Wednesday, August 31, 2022
2014 6 Hours of Fuji
Audi and Porsche are defying Toyota on their home turf as we revisit the 2014 6 Hours of Fuji for the FIA World Endurance Championship. We join John Hindhaugh, and Graham Goodwin in the booth, and Louise Beckett in the pit lane, for all the action.
Post-Race News After VIR
All the post-race news and so on from Virginia International Raceway after the Michelin GT Challenge.
Tuesday, August 30, 2022
Winner & Highlights of the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR
For the second and final time this year, it is an all-GT field lined up and ready to race in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship. Now, you may ask, "wait. What about the first time?" That race, at Lime Rock Park from last month, is coming. Yours truly will get to it and post it soon. I promise you that. For the time being, we are ready to race at one of North America's great road courses, which has existed in one form or another since 1957, although, was closed from 1974 until 2000 when, over two decades ago now, it was resurrected, and since then has restored its rightful place as one of the best road racing circuits in North America. We will see an all GT3 field of GT Daytona Pro and GT Daytona cars race today.
The competition has been absolutely sintillating in the GT series this year. It has been unreal, as we are at America's Motorsport Resort, on the Virginia, North Carolina border. It is hot, 90 degrees. We are getting closer and closer to the end of the season. It is pretty humid with very little wind out there. Hello to Leigh Diffey and Calvin Fish. Two championship stories. In GTD Pro, Pfaff Motorsports and their Porsche 911 GT3R have won four races this year, leading the title fight by 227 points. All they really have to do is start today's race and then, start the finale in five weeks at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, for the Petit Le Mans. Winning this race overall is what they want to do.
In the regular GTD class with the green number panels, we have five teams and a number of drivers who are all within 125 points of each other. There is a potential 170 point swing between winning or finishing caboose on the field. Eight brands are represented and ready to go. There's no favorites coming in here. In the last five seasons, five brands have won at this track. Here is how that breaks down.
2017: Lamborghini
2018: Lexus
2019: Mercedes
2020: BMW
2021: Porsche
Could we have another different winner? Could we see our first repeat winner today? Strap in, cinch down those belts, and stay tuned to find out. Grab a cold beverage and settle in for a rip snorting afternoon of GT racing! It is anybody's game. We are set for a green flag, next. The cars are fired up and lined up echelon style on the grid and now, they are rolling off behind the safety car for the recon laps, the formation laps. Much like some of the other old school tracks on the schedule, there are no grandstands here at VIR. Fans are camped out on the hillsides near the track to watch their heroes race today.
What a tremendous overhead view. We will talk about the most famous corner, Oak Tree corner, quite frequently, although the old oak tree is gone and there must be one planted there that is but a mere sapling and will grow over time. We have tons of contenders. Top five within 125 points in GT Daytona. A huge variety of manufacturers and many international drivers in this race today. The one constant in each session has been absolute uncontrolled chaos. We saw Ryan Hardwick and Jan Heylen spin twice during qualifying. The runoff here, the track limits, are the grass. You have no margin for error before you are skating across the front lawn as it were, here at VIR.
The #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche team wants maximum points and they believe they have the spunk they did earlier in the year. Winward Racing, the #57 Mercedes AMG GT3 of Russell Ward and Phil Ellis, they were penalized at Watkins Glen. At Lime Rock, well, they got unlucky, but they put the puzzle together at Road America and now, they are on the pole position in class. Ross Gun has pole in GTD Pro while Russell Ward, just as we said, he is on the pole for the third time in 2022. We have a field of 18 cars today.
Respect the boundaries. Watch for that grass. Watch your engine temperatures with the heat. Keep hydrated as a driver. The pit stop strategy, if the GTD Pro boys get mixed up with the GTD cars, everyone is running at the same speed. All GT3 field of course, and that means that every exotic car in this race is going to have the same performance levels. It is going to come down to luck and to driver skill. You just cannot win these sports car races without a large slice of luck. Paul Miller Racing, and their BMW M4 GT3, Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow, they get the trophy for the IMSA Sprint Cup merely by starting the race today. Congratulations, boys.
The endurance races are not included. Those two were champions overall before. The first five cars are GTD Pro and the other baker's dozen are GTD. OK. Green flag! This motor race is underway! Punch it. The Michelin Man waves the flag. Matt Campbell wants to make a deep braking move to turn one and squeeeze right up behind Ross Gunn, but he has the #3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R to his left flank already! Elbows out. Connor De Philippi, he is doing what he can to bring more power but can't make it stick just yet. Robert Megennis nerfs the #51 Nurtec ODT Acura but no worries there. The #14 black and yellow Lexus, Jack Hawksworth at the wheel of it, he is making his move already as they approach the section of the course called The Snake.
It twists and turns like a serpent and then, the climbing esses, up the hill as the #32 Korthoff Racing Mercedes AMG GT3, they want to keep themselves in the lead of the championship in GT Daytona. This car is carrying an onboard camera, the Mercedes being shared by Stevan McAleer and Mike Skeen. He punches it down Madison Avenue, the massive Mercedes V8, roaring, putting the power down. Robert Megennis in the #39 CarBahn with Peregrine Racing V10 powered Lamborghini Huracan is going wheel to wheel with Madison Snow in the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3. 3 liter straight six power in the BMW.
Into the braking zone, here comes another BMW. Robby Foley has the wheel for the opening stint aboard the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3. Now, we have another car that has gone off the road. This is the #42 NTE Sport Lamborghini. Jaden Conwright at the controls, slides his way onto the grass and now is doing what he can to get back on the road. Conwright, the young driver, sharing with Austrian driver Marco Holzer. Some argy bargy into the braking zone on cold tires even on a hot day. Everyone is so concerned. Don't leave the pavement. You don't want to turn your GT3 race car into the world's most expensive lawnmower because all you will do is overheat and have to trundle 'round this three and a quarter mile circuit before you are home and hosed.
Roman De Angelis wants by Robby Foley. That is the Aston Martin, the #23 Heart of Racing entry. Trouble, as predicted, for poor old Jaden Conwright after he went off the road. NTE Sport, out of Dallas, Texas. Something isn't working. No power. High water temperature. Get the car to the lane to service it but he is a long way from home. The car is overheating. It is coughing and sputtering as the water gushes out of the overflow pipe. Up front, Ross Gunn leads Matt Campbell ahead of the Spaniard Antonio Garcia who has won three times here. This year, Corvette Racing, adjusting their car to the lower power and higher weight of GT3, they have had a dry spell and have not seen the winner's circle.
Currently, they are third in points coming in. Ben Barnicoat in Lexus #14 for Vasser Sullivan has leapfrogged the Corvette boys. Jordan Taylor, Garcia's co-driver, says they will see where they are at. Ross Gunn is in clean air. Gunn put storming laps in during qualifying. Team boss and former racing driver Ian James, he said that the tire management will be crucial because the track surface at VIR witn the heat is bound to get really greasy as the race goes on. Looking at the Corvette, Garcia is told to keep the goody in the tires and not wear them out. In the simulator, the drivers ran through tire options to see what they can do and they saw their improvements in Free Practice.
That is why the simulators these teams have now are so incredibly important. Now, let's double back and have a Captain Cook at the start. Matt Campbell really got a jump but further down in the field, there's contact. Robert Megennis clatters into the Acura #51 and Roman De Angelis does the same to the Megennis car. Skeen and McAleer have separate points because earlier this season at Laguna Seca, Skeen came down with the dreaded virus that has been prominent in our world and may be waning a bit, hopefully. But, because of his illness, he could not race and did not score points in the race in California.
Nonetheless, he is really stepping up to the plate. De Angelis clattered into Megennis and in a chain reaction, Megennis nipped the rear of Aidan Read in the #51 Rick Ware Racing Acura NSX GT3 he is sharing with Ryan Eversley. Everyone is fine. No damage. Ross Gunn is in contorl of the race as we have just gotten underway here in Virginia. The cars in GTD Pro are running in single file for the most part as they wind their way down the hill and back towards the front straight, through Hog Pen corner. There may be a pigpen over there way off the road. Hard to say. If there is, keep the pigs safe from the race cars. We don't need any ham sandwiches right now, thanks.
