Jaden Lander and the Rotek Racing Team were at VIRginia International Raceway this past weekend for the fourth stop on the GT4 America calendar. It was a big weekend for Jaden, teammate Robb Holland and the entire team, with a runner-up finish and the team’s first victory of the year.
The weather played a big part in the early parts of the race weekend. Multiple practice sessions and qualifying were run in the rain, making it hard for the team to get a good read on the car. Holland ran his qualifying session right after a stint of rain and ended up fourth in class. Lander did his session on a dry track and took advantage of the clear weather to put the Rotek Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 in pole position.
Robb Holland started the first race and made up two places to hand over the car to Lander in 2nd place. An issue during the driver changeover and a slight mistake by Lander coming too close to the wall outside turn three moved the team back into 4th position. Lander recovered from the shakey first lap to repass both cars and finish the weekend’s first race in second.
Lander started the second race of the weekend on pole and built a sizeable lead before he was forced off the track to avoid oil and lost a position. Holland took the car over in P2 and made the pass to retake the lead, bringing the car home in first for the team’s first victory of the year.
“These were some awesome results! We had the pace all year, but for reasons out of our control, we haven’t been able to show it. Finally, here at VIR, our true pace finally materialized, and we came home with a P2 & a win! Thank you to Rotek, Hella, FCPEuro, Saratoga Water, and Porsche for a fast car! Let’s keep this momentum going into Road America!” Feel free to change