Jaden Lander kicked off his GT4 season this past weekend at NOLA Motorsports Park in Avondale, Louisiana, with the Krugspeed racing team in a hectic weekend that saw one of the two races postponed to another weekend due to inclement weather.
The weekend started with Lander and returning teammate Anthony Geraci struggling to find a good pace in practice, with the mixed weather conditions playing a role. Moving into qualifying, Lander and Geraci put the car into P8 in their class after being unable to put together a full clean lap. Despite not finishing as high as they would like, the car did perform well and had the pace to finish near the top, which was a promising sign heading into the race weekend.
In the first race of the weekend, Anthony Geraci started in the driver’s seat and had a great start where he got away clean and made up a few spots right off the bat. Several safety cars delayed the timing of the first pit stops, so the team went with an undercut strategy. A clean exchange and pitstop on the undercut saw Lander now in a position to battle for the win. Unfortunately, Lander was shoved by a car from behind into the grass at the tail end of the race, pushing him back to a P4 finish. Afterward, the team received some good news when informed that penalties to two cars ahead had given them a second-place finish.
The second race of the weekend was delayed because of the weather and is going to be rescheduled for a later date. The weekend was a successful first race back for Lander and the Krugspeed team who once again showed they are contenders in their class. Next up will be the Circuit of the Americas May 19th to 20th in Austin Texas.
“Overall, it was a great first weekend back at SRO for 2023. I had a bunch of family come for the weekend and being back with Krugspeed is family. The Toyota Supra GT4 Evo performed incredibly with the upgrades brought to it, and they put a good car underneath us for the race. P2 for the first race of the year is a great result for everyone involved. I want to thank everyone who made this possible, and we are hoping to keep this momentum for COTA!”