The VP Racing Sportscar Challenge and Michelin Pilot Challenge series both held their penultimate rounds of the season at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) this past weekend of August 24-25, 2024, with the VP Challenge series holding a pair of 45-minute races and the Michelin Pilot series holding a two-hour race. BMWs ended up on the podium in both VP Challenge races but had some bad luck in the Michelin Challenge race.
There were only three BMWs entered in the pair of VP Challenge races at VIR and two of them ended up on the podium in race one. Mark Brummond (shown above) put in a fantastic drive in his #25 Auto Technic Racing M4 GT4 to work his way into second and stay there for the rest of the race, holding off intense pressure from the #44 Porsche and later the #88 M4 GT4 of Patrick Wilmot. Brummond also finished first among Bronze-rated drivers in the GSX (GT4) class. Wilmot put in a great drive of his own to finish third behind Brummond, as he had to start from the back after a technical infraction.
Patrick Wilmot was on the podium in both VP Challenge races.
In VP Challenge race two, Brummond was once again running in second but fell back with a cut right rear tire that required a trip to the pits. Patrick Wilmot put in another impressive drive in his #88 Split Decision Motorsports M4 GT4 to finish second after dropping to sixth at the start before working his way back to the front. Turner Motorsport driver Vin Barletta was also back for both VP Challenge races in his #96 M4 GT4 and finished eighth in race one and sixth in race two. Luca Mars won both races in the #59 Ford Mustang.
The BMW teams competing in the Michelin Pilot Challenge series both had bad luck. Sean McAlister qualified the #39 CarBahn Motorsports M4 GT4 that he shares with Jeff Westphal in sixth, but the car had an issue with the Valvetronic system before the race and wouldn’t start. The team fixed it, and the car made its way back into the race, but they were out of contention by that time. They ended up finishing thirteenth.
CarBahn Motorsports qualified well but had car issues in Michelin Challenge.
Turner Motorsport had a strong run going with their pair of M4 GT4s. Francis Selldorff had worked his way into fourth in the #96 car while Dillon Machavern was two spots behind in sixth before pitting. Robert Megennis then made it up into third in the #95 car and Robby Foley was in fourth in the #96 with an hour left, but both cars would be penalized for an errant tire that one car lost during a pit stop and the other car hit. They finished tenth (#96) and eleventh (#95). The race was won by the #38 BGB Motorsports Porsche.
A runaway tire ruined hopes of a strong finish in Michelin Challenge for Turner Motorsport.
Next up for the VP Racing Sportscar Challenge are the final two rounds of the season at Road Atlanta on the weekend of October 9th-12th. The Michelin Pilot Challenge series will race at Indianapolis on September 21st, followed by the season finale at Road Atlanta on October 9th-12th. —David Haueter
[Photos courtesy LAT Images]
Tags: BMW Racing podium
