Throwback Thursday: VIR Hosted The First IMSA GT Race

Next weekend, VIRginia International Raceway hosts an all-GT event, showcasing the IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship GT Le Mans (GTLM) and GT Daytona (GTD) classes – the only time all season that the GT classes battle for the overall victory.

It’s a fitting setting for the Oak Tree Grand Prix at VIR, with the circuit hosting the very first IMSA GT race back in 1971. VIR was one of America’s first permanent road circuits, with competition dating back to 1957. While we are looking forward to continuing that tradition with next weekend’s Oak Tree Grand Prix, let’s take a look back at that inaugural IMSA GT weekend, courtesy of Bill King, writer of VIR: A living History, Vol. 1: The 20th Century.

On the weekend of April 17-18, 1971, John Bishop staged the first race in the International Motor Sports Association’s Grand Touring Car Championship. He chose VIR for the honor. The local officialdom and specifically regional executive Laurence Miller mustered the troops in support of the grassroots pro racing series. After all, there were many members of the Region who were fully on-board with the new sanctioning body.Billed as “American Horsepower vs. European Handling,” the Danville 300 followed the script to a tee. Dave Heinz clipped off a 2:18 flat in his stars-and-bars liveried GTO (Over 2.5 liters) 427 Corvette, a full four seconds up on the Peter Gregg/Hurley Haywood GTU (Under 2.5 liters) Brumos Porsche 914/6. That the Corvette would require two fuel stops to the 914’s one, put the outcome in limbo. On paper, it appeared to be a dead-heat finish in the making. The difference ultimately proved to be Gregg’s choice of having a second driver, as Heinz planned a solo run.As the green flag waved, the Corvette shot to the front and, as expected, motored away, turning consistent laps around three seconds quicker than Gregg during the opening stint. There were no dramas for 36 laps, then Heinz brought the Vette in for scheduled refueling yielding the lead to Gregg, who turned it back a dozen laps later during the Porsche’s only scheduled fuel stop. The game changer would be the Porsche team’s planned driver change as a fresh Haywood took the reins of the 914.It was still a warm day when Heinz brought the big car in for its second fuel stop at Lap 59. Not only did it prove a long stop – two and a half minutes – but Heinz was beginning to wish he’d also chosen to employ a co-driver. Back on track, Heinz set about winding the Brumos Porsche back in. With 18 laps to go, the Corvette trailed by 48 seconds and was still trimming some three second’s a lap from the Haywood’s lead – a pace that could win the race for the American car.That’s when exhaustion began to creep into the picture. Heinz fell off the pavement, dinging the Corvette’s clutch arm and an oil line. It took several

 pit stops to patch up the damage, and Heinz soldiered on to a distant second to the winning Gregg/Haywood Porsche.Porsches filled out the top five with Ralph Meany’s 914/6, third; Pete Harrison’s 911S, fourth; and Jack Rabold’s like mount, fifth. A very satisfying sixth overall and first in Baby Grand or IMSA B was the BMW 2002 of Byron Morris and Clint Abernathy. The Baby Grands were to have their own race, but there were not enough ready in April. George Alderman was next in a Datsun 510, first in Baby Grand A.Twelfth overall and first in Touring Under 2.5 was the Opel of Amos Johnson, Roger Mandeville and Bunny Diggett. Bob Hennig and Dick Staples won Touring Over 2.5 in a Javelin.The following year, Baby Grand would absorb the Touring category to become the B.F. Goodrich Radial Challenge Series, a hotbed of manufacturer involvement for the next decade.