The IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship (IWSC) visited Virginia International Raceway (VIR) this past weekend for a race featuring GTD Pro and GTD classes. It was the 10th anniversary of the GT-only event and is a favorite event on the calendar for the drivers of those cars.
The M4 GT3 EVO was given a slight weight increase for the VIR event (+5kg) but performed well in qualifying. Neil Verhagen qualified the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW third in GTD Pro. He would have been second but his fastest time was disallowed after an accident in practice led to a red flag (IMSA rules state that if you cause a red flag in a practice session your fastest lap time will be excluded in qualifying). In GTD, Patrick Gallagher qualified the #96 Turner Motorsport M4 GT3 EVO in fifth. The top ten cars in GTD Pro were all within a second of each other, as were the top six cars in GTD.
Paul Miller Racing maintained the GTD Pro points lead with a fifth place at VIR.
After a lengthy caution period on the opening lap when the #3 Corvette took a high-speed trip into the tire wall, the VIR race ran caution free the rest of the way. Gallagher worked his way into third after the restart and kept it there until Robby Foley took over. Foley then kept the car in the top three and inherited second place with less than five minutes to go, when the car that was running in second (#27 Aston Martin) was given a penalty for contact with the #57 Mercedes-AMG that went on to win the race.
The second-place finish by Gallagher and Foley put them into second place in points, just 36 points behind the #57 Mercedes-AMG duo of Philipp Ellis and Russel Ward, who have won two straight GTD class championships and are seeking a third. “It was a blue-collar day,” said Gallagher. “We brought our lunch pail and went to work, just grinding one out, trying to stay consistent. We didn’t have the speed of the #57 and #27. They seem to be able to drive through the field, and we can’t. So, when you have that, you just got to keep your nose down and keep working.”
Robby Foley (far left) and Patrick Gallagher (next to Foley) celebrate second place at VIR.
The Paul Miller Racing BMW didn’t seem to have the pace to keep up with the leaders in GTD Pro, as Verhagen dropped to fourth in the opening laps and Connor De Phillippi then dropped down to seventh at one point during his stint. He fought his way back a couple of positions to finish fifth, with the GTD Pro win going to the #9 Lamborghini that also won the previous race at Road America. Verhagen and De Phillippi were able to maintain the points lead in GTD Pro since the #4 Corvette duo of Nicky Catsburg and Tommy Milner finished in sixth. The two wins in a row by Lamborghini drivers Andrea Caldarelli and Mitchell have moved them into third in points, and there are only 56 points separating the top three places in GTD Pro.
The IWSC has two race weekends remaining, with a two-hour and forty-minute race at Indianapolis on the weekend of September 18th-20th, followed by the season ending ten-hour Petit Le Mans race at Road Atlanta on September 30th-October 3rd.
Turner Motorsport Takes Points Lead in Michelin Pilot Challenge
The Michelin Pilot Challenge series also competed at VIR and it ended up being a good weekend for Turner Motorsport and drivers Luca Mars and Dillon Machavern. After dropping from first to fourth in the driver’s championship after the race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in mid-July, Mars and Machavern are back on top after a third-place finish at VIR.
The BMWs didn’t look all that competitive in the practice sessions at VIR. The fastest time any of them put in over the two sessions was a ninth for Robby Foley. They weren’t any faster in qualifying. Machavern set the fastest time in the #95 Turner car that was only good enough for ninth and was around a second slower than the pole-sitting Toyota Supra. Three of the BMWs in the field were actually slower than the fastest TCR class car, a Hyundai Elantra N TCR.
Things went better in the race. Machavern gained two positions up into seventh in his stint, and then Luca Mars worked his way into third before his final pit stop. Mars was running in fifth toward the end but was helped out by an issue with a car in front of him, as the #46 Ford Mustang had its rear bumper coming off and was forced to pit to repair it. That moved Mars into fourth, and then he passed for third place on the restart to take the final podium spot behind two Mustangs.
AutoTechnic Racing drivers Austin Krainz and Stevan McAleer finished in ninth and are still in the championship hunt.
In a stroke of luck for Mars and Machavern, the points leading #13 Ford Mustang ended up in 21st after an off-track incident late in the race, which put the Turner duo back in the points lead with two races left. Two other BMWs finished in the top ten at VIR, with the #27 Auto Technic Racing M4 GT4 EVO of Stevan McAleer and Austin Krainz in ninth and the #92 Random Vandals Racing BMW of Robert Megennis and Nicky Hays in tenth.
The final two Michelin Pilot Challenge races are at Indianapolis on September 18th-20th and at Road Atlanta on September 30th – October 3rd.
—David Haueter
[Photos courtesy LAT Images]