2024 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR

The 2024 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR was a sports car race held at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia, on August 25, 2024. It was the ninth round of the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship.

The layout of Virginia International Raceway, where the race was held.

Background

Preview

Virginia International Raceway, where the race was held.

International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was part of the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2023.^[1] It was the eleventh consecutive year the IMSA SCC hosted a race at Virginia International Raceway. The 2024 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR was the ninth of eleven scheduled sports car races of 2024 by IMSA.^[2] The race was held at the seventeen-turn 3.270 mi (5.263 km) Virginia International Raceway on August 25, 2024.^[2]

Balance of performance

Ahead of the event, IMSA published a bulletin regarding the latest balance of performance (BoP) changes in the GTD Pro and GTD classes.^[3] The Acura was given a 1-liter increase in fuel capacity to accommodate the 11.5 horsepower gained across all power levels. Additionally, the Lamborghini saw an increase in weight of 15 kilograms. This was countered by an increase of 5.3 horsepower across all power levels, and a 2-liter fuel capacity increase. Finally, the Ferrari saw an increase of 10 kilograms in weight, with no adjustments to the power level.^[3]

Standings before the race

Preceding the event, Laurin Heinrich led the GTD Pro Drivers' Championship with 2256 points, 76 points ahead of second-placed Ross Gunn. Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth sat in third place, a further 97 points behind.^[4] The GTD Drivers' Championship was led by Philip Ellis and Russell Ward with 2396 points. They had lead of 268 points over second-placed Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher. Parker Thompson sat in third, 526 points behind Ellis and Ward.^[4] The Manufacturers' Championships were led by Porsche and Mercedes-AMG, respectively, whilst AO Racing and Winward Racing led the Teams' Championships.^[4]

Entry list

Main article: 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship § Entries

The entry list was revealed on August 14, 2024, and featured 23 entries: 9 entries in GTD Pro, and 14 entries in GTD.^[5] Klaus Bachler replaced Julien Andlauer in the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche, to race alongside Laurin Heinrich. Furthermore, Kyle Marcelli re-joined Danny Formal in the No. 45 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Lamborghini, after missing the previous round due to an arm-related injury.^[6] Both the No. 023 Triarsi Competizione and No. 35 Conquest Racing Ferraris did not appear at the start after one-off appearances at Road America.^[7]

No.	Entrant	Car	Driver 1	Driver 2
GTD Pro (GT Daytona Pro) (9 entries)
1	Paul Miller Racing	BMW M4 GT3	Bryan Sellers	Madison Snow
3	Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	Antonio García	Alexander Sims
4	Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	Nicky Catsburg	Tommy Milner
9	Pfaff Motorsports	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	Oliver Jarvis	Marvin Kirchhöfer
14	Vasser Sullivan	Lexus RC F GT3	Ben Barnicoat	Jack Hawksworth
23	Heart of Racing Team	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo	Ross Gunn	Alex Riberas
64	Ford Multimatic Motorsports	Ford Mustang GT3	Mike Rockenfeller	Harry Tincknell
65	Ford Multimatic Motorsports	Ford Mustang GT3	Joey Hand	Dirk Müller
77	AO Racing	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	Klaus Bachler	Laurin Heinrich
GTD (GT Daytona) (14 entries)
12	Vasser Sullivan	Lexus RC F GT3	Frankie Montecalvo	Parker Thompson
13	AWA	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	Matt Bell	Orey Fidani
27	Heart of Racing Team	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo	Roman De Angelis	Zacharie Robichon
32	Korthoff/Preston Motorsports	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	Mikaël Grenier	Kenton Koch
34	Conquest Racing	Ferrari 296 GT3	Albert Costa	Manny Franco
45	Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti	Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	Danny Formal	Kyle Marcelli
55	Proton Competition	Ford Mustang GT3	Giammarco Levorato	Corey Lewis
57	Winward Racing	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	Philip Ellis	Russell Ward
66	Gradient Racing	Acura NSX GT3 Evo22	Stevan McAleer	Sheena Monk
70	Inception Racing	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	Brendan Iribe	Frederik Schandorff
78	Forte Racing	Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	Misha Goikhberg	Loris Spinelli
86	MDK Motorsports	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	Anders Fjordbach	Kerong Li
96	Turner Motorsport	BMW M4 GT3	Robby Foley	Patrick Gallagher
120	Wright Motorsports	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	Adam Adelson	Elliott Skeer
Source:[5][6][7]

