The Tudor United Sports Car Championship, races the Oak Tree Grand Prix, at another legendary racing circuit, first opened in the 1950s, today. Virginia International Raceway, in Alton, Virginia. Today's event, showcases, the GT classes, for production-based sports cars. GT Le Mans, and GT Daytona.
Three races remain in the season. Championships are on the line. In GTLM, 15 points cover four makes. GT Daytona has just as close of a battle going on. The weather is very hot today. It was at this speedway in 1971 that IMSA ran it's first GT class race, with Hurley Haywood and Peter Gregg, winning the race in a Porsche, over Dave Hinze in a Corvette, driving solo. It's a Porsche/Corvette battle renewal. Ferrari won last year. They have not won since then.
In GT Daytona, none of the top four cars, they have not won a race. Christina Nielsen had a wreck in qualifying. On pole, Dion von Moltke and Christopher Haase. We are minutes away from the start of the Oak Tree Grand Prix, Powered by Porsche. This course has 28 corners on it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_International_Raceway
The esses are very complex. Even the front straight, has a kink in it. The track was built in 1957, and lay dormant for a while, before reopening in 1998. Here we go. Porsche sweeps the front row in GTLM. We're racing at VIR! Nick Tandy and Jorg Bergmesier are in the two Porsche's, and Lucas Luhr in the BMW looks to the outside. Bryan Sellers passes Oliver Gavin, too. Pierre Kaffer is now up to second. They fly upill through the esses, at top speed.
Bergmeister slides inside the Ferrarti! Shades of Road America, two weeks ago. Kaffer flies back into the lead, into the technical part of the course, exiting turn 17 to th front straight, out of Hog Pen. The s curves area is called The Snake. The scenery here speaks for itself. The GT Daytona cars also started. Dion von Moltke in the Audi leads Bill Sweedler in the Ferrari. The GTD cars are in the last corners called "The Roller Coaster".
Ian James starts the #23 Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT America. They had their balance on the car right. But, some damage, has affected that. Just before the start, Christina Nielsen could not find her drink bottle. Drivers will need that, to stay hydrated. These guys and gals have to do a minimum drive time of 50 minutes. On the strategy, TRG AMR will be running a bit conservative on their pace. The last race of the year, is ten hours. So, that could be a problem, later in the fall, at Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.
Bill Sweedler passes Patrick Lindsey in GT Daytona. Ooh. One of the GTD Audi's is off into Oak Tree corner. Ray Mason at the controls. Oak Tree corner, does not have the oak tree in it anymore. Even though this is a fast, flowing track, sometimes, you have to play dodge 'em cars. Oliver Gavin went the long way around Bill Auberlen and Auberlen was forced wide. Once a driver goes to the left, don't react. Be proactive, and stick to your own line.
Bill Sweedler is running well in the Ferrari. Team mate Townsend Bell, looks on. There have been adjustments on the Balance of Performance. The Viper's and Aston Martin's have been given more weight, and had their engine performance reduced slightly. Nick Tandy leads in the factory Porsche. Sweedler is catching the Audi of Dion von Moltke. Bill Sweedler has momentum. He'll keep going. Once you get a confidence level, if you feel the car is underneath you, the lap time will be there. The semi professional driver, needs the confidence, and the coaching, from a pro driver.
Tire temperature, track temperature, and ambient temperature, are all a big deal. The outside edge, center, and inside edge, all have different temperatures. The track was resurfaced at VIR last year. It's so critical, because the track temperature is so critical. It's a 43 degree split between ambient and track temps. Bill Auberlen wants by Oliver Gavin. Gavin is having none of it. The BMW Z4 GT is faster than the Chevrolet Corvette C-7-R-.
Auberlen sets up the Corvette, but Oliver Gavin, slammed the door. BMW Team RLL has Lucas Luhr in their sister Z4 GT #24. John Edwards is team mate to Bill Auberlen, of course. Tire degradation has not been seen yet. The team is playing things by ear, with their Michelin tires. Some teams used different compounds and the different tires (short stint and long stint tires), and the strategy had to change. The asymmetric tires, change things. The harder tire is more durable, but gives up lap time.
