Alexander Sims and Antonio Garcia have won the IMSA GT Challenge at Virginia International Challenge, to further extend their championship lead in the #3 Corvette.

Despite leading the championship, this was their first win all year in the IMSA SportscCar Championship series.

Garcia started the car fourth and remained there until he stopped. Giacomo Altoe, on pole in the #81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3, lost the lead on the opening lap to #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3’s Neil Verhagen, with his BMW teammate Dan Harper following him through.

This gave the German manufacturer a 1-2 at the front of the field. However, the race was soon neutralised as a sponsorship hoarding had been knocked over by a car going off track.

At the restart, Verhagen kept the lead over Harper, in the #1 Paul Miller BMW. They tried to stretch their lead, but Altoe in third kept them in check.

Garcia was the first to stop, from fourth. The two BMWs also soon stopped from the lead, as did Altoe. This gave Marco Mapelli, in the #9 Pfaff Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, the lead until he too pitted.

Albert Costa, now in the #81 DragonSpeed Ferrari, had pitted as well. The two BMWs, with slower stops, rejoined behind both Costa and Sims, who had replaced Garcia in the #3 Corvette.

Soon, Sims was in the lead of the race, from Mike Rockenfeller in the #64 Ford Mustang GT3 and Costa third.

Max Hesse, now at the wheel of the #48 BMW, was fourth. However, he soon was reporting a loss of power from his M4 GT3, dropping down the field as other cars passed him. 

Before he could pit, though, the car dramatically caught fire from the right front exhaust, with the safety crew needing to extinguish the fire. This caused the race’s third full course yellow, which saw the entire field pit under yellow.

At the restart, the order was Sims, Tommy Milner in the #4 Corvette, Costa, Seb Prialux in the #64 Ford having replaced Rockenfeller, and Laurin Heinrich in the #77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3R, ‘Rexy’ to his fans.

However, the race was not green for long, with another fire the cause of the race’s third FCY. This time, Danny Formal, in the #45 WTR Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, had his car catch fire on track. 

This caused the car to spin uncontrollably into the tyre barriers, with Formal escaping quickly with possible light burns to his hands, with the entirety of the rear of the car engulfed in flame.

The next restart saw Sims retain the lead from Milner once again. However, Costa soon got passed the American in the closing minutes of the race, with the Spaniard setting about catching Sims in the lead.

As it was, Costa caught Sims but could not find a way by, with the Briton in the yellow #3 Corvette winning by just over a second from the Ferrari. Third was Milner in the sister #4 Corvette, a further four seconds back.

Fourth and fifth were Priaulx and Heinrich, with Snow in the #1 Paul Miller BMW sixth.

​​”I was just doing my job,” said Sims after the race. 

“Antonio did a fantastic job in his first stint and the team called a great strategy. We went aggressive on the first stop to try and force a situation, and it seemed to work. We could just about hold the gap to the BMW who had a significant fuel advantage on us had it stayed green. 

“We were fortunate with that second yellow but I think we just about had the race anyway. A really great job by everyone. The Corvette was fast today. The Michelin tires held on nicely. In these temperatures they were working hard but held on well. It was a really enjoyable race and it’s great to get our first win of the year.”

In GTD, Philip Ellis and Russell Ward took victory in the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes AMG-GT3.

Ward started the car second behind polesitter Jack Hawksworth in the #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus. However, Hawksworth soon received a drive through penalty, promoting Manny Franco in the #34 Conquest Ferrari into the lead.

However, after a few laps in the lead Franco went off track, dropping down to fifth.

This promoted Formal to the lead in the #45 WTR Lambo, which later caught fire.

From then on, the race was between Philip Ellis and Mario Farnbacher in the #78 Forte Lamborghini. However, late on in the race, he received a 30s penalty for blocking, dropping him well down the field.

So, Ellis took the lead followed by Kenton Koch in the #021 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari, with Tom Gamble third in the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

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Giacomo Altoe set the pace in qualifying for the IMSA Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway, putting the #81DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3 on pole in the GTD Pro class.

The Italian capped a dominant weekend, with DragonSpeed topping both practice sessions and now claiming the top spot on the grid.

His co-driver, Albert Costa, set the benchmark in the opening 90-minute practice, guiding the #81 car to the top with a 1:45.032s to lead both GTD Pro and the overall order.

The #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo followed closely, Russell Ward quickest of the GTD runners and second overall.

DragonSpeed maintained its grip in the second practice session, with Altoe lowering the pace to a 1:45.011s in the same Ferrari. That time was matched to the thousandth by Sebastian Priaulx in the Ford Multimatic Mustang, leaving the pair inseparable at the head of the timesheets.

In GTD, Onofrio Triarsi took the spotlight, putting the #021 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari on top of the class with a 1:45.324s effort.

Hawksworth secures GTD pole for Lexus

Heading into qualifying, the action got underway in the GTD class with plenty of warm-up laps, the Mercedes of Ward quickly storming out of the pits at the beginning of the session before returning to the pits at the end of the lap.

Jack Hawskworth in the #12 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3 set the early benchmark with a 1:45.833s before Patrick Gallagher in the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO quickly dispatched him with a 1:45.757s.

The British driver immediately replied to take back the fastest lap with Gallagher slotting in behind. Ward finally joined the fight with just over five minutes to go, setting a fastest lap time of 1:44.998s before Hawksworth went even quicker with a 1:44.860s.

Triarsi placed third in his Ferrari as Hawksworth rolled the dice, pitting with a minute and a half remaining and trusting his time would hold firm.

It worked as the 34-year-old held onto pole position for Vasser Sullivan Racing ahead of Ward and Triarsi, completing the top three.

Altoe fends off Verhagen for GTD Pro pole

Nicky Catsburg in the #4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R for Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports headed out for the GTD Pro class with an engine change due to a suspected thermostat issue.

