Laura Hayes secures GT4 America victory in season finale in Indianapolis
Laura Hayes closed her Pirelli GT4 America season on a high note at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, securing an Am-class victory in the second race of the weekend after an impressive solo drive through the field.
Laura Hayes closed her Pirelli GT4 America season on a high note at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, securing an Am-class victory in the second race of the weekend after an impressive solo drive through the field.
Starting from the back of the grid, the Dome Motorsport driver steadily worked her way forward before taking the class lead with 15 minutes remaining. Hayes then controlled the closing stages to secure the win by six seconds, earning her second career series victory in the championship and first of the season despite contesting only a partial campaign.
Hayes and Ed Killeen had shown promising pace throughout the year, collecting podium finishes at Sonoma and Road America and demonstrating further potential at Barber Motorsports Park. At Road America, the pairing secured their second Am-class podium, while at Barber Hayes had led the class before contact interrupted her race. She nevertheless recovered to finish fourth in the second contest, highlighting the pace that she would carry into the season finale.
The Indianapolis weekend began with Hayes and Killeen placing 10th in Am during the opening practice session, with a best time of 1:32.382. Hayes improved to 1:31.184 in FP2, putting her second in class, as the team made progress ahead of qualifying.
The first qualifying session was interrupted by a red flag before the field had completed any laps, following an off-track excursion for Geraci. When the session resumed, Hayes posted a 1:31.221 to qualify 18th overall and fourth in Am. The second qualifying session was subsequently cancelled because of a timing and scoring issue, meaning the grid for Race 2 was determined using Killeen’s fastest time from FP2.
Hayes started Saturday’s opening race fourth in Am and immediately made progress, moving into second in class during the early stages. The race was however interrupted by a full-course yellow after the Nolasport Porsche driven by Travis hit the barriers at the chicane, prompting the field to bunch up and reducing the driving time of the first stint.
Once the race went back to green, Hayes stayed out longer, and the sequence of pit stops briefly worked in her favour. As cars ahead entered the pits, she cycled into the overall lead. She eventually made her stop on lap 18, handing the car over to Killeen for the second half of the race.
Killeen faced the task of recovering positions in the closing stages, but he couldn't hold his position and slowly fell down the order. The #37 entry ultimately finished 27th overall and ninth in Am, but recorded the fastest lap of the race.
Sunday’s finale began in damp conditions after rain before the start, although the field opted for slick tyres. With Killeen unwell, Laura Hayes took on the entire race herself, starting 32nd overall and 12th in Am.
She made an immediate impact once the race got underway. The opening lap brought significant incidents, as the RS1 Porsche was spun by Neugbauer's Toyota and collected by the Random Vandals BMW, triggering a full-course yellow. Hayes avoided the chaos and gained 11 positions to climb to 20th overall and fifth in Am, making substantial progress before the field was neutralised.
At the restart, Hayes continued her advance, passing Lee to move into fourth in class. As the race settled into its next phase, she maintained a strong pace and positioned herself to take advantage of the pit-stop cycle. An early stop allowed her to undercut rivals, and as other Am-class contenders completed their stops, she moved into the top three.
The decisive phase came in the closing 20 minutes. Hayes began closing on the cars ahead and passed Walker Jr on lap 25 after he ran deep at Turn 7. She then overtook Geraci a few corners later to take the Am-class lead with 15 minutes remaining.
Rather than simply defending, Hayes continued to push, setting consecutive laps of 1:32.746 and 1:32.718 to build a gap over Muniz. On lap 30, Hayes recorded the fastest lap of the race with a 1:32.317, further strengthening her position at the front.
With a six-second advantage by the chequered flag, she secured the Am-class win after one of the highlight drives of the weekend.
The victory was Hayes’ second in Pirelli GT4 America and her first of the season. She finished sixth in the final Am-class standings with 118 points, in a superb partial campaign in which she and Killeen had repeatedly shown the potential to challenge for class honours.