One car makes a pit stop. We watch the Audi vs. Ferrari battle in GT Daytona. Don't get too hasty. The #33 SRT Viper pitted with a flatspotted right front tire, with Ben Keating at the controls. That will put these boys at Viper, off the pace. Does Bill Sweedler have the lead over von Moltke? Yes! Sweedler locked the brake, and the Audi almost pounced, but not quite. The top four cars in GT Daytona have yet to win a race. Keep this in mind.
Right now, the significant battle is Corvette vs. BMW. Bill Auberlen wants by Jan Magnussen. Auberlen can brake later than the Corvette can. The BMW is quicker in the corners, and handles well. However, the Z4 just does not have the straightaway speed compared to the Corvette. Auberlen was indeed tagged by one of the yellow Corvette's. The Corvette just stretches ahead. Magnussen is flashing the lights telling a GT Daytona car, saying, "don't hold me up!"
The #73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT America, might have a radiator or water issue. The temperature is getting hot. Bill Auberlen spins. That was not necessary. He was trying to get after the Corvette, and he got it wrong, getting too deep into the corner. You lose braking distance into the corner, and Auberlen, spins the car. Auberlen lost two spots, also one to Bryan Sellers in the #17 Falken Tires Porsche 911 RSR. We're 37 minutes into this race.
Patrick Lindsey takes the #73 Porsche to the garage. Could it be game over? #24 is in pit lane. BMW Team RLL knew they'd need to pit car #24 earlier. The team will have to go for a three stop race. Auberlen and company, will do two stops, running the fuel tank dry. 40 minutes in. Precisely two hours to go. Nick Tandy leads Pierre Kaffer, Jorg Bergmeister, Jan Magnussen, and Oliver Gavin. Pierre Kaffer continues chasing Jorg Bergmeister.
The #44 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT America, spun off. There's a brow in the esses where the cars get light. He may have had a cut left front tire. The car didn't turn, and spun. Yup. The tire issue created the problem. He lost pressure in the tire, on the floor, and it sent him spinning. Jorge Bergmeister, and others, pit. Risi Competizione makes a great pit stop. The Corvette and the Porsche also pit.
Tommy Milner takes over the #4. He is a Virginian by birth. Corvette does not have the balance or speed right now. An hour and fifty minutes now remain. Dion von Moltke won't take any risks. Bill Sweedler continues to run really well, too. These blokes are right on top of each other, and they hit pit lane, now. Tires and fuel for Townsend Bell's Ferrari. Christopher Haase takes over the Audi. In the Porsche pits, Patrick Pilet takes over from Nick Tasndy. The driver change has to be faster than fuel and tires.
The #3 Corvette pits. Antonio Garcia takes over for Jan Magnussen. At BMW, Dirk Werner takes over from Bill Auberlen. Christina Nielsen pits the #007 Aston Martin V12 Vantage. Kuno Wittmer takes over from Christinia Nielsen. We are coming up on an hour into this race, and, it's been green all the way. Townsend Bell went ahead of Chrisopher Haase. Haase is chasing. Don't burn your tires up right now. Viper is in the lane. Jeroen Bleekemolen takes over from Ben Keating, in seventh in GT Daytona. The scrum between Dion von Moltke and Bill Sweedler, continues.
Yesterday, in qualifying, Nick Tandy slowed down, and Markus Palttala rammed him, causing damage to both cars. Now, Townsend Bell is being hounded by Christopher Haase. Will the Ferrari come on strong towards the end of this run? We'll see. Giancarlo Fisichella goes inside Townsend Bell, and then, Christopher Haase, tried his best, to get by. Almsot identical to the action seen with the team mates, earlier in this race.
The Viper's won the two enduro races in a second car, that was not meant to do the whole season. Then, of course, TI Automotive won GTD last time out, at Road America. Markus Palttala sets fastest lap in GTD at 1:48.4 in the #97 Turner Motorsports BMW Z4 GT. Palttala won the 24 Hours of Spa of course. Team boss Don Salama, went to Iceland. Cooper MacNeil says that the WeatherTech Porsche team has struggled with the heat, and on their setup.
