The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship traveled to Virginia International Raceway (VIR) this last weekend for a unique race on the calendar. The VIR race is the only one that features the GTD Pro and GTD class cars only without the prototype classes, and it’s always a great race.
The weekend started out great for the pair of Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO entries competing in the GTD Pro class, with Neil Verhagen qualifying the #1 car in second position behind the pole-sitting #81 Ferrari, and Dan Harper right behind Verhagen in the #48 BMW. In the GTD class, Patrick Gallagher qualified the #96 Turner Motorsport M4 GT3 EVO in sixth, only around a half-second off the pole time of the #12 Lexus.
The first half of the race went like clockwork for the pair of Paul Miller Racing BMWs. Neil Verhagen and Dan Harper both got by the pole-sitting Ferrari on the opening lap and ran one-two in the GTD Pro class all the way up to the first set of pit stops. In GTD, Patrick Gallagher was hit with a questionable drive-through penalty for bumping another car. IMSA was very strict about contact in the VIR race after things got a little too out of control with contact in the previous race at Road America, and several cars besides the Turner BMW received penalties.
A potential one-two finish for Paul Miller Racing fell apart in the second half of the race. They were both caught out by a caution period that gave other teams who had pitted before the caution an advantage, and with around an hour left in the race Max Hesse began to fall back with power issues in the #48 M4 GT3 EVO. Not long after falling back, Hesse pulled off into the grass with fire belching from the exhaust with what seemed like an engine failure.
When the race restarted after a final caution, Madison Snow was in seventh in GTD Pro in the #1 Paul Miller BMW, and moved up to sixth by the end as the #3 Corvette that is leading the championship took the win. In GTD, the Turner BMW made up ground with some smart strategy calls and consistent driving to move up to fourth, a result which was better than expected after the penalty early in the race. “The early penalty at the beginning looked like it was going to set us back, but Patrick did a great job to refocus and save us some energy, which opened up some strategy options,” said Robby Foley. “Then Don (Salama) did one of his famous Salama strategy tricks and gambled, which ultimately took us from last to the middle of the field to be able to make up a few positions on the restarts and settle into what was a crazy race at the end. One spot away from podium is disappointing, but it was definitely a great recovery and the car was good. I’m looking forward to taking some momentum into Indy.”
There are two races left in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season and both are longer endurance races. There’s a six-hour race at Indianapolis on September 19th-21st, followed by the Petit Le Mans finale at Road Atlanta on October 8th-11th, which is a ten-hour race.
—David Haueter
[Photos courtesy LAT Images]