Jaden Lander and the Krugspeed Team were back in action in the Toyota GR Supra GT4 this past weekend at VIRginia International Raceway. This race marks the halfway point in the 2023 GT4 America season, with Lander and the Krugspeed team sitting near the middle of the table and looking to climb.
Testing and practice heading into qualifying went well, and the team and drivers thought they had found the correct setup for the weekend. Unfortunately, in qualifying, the car was different than anticipated, and the team failed to put together a good lap, forcing them to settle for a P9 start.
Anthony Geraci started the weekend’s first race and made up a few positions early before eventually turning the car over to Lander while in ninth. Although Lander quickly made up two positions and was gaining on the leaders, the team was assessed a drive-through penalty for too short of a pit stop pushing them to the back of the field, resulting in a fifteenth-place finish.
Lander started the weekend’s second race and made up a couple of positions before a big accident caused a full-course yellow. The team then decided to go with an undercut pit strategy, with Lander handing the car over to Geraci in fifth position. The strategy worked well; the team leapfrogged one car, and then Geraci passed another to gain third place. A post-race penalty to the second-place team moved Lander & Geraci up to the second step of the podium in their class.
“It was a sweet ending to a bitter weekend. Since it was hard to find the qualifying pace in the car, we turned our focus to the race. Having that drive-through penalty during the first race was a real blow to the whole team, but what is important is that we came back stronger and gave Toyota a podium at VIR! Let’s hope to keep this momentum heading into Road America!”