IMSA: Michelin GT Challenge at VIR preview 2016

WEATHERTECH CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT SCHEDULE:

Friday, August 26 (all times Eastern)

• 11:30 a.m. -12:30 p.m. Free Practice 1
• 3:35 p.m. - 4:35 p.m. Free Practice 2

Saturday, August 27

• 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Free Practice 3
• 11:55 a.m. - 12:35 p.m. Qualifying

Sunday, August 28

• 8:05 a.m. - 8:25 a.m. Warm-up
• 1:35 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. Race – Michelin GT Challenge at VIR for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTLM/GTD – 2 hours, 40 minutes

TV TUNE-IN INFO: 

POINTS OF INTEREST:

WELCOME BACK
After a 19-day break since the last WeatherTech Championship race at Road America, the series returns with its one and only GT showcase of the season. Minus the pesky Prototypes and PCs, IMSA’s pride and joy, its GT Le Mans and GT Daytona categories, should combine for another classic at the courage-testing VIR circuit.

FASTER STILL
The 3.3-mile road course recently underwent another round of repaving, which should produce faster lap times and new GTLM and GTD lap records. Surprisingly, the news of the fresh surface wasn’t greeted in a positive light by every competitor.

“Normally I would say that repaving is awesome,” said Ben Keating, who won the Road America GTD race with Jeroen Bleekemolen in the No. 33 Dodge Viper GT3-R. “However, we have found that our Viper GT3-R handles bumps better than a lot of our competition. Therefore, we want the bumpiest tracks possible. I think the repaving helps our competition more, but the added grip from the new pavement at Watkins Glen this season allowed us to really trim out our aero and increase our top speed at the end of the straight. My guess is that this will be our plan at VIR too as it has one of the longest straights we see.”

STREAKS AND AMBITIONS
10 GTLMs and 14 GTDs are expected to participate in Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge, and with three rounds left to run, including VIR, teams have no time to waste if they want to be crowned champions at the season finale in Road America.

Coming into VIR, GTLM has become a battle of Michigan’s finest as Corvette Racing’s Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner are riding a two-race win streak in the No. 4 Corvette C7.R, and behind them, Ford Chip Ganassi Racing’s Richard Westbrook and Ryan Briscoe rode a three-race win streak in the No. 67 Ford GT prior to Corvette getting the upper hand.

At 264 points to 251, the Bowtie boys will obviously want to put more distance between their C7.R and the Blue Oval’s GT, and with no Balance of Performance changes to the class for VIR (barring refueling tank flow restrictors), we should see a continuation of the Corvette versuss Ford battle that raged in Wisconsin.

And behind them, the No. 3 Corvette C7.R (223 points), No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 (220 points), and the No. 25 BMW Team RLL BMW M6 and No. 912 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR are tied for fifth (219 points). It’s marching time in GTLM, and thanks to IMSA’s small points payout structure, those trailing the top two will need to win big if they want to make it a three-, four- or five-way race to the title.

GTD finds itself in a similar position where a distinct separation exists between the genuine contenders and those with a lot of ground to make up over the final three rounds. Defending class champions Scuderia Corsa hold first with Christina Nielsen and Alessandro Balzan in the No. 63 Ferrari 488 (243 points), and they have a surging No. 44 Magnus Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 piloted by John Potter and Andy Lally on the hunt in second (228 points).

Add in the aforementioned No. 33 Dodge Viper GT3-R for Keating and Bleekemolen in third (222 points), the No. 6 Stevenson Motorsports Audi R8 LMS GT3 of Andrew Davis and Robin Liddell in fourth (212 points), and the No. 23 Alex Job Racing/Team Seattle Porsche 911 GT3 R driven by Alex Riberas and Mario Farnbacher in fifth (207 points), and GTD is far from settled.

This weekend’s race – for the sake of pure GT enjoyment and for the season-long championship implications – should not be missed.