Antonio "The King of Spain" Garcia, he is reeling in Matty Campbell in the Porsche hand over fist. Rattling over the curbs they go on this beautiful Sunday afternoon in Virginia. This speedway is amazing. Put it on your bucket list. A great racecourse and a great piece of land. Aston Martin followed by Porsche and Corvette. The BMW M4 GT3 is next over the Lexus RC F GT3. Connor De Philippi and then, Jack Hawksworth, who had to have foot and back surgery after a motorcycle wreck. He is back now. They ran fastest in morning warmup. Tire management is key for the Lexus boys as Hawksworth is playing the long game.
He is teamed with Ben Barnicoat. Both of them are from northern England. Team bosses Jimmy Vasser and James "Sully" Sullivan, and there, look, Hawksworth passes De Philippi when he washes out into the turn. In GTD, the top five now includes Russell Ward, Aidan Read, Madison Snow, Robert Megennis, and Mike Skeen. Five brands there all in a row. Make that four, really. You have a Mercedes sandwich. The Mercedes' are the two slices of bread while the filling is that of BMW, Acura, and Lamborghini.
Everyone now into a rhythm as we watch Winward Racing and Russell Watd. Aidan Read, for Rick Ware Racing, is normally an engineer on their NASCAR Cup program and on off weekends he comes to drive the GT Daytona Acura. This weekend, ironically, and just before we started the race here at VIR, you would have seen if you have access to Peacock, the NASCAR Cup Series racing their summer 400 miler at Daytona International Speedway in which they did their darnedest to beat the rain. But, Aidan Read, he put the car on the front row, the Australian. He has a fellow Aussie engineer in Matt Harvey, who is a GT3 specialist.
Last time he engineered the car, they scored a podium at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park last month. Aidan Read was off the road in qualifying but it had no effect on his lap times. Hardpoint are at their home track. Team boss Rob Ferriol keeps the team here and the car. Family and friends are surely here to watch the race today. Ferriol sharing with Katherine Legge. For Hardpoint, it is like a backyard barbecue. Ferriol manages other racing programs and they also had a trailer fire that caused them to miss a race. They have a program called Operation Motorsport which helps military vets transferring to the real world.
Elliott Whitfield, a former member of the military, he has a similar duty to what he had during his service as a radio operator and so, he is a full-fledged member of the team thanks to the partnership with Operation Motorsport. Very cool story. Rob Ferriol, too, is a veteran. So, these stories are great to hear as always. Meanwhile, Heart of Racing, Pfaff Motorsports, Corvette Racing, and Vasser Sullivan, they are scrapping. Hawksworth has pace and he is faster than Ross Gunn right now. They know they can go for it.
The Lexus team can chase down the leaders. 90 degrees ambient temperatures. We saw these heat issues in Michelin Pilot Challenge and we are seeing them again today in the WeatherTech GT race. Watch your body core temperature especially if you are a driver slated to run a double stint before handing over or when you are slated to get into the car. Hydrate well. Do the tires fall off a cliff? Do they stay in it for the long haul on green flag runs? Antonio Garcia is going for it. The GT Daytona Pro C8 Corvette has not been here yet.
GTD Pro has red accents and GTD cars have green accents. This Corvette is the same car they have been racing but have spec tires and antilock brakes as well as more weight. Through the climbing esses they touch 155 miles an hour. Watch for tire clag buildup in Oak Tree corner. The tires shred the rubber much like when you use the eraser on a pencil and the cars will just skitter straight off the road if they go offline into the tire clag. The #42 NTE Motorsports Lamborghini goes behind the wall. Jaden Conwright and Marco Holzer, it could be game over for them. We see in replay, that car was like a volcano. Steam spewing right out the top of the car where the water overflow valve is. It is a four wheeled tea kettle and that is not in a good way.
Fancy a spot of tea? Not now, mate. Thanks. Can anyone stop Ross Gunn's dominance we have seen through the race so far? Stay tuned to see what happens next. Right now, the scrap is on in GTD Pro between the Corvette and the Pfaff Motorsports Porsche and we also see the Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 chasing the Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3 as they wind their way down through The Snake. Robby Foley is pushing Stevan McAleer hard out onto Madison Avenue. Meanwhile, back out front, it is Corvette and Pfaff Porsche and the Lexus is coming calling. They are honing in on the lead battle, probing, looking to join the party without any kind of invitation.
V8 engines of all kinds and a flat six of course in the Porsche. Mechanical variety is at the heart of sports car racing and that is why fans love it. This track at VIR gives these GT3 cars a great opportunity to stretch their legs and as mentioned earlier, bring more power. This race between Garcia and Hawksworth is about to get really spicy. Fuel management though is critical. If you catch a yellow and have less fuel to load into the car, you will be better off. The pit ceews will be as efficient as possible. What a great battle we are seeing between Pfaff Porsche and Corvette.
The relationship between the Matt's, Matthieu Jaminet and Matty Campbell, they are true buddies. They went to a local dirt track at Road America and an ax throwing contest here in Virginia. They got into a pool game for each event to decide who would qualify the car. The winner, made the other driver qualify the car for the majority of the races. How about that. "Jam Jam" will take over from Matt Campbell later. They want to be relaxed for the finale in less than five weeks at Road Atlanta with Petit Le Mans. They will be able to start the race and earn the title.
Matt Campbell and Matthieu Jaminet have been chosen by Porsche AG as part of their GTP program next year. GTP is going to be phenomenal! Acura, Cadillac, BMW, Porsche. Recently, Audi said no. They are going to Formula 1 instead. But those cars are pure sexiness and look fabulous! These cars when they debut at the Rolex 24, it is going to be wild! Hawksworth is really pushing now. We have not seen Magnus Racing and they are running a race before Petit Le Mans. This is John Potter and Andy Lally, and they are readying for the finale next month.
Sean Heckman, the host of the podcast Dinner with Racer's and a former PR man for Magnus, he is being a "strategist" for the team, but the British blokes on the team are the strategists. He is the translator and the strategist. Maybe there is hope for someone like me to work in motorsports rather than just talking about it and writing these blog entries. Magnus Racing are a fun group to be sure. So, Aidan Read, meanwhile, is second ahead of Madison Snow and behind Russell Ward. Mercedes, Acura, BMW, Lamborghini. Robert Megennis stays ahead of Mike Skeen. Then we have a Mercedes and another BMW of course.
Flat out at 155 miles an hour cresting the hill. Slow it down. Skeen slides off the turn onto Madison Avenue. The drivers are talking about how slick the track is in this heat. We saw Jaden Conwright go off the road earlier and the Conwright/Holzer Lamborghini, for them it is game over. All the drivers are saving fuel right now before the pit stops. Ross Gunn, the Englishman has led all the way so far with Matt Campbell and Antonio Garcia both in hot pursuit. This three-way lead battle has been scintillating as we said, and it continues to be.
We go back now to see how our pals Mike Skeen and Robby Foley are going. Foley in the BMW is reeling in Skeen aboard the Mercedes, gradually. This track at VIR is so full of twists and turns as they come once again down Madison Avenue. Back to the leaders, and the Lexus, I believe of Jack Hawksworth, he has fallen away slightly from the leading trio. What a picturesque circuit this is as we see these production sports cars work their way around now down through the esses, through The Snake. The Aston Martin of Ross Gunn, he seems to be eking out a bit of a gap on the others.
Fans at VIR get a chance to do fast lap rides on the 1.1 mile Patriot Course at VIR using production cars from BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, and Hyundai, which use high performance Michelin tires and the main course is used for the iconic Car & Driver Lightning Lap. Bib, the Michelin Man, even gets his own hot lap! Tee hee. There is new guardrail on the front straight. Track owner Connie Nieholm and track President Kerrigan Smith, have done a wonderful job keeping this beautiful facility up and prepared for racing.
