2023 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR

The 2023 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR was a sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The Race was held at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia on August 27, 2023. The event was the ninth round of the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship, and the sixth round of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup.

Background


International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2022. It was the tenth consecutive year the event will be held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The 2023 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR was the ninth of eleven scheduled sports car races of 2023 by IMSA, and it was the sixth round held as part of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup. The race was held at the seventeen-turn 3.270 mi Virginia International Raceway on August 27, 2023. As in previous years, it will be the second of two GT-only rounds of the IMSA SportsCar Championship, in which only the GTD Pro and GTD classes will compete.

IMSA released two separate technical bulletins regarding the Balance of Performance for the event. The first one was released on August 16, 2023. In this bulletin, the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 received a 12-horsepower decrease, as well as a four-liter fuel capacity reduction. The second technical bulletin was released on August 18, 2023. In this bulletin, the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo received a 15 kilogram weight increase, as well as a 0.5 mm larger air restrictor and a one-liter fuel capacity increase. The Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) received a 10 kilogram weight increase, 2 mm larger air restrictor, and an increase in fuel capacity of one liter.

Before the race, Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth led the GTD Pro Drivers' Championship with 2810 points, ahead of Antonio García and Jordan Taylor in second with 2641 points, and Jules Gounon and Daniel Juncadella in third. In GTD, the Drivers' Championship was led by Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow with 2611 points, ahead of Roman De Angelis and Marco Sørensen with 2406 points. Lexus and BMW were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Vasser Sullivan Racing and Paul Miller Racing each led their own Teams' Championships.

Entries
A total of 19 cars took part in the event split across two classes. 5 cars are entered in GTD Pro and 14 in GTD. Andretti Autosport skipped the event.

Practice and qualifying
There were two practice sessions preceding the race start on Sunday, one on Friday afternoon and one on Saturday morning. The first session on Friday afternoon ran for 90 minutes while the second session on Saturday morning ran for 105 minutes.

In the first session, Ben Barnicoat's No. 14 Lexus lapped quickest at 1 minute, 45.201 seconds. Patrick Pilet's No. 9 Pfaff Porsche was second-fastest. Antonio García was third in Corvette's No. 3 car. GTD was led by Patrick Gallagher in Turner Motorsport's No. 96 car with a 1:45.234 lap, 0.160 seconds ahead of Aaron Telitz in VSR's No. 12 Lexus. Winward's Philip Ellis was third. Frederik Schandorff's No. 70 McLaren, along with Bryan Sellers' No. 1 Paul Miller BMW were fourth and fifth. The No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes of Daniel Juncadella caught fire in the pitlane in the closing minutes.

Juncadella led the final session with a lap of 1 minute, 44.539 seconds. Hawksworth was 0.030 seconds behind in second, with the No. 3 Corvette of García in third. Snow led GTD in Paul Miller's No. 1 BMW, 0.069 seconds ahead of Gallagher in Turner Motorsport's No. 96 BMW. Grenier was third in the No. 32 Korthoff Mercedes-AMG. Ward placed the No. 57 Winward Mercedes-AMG in fourth.

Saturday’s afternoon qualifying was broken into one sessions for the GTD Pro and GTD classes, which lasted for 15 minutes. The rules dictated that all teams nominated a driver to qualify their cars. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order.

Jack Hawksworth for VSR took his third pole position of the season, and the tenth of his career, with a time of 1 minute, 44.780 seconds. He was joined on the grid's front row by Daniel Juncadella whose best lap in the No. 79 WeatherTech Mercedes-AMG was 0.096 seconds slower, and Antonio García drove the No. 3 Corvette to third. The Pffaf Motorsports Porsche and the No. 23 Heart Aston Martin rounded out the GTD Pro qualifiers. In GTD, snow took his second pole position of the season, and the eleventh of his career with a lap of 1 minute and 45.225 seconds. He was joined by Telitz's No. 12 Lexus on grid's the front row with his best lap being 0.153 second slower, and Loris Spinelli drove the No. 78 Forte Racing Lamborghini to third place. Following in fourth was Skeen's No. 32 Korthoff Mercedes-AMG ,with Gallagher's slower No. 96 Turner BMW in fifth.

Qualifying results
Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by ‡.

Warm up
A 20-minute morning warm-up session was held on the morning of August 27. Antonio García led GTD Pro with a lap time of 1:46.295, 0.055 seconds ahead of Jules Gounon. Frederik Schandorff set the fastest time amongst all GTD cars.

Post-race
The result kept Barnicoat and Hawksworth atop the GTD Pro Drivers' Championship. Bachler and Pilet advanced from fourth to third while Gounon and Juncadella dropped from third to fourth. With 2996 points, Sellers and Snow's victory allowed them to increase their advantage over De Angelis and Sørensen in the GTD Drivers' Championship. Foley and Gallagher advanced from seventh to fifth while Iribe and Schandorff dropped from third to fourth. Lexus and BMW continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Vasser Sullivan Racing, and Paul Miller Racing kept their respective advantages in their respective of Teams' Championships with two rounds remaining in the season.

Race Result
Class winners are in bold and ‡.

Standings after the race

 * Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.


 * Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.


 * Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.