Practice

There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Sunday, one on Friday afternoon and one on Saturday morning. The first session on Friday afternoon lasted 90 minutes while the second session on Saturday morning lasted 105 minutes.^[8]

Qualifying

Saturday's afternoon qualifying session lasted 15 minutes, with one combined session for the GTD Pro and GTD cars. The rules dictated that all teams nominated a driver to qualify their cars.^[8] The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order.^[9]

Qualifying results

Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and with ‡.

Pos.	Class	No.	Entry	Driver	Time	Gap	Grid
1	GTD Pro	1	Paul Miller Racing	Madison Snow	1:43.206	—	1‡
2	GTD Pro	3	Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports	Antonio García	1:43.346	+0.140	2
3	GTD Pro	64	Ford Multimatic Motorsports	Harry Tincknell	1:43.630	+0.424	3
4	GTD Pro	65	Ford Multimatic Motorsports	Joey Hand	1:43.729	+0.523	4
5	GTD Pro	4	Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports	Tommy Milner	1:43.745	+0.539	5
6	GTD	55	Proton Competition	Giammarco Levorato	1:43.900	+0.694	6‡
7	GTD	32	Korthoff/Preston Motorsports	Kenton Koch	1:44.106	+0.900	7
8	GTD	120	Wright Motorsports	Elliott Skeer	1:44.118	+0.912	8
9	GTD Pro	14	Vasser Sullivan	Jack Hawksworth	1:44.177	+0.971	9
10	GTD Pro	9	Pfaff Motorsports	Oliver Jarvis	1:44.297	+1.091	10
11	GTD	27	Heart of Racing Team	Zacharie Robichon	1:44.362	+1.156	11
12	GTD	96	Turner Motorsport	Patrick Gallagher	1:44.392	+1.186	12
13	GTD Pro	77	AO Racing	Klaus Bachler	1:44.417	+1.211	13
14	GTD Pro	23	Heart of Racing Team	Alex Riberas	1:44.499	+1.293	14
15	GTD	45	Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti	Kyle Marcelli	1:44.504	+1.298	15
16	GTD	12	Vasser Sullivan	Frankie Montecalvo	1:44.541	+1.335	16
17	GTD	78	Forte Racing	Misha Goikhberg	1:44.793	+1.587	17
18	GTD	57	Winward Racing	Russell Ward	1:44.855	+1.649	18
19	GTD	70	Inception Racing	Brendan Iribe	1:45.020	+1.814	19
20	GTD	66	Gradient Racing	Sheena Monk	1:45.069	+1.863	20
21	GTD	34	Conquest Racing	Manny Franco	1:45.348	+2.142	21
22	GTD	86	MDK Motorsports	Kerong Li	1:46.754	+3.548	22
23	GTD	13	AWA	Orey Fidani	1:47.306	+4.100	23
Sources:[10][11]

Race

Post-race

The final results of GTD Pro meant Heinrich continued to lead the GTD Pro Drivers' Championship, but his advantage was reduced to 17 points by third-place finisher Gunn. Sellers and Snow jumped from fifth to third.^[12] Ellis and Ward's third-place finish allowed them to extend their advantage over Foley and Gallagher in the GTD Drivers' Championship.^[12] Porsche and Mercedes-AMG continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships while AO Racing, and Winward Racing kept their respective advantages in their of Teams' Championships with two rounds remaining.^[12]

Race results

Class winners are in bold and ‡.