VIR is old school, dramatic, and it is an investment. There is a new cold side to the pit lane and a new infield care center. Back to the racing and everyone is status quo right now. The five GTD Pro cars are all in a line. Five brands with Aston martin, Porsche, Chevrolet, Lexus, and BMW. In the GTD class it is Russell Ward for Mercedes leading the Acura of Aidan Read by 1.3 seconds. We are closing in on the 45 minute drive time. How do you slice the pie with drive time? 50-53 minutes on each set. 45 minutes, for the early pit stop... the undercut.
If you do the undercut, your tires will fade. Do you overcut and go the other way? A Full Course Yellow, that will toss the balls in the air for sure. Paul Miller Racing missed the Rolex 24 as they did not have an available car. But they have now won the IMSA Sprint Cup. Everything is in race mode for the team right now. Madison Snow reports the track is hot and greasy but that is how it is for everyone at the present time. Lots of motor racing left on the board as we are very close to the hour mark. When it comes down to crunch time, we'll see who has the goods.
At Vasser Sullivan, they won in class at Road America and have had a pair of second place finishes for the #14. Ben Barnicoat says VIR is a very hard track to overtake on and the fuel save is the big deal. A fast, flowing track like VIR makes it hard to follow your competition directly and try to make a pass. Barnicoat is confident of the speed of the Lexus and they are working through their strategy. The most thrilling part of the course to Barnicoat has to be the esses for an adrenaline rush. It is a thrill to drive through that portion of the track.
Barnicoat teaming up with Jack Hawksworth and Barnicoat's first ever U.S. sports car race was in 2017 right here at VIR. So, he knows this place. I don't want to be a broken record. But again, you've missed nothing so far at the front. Nothing of note at the sharp end as the Heart of Racing Aston Martin with Ross Gunn at the wheel of it, continues to lead. Garcia is giving Campbell all he can handle trying to move in on the Aussie Porsche ace. Two veteran drivers for their respective manufacturers as Antonio Garcia, he has been a Corvette driver now for many years.
It appears Connor De Philippi is now making inroads on the rest of the GTD Pro field and all these cars are right together on the same portion of the track coming down to complete amother lap. Robby Foley is still chasing Mike Skeen down for fifth place in class in GT Daytona but now he heads for the pit lane and routine service. Tires, fuel, and a driver change, the order of the day. Nope. Check that. No driver change, as they go off strategy. Foley will do a double stint. Routine service. Fuel, tires, and now the car is down off the air jacks and away.
In Saturday's Michelin Pilot Challenge event which you've no doubt read about, Turner Motorsports were in the zone on their strategy, and it seems to be the case in this race for the WeatherTech Championship as well. If there is a yellow, the Turner Motorsports team will be in good shape. Don "The Ice Man" Salama, he may truly be the "ice man" as he vacationed in Iceland recently. There is a picture of him in the Icelandic Sea! Freezing cold! He has a drink in his hand. I am just trying to come up with some type of comment on that picture and I can't do it. I am speechless. Yours truly? Speechless? Since when has that happened? That's funny!
Don Salama has taken strategy really seriously and he used to be a driver, too, so he knows what is going on. Back at the top of the shop, Ross Gunn continues on his merry way in the lead ahead of Matty Campbell. We can see that Connor De Philippi has now gained ground on Jack Hawksworth. This is the fourth place battle and De Philippi is reeling in the Lexus. De Philippi has been fighting the handling on that BMW and maybe the others are going for fuel save for the first round of pit stops. De Philippi and so many others love this track. John Edwards, his co-driver, is in a home race as he is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.
BMW Team RLL (Rahal Letterman Lanigan), they have a massive new shop about to be opened in Zionsville, Indiana. They will be headed for the GTP class, the prototype, in 2023. BMW are (like other teams in the new prototype category for next year), settling their driver lineup for the season, and we have yet to hear about who will be where, but you have to think that many drivers who are on the books for the confirmed brands in GTP are already in consideration. De Philippi and company do hope to be back for BMW with their new prototype.
Maybe today is the day for RLL and the BMW boys. Into the lane for the first stop of the day, the #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R. So, Ryan Hardwick is handing over to Jan Heylen. They have not been able to make gains during the stint as fuel is added and the tires are changed. Fuel added and he is down and away. Jan Heylen from Belgium, the 2021 Porsche Cup winner. Corvette Racing in the lane with #3. Jordan Taylor will take the car over from Antonio Garcia. They have been doing all they can to save the tires with a conservative, aggressive appraoch, to trim out the car.
In the #32 Mercedes, Stevan McAleer takes over from Mike Skeen. The #39 CarBahn with Peregrine Racing Lambo has pitted now, and they were having handling issues as Jeff Westphal is into the car taking over from Robert Megennis. Turner Motorsports' two drivers are fairly evenly matched. Auberlen, the winningest driver in IMSA. Deary me! Katherine Legge, spinning across the grass on her out lap on cold tires! The out lap on stone cold tires even in the heat here in Virginia is diabolical! It is a pain in the, well, you know. Aidan Read to the lane for the Rick Ware Acura NSX GT3. Read will stay in the car. The #57 Winward Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 is in the lane for service, too.
Russell Ward stepping out and handing the car over to Philip Ellis. In GTD Pro it is the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus. Jack Hawksworth will be doing a double stint, topping off the tank and changing the tires. A Full Course Yellow could hit at halfway. Trouble on the #57's left front wheel! Oh dear. How much will that cost them? Stevan McAleer is now at the controls of the #32 Team Korthoff Mercedes. Happy Birthday, Stevan McAleer. Will he get a gift of a win today? We'll find out. Now, let's rewind back to that lurid spin we saw from Katherine Legge a wee while ago.
She runs wide onto the grass on cold tires, and was pushing too hard through The Rollercoaster. She ran the car off the road. OK. The race leading Aston Martin in the lane. Ross Gunn staying in the #23 car. Balancing aggression with tire management. It is like an Oreo cookie, a chocolate or vanilla sandiwch cookie. If you eat the cream out of the center, you don't have anything left except for the vanilla or chocolate wafers. So, you have to take it easy on the first five or so laps so you don't use up the tires. Jordan Taylor flies past the Aston Martin. Perhaps Corvette Racing either short filled the car to gain track position, or, Antonio Garcia was doing mega sized fuel saving before hitting the lane.
What will we see from the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche? Matty Campbell now cycles to the race lead but will be at the top of the shop briefly. Good battle on the road here, look, between the #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus (do not know if it is Frankie Montecalvo or Aaron Telitz), and the #57 Winward Mercedes we just mentioned, in the hands of Philip Ellis. Criminy! They are so close together! Now then, the #9 Pfaff Porsche hits the pit lane. Tires and fuel, and a driver change. Matt Campbell handing the car to Matthieu Jaminet. They are looking to have an easy day and not take massive strategy gambles.
The #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 is in now too. Bryan Sellers taking over from Madison Snow. They are doing the overcut. Now then, the Corvette boys have gone ahead of both the Heart of Racing Aston Martin and the Pfaff Motorsports Porsche! Wow! So, the #51 Rick Ware Racing Acura NSX GT3 is back on track. Stevan McAleer flies past Bryan Sellers who is building the tire temp and Aidan Read just has done likewise. Jordan Taylor now ahead, halfway down Madison Avenue. BMW are going long with Connor De Philippi. 2 hours and 40 minutes. So, that is 160 minutes. If you carve the cake into thirds, that means you will do equal stints. Equal stints of 53 minutes apiece. So, that arithmetic has come out in the wash.
