GT Challenge at VIR

The GT Challenge at VIR is a sports car race held at the Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia, since 1957. After being a part of the SCCA National Sports Car Championship and the IMSA GT Championship the race, along with the track, went on hiatus from the early 1970s until 2002. It returned as a round of the Rolex Sports Car Series, and became an American Le Mans Series race in 2012. In 2014 the race joined the schedule of the United SportsCar Championship after the merger of the American Le Mans Series and the Rolex Sports Car Series.

GT Challenge at VIR

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
Venue	Virginia International Raceway
Corporate sponsor	Michelin
First race	1957
First USCC race	2014
Duration	2 hours 40 minutes
Most wins (driver)	Walt Hansgen (4)
Most wins (team)	Briggs Cunningham (5)
Most wins (manufacturer)	Riley (7)

The race length has varied from 150 to 500 km. The former title VIR 240 refers to the duration of 240 minutes (4 hours). In 2013, the race was renamed the Oak Tree Grand Prix.^[1]

Beginning in 2016, the Oak Tree Grand Prix became the name of the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge support race run on the same weekend as the United SportsCar Championship Michelin GT Challenge at VIR.

Winners

Season	Date	Overall Winner(s)	Entrant	Car	Distance/Duration	Race Title	Report
SCCA National Sports Car Championship
1957	August 4	Carroll Shelby	John Engar	Maserati 450S	100 km (62 mi)	Inaugural Grand Prix Sports Car Races	report
	October 27	Charles Wallace	Briggs Cunningham	Jaguar D-type	2 hours, 30 minutes	President's Cup Race	report
1958	May 4	Walt Hansgen	Briggs Cunningham	Lister-Jaguar	1 hour	National Championship Spring Sprint Sports Car Road Races	report
	October 5	Walt Hansgen	Briggs Cunningham	Lister-Jaguar	150 km (93 mi)	Autumn Festival Sports Car Races	report
1959	May 3	Walt Hansgen	Briggs Cunningham	Lister-Jaguar	200 km (120 mi)	VIR-Shrine National Championship Sports Car Races	report
1960	May 1	Bob Holbert		Porsche 718 RSK	200 km (120 mi)	VIR-Shrine National Championship Sports Car Races	report
1961	April 30	Walt Hansgen	Briggs Cunningham	Maserati Tipo 61	3 hours	President's Cup	report
1962	April 29	Roger Penske		Cooper Monaco	2 hours, 30 minutes	President's Cup	report
1963	April 27	Don Devine	Meister Brauser Racing	Scarab Mk II-Chevrolet	1 hour, 30 minutes	VIR National Cup	report
1964	April 19	Ed Lowther		Genie Mk.8-Ford	58 mi (93 km)	National Championship Sports Car Races	report
1965 – 1970	Not held
IMSA GT Championship
1971	April 18	Peter Gregg Hurley Haywood	Brumos Porsche-Audi	Porsche 914/6	300 mi (480 km)	Danville 300	report
1972	April 16	Peter Gregg Hurley Haywood	Peter Gregg	Porsche 911 S	250 mi (400 km)	Danville 250	report
1973 – 2001	Not held
Rolex Sports Car Series
2002	September 1	Andy Wallace Chris Dyson	Dyson Racing	Crawford SSC2K-Judd	500 mi (800 km)	VIR 500	report
2003	October 5	Andy Pilgrim Terry Borcheller	Bell Motorsports	Doran JE4-Chevrolet	400 km (250 mi)	VIR 400	report
2004	October 3	Wayne Taylor Max Angelelli	SunTrust Racing	Riley Mk.XI-Pontiac	400 km (250 mi)	VIR 400	report
2005	October 9	Luis Díaz Scott Pruett	Chip Ganassi Racing	Riley Mk.XI-Lexus	2 hours, 45 minutes	VIR 400	report
2006	April 23	Mike Rockenfeller Patrick Long	Alex Job Racing	Crawford DP03-Porsche	400 km (250 mi)	VIR 400	report
2007	April 29	Wayne Taylor Max Angelelli Jan Magnussen	SunTrust Racing	Riley Mk.XI-Pontiac	400 km (250 mi)	VIR 400	report
2008	April 27	Scott Pruett Memo Rojas	Chip Ganassi Racing	Riley Mk.XX-Lexus	250 mi (400 km)	Bosch Engineering 250 at VIR	report
