GT4 America: Season’s best finish for Ashley Freiberg and Loni Unser at Road Atlanta
- LIAM REDFORD
- 5 hours ago
- 11 min read
Kellymoss duo Ashley Freiberg and Loni Unser secured a season’s best result as they finished in fourth position within the Silver class at Road Atlanta in Pirelli GT4 America. Both drivers raced confidently as they secured a large haul of championship points while claiming an overall top-10 finish.
Kellymoss duo Ashley Freiberg and Loni Unser secured a season’s best result as they finished in fourth position within the Silver class at Road Atlanta in Pirelli GT4 America. Both drivers raced confidently as they secured a large haul of championship points while claiming an overall top-10 finish.
Erika Hoffmann claimed her second top-5 Silver class result of the season as the Canadian racer showed improved performance in her rookie season in Pirelli GT4 America. Hoffmann and teammate Paul Bocuse finished fifth in race two as the #73 Kellymoss machine maintained its 100% points scoring record.
Returning to Pirelli GT4 America with Dome Motorsport, Laura Hayes achieved a best result fourth in the Am class after a hard-charging drive in race two saw Hayes contend for a podium finish within class.
As Pirelli GT4 America reached the halfway point, Freiberg and Unser satin sixth position with the Silver class standings after positive campaign to date. The Kellymoss duo had scored championship points in all five races, including a best finish of fifth in race two at Sonoma. Consistency was the key to their progress and now they were targeting a first trip to the rostrum as the series headed to Road Atlanta.
The Georgia circuit has previously yielded strong result for Unser who twice finished on the Cayman Pro/Am class podium in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America last season. Freiberg brings extremely recent GT4 knowledge having only last weekend competed in the World Racing League’s 14 Hours of Daytona for AE Victory Racing. Therefore, the duo were eager to fight at the front of the field in search of a season’s best result.
Hoffmann also raced in the 14 Hours of Daytona with the Canadian racer building up significant experience over the course of the season. Improving with each outing in the car, Erika enjoyed her most competitive Pirelli GT4 America event last time out at Sebring International Raceway. Remaining with new teammate Paul Bocuse, the pair were looking to draw upon Hoffmann’s knowledge of Road Atlanta, where she claimed her first Porsche Sprint Challenge North America victory in 2025, to fight for Silver class honours.
Returning to the series after a short break, Hayes was targeting Am class honours with Dome Motorsport teammate Ed Killeen. The pair secured a podium finish in their first race together at Sonoma Raceway and now fresh off class victory at the 14 Hours of Daytona, Hayes was confident of a strong weekend.
On-track action began on Thursday with the opening test session held early in the morning. All three crews gained valuable track time with Hayes and Killeen setting a fastest time of a 1:29.016 for sixth in the Am class. Hoffmann and Bocuse were the lead Kellymoss Silver class crew as they ended the test session in seventh with Unser and Freiberg in eighth position.
Thursday’s action consisted of both free practice sessions and it was a day of improvement across the board. After finishing the first session in fifth position within the Am class, Hayes and Killeen ended the day in seventh position after consistently lapping in the 1:29 range throughout the practice sessions.
Bocuse and Hoffmann set the fifth fastest time in the first free practice session and were just one second away from the overall quickest lap, while Freiberg and Unser were eighth within the Silver class. A significant improvement from Freiberg in the final practice session saw the Kellymoss driver set a 1:28.070 for fifth in the Silver class. Hoffmann and Bocuse completed a valuable 15 laps on their way to the seventh fastest time.
Qualifying took place on Friday morning with two sessions held back-to-back in order to determine the starting positions for both races. In the first session, Hayes consistently contended for Am class pole position with the Dome Motorsport driver ending the session in 16th position overall, second within class, on a time of a 1:28.432.
Just ahead of Hayes, Hoffmann enjoyed a positive session with the Canadian racer securing a top-15 starting position in the overall classification, while the Kellymoss driver was seventh fastest in the Silver class with her quickest lap of the weekend of a 1:28.384. It was a more challenging session for Unser who was searching for speed in the middle sector as she qualified in 22nd position overall, eighth in the Silver class, with a time of a 1:28.931.
The second qualifying session directly followed and it was Freiberg who made significant improvements from her free practice times. As a result, the #24 car qualified in 16th position overall, sixth in the Silver class, with a time of a 1:27.475 which was less than one second away from the front row of the grid.
Driving the sister Kellymoss machine, Bocuse qualified in 23rd position overall, seventh in the Silver class with a quickest time of a 1:28.033. It was a session of improvement for Killeen as the Dome Motorsport driver set the 30th fastest lap with his 1:31.230 placing the team in ninth position within the Am class.