Meanwhile, Ross Gunn is poking his nose right inside of Matty Jaminet. Matthieu not letting up. Gunn knows discretion is the better part of valor. Mate, I was sure he was going to go for it. I was sure of it! Nope. Nope. Jaminet defends as Gunn has the run. Now, who is going to blink first? Someone is bound to get the rough end of the pineapple here. Be proactive. Don't weave. Gunn to the inside on "Jam Jam". Not close enough. Jack Hawksworth, he is the shark as these two minnows fight and he is going to be smelling blood in the water.
Hawksworth is setting up a pass as Gunn cuts back inside of the plaid Porsche. Two drivers in their second stints as Matthieu Jaminet is on his initial stint in the car. Look at Barnicoat! He is going to duck to the outside of the blue Aston Martin and see if he can get a piece of this. Nowhere to go with it. Gunn slams the door in his face. Turn up the heat on this GT only weekend here at VIR on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon. Well, well, well. Okie dokie. Pit stop tme for the BMW #25. A driver change as I believe John Edwards is into that car now, and the tires have been changed, the fuel is still going in.
It is still on the air jacks for some 40 seconds which is the minimum fill time and is now down and away. He will slot in behind the GTD Turner Motorsports BMW. The BMW's continue following each other and up front there has been no changes. Jaminet leading Gunn and Hawksworth down Madison Avenue once more. The top three in lock step. Equally matched through Balance of Performance of course as they come to complete yet another lap of the 3.27 mile course here at VIR. It is a warm day on the North Carolina, Virginia border. Eight brands, nine driver nationalities.
Poor old Stevan McAleer is in trouble. He is running slow. The V8 engine, something is wrong. Does he have a cut tire? Is there a mechanical issue with the car? Threading the needle through the esses. He is running slowly and being mindful of everyone else coming through Oak Tree corner. Nothing obvious. He and Mike Skeen were 36 points ahead in the championship coming in. This is troubling. Is the half shaft broken? How much drive does he have in that car? We saw cars overheating and ECU issues. We have seen exhausted drivers. A lot of these symptoms showed up in the Michelin Pilot Challenge race and it shows in the WeatherTech race just the same.
Points as they run, showing McAleer with a scant seven-point lead ahead of Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley and a 15-point gap over Roman De Angelis. What has happened here to the #32 Mercedes? McAleer to the pit lane. Not a cut tire. Something may be broken in the suspension, but the team has to look and diagnose it. This is heartbreaking business. They are examining the right rear suspension and we'll have to see what is going on. The car may have jerked to one side and it seems the half shaft is broken. So that is what the crew will have to fix. The mechanic shouted "half shaft! We have to fix it." They will go to the garage.
Now then, the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3, with Robby Foley and Bill Auberlen, they have an opportunity. Foley leading Aidan Read now by four and a half seconds and with a full fuel load coming on their next stop, they have to keep their six second gap alive. Save fuel but run qualifying laps. Save fuel but go faster? Well, yes. It is an oxymoron and a challenge but it must be done. Kast year, Antonio Garcia and Bill Auberlen got together and Auberlen and company fell out of the motor race.
This year, they are leading in GT Daytona. Points as they run now, puts Auberlen and Foley in the lead by eight points over Roman De Angelis and puts Stevan McAleer third, 33 points behind. Back in 2020, Bill Auberlen won and broke Scott Pruett's long standing record for his 61st win. Jordan Taylor leads the motor race in the Corvette right now and Aidan Read, he has really shown speed in GTD in the #51 Rick Ware Racing Acura NSX GT3. Jordan Taylor's lead remains almost ten seconds over Matthieu Jaminet and so nothing has changed at the front as we continue to update you. Currently we see Bryan Sellers gaining on Aidan Read from the onboard camera in the BMW.
He is half a second behind down Madison Avenue and closing. Just a shade over an hour and a half left of this race. Stevan McAleer and the #32 Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes, they are back up and running. Mike Skeen says the left rear wheel may have loosened up. Maybe issues with the rattle gun. The field is very competitive with long, green flag runs. It is Mike Skeen's 38th birthday as we speak. Happy Birthday, Mike. Well, well, well. Check this out. Byan Sellers gets in hot, brushes Aidan Read, and goes past. 160 miles an hour, on the brakes, tips him. and then makes the move. So, he gives Read the chrome horn. Aidan Read, an American, Australian, and an engineer for the Rick Ware Racing NASCAR Cup team who will be back with the team this weekend at Darlington Raceway.
Read is doing all he can as a racing driver and an engineer. Aidan Read ran last year in the endurance races with Turner Motorsports. They won at Watkins Glen in the 6 Hours along with Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley. Meanwhile, Jeff Westphal is on Read's six as Philip Ellis is reeling in Maxime Martin and we also see Aaron Telitz, Jules Gounon, and Jan Heylen. Onboard with Jules Gounon in the #79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes AMG GT3. The car stretching it's legs. Gounon is the eighth different team mate who has run with Cooper MacNeil this year.
He had a dual entry in the opening rounds with a Porsche 911 GT3R and a Mercedes AMG GT3 at Daytona and Sebring, running both cars. He has had Porsche factory drivers and Mercedes-AMG factory drivers. Jules Gounon, son of Jean Marc Gounon, a former Formula 1 driver and part of the Le Mans factory program in the World Sports Car Championship. Jules Gounon has raced with Acura and Bentley in the past and Andy Lally is also pushing as Jordan Taylor leads the motor race, on pit stops, doing an air pressure change on the car and doing a short fuel fill for track position.
At Road America, they played strategy swapping back and forth between Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor for the driving stints. Taylor leads Jaminet now by 11 seconds and a slightly longer stop, they might still keep the lead of the motor race honestly. He continues leading both Matthieu Jaminet and Ross Gunn, who is on a double stint before handing the #23 Aston Martin to Spaniard, Alex Riberas. Jeff Westphal is now gaining on Aidan Read. Jules Gounon, chasing after Aaron Telitz onto Madison Avenue. This is a long crocodile of cars all in positional battles in GTD.
The endurance races in IMSA are incredible, and we have one in less than five weeks with Motul petit Le Mans. Full Course Yellow for debris oj the road. Now, Jeff Westphal passes Aidan Read and we have a car, somewhere, with a banner stuck to the front end, one of the sponsorship banners that is at the side of the track, has been collected. Phillip Ellis side by side with Alex Riberas and has two wheels on the grass! Ellis just barely misses the tire barrier in all that shemozzle and takes out the sign.
He has the radiator grille covered up and so he risks overheating the Mercedes if that banner, the WeatherTech banner is not removed. Robert Megennis is happy. This is pur first Full Course Yellow and we have just gone past the halfway mark in the race. The leaders are bound to hit the pit lane. This is not what the leaders needed. You are too deep into this stint to not pit. 78 minutes left on the board and we know Jordan Taylor and Robby Foley, neither of them wanted to see this happen. Ar CarBahn with Peregrine Racing, Robert Megennis says everything is great and they have finally made a pass on the #51 Acura.
Megennis is happy and he was in a Formula Ford 1600 at this track way back at age 15. Through the esses, he was having a blast driving the car. CarBahn with Peregrine Racing have had three podiums. Robert Megennis has found a home in sports cars with his career beginning in open wheel cars in Indy Lights, and they are in the GTD championship picture headed for the finale at Motul Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. So, the field is now circulating behind the safety car. Wholesale pit stops happening now. This is busy! Madison Avenue is open for business. Jordan Taylor stays in the Corvette and they will top off the fuel tank. The #14 Lexus is in the lane and Ben Barnicoat takes over.
Madison Snow has taken over the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW and tere is a drag race out of the lane between Auberlen and Maxime Martin who is at the wheel of the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 that he shares with Roman De Angelis. De Angelis, the Canadian, done with his driving stint, handing over to Martin, the vastly experienced Belgian GT racer. Bill Auberlen will have a mountain to climb in the second half of this race. John Edwards has now taken over the wheel of the #25 BMW Team RLL M4 GT3 from Connor De Philippi.
