Alexandra Hainer’s co-pilot debut with Ryan Eversley at VIR
Friday opened the weekend with practice sessions as Alexandra Hainer and Ryan Eversley partnered in the #07 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR Supra GT4 EVO. Taking on VIR, the duo clocked a lap time 1:57.598 to start the weekend. Unfortunately, the #07 entry could not take the track for practice two and looked to turn up the wick on Saturday’s qualifying.
Hainer and Eversley rocketed into Saturday for a pair of qualifying sessions to set the grids for races one and two. Hainer would pilot the Toyota in the first qualifying session, clocking the eighth-quickest lap time in the Pro-Am class. In qualifying two, Eversley could only turn five laps in the car. The result saw Ryan down the running order and ranked 11th in class for race two on Sunday.
When the green flag flew for race one, the #07 ran well and was battling well inside the top twenty overall and for seventh in class, before late-race issues with the ABS braking system relegated the Hainer and Eversley duo down the running order. Classified ninth in class, the duo shifted their focus to Sunday as they aimed to close the weekend on a high note.
“The ABS failed, so we flat spotted the front early in Alex’s stint,” explained Ryan Eversley. “From that point forward, none of the changes we tried during the pit stop fixed it, so I finished them off. Rough day.”
Hainer and Eversley returned to the track Sunday for the second and final race of the weekend. Lining up 11th in class, the goal was to keep the car clean, out of trouble, and drive as far forward as possible.
Racing over the 26-lap affair, the duo performed well, advancing throughout the final on-track session of the weekend. Accomplishing their goals, the duo drove an impressive race, crossing under the checkered, seventh in the Pro-Am class.
“Probably one of the most challenging weekends we’ve had as a team, but tough weekends like this make good teams great, so I’m pretty stoked about our future because we rebounded after some very difficult situations this weekend,” explained Ryan Eversley. “We still managed to get a decent top ten result in the second race, and we learned so much that I think moving forward, we’re going to have a much better grasp on our super program, and I’m pretty excited about that.”
Next up for the Toyota GR Cup North America program will be a trip to Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, and Road America over the August 16 – 18 weekend.