2009	April 25	Jon Fogarty Alex Gurney	GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing	Riley Mk.XX-Pontiac	2 hours, 45 minutes	Bosch Engineering 250 at VIR	report
2010	April 24	Scott Pruett Memo Rojas	Chip Ganassi Racing	Riley Mk.XX-Lexus	2 hours, 45 minutes	Bosch Engineering 250 at VIR	report
2011	May 14	João Barbosa Terry Borcheller J. C. France	Action Express Racing	Riley Mk.XI-Porsche	2 hours, 45 minutes	Bosch Engineering 250 at VIR	report
American Le Mans Series
2012	September 15	Lucas Luhr Klaus Graf	Muscle Milk Pickett Racing	HPD ARX-03a	4 hours	American Le Mans Series VIR 240	report[2]
2013	October 5	Lucas Luhr Klaus Graf	Muscle Milk Pickett Racing	HPD ARX-03a	2 hours, 45 minutes	Oak Tree Grand Prix at VIR	report[3]
United SportsCar Championship
20141	August 24	Luis Díaz Sean Rayhall	8 Star Motorsports	Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet	1 hour, 30 minutes (2 x 45-minute segments)	Oak Tree Grand Prix at VIR	report[4][5]
		Giancarlo Fisichella Pierre Kaffer	Risi Competizione	Ferrari F458 Italia	2 hours, 45 minutes
20151	August 23	Patrick Pilet Nick Tandy	Porsche North America	Porsche 911 RSR	2 hours, 40 minutes	Oak Tree Grand Prix at VIR	report[6]
2016	August 28	Antonio García Jan Magnussen	Corvette Racing	Chevrolet Corvette C7.R	2 hour, 40 minutes	Michelin GT Challenge at VIR	report
2017	August 27	Antonio García Jan Magnussen	Corvette Racing	Chevrolet Corvette C7.R	2 hour, 40 minutes	Michelin GT Challenge at VIR	report
2018	August 19	Connor De Phillippi Alexander Sims	BMW Team RLL	BMW M8 GTE	2 hour, 40 minutes	Michelin GT Challenge at VIR	report
2019	August 25	Patrick Pilet Nick Tandy	Porsche GT Team	Porsche 911 RSR	2 hour, 40 minutes	Michelin GT Challenge at VIR	report
2020	August 22	Antonio García Jordan Taylor	Corvette Racing	Chevrolet Corvette C8.R	2 hour, 40 minutes	Michelin GT Challenge at VIR	report
2021	October 9	Tommy Milner Nick Tandy	Corvette Racing	Chevrolet Corvette C8.R	2 hour, 40 minutes	Michelin GT Challenge at VIR	report
2022	August 28	Matt Campbell Mathieu Jaminet	Pfaff Motorsports	Porsche 911 GT3 R	2 hour, 40 minutes	Michelin GT Challenge at VIR	report
2023	August 27	Antonio García Jordan Taylor	Corvette Racing	Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD	2 hour, 40 minutes	Michelin GT Challenge at VIR	report
2024	August 25	TBA	TBA	TBA	2 hour, 40 minutes

References

1. "2013 ALMS Schedule". alms.com. American Le Mans Series. Archived from the original on June 29, 2013. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
2. "2012 VIR 240 Official Race Report" (PDF). International Motor Sports Association. 20 September 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
3. "2013 Oak Tree Grand Prix at VIR Official Race Report" (PDF). International Motor Sports Association. 8 October 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
4. "2014 Oak Tree Grand Prix at VIR Official PC Race Report" (PDF). International Motor Sports Association. 25 August 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 December 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
5. "2014 Oak Tree Grand Prix at VIR Official GTLM/GTD Race Report" (PDF). International Motor Sports Association. 25 August 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 December 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
6. "2015 Oak Tree Grand Prix at VIR Official Race Report" (PDF). International Motor Sports Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-12-02. Retrieved 2014-11-24.

External links

• Racing Sports Cars: VIR archive
• Ultimate Racing History: VIR archive