only one full-flag yellow just prior to the pit window opening for mandatory driver changes. RS1 continued their dominance on the podium. Driver McAleer secured the CrowdStrike Fastest Lap for Race 2 with a lap time of 1:44.321. Filgueiras credits the RS1 team’s success this season to good energy. “We have such a great camaraderie. These RS1 guys give us a great car every single weekend, and I have, in my opinion, the greatest teammate (McAleer) on the grid. He’s a phenomenal mentor, teammate, and friend,” he said. “It’s Community Beer Works 10th anniversary and we are so proud of have them onboard.”
Pirelli GT4 America racing will move to the VIRginia International Speedway on June 17 - 19 for rounds five and six of the 2022 season.
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