The first race at Road Atlanta took place on Friday afternoon with Hayes lining up from second in the Am class, while Hoffmann and Unser started from seventh and eighth positions respectively in the Silver class. As the lights went out, it was a clean start throughout the field as all the drivers did a nice job to avoid contact through the opening turns.
At the end of the first lap, Hayes maintained 15th overall, second in class, while Hoffmann and Unser also maintained their class positions. Both Kellymoss drivers lost one overall position as they settled into a rhythm in the early stages. On lap two, Hayes set the fastest lap in the Am class as she looked to protect her position from James Walker Jr.
Hoffmann lost out to Michael Petramalo on the second tour, while Unser gained back the spot she lost on the first lap. As Unser looked to move inside the top-20, the positions behind Hoffmann remained closely contested with the Canadian driver defending her 18th position from Damir Hot and Judson Holt.
Hayes was driving an excellent race and she continued to apply pressure to both Tony Gaples and Chris Spada who were fighting over Pro-Am honours ahead. The Dome Motorsport driver was once again showing frontrunning pace in the Am class as she remained in second position.
On lap six, Unser lost out to Frankie Muniz and after Hoffmann set a new personal best time on the following tour, this relieved some pressure on the Kellymoss driver. Improving again on lap nine, Hoffmann was now faster than the next three cars ahead as she began cutting the deficit to Petramalo.
On lap 11, Hayes set a new quickest lap and she was now consistently lapping on par with those inside the overall top-10. This was ensuring that Walker Jr remained behind, while both drivers were not delayed battling with one another.
After a close battle with Hot, Unser pitted at the first possible opportunity when the window opened with 35-minutes remaining in the race. Hoffmann enjoyed a strong end to her stint as she consistently caught Petramalo, while the battles behind strung out with the Canadian driver improving her pace. Nonetheless, Hoffmann also pitted on lap 16 with both Kellymoss crews conducting their mandatory driver changes.
Two clean stops saw Bocuse and Freiberg get behind the wheel of their respective cars with Freiberg closing in on Bocuse during the pit cycle. Meanwhile, Hayes stayed on the circuit and ran a series of fast and consistent lap times as she looked to take advantage of the clean air. Briefly claiming the overall race lead, Hayes pitted on lap 23 with Killeen taking over for the second stint.
Following the completion of the pit cycle, Killeen ran in 15th position, third in the Am class with Bocuse and Freiberg directly behind the Dome Motorsport driver in 16th and 17th positions respectively. Both Kellymoss crews had benefited from a number of the Pro-Am entries receiving penalties for pit infringements and therefore they were now looking to make further progress in the second half of the race.
On lap 25, Bocuse passed Killeen with Freiberg following her teammate through as the Silver class competitors gained ground over the Am class driver. After a challenging early part of his stint, Killeen ran in 20th position overall, fourth in the Am class, before the race entered a full course yellow period on lap 27 after the car of Sean Gibbons had stopped out on the circuit.
During the neutralisation period, Bocuse was running in 16th position overall, seventh in the Silver class, with Freiberg directly behind. Killeen held a top-20 overall position while the Dome Motorsport driver was fourth in the Am class.
The race resumed with ten minutes remaining and Killeen was shuffled back to sixth in class before he began defending smartly from Tyler Stone. After losing out to Denny Stripling, Bocuse gained a position within the Silver class after the ACI Motorsports machine of Jimmy Llibre began struggling with an issue. On lap 34, Bocuse overtook Llibre with Freiberg following him through as the Kellymoss drivers moved up to sixth and seventh positions respectively.
After a superb defence, Stone overtook Killeen on the penultimate lap of the race with Muzaffar Gafurov now looking to make his way through. Now running in a competitive train of Pro-Am cars, Freiberg began reducing the margin to Bocuse and after cutting the gap to half a second, Bocuse held just a quarter of a second advantage as the final lap began.
Bocuse held off the challenge of his teammate with the #73 machine taking the chequered flag in 16th position overall, sixth in the Silver class. Freiberg crossed the line in 17th overall, seventh in class, before both crews gained one overall position following a time penalty applied to the Off Leash Motorsports team. Killeen successfully kept Gafurov behind him as the Dome Motorsport crew finished race one in 27th position overall, seventh in the Am class.
Race two at Road Atlanta took place on Saturday afternoon and the grid positions were based upon the results from the second qualifying session. Therefore, Freiberg started from 16th position overall, sixth in class with Bocuse starting the sister Kellymoss machine from 23rd overall, seventh in the Silver class. Killeen lined up in the Dome Motorsport machine from 30th overall, ninth in the Am class.
As the lights went out, it was a clean opening lap with only minor contact made throughout the field as positions remained closely contested. Freiberg held her position while Bocuse gained three overall spots to climb inside the top-20. Killeen fell to 31st position, however he was doing a nice job to remain in contention within his fellow Am class competitors ahead.
