Ashley Freiberg and Loni Unser end GT4 America campaign with top five in Indianapolis
Ashley Freiberg and Loni Unser concluded their Pirelli GT4 America campaign at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a fifth-place finish in the Silver class in Sunday’s final race, as the all-female Kellymoss pairing pairing showed much improved pace throughout the weekend.
Ashley Freiberg and Loni Unser concluded their Pirelli GT4 America campaign at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a fifth-place finish in the Silver class in Sunday’s final race, as the all-female Kellymoss pairing pairing showed much improved pace throughout the weekend.
The duo arrived at Indianapolis looking to finish the season strongly, and their pace was apparent from the opening practice session. Freiberg posted a 1:31.304 in FP1 to place sixth in Silver, before the pairing improved to a 1:30.735 in the second session to finish sixth in class again. The results gave them a solid platform heading into qualifying.
The first qualifying session was disrupted by a red flag before the field had completed any representative laps, following an off-track excursion for Geraci. Once the session resumed, Unser recorded a 1:31.112 to qualify P13 overall and seventh in Silver, showing improved speed. The second qualifying session was cancelled because of a timing and scoring failure, with the Race 2 grid instead determined using the second drivers’ fastest FP2 times.
Unser took the start of Saturday’s opening race from seventh in Silver and 13th overall. The opening corner quickly became congested, forcing her to use the inside run-off to avoid the traffic. Although the evasive move cost her some momentum, she continued without damage and settled into 11th overall and seventh in the Silver class.
A full-course yellow was called after the Nolasport Porsche driven by Travis hit the barriers at the chicane. The neutralisation compressed the field and interrupted most of the opening stint. Unser looked in a strong position to hand the car over, but her use of the inside run-off at Turn 1 was subsequently penalised with a 10-second time penalty, compromising the team’s final classification.
Freiberg started a determined recovery, setting very competitive laps but was at that point stuck behind other classes' traffic. Freiberg and Unser eventually finished 17th overall and eighth in Silver.
While the result did not reflect the pace they had shown in practice, it left them with another opportunity to finish the campaign on a stronger note in Sunday’s race.
Sunday’s finale began on a damp circuit following rain before the start, although the field opted to run slick tyres. Freiberg took the opening stint and made an effective start, moving into the top 10 overall and fourth in Silver as the cars sorted themselves out through the opening corners.
The race was soon interrupted by a multi-car incident involving the RS1 Porsche, hit by the RAFA Racing Toyota and then collected by the Random Vandals BMW. Freiberg navigated the opening-lap chaos safely and remained in the leading Silver-class group when the full-course yellow was deployed. The neutralisation brought the field back together, and the subsequent restart gave her an opportunity to continue fighting for position.
As the race settled down, Freiberg maintained her fourth place among the class contenders and worked to keep the cars behind at bay while looking for opportunities to advance. She completed her stint before handing the car over to Loni Unser during the pit-stop cycle, with the team aiming to capitalise on the remaining running time.
Unser returned to the track while fifth in class and continued the fight in the second half of the race. She recorded a personal best of 1:32.900 and maintained pressure on the cars ahead as the field worked through traffic. With the pit-stop sequence completed, the #24 Kellymoss Porsche remained in contention for a top-five class result.
The closing stages brought further movement in the Silver-class order. Unser was passed by Boehm on lap 26, but she continued to close on the cars ahead. With seven minutes remaining, she caught and overtook Hoffmann, moving back into fifth in Silver. The pass proved decisive, allowing the pairing to secure a top-five class finish at the chequered flag.
Although they fell short of the podium, Freiberg and Unser ended the season with a competitive performance that rewarded the speed they had shown throughout the Indianapolis weekend. They finished seventh in the final Silver-class standings with 110 points.
