Weekend Recap: IMSA at VIR, ELMS Action & More
Catch up on the weekend's action from Virginia International Raceway, Motorland Aragon...
Taylor, Garcia Win Michelin GT Challenge at VIR
Corvette Racing kept its GTD Pro championship hopes alive with victory in Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway.
An undercut strategy by the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD on the final pit stop of the GT-only round and a stall in the pits for the then-leading No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 of Ben Barnicoat handed the lead to Jordan Taylor.
Taylor managed his advantage over Barnicoat to finish 2.068-seconds ahead of the Lexus for the Pratt Miller-run factory squad’s second IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship win of the season.
Having started on pole, the No. 14 Lexus of Jack Hawksworth held control in the early stages and only lost the overall lead to the then-leading GTD car of Bryan Sellers in the second hour through a three-way fight that included Taylor.
The No. 3 Corvette, started by Antonio Garcia, remained in contention throughout for the duo’s second win the in the last four WeatherTech Championship races.
Paul Miller Racing, meanwhile, claimed its fifth GTD class victory of the season, leading a BMW 1-2 sweep in category.
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United Autosports Converts Pole to 4H Aragon Victory
Marino Sato, Oliver Jarvis and Phil Hanson gave United Autosports its first European Le Mans Series victory of the season by winning the inaugural 4 Hours of Aragon.
After starting the race from pole position, the No. 22 Oreca 07 Gibson came through to win by a margin of 14.987 seconds over the No. 28 IDEC Sport machine of Paul Lafargue, Laurents Hoerr and Paul-Loup Chatin.
It marked the Anglo-American squad’s first victory of the season, returning to the top step of the podium for the first time since the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps last September.
Hanson led the race for the first 90 minutes, during which he had a lead of some six seconds slashed by a safety car in the closing minutes of the opening hour.
The intervention was triggered by a collision between GTE leader Johnny Laursen in the No. 50 Formula Racing Ferrari 488 GTE Evo and Inter Europol Competition driver Rui Andrade, which eliminated both cars from the race.
Hanson’s co-driver Sato then fought his way back to the lead after dropping to third place upon taking the car over, only for the No. 22 car to fall back to fourth when Jarvis was installed for the final portion of the race.
As the race entered the final hour, the No. 28 IDEC Sport Oreca appeared to be in the best position to win after Chatin fought his way past Panis Racing’s Job van Uitert at Turn 1 with just under 45 minutes remaining.
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Liddell Wins Pilot Challenge VIR Fuel Mileage Thriller
Robin Liddell and Frank DePew came out on top of Saturday’s Virginia is for Racing Lovers Grand Prix at Virginia International Raceway, in a fuel mileage thriller.
Liddell, who took the final-lap restart in third, crossed the line 0.684 seconds ahead of the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 of Robby Foley after the No. 39 CarBahn with Peregrine Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport of Jeff Westphal ran out of fuel on the final lap.
Westphal lost the lead to Liddell, who made contact with the No. 27 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Scott Andrews and Westphal on the restart, resulted in no further action from race control.
He then passed Westphal for the lead at Oak Tree Corner just moments before Westphal ran out of fuel in a dramatic end to Saturday’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race.
The No. 13 McCumbee McAleer Racing with Aerosport Ford Mustang GT4 of Joey Hand and Jenson Altzman completed the podium in third, ahead of the No. 92 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4 in fourth and the No. 47 Nolasport Porsche, which completed the top-five.
It marked Rebel Rock Racing’s second consecutive Pilot Challenge victory with its Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R after inheriting the win at Road America last time out.
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Marcelli, Formal Sweep Super Trofeo VIR Weekend
Kyle Marcelli and Danny Formal continued their winning ways Sunday at Virginia International Raceway by taking their eighth victory of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America season.
Formal drove the No. 1 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2 to a 5.288-second victory over the No. 88 TR3 Racing entry of Giano Taurino in the 50-minute contest that saw a late race yellow and restart with seven minutes to go.
Having started from pole, Marcelli lost the lead to Taurino, driving solo this weekend, in Turn 4 on the opening lap and was forced to settle behind Taurino in the early stages of the race.
Marcelli retook the position on Lap 9, just prior to the opening of the pit window that saw stops for the leaders.
Taurino took on a three second longer stops due to racing as a solo driver, while the No. 84 WTR Andretti entry of Ryan Norman was assessed a drive-through penalty for a pit speed infraction that dropped him down the running order.
A spin by the No. 99 NTE Sport entry of Jaden Conwright on the restart, while running third, prompted Norman to a podium result.