Pos	Class	No	Team	Drivers	Chassis	Laps	Time/Retired
					Engine
1	GTD Pro	1	Paul Miller Racing	Bryan Sellers Madison Snow	BMW M4 GT3	86	2:40:49.112‡
					BMW P58 3.0 L Turbo I6
2	GTD Pro	64	Ford Multimatic Motorsports	Mike Rockenfeller Harry Tincknell	Ford Mustang GT3	86	+3.368
					Ford Coyote 5.4 L V8
3	GTD Pro	23	Heart of Racing Team	Ross Gunn Alex Riberas	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo	86	+4.199
					Aston Martin M177 4.0 L Turbo V8
4	GTD Pro	65	Ford Multimatic Motorsports	Joey Hand Dirk Müller	Ford Mustang GT3	86	+11.688
					Ford Coyote 5.4 L V8
5	GTD	32	Korthoff/Preston Motorsports	Mikaël Grenier Kenton Koch	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	86	+16.103‡
					Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8
6	GTD Pro	9	Pfaff Motorsports	Oliver Jarvis Marvin Kirchhöfer	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	86	+16.404
					McLaren M840T 4.0 L Turbo V8
7	GTD Pro	14	Vasser Sullivan	Ben Barnicoat Jack Hawksworth	Lexus RC F GT3	86	+18.620
					Toyota 2UR-GSE 5.0 L V8
8	GTD	78	Forte Racing	Misha Goikhberg Loris Spinelli	Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	86	+19.086
					Lamborghini DGF 5.2 L V10
9	GTD Pro	77	AO Racing	Klaus Bachler Laurin Heinrich	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	86	+19.754
					Porsche M97/80 4.2 L Flat-6
10	GTD	57	Winward Racing	Philip Ellis Russell Ward	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	86	+20.017
					Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8
11	GTD	96	Turner Motorsport	Robby Foley Patrick Gallagher	BMW M4 GT3	86	+20.311
					BMW P58 3.0 L Turbo I6
12	GTD Pro	4	Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports	Nicky Catsburg Tommy Milner	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	86	+22.410
					Chevrolet LT6 5.5 L V8
13	GTD	34	Conquest Racing	Albert Costa Manny Franco	Ferrari 296 GT3	86	+24.110
					Ferrari F163 3.0 L Turbo V6
14	GTD	13	AWA	Matt Bell Orey Fidani	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	86	+24.433
					Chevrolet LT6 5.5 L V8
15	GTD	55	Proton Competition	Giammarco Levorato Corey Lewis	Ford Mustang GT3	86	+27.346
					Ford Coyote 5.4 L V8
16	GTD	120	Wright Motorsports	Adam Adelson Elliott Skeer	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	86	+28.220
					Porsche M97/80 4.2 L Flat-6
17	GTD	12	Vasser Sullivan	Frankie Montecalvo Parker Thompson	Lexus RC F GT3	86	+57.555
					Toyota 2UR-GSE 5.0 L V8
18	GTD	86	MDK Motorsports	Anders Fjordbach Kerong Li	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	85	+1 Lap
					Porsche M97/80 4.2 L Flat-6
19	GTD	45	Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti	Danny Formal Kyle Marcelli	Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	85	+1 Lap
					Lamborghini DGF 5.2 L V10
20	GTD	66	Gradient Racing	Stevan McAleer Sheena Monk	Acura NSX GT3 Evo22	72	+14 Laps
					Acura JNC1 3.5 L Turbo V6
21 DNF	GTD	70	Inception Racing	Brendan Iribe Frederik Schandorff	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	68	Engine
					McLaren M840T 4.0 L Turbo V8
22	GTD	27	Heart of Racing Team	Roman De Angelis Zacharie Robichon	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo	86	+17.000[R 1]
					Aston Martin M177 4.0 L Turbo V8
23	GTD Pro	3	Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports	Antonio García Alexander Sims	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	57	+29 Laps
					Chevrolet LT6 5.5 L V8
Source:[14]

1. The No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin was moved to the back of the GTD class since non-homologated parts were used during the event. It originally finished 7th overall, and 2nd in class.^[13]

Standings after the race

GTP Drivers' Championship standings Pos. +/– Driver Points 1 Dane Cameron Felipe Nasr 2386 2 Mathieu Jaminet Nick Tandy 2286 3 Sébastien Bourdais Renger van der Zande 2201 4 Jack Aitken Pipo Derani 2144 5 Louis Delétraz Jordan Taylor 2107 Source:[12]

LMP2 Drivers' Championship standings Pos. +/– Driver Points 1 Nick Boulle Tom Dillmann 1564 2 Felipe Fraga Gar Robinson 1537 3 Ryan Dalziel 1473 4 Ben Hanley Ben Keating 1467 5 Dan Goldburg 1372 Source:[12]