More problems for Andy Lally and the #44 Magnus Racing Porsche. He's got a left front tire going down. He is taking the short course to get back to the pit lane. Patrick Pilet and Nick Tandy lead at halfway into this race, and have dominated so far. The track is very slippery into turn eleven, the one before the Oak Tree turn. Risi Competizione team boss, Dave "Beaky" Sims, started in the 1960s in Formula One, with people like the late, great, Jim Clark.
Back in the old days, you didn't have data. The driver had to give information to the team. We continue watching Dirk Werner flying after the Corvette's. Patrick Pilet leads. Track temperature spreads, again, are very extreme this weekend, between track and ambient temperature. Turner Motorsports is trying to a pit time strategy, with their master strategist Don "The Ice Man" Salama. Save fuel now, as if you have less fuel to need a tank of gas, you will need to stretch the margin.
Something has gone wrong with Antonio Garcia and the #3 Corvette. Did he lose power. Recycle the ECU. He's back underway. He is behind Dirk Werner in the BMW, and thankfully, he didn't get rear-ended. Garcia locks the brakes into turns fourteen and fiften, going through the Roller Coaster. Corvette doesn't have the sharp edge, due to the Balance of Performance. We watch Earl Bamber try to pass Giancarlo Fisichella in the Ferrari in GTLM, passing the GTD Aston Martin V12 Vantage. Final pit stops are coming soon.
Giancarlo Fisichella is doing well with car control, trying to keep the Ferrari from going sideways. In the lane, it's the #97 BMW Z4 GT, for four tires and fuel. The #23 Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT America also just pitted. We havwe only an hour left in this race. Fuel saving will be critical. Right now, Fisichella is holding up Earl Bamber in the sister factory Porsche. Townsend Bell now pits the #63 Ferrari 458 Italia, clearning grass from the radiators. You have to protect. Stretch your fuel, if there is no yellow flag.
The #48 Audi is in the pits, and so is the #4 Corvette, and the #25 BMW. This is a busy pit lane, and we've had zero full course yellows in this race. Ferrari goes by the Audi. Kuno Wittmer leads in the Aston Martin in GTD. #4 is pushing. Tommy Milner is trying Dirk Werner, and pushing hard. The #33 Viper and the #912 Porsche both pit. No issues for the #912 even though they had to duck around the Viper. 37 miles an hour is the pit lane sped limit. #007 is in the lane, from the lead. Everything has to be spot on.
Kuno Wittmer is back on track, and can he get out in front of Christopher Haase? No. Haase's ahead. #911 pits from the lead. Four tires, fuel, and a driver change. Nick Tandy is back in the car. #62 for Risi Competizione pits, too. Scrubbed tire on the left rear and three stickers, and Pierre Kaffer is back at the controls. Kaffer has been stronger today, than Giancarlo Fisichella, who won for Risi here last year. The #17 Falken Tire Porsche 911 RSR pits. Temperature for the Falken tires have not been as good as they'd hoped.
Bryan Sellers is back in the car, replacing Wolf Henzler, for the finish. Werner and Milner battle. These two blokes are right together. Antonio Garcia pits from third. Scrubbed, one stint tires, are going on the car. All four are scrubbed. No driver change. Fuel added. Garcia is back in the fight. The single stint tires are better for mid and rear engine cars like the Ferrari and the Porsche, compared to the heavier, front engine machines like the Corvette and the BMW.
Falken Tire Racing and Derrick Walker, are running well. They won't be back next year of course. Meanwhile, Tommy Milner runs wide, and spins through turn three, catching the back side ofthe curb, and spinning. An incident between the #62 Ferrari and the #912 Porsche, is under review, by the stewards. Bamber tries to play dodge 'em cars, and force the issue. No action taken by Beaux Barfield and the race stewards for that move.
We're past halfway now. Beaux Barfield has very much had a "have at it boys and girls" attitude, about the racing, unless there is a real flagrant offense of shoving someone off the road. The #24 BMW Z4 GT is now on it's third stop, with John Edwards at the controls. We see some damage on Pierre Kaffer's Ferrari after the fracas with Earl Bamber in the sister Porsche. We now have less than 40 minutes left in this contest. Ooh! What happened there? The #25 BMW has had a smal;l problem. The car has a loose rear bumper, for Dirk Werner.