Drivers cleaning or putting more heat in their tires before we anticipate going back to green flag racing. We can see that is what Madison Snow is doing aboard the BMW. Summer coming to a close, and this is the final hurrah with a final pop of the thermometer. Thank you, Tony Menard, the Motorsports Director for Michelin who has now left, and we welcome Jason Anzalone to the position. Michelin does very well supporting these teams embedded with a tire engineer. In terms of pit stop timing and the yellow, some teams have seen their strategy backfire.
Andy Lally and Katherine Legge are the two leaders as we have just over an hour remaining in the race. We must remind ourselves in the split between GTD Pro and GTD that the cars are the same and passing is at a premium here at VIR as well. Green flag! Andy Lally leading Katherine Legge and Bryan Sellers. Mattheu Jaminet, the GTD Pro leader and Bryan Sellers almost crunches into Ben Barnicoat and Jordan Taylor, he pulls the pin and goes for it while Aaron Telitz is also flying. John Edwards, too, he is applying the blowtorch, look, to Matthieu Jaminet at the top end of town.
Take your brave pills. Edwards is making his move as they go through Oak Tree and down Madison Avenue. Edwards is feeling it! Jordan Taylor is pressing the Lexus. This is maximum attack! He has to give it up as Ben Barnicoat is pushing, hard. Deep on the brakes. This is a four wheeled chess match. Jeepers creepers! Philip Ellis tags Jeff Westphal and the Lamborghini, he has a tire rub on the right rear corner of the car! Jules Gounon has a bird's eye view of Westphal's off course excursion. How deep is the tire rub on the fender going to get into the sidewall.
Will the tire maintain pressure without having the carcass get torn to shreds? For The Heart of Racing, a penalty for working outside the pit box and too many crew members over the wall for the #51 Rick Ware Racing Acura! Jordan Taylor, he is pressing Ben Barnicoat. Taylor has to pass, and he can't on cold tires. Barnicoat runs wide in the Lexus. Jordan Taylor searching for all sorts of lines and poor old Bryan Sellers is forced into a sticky situation. He does not want to do this but doesn't really have any choice. Barnicoat tries passing Katheirne Legge but he wants to pass by John Edwards, flashing the headlamps.
Bryan Sellers is being forced in as the stopper in the bottle as Barnicoat makes his move on Katherine Legge and Jordan Taylor is doing likewise as Jeff Westphal hits pit lane. We are also keeping tabs on the scrum between Bill Auberlen and Maxime Martin. So, the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW and the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin. Philip Ellis, too, he is pouring on the steam as well, look. This is getting spicy out of Hog Pen and onto the front straight. Bill Auberlen wants to make his move on Maxime Martin. Their strategy was shattered by that earlier yellow. Katherine Legge has no way to be courteous and let the faster cars by.
It is tough to do on this weaving portion of the circuit. Andy Lally leads in GTD Pro and in the overall over Matthieu Jaminet in the Pfaff Motorsports Porsche. Magnus Racing will be at Petit Le Mans on the first day of October for the finale and so they are taking advantage of this race at VIR as a test for the big kahuna, the finale of the 2022 season. Jaminet has to be patient and don't take any risks. Andy Lally won three championships in the old Grand American Road Racing series and he has won five times at the Rolex 24.
Strategist Sean Heckman tells Andy Lally "Mate I need the fastest laps of your life." Lally has been racing NASCAR Cup cars on the road courses and he has now reacclimated to the GT3's. One hour to go in this race. Jaminet, Campbell, and Pfaff Motorsports, they want to be in a good place to clinch the championship in GTD Pro going into the Petit Le Mans, the season finale. Into the final hour of the Michelin GT Challenge here at VIR. Time is most certainly of the essence. A drag race down Madison Advenue between Jaminet and Lally and Jaminet makes the pass. Meantime, the BMW, Lexus, Corvette battle is on, hammer and tongs here through the downhill and out of Hog Pen, back onto the front straight.
This is one train of cars, one queue, glued together. "Jam Jam" making good his escape at the top end of town. Jordan Taylor is going to do all he can to zone in on the BMW and he passes on the outside with a bit of bumping and boring but makes the move. Life is so much simpler for Matthieu Jaminet with clear road around him. He is consolidating the championship places. Again, we see the replay of Taylor passing by Barnicoat as Taylor turns up the wick and John Edwards, too, continuing to push. He did not want to give it up. Taylor has to get past Lally and chase down Jaminet. The Corvette needs more clear air.
In traffic, Taylor has the nose wash out causing boatloads of understeer. On a circuit like VIR, that can be a real ice cream headache for a driver, when the front end won't stay planted. Corvette have won here at VIR on four occasions only separated in consecutive years by the German brands like BMW and Porsche. It has been Detroit power that has been really successful here over the last five years with Stuttgart and Munich only getting an occasional look in. Again, Porsche are at the top of the shop and so they would look for their first win here at VIR in three years should Pfaff Motorsports stay in contention.
Jordan Taylor's hero, Max "The Ax" Angelelli, and Taylor wants to be more like Max Angelelli who he won a title with in 2013 in the Daytona Prototype class. Taylor and Lally hit the lane for service, and we could see these as the catalyst for final stops of the race with less than an hour on the board. They might not need a full fuel fill as they pitted 15 minutes ago even before the yellow. Corvette down and away after a splash and a dash. 54 and a half minutes to go as we also saw the #16 Porsche in the lane for Wright Motorsports. The GTD points fluctuations have been bonkers today.
Some championship contenders have been taking the pain today. I have three words for you once again. Ice cream headache. Roman De Angelis now is at the top of the GTD points and with the woes for Robert Megennis and Jeff Westphal, Stevan McAleer is back in the fight. Ryan Hardwick and Jan Heylen are now third in the standings with Motul Petit Le mans still to come. A couple more GTD Pro cars hit the lane for a top off. Edwards in the BMW and Barnicoat in the Lexus. Jaminet stays out. This is the final year of the BMW GT program I believe. Andy Lally just clicked the radio to say, "I have a tire pressure warning light for a right rear flat tire." Criminy! He does! It is true. The right rear tire on that Aston Martin is down.
BMW #25 in the lane for their final stop and we see the #14 Lexus done with the stop. But there is miscommunication on the tire change in the BMW camp. Something went awry and that was extremely costly. Andy Lally, to add insult to injury, had just stopped in the pit lane for that new right rear tire! Good grief! When it rains, it pours, and Magnus Racing's race has gone pear shaped. No pressure in the right rear. Flat as a pancake. They came out of the box on debut with a runner up finish at the Rolex 24 with the new Aston Martin. They struggled in 2021 with a different chassis.
If you look back through the history of Magnus Racing, they have run a variety of different GT spec machinery from Porsche to Audi, to Lamborghini, to Acura, and now to Aston Martin. The race leader, Matthieu Jaminet, brings the #9 in for a stop. Rear tires only and a splash of fuel for the #9. Top of the screen and Jordan Taylor will be chasing. Jaminet has the track position. It is rabbit vs. hound. Alex Riberas staying out leading GTD Pro. Will The Heart of Racing team roll the dice? Only 50 minutes to go. Taylor is closing in on the plaid Porsche.
He has a head of steam, but can he do anything with it? Taylor is really giving Jaminet all he can handle right now as the minutes tick away. This is actually not for the lead at the moment because Alex Riberas has stayed out. Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia want a hat trick of wins at VIR. They just want to beat the Pfaff Motorsports Porsche and the GTD runners are ahead of the GTD Pro cars. Alex Riberas is still pushing. Roll the dice. If you get a monster yellow, you could get enough fuel save. They have a lot to lose. Heart of Racing and team boss Ian James, in with a shout.
