Dominant Jamin earns weekend PWC GTS sweep at VIR

Nico Jamin of France scored his second consecutive GTS class victory Sunday by piloting the No. 13 ANSA Motorsports KTM Xbow to a wire-to-wire performance at VIRginia International Raceway in the Pirelli World Challenge Nissan Grand Prix of VIR.

The talented 21-year-old who won Saturday's GTS contest began from the pole and dove to the lead in Turns 1 and 2 in a similar fashion to Saturday's start. Jamin was able to increase his margin to 2.076 seconds after 25 laps Sunday in mid-80 degree weather at the 3.27-mile, 17-turn road circuit.

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The young Frenchman was able to get the jump on fellow front-row starter Jeff Courtney in the No. 99 RecStuff.com/Kenda/JCR Motorsports Maserati GT4 as the 17-car field drove into Turn 1 from the long VIR front straightaway. Jamin, who won last week at Barber Motorsports Park in the Indy Lights division, kept his lead pace throughout the 50-minute distance in another dominating performance.

"I had no idea what to expect from the standing start because I haven't done standing starts in five years," said Jamin. "[Courtney] had a better start than me, with a pretty good run into Turn 1. I was actually able to brake deeper than him and get him back in Turn 1. From there I knew I had to get a super quick lap to get away from him so I pushed like crazy with those new tires and built a pretty good gap."

Jamin was driving the same machine which Brett Sandberg took to the 2016 GTS drivers' championship, and the youngster looked flawless during the two VIR contests.

"I was pushing like crazy because I knew he was right behind me and pushing me," said Jamin. "The chassis is really good so I think we can manage the tires better than some of the heavier cars. I did have a couple of close calls where I lost the car for a little bit but I knew what I was doing so I saved it. It's fun to race here with all the different cars and the good BoP (Balance of Performance)."

Courtney enjoyed an outstanding weekend with another runner-up showing in the popular Maserati GT4 despite racing against the younger Jamin.

"He gapped me pretty good on the start again which I knew would be a problem," said the Wisconsin driver. "I didn't want to see a restart but I was happy with it since I was able to get a little closer to Nico. It felt like I might get a chance. I knew he wouldn't make a mistake but I felt like I was pushing really hard to maybe get a run on the back straight. I felt like that was the only place that I would have a chance. At the end, I was starting to light the tires up under braking, so with three laps left, I was close enough that I thought I should at least take a shot at it."

Two-time GTS champion Lawson Aschenbach took his second third-place finish of the weekend in the No. 10 Blackdog Speed Shop Chevrolet Camaro GT4R followed by England's Ian James in the all-new No. 50 Team Panoz Racing Panoz Avezzano GT, Martin Barkey of Canada in the MBRP Performance Exhaust/Mantella Autosport KTM Xbow GT and Jason Bell the top GTS Amateur finisher, in the No. 2 Racers Edge Motorsports SIN R1 Car GT4.

Rounds 5 and 6 for the GTS category will resume at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on May 19-21.