GTD Pro Drivers' Championship standings Pos. +/– Driver Points 1 Laurin Heinrich 2519 2 Ross Gunn 2502 3 2 Bryan Sellers Madison Snow 2408 4 1 Ben Barnicoat Jack Hawksworth 2358 5 1 Antonio García Alexander Sims 2318 Source:[12]

GTD Drivers' Championship standings Pos. +/– Driver Points 1 Philip Ellis Russell Ward 2718 2 Robby Foley Patrick Gallagher 2434 3 1 Mikaël Grenier 2178 4 1 Parker Thompson 2114 5 Albert Costa Manny Franco 2060 Source:[12]

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

GTP Teams' Championship standings Pos. +/– Team Points 1 #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 2386 2 #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 2286 3 #01 Cadillac Racing 2201 4 #31 Whelen Cadillac Racing 2144 5 #40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti 2107 Source:[12]

LMP2 Teams' Championship standings Pos. +/– Team Points 1 #52 Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports 1564 2 #74 Riley 1537 3 #18 Era Motorsport 1473 4 #2 United Autosports USA 1467 5 #22 United Autosports USA 1372 Source:[12]

GTD Pro Teams' Championship standings Pos. +/– Team Points 1 #77 AO Racing 2519 2 #23 Heart of Racing Team 2502 3 2 #1 Paul Miller Racing 2408 4 1 #14 Vasser Sullivan 2358 5 1 #3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports 2318 Source:[12]

GTD Teams' Championship standings Pos. +/– Team Points 1 #57 Winward Racing 2718 2 #96 Turner Motorsport 2434 3 #32 Korthoff/Preston Motorsports 2178 4 #34 Conquest Racing 2060 5 #12 Vasser Sullivan 1921 Source:[12]

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

GTP Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos. +/– Manufacturer Points 1 Porsche 2555 2 Cadillac 2466 3 Acura 2416 4 BMW 2188 5 Lamborghini 572 Source:[12]

GTD Pro Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos. +/– Manufacturer Points 1 Porsche 2579 2 Aston Martin 2540 3 1 Lexus 2427 4 1 Chevrolet 2426 5 1 Ford 2329 Source:[12]

GTD Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos. +/– Manufacturer Points 1 Mercedes-AMG 2832 2 4 Lamborghini 2300 3 1 BMW 2296 4 1 Lexus 2276 5 3 Aston Martin 2255 Source:[12]

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

References

1. Bradley, Charles (August 4, 2023). "IMSA reveals 2024 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship calendar". Motorsport.com. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
2. "2024 IMSA Schedules Revealed at Road America". imsa.com. August 4, 2023. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
3. Dagys, John (August 14, 2024). "Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 Gets Power Increase for VIR". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
4. "00_Championship Points - Official.pdf" (PDF). imsa.results.alkamelcloud.com. Alkamel Systems. August 7, 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 10, 2024. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
5. "Michelin GT Challenge at VIR – Pre-Event Entry List" (PDF). imsa.com. IMSA. August 14, 2024. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
6. Dagys, John (August 14, 2024). "23 Entries for Michelin GT Challenge at VIR". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
7. O'Connell, RJ (August 14, 2024). "23 Cars Entered For IMSA VIR GT Challenge". Dailysportscar. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
8. "2024 IMSA Official Schedule and SR VIR REV 081524 V1" (PDF). imsa.results.alkamelcloud.com. Alkamel Systems. August 15, 2024. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
9. "2024 IMSA Sporting Regulations and Series Supplementary Regulations" (PDF). imsa.com. International Motor Sports Association. November 1, 2023. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
10. "03_Results_Qualifying.PDF" (PDF). imsa.results.alkamelcloud.com. Alkamel Systems. August 24, 2024. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
11. "01_Grid_Race_Official.PDF" (PDF). imsa.results.alkamelcloud.com. Alkamel Systems. August 25, 2024. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
12. "00_Championship Points - Official.pdf" (PDF). imsa.results.alkamelcloud.com. Alkamel Systems. September 9, 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 9, 2024. Retrieved September 9, 2024.
13. Euwema, Davey (September 9, 2024). "Heart of Racing Stripped of VIR GTD Podium". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
14. "03_Results_Race_Official.PDF" (PDF). imsa.results.alkamelcloud.com. Alkamel Systems. September 9, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2024.

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