Interestingly, their sister entry in GTD with Roman De Angelis at the keyboard, he has cycled to the class lead in GTD as we speak while we've been mucking about looking at the GTD Pro contest;. 3/4 of an hour left here at VIR for the Michelin GT Challenge. Keep pushing. No traffic up ahead for a long way. Riberas has a clear road, and he is managed by Ian James who is the team manager for The Heart of Racing. Riberas and James ran together with Alex Job Racing in a Porsche many moons ago. Bill Auberlen is fending off the challenge in GTD of Phil Ellis in the Winward Racing Mercedes who of course had a run-in with an advertising banner.
Look at the dust off the exit of Oak Tree. Auberlen wants the position over Ellis who has it. The #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 of Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow, they are sixth or seventh in the championship and have jumped up a spot or two. They missed the Rolex 24 at the beginning of the year because the BMW M4 GT3 was not readily available back in January. Sellers and company may move up the points table. They are not out of it. They would have to sweep up and win today as well as at Petit Le Mans on October 1st and have the #32 team for Korthoff Mercedes have problems.
The fight is not over. PMR will keep digging. We have a ten-hour race in five weeks. PMR scored the championship at Petit Le Mans in 2018. The GTD frontrunners can only make it home if there is another yellow. If it stays green the rest of the way, we need to have a Captain Cook at the #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche currently seventh in class. Jan Heylen has already stopped. They did have drive through penalties, but could indeed be in contention. Alex Riberas, the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin have done over 70 minutes, but they have to roll the dice with 42 minutes left on the clock.
"Jam Jam" has asked twice about fuel and the crew has told him both times, "yes, they are fine." The Pfaff Motorsports team from Canada, have had success and have a family atmosphere on the team between team boss and owner Steve Bortolotti and car chief Cory Whiteman met racing TC cars in Canada at 13 years old, to getting their racing licenses and to autocross. He moved from Pfaff Motorsports dealer to the racing program, and brought Cory along and as his Best Man to his wedding to Steve Bortolotti's wife Nicole. Wow.
Pfaff Motorsports have been on a roll with championships over the last few years. They won an SRO championship in 2018 with driver Scott Hargrove. Then, they came to IMSA and have won the Sprint championship and the overall championship with drivers like Laurens Vanthoor and Zacharie Robichon. They upped it with the number of races they ran and then went in for the Full Monty, the full season. 40 minutes to go. Again, time is of the essence. The #79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes is chasing down one of the Vasser Sullivan Lexus cars. That looks to be the #12. So, this is a battle in GTD down the fornt straight, or rather, down Madison Avenue.
Through Hog Pen and then onto the front straight. Meanwhile, Aston vs. BMW, vs. Mercedes, this scrum is getting spicy once again, look, in GTD. Let's take a look at VIR as a track. The circuit is 3.27 miles in length with 17 corners. It opened as one of the first permanent road courses in the United States, in 1957, so right around the same time as places like Road America, Laguna Seca, Lime Rock Park, Watkins Glen, and maybe a few others. VIR also holds the distinction of having hosted the first IMSA sanctioned sports car race, in 1971, 51 years ago, won by Peter Gregg and Hurley Haywood who would go on to be one of the most formidable and legendary pairings in endurance racing history.
VIR is 1,300 acres. It is getting down to crunch time with 36 minutes to go. What strategy are you going to use? They want a late yellow to save gas and maybe avoid having a splash and a dash. Auberlen and Foley got stymied by a yellow. Maxime Martin is next up. Auberlen and Martin were team mates for the BMW factory in 2013 and won a massive victory at Long Beach in 2013 the year before the merger to create the new version of IMSA as we know it today. So, they would have won that motor race under the sanction of the old American Le Mans Series. So, they are former team mates.
The Aston, the BMW, and the Mercedes, there's nothing in it for GTD. GTD cars running ahead of the GTD Pro machinery. Right on cue, shades of Road America last time out when GTD was running as part of the race that saw all five classes compete. Ellis is putting up the challenge to Auberlen. Maxime Martin is eking out a lead on Auberlen and Ellis. This is a clear overtake and Bill Auberlen hangs tough but gets behund in his steering. Down Madison Avenue towards The Rollercoaster, and now, Ellis is right on Auberlen's six, look.
Auberlen slams the door in Ellis' face. Ellis tried popping out of the draft but it was just not on. Similarly, Bryan Sellers and Aaron Telitz are both going for it. Snow and Sellers, in 2016, won their first race here together. Engineer Lars Gersing is making that BMW work today. The GTD championship is wide open, and execution is key to see where the chips fall before Petit Le Mans on the first day of October. Into the final 32 minutes. How wll this wring out? Fuel is the question. One yellow makes a world of difference.
VIR track President Kerrigan Smith, he sas there is a new camping area for tent camping and have great views of turns one through five. This event gives the track the street cred for sure to see the best racing for GT cars in the United States to have a fun time. They have really invested in the facility. The ownership group who puts money into this place and brings them from a historic to a relevant track. The paddock used to be gravel and is now paved in asphalt. Track owner Connie Nieholm pours capital into the track. That's a good deal. Less than half an hour to go. We continues to watch the battle for 11th spot between Barnicoat and Gounon, the two big front engine V8 cars, the Lexus and the Mercedes Benz.
Auberlen meanwhile wants a piece of his former teammate, Maxime Martin, for fourth spot. It appears Gounon is still making inroads on Barnicoat as we go onboard down the front stirahgt briefly again with Bryan Sellers. The Michelin GT Challenge is far from over as Madison Snow and Bryan Sellers have gone for it and Sellers is under attack from Aaron Telitz. Now then, Philip Ellis has motored away from both Auberlen and Martin. Wow. Ellis is motoring. He is going flat out and has pulled the pin. This is overall and GTD. The first GTD Pro car is Alex Riberas in sixth place.
Riberas, Jaminet, and Taylor are 1-2-3 in GTD Pro but they are lagging behind a slew of the regular GTD contenders. They will really need to crack the whip in these final 25 minutes. If it stays green the rest of the way, Jaminet is the only one who can make it on fuel mileage. Everybody else may just need a splash and a dash before the motor race is done and dusted. Alex Riberas is one of them. In replay, we can see Phil Ellis pressing Bill Auberlen and he dives to the inside of the BMW ace. Auberlen resisted the challenge and knew he had to give it up. Ellis is motoring. Russell Ward says the game plan is to see where they are in 23 minutes.
The car is quick. Smartly, Russell Ward is not giving away too much info. They are always pushing. A championship is possible, but anything can happen. The leaders are on one strategy while the followers are on others. It is too early to tell yet. Winward will mind their own shop. Two of the last three races though, they have been on the podium and they won last time out at Road America. Winward are also running in SRO and had a sweep at Road America for their championship race there. So, they had a hat trick of victories at Road America between two different sports car championships. Team boss Ed Hall who ran Kinetic Motorsports in the past.
Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow for Paul Miller Racing in their BMW M4 GT3, leading GT Daytona with the #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus of Frankie Montecalvo and Aaron Telitz right behind. We are also having yet another Captain Cook aboard the #79 WeatherTech Mercedes of Cooper MacNeil and Jules Gounon. Speak of the devil, the Paul Miller BMW is in the lane for a splash and dash, look. This is more than a splash and dash as the left side tires were being changed I believe. one mechanic was definitely using the rattle gun.
Gounon closing in hand over fist on Telitz. This scrap is getting tasty. Very interesting stuff farther down in the pack. Ah. Lexus to the lane. Final stop imminent. Six seconds of fuel. Splash and a dash. Telitz will get track position over Bryan Sellers. Jan Heylen has enough gas in the tank. Who has enough and who doesn't, that is what we can see and are considering. Philip Ellis in the lead. Russell Ward very cagey with his answers. Racing drivers sometimes have to play the role of politicians, although racing drivers are far more trustworthy. Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk. A normal yellow, two to three laps is enough saving if you can take a splash and a dash. We welcome CNBC viewers to the race after watching the much delayed NASCAR race in Daytona Beach.