The #48 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 Evo, with Dan Harper at the wheel, vaulted to the top of the times with a 1:45.090s. But his spell in front was short-lived as Altoe fired the #81 DragonSpeed Ferrari to a 1:44.847s.

Even that effort didn’t last long, as Neil Verhagen in the #1 BMW quickly responded. The two exchanged blows at the head of the order, Altoe briefly regaining the advantage before Verhagen stamped authority with a 1:44.478s.

Yet the Italian hit back with a 1:44.433s in a tense qualifying affair at VIR, reclaiming the top spot by less than half a tenth as the battle for pole intensified.

The #3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R, driven by Antonio Garcia, occupied third as Altoe and Verhagen both pitted with just over two minutes left of the session.

However, the #48 BMBW of Harper snatched third at the death to make it a 2-3 finish for the German manufacturer. But it was DragonSpeed’s day as Altoe continued the dominance by taking pole position in qualifying.

READ MORE – Costa fastest for DragonSpeed at VIR in IMSA opening practice

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Alberto Costa set the pace in practice 1 for the IMSA Michelin GT Challenge at VIRginia International Raceway, in the #81 GTD Pro-entered DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3.

The Spaniard set a 1:45.032 on his fifth lap, with the car completing 34 laps in total.

Second fastest was Russell Ward in the GTD-entered #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, 0.439 off Costa.

Third fastest overall, and second in GTD Pro, was Andrea Caldarelli in the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, a further 0.061 off Ward.

Third fastest in GTD Pro and fourth overall was Neil Verhagen in the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO, 0.572 off Costa’s timesheet-topping lap.

Second fastest in GTD was Fred Schandorff in the #70 Inception Racing Ferrari 263 GT3, 0.608 off Costa and just under two tenths off Ward, who set the fastest GTD lap.

Third fastest in GTD was Daniel Serra, in the #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, 0.635 off Costa and 0.015 off Schandorff.

There was just one stoppage, a brief red flag 15 minutes in, for debris at the turn 4-5 complex.

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Porsche GT ace Kevin Estre will race with WeatherTech Racing at the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship round at Virginia International Raceway.

The Frenchman will partner Cooper MacNeil aboard the #79 Porsche 911 RSR-19 in the 18-car field.

For Estre, it will mark his second start of the season with the privateer squad, having previously contested the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona.

WeatherTech Racing forms the three-car GTLM field in the GT-only round at VIR, with 15 cars entered into the GTD category.

Alegra Motorsports returns to the grid with the #28 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo driven by Michael de Quesada and Daniel Morad.

Mike Skeen partners Guy Cosmo aboard the #32 Gilbert Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.

Compass Racing will sit out the final GT-only round of the championship, with Mario Farnbacher instead moving over to Gradient Racing.

The German partners Till Becholsheimer aboard the #66 Acura NSX GT3 Evo, filling in for the injured Marc Miller.

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IMSA has announced date changes to the championship rounds at Virginia International Raceway and Petit Le Mans following the postponement of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

On Thursday, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest announced that the 24 Hours of Le Mans would be postponed to August 21-22, a date on which the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR was originally supposed to be held.

As a result of the clash and the fact that several IMSA teams aim to compete in the French endurance classic, IMSA has instead opted to move the race at VIR to October 8-10.

To make room for the date change, IMSA has also opted to move its season-closing Motul Petit Le Mans round at Road Atlanta to November 10-13.

“Given the momentum we are carrying in regard to television viewership, it is important for us to preserve live, NBC network windows,” said IMSA President John Doonan.

“Holding our season finale in November proved successful last year in Sebring, and we have every reason to believe we can be successful again this November at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

“As always, we are grateful to all of our stakeholders – and particularly our promoter and television partners – for their flexibility and understanding as we maneuver through these changes.”

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Porsche, Corvette and Lexus have all been handed weight penalties as part of the updated Balance of Performance for the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR. In the BoP bulletin, issued on Friday, both the Porsche 911 RSR-19 and Corvette C8.R have seen their minimum weight increased by 20 kilograms. BMW has received a slight weight decrease of five kilograms.

Corvette took its second one-two victory and third win in a row in the rain-affected race at Road America, which was the #912 Porsche 911 RSR-19 led for most of the race until spinning off when Earl Bamber was caught out by the heavy rain.

In GTD, Lexus has also seen its minimum weight increased by 15 kilograms. The pair of AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3s have been dominant since the season restarted, winning the Weathertech 240 at Daytona, Cadillac Grand Prix of Sebring and the previous round at Road America.

The Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo is the only car in class to receive a weight break, with officials shaving 20 kilograms off the R8’s minimum weight.

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The Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway will be held behind closed doors, track officials have confirmed. It will mark the first time an IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship race has been held without spectators.

The State of Virginia’s restrictions on public events prohibits sporting events of more than 1,000 people. VIR president and COO Kerrigan Smith confirmed in an open letter to fans that spectators will not be allowed to be in attendance for the GT-only round on August 21-23.

“It is with a heavy heart that we have to make the official announcement; there will be no spectators allowed at this year’s Michelin GT Challenge IMSA weekend,” Smith wrote.

“We had hoped the tide would turn, but as circumstances are all too unpredictable these days, we need to make a firm commitment to this decision for planning purposes.

“We are sure there will be some frustration and disappointment, but please realize this is not what either VIR or IMSA wants to see happen and the COVID-19 situation is beyond our collective control.”

Refunds for tickets will be processed shortly, according to a statement from the track.

The decision marks the first time an IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship round has not had fans in attendance.

The first two rounds after the pandemic lockdown at Daytona and Sebring had limited numbers of fans in attendance, while spectators will also be present at this weekend’s round at Road America.

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