Laura Hayes' charge ends just short of class podium at Barber Motorsports Park
Laura Hayes continued to demonstrate outstanding pace at Barber Motorsports Park, delivering another pair of competitive recovery drives in GT4 America. Hayes led the Am class during the opening race before finishing sixth, while a remarkable second stint in Race 2 brought her within reach of another class podium.
Laura Hayes continued to demonstrate outstanding pace and racecraft at Barber Motorsports Park, delivering another pair of competitive recovery drives in the sixth round of the Pirelli GT4 America season.
Sharing the #37 Dome Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT4 with Ed Killeen, Hayes led the Am class during the opening race before contact cost her the class lead, while a remarkable second stint in Race 2 brought her from ninth to fourth in class and within reach of another podium. Despite narrowly missing out on the rostrum, the Barber weekend once again showcased Hayes’ strength in the AM field.
The result followed a highly competitive weekend at Road America, where Hayes and Killeen secured their second Am-class podium of the season after Hayes produced a particularly strong charge in Race 2, climbing from seventh to third during a short green-flag run at the end of the race. The pairing had already demonstrated their potential earlier in the campaign with a third-place Am-class finish in the opening race of the season at Sonoma.
Barber provided another opportunity to fight near the front, and Hayes immediately showed that the Mercedes-AMG had the pace to do so. She set a 1:31.036 in opening practice to place fourth in Am, before again recording the team's fastest time in second practice with a 1:30.441, good enough for sixth in class.
Hayes then carried that pace into qualifying, taking responsibility for the opening session and producing an impressive 1:29.895. The lap placed the #37 Mercedes 12th overall and second among the Am entries, putting Hayes in an excellent position for the opening race. Ed Killeen took over for the second qualifying session and set a 1:32.520, placing the car 29th overall and eighth in Am for Race 2.
Hayes made an outstanding start to the opening race, launching the #37 Mercedes from 12th overall and second in Am into the overall top ten while immediately taking the Am-class lead. Her strong getaway gained several positions and allowed her to gain the front of the class from the opening lap.
She retained the lead through the first lap, with Frankie Muniz initially her closest Am-class challenger, although a Pro-Am car separated the two. Hayes quickly settled into a strong rhythm in the 1:30.9 range and remained attached to the faster cars ahead.
The first interruption came on lap eight when the #39 Mercedes-AMG of Patten was pushed into Turn 1 following contact with the #11 McCumbee McAleer Mustang of Macfarlane, leaving the Mercedes in the gravel and triggering a full-course yellow. Hayes maintained her position through the caution and made another strong restart when the race returned to green on lap 11, continuing to run with the Silver-class cars ahead.
Muniz, meanwhile, had cleared the Blackdog Racing McLaren of Gaples and was now directly behind Hayes, setting up a battle for the Am-class lead. A second incident, involving the #25 ACI Motorsport Porsche ending up in the barriers, triggered another caution and opened the first pit-stop window with approximately 35 minutes remaining, as many teams anticipated a further interruption.
Dome Motorsport elected to keep Hayes on track, allowing her to cycle all the way up to second overall while retaining the Am-class lead. The extended stint put her in a strong position, but Muniz remained close and eventually made an attempt for the lead. Contact between the two cars sent Hayes into a spin, while Muniz also suffered damage and was forced to limp back into the pits.
The incident cost Hayes the class lead, with the position eventually going to the Flying Lizard Motorsports BMW of Wilson, but Hayes was able to continue and elected to extend her stint even further. She remained competitive despite the setback before finally making her pit stop on lap 20, having maximised her time in the car. Killeen took over the Mercedes and rejoined fourth in Am and 19th overall.
Killeen initially slipped to sixth in class over the following laps, running in the 1:36 range and falling behind Catania and Stripling before the #10 ACI Motorsport BMW of Gafurov also moved ahead, dropping the Dome entry to seventh in Am. The team subsequently regained a position when Fitzpatrick's Aston Martin was forced to pit with issues, while James Clay also slowed on lap 32.
Killeen ultimately brought the #37 Mercedes home sixth in Am and 24th overall, completing a race that had looked promising.
Killeen started the second and final race of the weekend from 29th overall and eighth in Am, taking the wheel for the opening stint. He initially dropped to ninth in class but quickly recovered, passing both Fitzpatrick and Gafurov after the two cars ran wide in the opening corners to move back into seventh.
Killeen then settled into a battle with Gafurov for seventh, dipping below the 1:33 mark while maintaining his position and keeping the BMW behind. Gafurov eventually completed the pass on lap 12, but by that point Killeen had already established a 14-second advantage over Fitzpatrick.
When the pit window opened, Killeen came into the pits on lap 16 from eighth in class and 29th overall, handing the #37 Mercedes to Hayes for the second half of the race.
Hayes immediately demonstrated the pace that had been visible throughout the weekend. She was quickly circulating in the 1:30.8 range and began gaining substantial ground on the cars ahead despite rejoining ninth in Am. Her recovery started almost immediately as she moved ahead of Pipas and Garcia to climb into seventh, before passing Ross Poole on lap 21 and continuing her charge toward the front.
A full-course yellow was then called following a three-car incident at Turn 14, leaving Hayes fifth in Am as the field was neutralised. With 15 minutes remaining, the race returned to green, and Hayes resumed her attack. Her progress was however interrupted when she was spun by the #90 BMW of Perichon, with the BMW subsequently receiving a penalty for the incident. The contact cost Hayes valuable time and dropped her back relative to the Pro-Am traffic, but she immediately returned to the attack.
Hayes began closing on Catania and eventually made the pass for fourth in Am, continuing to set some of the fastest laps in the field during her second stint. The lost time from the incident, however, left her with insufficient opportunity to close the remaining gap to the podium positions.
She crossed the finish line fourth in Am, narrowly missing out on another podium but completing one of the strongest recovery drives of the weekend. Hayes had moved into podium contention before the late disruption, and her pace during the closing stages was the second-fastest overall in the second stint.
Although the final result did not fully reflect the potential shown by the #37 Dome Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT4, Barber nevertheless produced another strong weekend for Hayes with determined drives across both races.
Hayes and Killeen will now turn their attention to the Pirelli GT4 America's season finale at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on October 8–11, where the Dome Motorsport pairing will have one final opportunity to close the 2026 campaign on a high.