The bumper is now gone. The #4 Corvette slices around Jeroen Bleekemolen in the #33 Viper, and the #3 car gets chopped. There's grass in the radiator on the BMW. He's been off the road somewhere. Dirk Werner had to be off in the grass. Verner hit th brakes, trying to get the grass off the radiator grid, to cool the car. Let the air turbulence clean the grille, just like in NASCAR. Will the engine temps go down? We have 35 minutes left in this contest, folks.
Just over a half hour to go in this race. Hurley Haywood and Peter Gregg won the first IMSA GT race here in 1971, driving a Porsche 914/6. The bumper cover from the BMW will remain on the track, unfortunately. John Edwards is faster than Dirk Werner. Will RLL slow Edwards down? Porsche runs 1-2 in the overall now. Oh boy. The #48 Audi is off the course. He spun off the road. He got in deep, and unweighted the car, spinning. He's got grass in the radiator.
Haase is shown fourth in class. He has dropped to fourth. Christina Nielsen may extend her GTD points lead. Nick Tandy continues to lead, while Townsend Bell and Bill Sweedler may get their first win of the year. We have one car out, and have not had any yellow flags. Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber are 1-2 right now. Pierre Kaffer and the Ferrari have been running very, very well, too. Kaffer is putting in a valiant drive, running a 1:42.60. John Edwards in the #24 BMW Z4 GT is fourth overall, and #25 is fifth overall, and in GT Le Mans.
Townsend Bell leads GT Daytona in the #63 Ferrari 458 Italia. Kuno Wittmer is doing his best to preserve his co-driver Christina Nielsen's GTD points lead. Third is Mario Farnbacher with Ian James co-driving, in the #23 Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT America. Both cars are back for AJR next year. In fourth, it's the #97 Turner Motorsports BMW Z4 GT in the hands of Markus Palttala. Turner Motorsports will race the new BMW M6 GT3 next year, and may run two cars in the enduros. Lots of manufacturer rumors because of the GT3 rules.
There will be some cool new cars out there next year. Twenty minutes left in this race. Tandy is flying away, 27 seconds ahead of team mate Earl Bamber. Townsend Bell might have a small issue. He touches the curb, and goes off the road, but stays in it. He felt a false neutral in the transmission. He has drive and traction, and caught a neutral between gears, having no power, for a second. The starting drivers in the GTD class, are getting better and better. They are Pro/Am drivers. But they can get more time to get comfortable.
We see the #48 Audi and the #22 Porsche. Leh Keen is looking for a way by Christopher Haase, to pass. Close move between Corvette and Ferrari. Five minutes remaining here at Virginia International Raceway. The gap has decreased between Bamber and Kaffer. But, Nick Tandy, seems to be on the money, and he could be the winner, in mere minutes. Nick Tandy is a cool customer, but he gets the job done in the race car. You have to push the limits, and can't afford to give up a hundredth of a second.
Be quick, give good feedback, and don't bang up the race car. Risi Competizione has won this race for the last two years. They won't win today, but they've still had a good one. One minute remaining, as we come to the white flag, here at VIR. These blokes are up for their second straight win. A splash and dash for Tommy Milner in the #4 Corvette, cutting it too lean, and having to pit. We've got two very exciting races, coming up. Details coming, after announcing the winner.
Half a lap to go, and the fuel light is on, on Tandy's Porsche. He'll make it. Will Earl Bamber make it? Can the Ferrari pass? #911 wins it! Nick Tandy and Patrick Pilet, win! Here we go, and a couple of fcorners to go between Bamber and Kaffer. Bamber gets second. Kaffer, third. In GT Daytona, Townsend Bell and Bill Sweedler, for Scuderia Corsa, will win GT Daytona. Sweedler and Bell get their first win of the year!
Overall/GT Le Mans: #911 Tandy/Pilet Porsche 911 RSR
GT Daytona: #63 Sweedler/Bell Ferrari 458 Italia
Only two Tudor Championship races remain in the season, for all classes. The penultimate event, is the Lone Star Le Mans, at Circuit of the Americas, in Austin, Texas, in conjunction, with the FIA World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of COTA, coming up in three weeks on Saturday, September 19th.
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