After a 20-year wait, brothers Stevan McAleer and Stuart McAleer will compete as teammates this weekend in Saturday’s GT4 America race at Sebring, driving AutoTechnic Racing’s No. 19 BMW M4 GT4 (G82) EVO.

Stuart McAleer, a former GT4 America competitor with Fast Track Racing, returns to the series to fill in for Stevan’s usual teammate, Roland Krainz, who is unavailable due to personal commitments. Krainz had originally planned to contest the full weekend but will miss Race 2, opening the door for Stuart’s last-minute call-up and long-awaited shared drive with his brother.

“Yeah, Roland Krainz and Stevan have been paired up for years and Roland (Krainz) had full intentions of doing the whole weekend,” said Stuart McAleer. “Very last minute, his son’s graduation is coming up this weekend and he couldn’t work out the timing on it. He’s literally leaving today after the race, jumping on a flight, and flying out to California. So, I got a call last week, “Hey, you think you can maybe do this?” I had to get my license done super quick, all the preparation and then I showed up and I get 10 laps in the car and we’re straight in for Saturday. So, it’ll be fun. It’s going to be a riot.”

Despite the quick turnaround, Stuart arrives with familiarity in the BMW GT4 platform after previously competing in a Fast Track Racing-prepared entry, helping ease the transition back into GT4 America competition.

“The car’s super compliant,” said Stuart McAleer. “It’s quite relatively straightforward to drive. It’s just trying to find the last 10%. Honestly, for me, I just had to kind of shake off the cobwebs a little bit. I was laughing when I showed up the other day. I couldn’t even remember the buttons on the steering wheel, so I had to have a classroom with one of the guys and have them go through all that stuff again. But I felt like I could be in the mix. I ran around a bunch of good guys and I think pace-wise we’re going to be close. The temperatures are going to play a big part in it, so we’ll see what we got.”

The McAleer brothers began racing in karting and have long hoped to share a GT car together, something that has finally come together this weekend at Sebring. Stuart has previously raced for McCumbee-McAleer Racing, but this marks their first opportunity as direct teammates.

“We’ve been trying to do this for the longest time, and just the timing of stuff, and obviously the opportunities have never come up. It was a big enough deal that I called my mom and dad, and they actually jumped on a flight and landed two days ago. They’re in Florida right now. They’re going to be showing up later, and my brother from Scotland. So for them, my mum and dad have dreamt of this since we were kids, and we go-karted to be able to do it at Sebring, a place that we both know, and we have the whole family here. It’s such a special event for us, and the nicest thing for me is the team is as excited as I am to come and do this with Roland and all his family as well. So, I’m super, super excited.”

Stevan echoed the significance of the moment, crediting his brother for playing a major role in his career development.

“Steven’s been my mentor since I was a kid growing up and doing everything in life,” said Stevan McAleer. “I actually would not be in America if I had not been for him. We started a go-kart programme back in 2012 and I moved to the states in 2014. So, I owe everything to Steven. I got my first race because of him. I met my wife because of him. So, as far as I’m concerned, this is a big step and a big moment for us. But it’s nice. He’s super encouraging. He wants me to do really well. So, as soon as we get done, he obviously does data with Roland. We sat down and we spent 20, 30 minutes looking at stuff. He’s trying to get me as fast as he can for the race.”

While they share the spotlight this weekend, Stevan also continues leading the growth of McCumbee-McAleer Racing, which now competes in Michelin Pilot Challenge, Mazda MX-5 Cup, Mustang Challenge, and GT4 America. Stuart, although not directly involved in the day-to-day operation, spoke proudly about his brother’s rise from humble beginnings in Scotland to building a successful racing organization in the United States.

“Not a lot of people know this, we’re one of five boys and we grew up in a household that had two bedrooms in it and we didn’t really have much coming through. He won a scholarship to come to America back in the late 2000s and when I moved over here in 2014 with the intentions of us starting this go-karting program, we never really knew what we were getting ourselves in for. We planned that we wanted to do this stuff. He worked in a supermarket when he was racing in his early days. He was traveling to and from America to race Skip Barber. So, to see him go from that to where he is right now is super special. He deserves everything. He works so hard. He’s away from his wife for so many days throughout the year. How she can stay sane as well, I’m super, super shocked, but they make it work. I mean, he’s non-stop.”

Outside of this weekend’s GT4 America appearance, Stuart has continued racing in Spec Miata competition, most recently competing at Road Atlanta. Adjusting back to GT4 machinery has required some adaptation, particularly with the added downforce and power compared to spec racing.

“Obviously, these things have so much more power. They’ve got a bigger tire and they stop there. I was actually laughing, the mile an hour that we rolled through at turn one is the same as the Spec-Miata because we have such a big, everything else is slower, but we roll the same speed. The biggest thing with these cars is you do get a little bit of aero wash from them, so if you’re tucked up underneath another car, you need to be a little careful with that stuff. But for the most part, the race is very, very similar. You can’t lean on each other quite as much because instead of being $500 to fix the door, it’s $50,000. But the group of guys that are here, they’re so talented. I mean, if you look at the Pro-Am class, there’s five or six different teams that could win any one of the races. So, I’m excited to go up against these guys and get a shot at it.”

Looking ahead, Stuart hopes the Sebring appearance can help lead to a longer-term return to GT4 competition, potentially as soon as next season.

“I mean, I would love to get picked up and get a full ride in GT4, whether it be an AM or a Pro. Unfortunately, I’m a bronze because I have very little experience in the Pro level stuff. I’ve done some spec. So, long-term goal, I’d love to be picked up with a program and go do some more racing with them and then see where 2027 ends up. I would like to come back and get a shot at a championship. Unfortunately, last year didn’t quite go to plan. We had a lot of mechanical issues and by the time we got to Sebring, it wasn’t even worth continuing the season. So, we’ll do this one race. We’ll get through it and we’ll see where we’re at. Fingers crossed we can get another shot at it later.”

As for Saturday’s race, Stuart believes tire management and handling the Florida heat will play a major role throughout the event.

“Fortunately for us, the BMW has really good air conditioning, so it doesn’t really get that hot in the car. The biggest thing we’ve seen is the tire deg right now has been pretty drastic. I don’t know what it’s going to be like for all the manufacturers. I know that we can generate some good laps towards the end of the race, but you need to keep the car underneath you. Drinking plenty of water before we get in and get going, and my brother’s starting, so I’m sure he’s going to hand off a good car for me, and I just need to go out there and perform and see if we can run it for him.”

Image Courtesy to Thomas Pitasi/Auto Technic Racing