In the early stages of the race, Freiberg was defending smartly from Am class leader Alex Garcia who was looking to put cars between himself and second place driver James Clay. On lap three, Freiberg cracked the top-15 after Werner Neugerbauer encountered an issue in his RAFA Racing machine.
After his fast start, Bocuse was shuffled back to 23rd position overall on lap four before he began a good battle with the Ford Mustang GT4 of Jenson Altzman. Bocuse re-passed Altzman on the following lap before climbing back inside the top-20 on lap seven after Neugerbauer pitted with Harry Gottsacker also losing time.
Now running personal best lap times, Killeen was closing to gap to Sean Gibbons and the Dome Motorsport driver was under one second behind his nearest Am class rival at the end of lap seven. Freiberg then came under attack from Jonathan Neudorf with the Canadian racer making his way through on lap 10 after starting from the rear of the field.
Now in seventh position within the Silver class, Freiberg quickly moved back inside the top-15 after she overtook the Pro-Am class machine of Ryan Yardley. Bocuse then resumed his battle with Altzman with the McCumbee McAleer Racing driver pulling ahead on lap 12.
On lap 13, Freiberg was forced to defend from Garcia once more and after protecting her position well, Garcia came under attack from Clay. As the Bimmerworld driver claimed the Am class lead, this gave Freiberg some added breathing space as the pit window opened. Prior to the mandatory stops being made, Freiberg ran in 15th position overall, seventh in the Silver class with Bocuse in 20th position overall, eighth in class.
Killeen was running in 30th position overall, ninth in the Am class, with the Dome Motorsport driver pitting as soon as the window opened. Although some time was lost on pit road, Hayes got behind the wheel and she overtook the OGH Motorsports machine with Sam Owen now inserted in the McLaren Artura GT4.
Hayes immediately set personal best times and extended her margin over Owen as she looked to gain further ground within the Am class. In the Silver class, Bruno Colombo came to a halt following his mandatory stop with the Random Vandals Racing driver returning to the pits following a reset of the car. This promoted both Freiberg and Bocuse who continued to stay aboard their respective Kellymoss machines as the pit window reached its conclusion.
When both drivers completed their mandatory driver changes, Unser emerged in a strong 13th position overall while she had climbed inside the top-5 of the Silver class. Hoffmann rejoined the circuit in 16th position overall, sixth in the Silver class, with both female drivers now targeting season’s best finishes. Hayes was up to 25th overall at the completion of the pit cycle with the Dome Motorsport driver running in sixth position in the Am class.
Immediately following the closing of the pit window, the race entered its first full course yellow period as the car of Judson Holt had stopped out on circuit after hitting the barriers. This neutralisation enabled Hayes to take the wave around and this put her back onto the lead lap and back in contention for a podium finish.
The race resumed with 18 minutes remaining and Unser quickly made a move on the Pro-Am car of Zachry Lee to gain a position as the green flags were shown. After climbing as high as 12th overall, Unser lost out to Lee with Hoffmann running just four positions behind in 16th as the pair were set to battle over fifth place in the Silver class.
On lap 29, the drivers did a superb job to avoid contact after a spin for Matt Travis saw the Nolasport driver hit the barriers. The race remained under green flag conditions with the battles remaining intense throughout the midfield. As the leaders in the Am class fought hard for position, this led to a queue of around 10 cars all scrapping for positions on the fringes of the top-10. Places were changing at almost every corner with Hoffmann shuffled back to 19th position at the start of lap 30.
Meanwhile, Hayes was starting to make progress and after overtaking the Pro-Am class machine of Karl Forman on lap 31, she was now behind class rival Lucas Catania. After Unser lost momentum while being passed by the Am class leaders, Hoffmann closed in and just two cars separated the Kellymoss teammates.
Hayes was using her racecraft to move forward and after passing Catania, she was now on the tail of Zach Lumsden. On lap 36, Yves Baltas served a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility and this promoted Unser to fourth in class, while Hoffmann was now in fifth position among the Silver class runners.
An extremely busy final lap saw Hayes gain a number of places as she took the chequered flag in 13th position overall, while securing fourth position in the Am class over Lumsden following a photo finish. Unser escaped the chaos to cross the line in 11th position overall, fourth in the Silver class, to claim a season’s best result alongside Freiberg. Hoffmann also achieved a strong finish as she claimed a top-15 overall finish, while securing fifth position in the Silver class.
Following post-race penalties handed out to several of their rivals, the results were revised. Unser and Freiberg were promoted to tenth position overall, while Hayes and Killeen were classified in 12th position. Hoffmann and Bocuse were promoted to 14th as they completed a good weekend with a solid overall finish.
It was an excellent weekend of racing for all four female drivers who battled confidently within their respective classes. GT4 America now takes a summer break before returning at Road America on the weekend of 29th/30th August.