Only 16 minutes to go with one race left in the championship in a month. Philip Ellis now leads overall and in GTD by ten seconds over Maxime Martin. Lexus, Porsche, BMW, Lexus, Mercedes in GTD. This is still very intense right now. Ellis appears to have clear track ahead. Will this be a GTD car beating a GTD Pro car? Driver ratings are the only real difference between the two. C'est la vie, though, because the dreaded driver ratings are like Balance of Performance and are just a part of sports car racing that we have to live with for now. It's that dread P word again, politics.
Bill Auberlen has just exited the lane with 11 and a half minutes to go. Fuel strategy is the big deal. Equal time in the lane for Telitz and for Auberlen. Ellis leading the motor race, rolling the dice, stretching the fuel mileage. Ross Gunn says today has been mixed for The Heart of Racing boys. They have had some small niggles in the pit lane and they'll move ahead to Petit Le Mans just like everybody else. They want a solid finish headed to the winter and then headed for the 2023 season. They will have to pit again after a drive through penalty, for a splash and a dash after they were pulled down to the back of the queue.
But they are focusing forward and building up for next year. Ben Barnicoat in the meantime, gets onto the podium in GTD Pro with the shuffling. Ah. The #57 Mercedes is in the lane for their final stop. Fuel only. Okie dokie then. That trio we focused on earlier is still together. #12, #16, and #1. Onboard with the BMW down the fornt straightaway. Excuse me, down Madison Avenue. Now onto the front straight. We resume to see the Aston Martin of Maxime Martin and they will need to stop in the last six minutes.
Where does Martin come out? Ellis is in the pound seats. Martin has been saving petrol but Ellis will assume the lead of the motor race in class. If Martin hits the lane, he will drop to sixth or seventh as we watch the Telitz, Heylen, and Sellers battle. Here comes Sellers on Heylen. He has tire performance on the left side and Sellers goes in and gets the place. Heylen will have to work for it. Game on. For the lead in the overall, Matthieu Jaminet passes Maxime Martin and we assume Martin must hit the lane as he is on massive fuel save. #23 is better off.
Alex Riberas hands the podium place to Ben Barnicoat in the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3. Just a tad over three minutes to go and Sellers has gone by Telitz with the fresh left side tires and Jan Heylen, you know that he wants the position for the title going into Road Atlanta. as every point is precious. Closing in on the white flag. One lap to go I think. OK. Just two. Jordan Taylor wants to dive inside Maxime Martin. What can he do? He has the Mercedes behind. Taylor passes and here comes Ellis! Inside into Oak Tree, Ellis takes the GTD lead. Martin could be running on fumes.
But no worries for Pfaff Motorsports and the famous plaid Porsche are going to win this thing. They are looking for their fifth 2022 win. White flag for Matty Jaminet. Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia have had a good day and will come home second with fastest lap of the motor race. They were half a second quicker than the Porsche, but their strategy went pear shaped. However, Taylor is gaining on "Jam Jam". It is now down to 1.7 seconds. Now, think about this, ladies and gents, and that is Maxime Martin stays on track. He does not even do the splash and dash.
Will he make it? Will the tank run dry? That's what we're all wondering out here in cyberspace. Taylor is reeling in Jaminet, look. Maybe he is just teasing the Frenchman. Through The Rollercoaster one last time, and the Pfaff Motorsports Porsche wins their fifth race of 2022!
Overa;ll/GT Daytona Pro: #9 Campbell/Jaminet Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R
GT Daytona: #57 Ward/Ellis Winward Racing Mercedes AMG GT3
Maxime Martin makes it on fuel and makes it five or ten minutes longer on a tank cutting the same lap times as the competition! Holy smokes! He is coasting now and might or might not be able to make it to the pit lane. GTD Pro the championship could very well be locked up for Pfaff but in GTD, it is a wide-open deal headed for Hot 'Lanta and the Petit Le Mans on October 1st. Dear me. #27 stops right after the checkers, out of gas.
...And then, there was one, the Petit Le Mans. Be ready for ten hours of action and join us for wall-to-wall coverage of the 2022 IMSA WeatherTech Championship concluding race which will also be the finale of the Daytona Prototype International era. Trust me, ladies and gentleman, you won't want to miss a moment of it. For now, so long from Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia. Farewell, for now.
Monday, August 29, 2022
All Kinds of News Before the IMSA GTD Pro & GTD race at VIR
All sorts of news from the WeatherTech Championship as we ready for the VIR IMSA GTD Pro and GTD race. Here's what has been going on.
Sunday, August 28, 2022
VIR and Lime Rock GT class IMSA races
Yours truly is still working on prioritizing the two standalone GTD events of IMSA 2022 and has decided to first tackle today's race coming up at VIR, and then, double back and dig into the Lime Rock event. So, look for those two, but in reverse order, coming up this week. Excited to bring the races to you.
Saturday, August 27, 2022
Winner & Highlights of the Virginia Is for Racing Lovers Grand Prix at Virginia International Raceway
Welcome, everybody, to the penultimate race of the 2022 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season. Time is of the essence as the championship is winding it's way towards it's conclusion. This is the first race of two this weekend, once again, featuring the production-based cars of IMSA. Grand Sport (GT4) and TCR touring cars, are ready to go. We have all the same usual suspects in the starting grid and on the entry list that you would expect for an MPC event in both classes. Familiar cars, and familiar driver lineups, that we have seen pretty consistently throughout the 2022 season. Let's have a look at our class pole sitters before we get up and running here at VIR.
In Grand Sport, it is Murillo Racing and their #72 Mercedes AMG GT4 on pole position while in TCR it is a Hyundai, but not the ones you would expect. It happens to be the #19 car, the van der Steur Racing Hyundai Veloster N TCR in the hands of Tyler Gonzalez who has taken the class pole, sharing of course with Rory van der Steur. The cars are on track, as we anticipate a start to this motor race. It's a major weekend of sports car racing as we have 33 cars ready to race. Leigh Diffey and Calvin Fish are in the booth. Trent Hindman mentioned how hot it will be but that the drivers and the cars will be tested indeed. Volt Racing have moved over to run with Wright Motorsports of course and Hindman and co-driver Alan Brynjolfsson have a lead, but not much of one over Eric Foss.
Murillo Racing have won three of the last five races. Jeff Mosing is back in the #56 Mercedes for the first time since Sebring. In qualifying he went off the road in the grass and crunched the wall. He will start from 20th place after having his qualifying times deleted after the shunt. 11 manufacturers among the 33 cars. Reporting from pit lane today we have Matt Yocum, who explains that Taylor Hagler and Michael Lewis in TCR, they will have to deal with some very aggressive drivers. Kevin Lee, also in the pit lane to report today, the KMW TMR Alfa Romeo team, they are in this fight too, fighting the other Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai's.
The Alfa won both long endurance events this season as Roy Block is the starting driver. Okie dokie then. VIR is located just outside Danville, Virginia. Three and a quarter miles with 17 corners. Watch the elevation changes and the high speed segments. Turn one is a critical overtake spot and so is Oak Tree in turn 12. Down Madison Avenue and then from the Rollercoaster and into the final turn at Hog Pen, these are the key places to watch as we have many onboard cameras we will be enjoying the views of today.
The grid is formed up and calm, but things wll get extremely spicy as they already have been so far this year, in this penultimate race of the championships. Splitting the start of course. GS first, and then TCR. Cinch down those belts, we are underway on this 91-degree day in Virginia! Green flag and away we go! To the lead of the motor race is the Mercedes as Dillon Machavern slots into second and Michael McCann Jr. and Luca Mars are pushing and the TCR cars have their start. Tyler Gonzalez leads in class.
Oh dear. Michael Johnson in the #54 Hyundai Elantra with Stephen Simpson, he got pushed off into the grass. He had to check up and lost the rear end. Cold rear tires on a front wheel drive car. Kenny Mirllo leads Dillon Machavern and Michael McCann Jr. as Luca Mars is pushing his way down Madison Avenue chasing Matt Travis in the #47 Nolasport Porsche Cayman. The Mustang has the horsepower and it handles well and has good brakes. Alfredo Najri in the #14 Riley Motorsports Toyota Supra is also making inroads. Travis deep on the brakes, he has tho tuck in and now, Najri makes a pass on the Porsche driver. Problems early doors for Vinny Barletta in the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT4.
He can get the car back on track, but he and co-driver Robby Foley will be on the back foot. Jeff Mosing gives him a little nudge. In TCR, Tyler Gonzalez leads Harry Gottsacker and Mason Filippi as the van der Steur Racing Hyundai Veloster leads the two Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Elantra's. So much downforce on the TCR cars, they fly through the corners and the overlap between them and the GS cars, is making things fascinating to watch. Hyundai have been very successful globally with the TCR formula. Phil Howard, David Brown, Bryan Herta, quite the group of people at BHA.
Trouble through for Mark Wilkins in the #33 BHA Elantra, starting caboose on the field. Into the lane he comes. The bonnet is being opened because there is a water leak. Fluid all over the windscreen. I wonder if this is a radiator leak and the team is investigating. Michael Johnson has good temperature and thankfully did not get grass in his radiator. Feast or famine for the boys in the #33 car. Driver and car fatigue attributed to hot temperatures in the dog days of summer, are what we are going to see as the Hyundai team is still trying tof igure out what on earth is wrong with the radiator. Also to the lane comes one of the Murillo Racing Mercedes AMG GT4's.
There's eight side corner damage to the #56! Oh dear. This is Eric Foss and Jeff Mosing's car, in trouble early doors with only seven minutes of the race gone. Machavern challenging Mars down Madison Avenue here, look. Who gives way first? Mars goes back in front and says "I will keep that spot, sunbeam. Thank you very much." In replay, we can see Gonzalez getting balked by a Porsche Cayman and being passed by Harry Gottsacker as that Porsche Cayman was surely the cork in the bottle.
Again, lots of wide-open space here at VIR and lots of grass. Track limits? Track limits are the grass here, ladies and gentlemen. So, one false move and well, you are going for a ride. Down through The Rollercosaster they come. Back out on Maidson Avenue the TCR scrum is single file for the time being. We can see Gonzalez falling into the clutches of Gottsacker it appears. At the top of the shop in TCR, of course, Gottsacker is the one who has moved to the front. The Porsche Cayman that was the cork in the bottle that we saw, was the #66 car for Kelly Moss driven by Alec Udell and David Brule.
Murillo still leading Mars after earning his second 2022 pole. The fuel stint on the GS cars is 55 minutes. Manage the tires because it is tires that will have to be managed. Best qualifying effort of the year for Michael McCann in the #8 Porsche Cayman GT4. Mosing was the bloke who turned Vinny Barletta around and the damage is major but thank heavens did not get into the radiator. Kenton Koch, who filled in for Jeff Mosing, he is back here at VIR, supporting the team. Their home base is in Charlotte, North Carolina. Going for one, Jeff Mosing got one and a half for one. Koch has reassured himself as a driver this year competing for Murillo Racing in Michelin Pilot Challenge while Jeff Mosing was recovering.
Mosing is back racing today. Three wins for the Murillo team this year so far. But, for the #33 Hyundai, the Wilkins/Wickens car is headed for the house. Wickens wants a championship but it seems he might just have to wait until next year to restart his campaign. The car is overheating according to team manager, Phil Howard. Man oh man. What a heartbreak! It could be game over for them today and I think it is. Such emotion of the sport. The preparation, the simulator time, and you might not even get any seat time and your championship hopes go up in a plume of steam.
Jeff Mosing loses a piece of bodywork and they will have to fix the car during scheduled pit work. The sister Murillo Mercedes will have to make up some sort of difference. Poor Robert Wickens won't even get a chance to drive today and he will just have to watch from behind the pit wall, up on the Pratt perch. Gottsacker is leading TCR now by 1.1 seconds over the #99 Honda Civic of Victor Gonzalez as we see some argy bargy here ebtween Gonzalez and the #77 BHA Hyundai Elantra, Mason Filippi at the wheel of it. Luca Mars continuing to charge after Kenny Murillo in Grand Sport.
So, with nearly 20 minutes on the board, nothing has changed at the top of the shop yet. The dyno run down Madison Avenue once again, and now we see a battle developing between McCann and Travis and one between the #21 Mercedes AMG GT4 for Riley Motorsports and the #43 BMW M4 GT4 of Stephen Cameron Racing. Anton Dias Perera and Scott Andrews sharing the Mercedes and the BMW being shared by Sean Quinlan and Greg Liefooghe. Luca Mars has pushed his way to second and so we have Murillo, Mars, Machavern, McCann, and Travis, the top five.
The battle rages for sixth between Alfredo Najri who has it and Alan Brynjolfsson who wants it. Brynjolfsson is quicker than Najri but he has to do what he can and let Trent Hindman finish this motor race strong. 15 cars covered by 15 seconds in GS as Murillo Racing tapes the front end with Bear Bond on the #56 and fuels the car. The #56 is back on track now. Mark Wilkins has gone behind the wall with the #33 Hyundai. Robert Wickens says they cannot diagnose the proper issue yet, to take a deeper dive and hopefully they can get back out and Wickens can also learn more about how his hand control system works before the finale at Road Atlanta.
The stars could very well align at the finale at Road Atlanta which will be run at the very end of September. Wickens says that this deal is something they can't control and will just have to push. Wickens put in training in a sauna, doing neurocognitive training to overcome the constraints of his disability and acclimating his body, staying in a sauna for 45 minutes or so. He is very fit. Alan Brynjolfsson wants to go the long way past the Toyota which is slowing! Alfredo Najri is slowing. Something is wrong with the Toyota Supra. He is in a higher gear and cannot accelerate out of low speed turns.
What is the scoop with the Toyota Supra? We will have to see. Is it a probable tire problem? He slides into the turn under braking just fine and now the electronics on the car are playing up, reducing power in the engine. The excessive heat is making the car stall. Stay in clean air to cool the car down. That is the key. We are starting to see the attrition storyline. These production-based cars have safety measures to deal with the extreme heat that causes the engines to lose power. The drivers and cars are quite literally feeling the heat here in Virginia. That is for dead sure. Najri is indeed being passed left, right, and center.
Murillo, Mars, Machavern, Travis, Brynjolfsson, McCann, Plumb, Pesek, Najri, Galante, and Monk, the top 11 in Grand Sport. AMG Mercedes', Ford's, BMW's, Porsche's, and so on, all in the fight. Plus, the languishing Toyota Supra. TCR sees the top three as a Hyundai parade. Honda also in the fight and so far, we haven't heard a squeak out of the Audi's yet. Wondering where they are in all of this. Eric Rockwell in the #15 Belgard & Techniseal car is the highest placed Audi in the TCR serial. The #5 KMW TMR Alfa Romeo Giulietta is also back there, someplace. James Pesek, meanwhile, he is reeling in one of the Porsche Cayman's.
The man from Missouri is driving for his family team. They had a major win at Sebring, Pesek sharing with Chad McCumbee. Joey Hand is Pesek's co-driver today. He ran the NASCAR Cup race at Watkins Glen and he will be back for the Charlotte Motor Speedway roval later in the year. Joey Hand is sure he can win. Good to see Joey Hand in the race today and is also driving for Ford in NASCAR Cup. Things are tightening up at the front between Kenny Murillo and Luca Mars. Vinny Barletta is off the road in turn one, sktittering through the dust, going into the turn too deep.
So, he is back on the road trying to keep it clean. It has been a scrappy, scruffy weekend for a lot of drivers who have not been able to get much laps in Free Practice. Tons of grip in a GT4 car compared to a NASCAR Cup car even though the new Cup cars are quite similar to a sports car in terms of their handling. Kenny Murillo is also a young driver, who is an engineer and has worked with his family's team for a decade, since age 15. He wants to win as a driver and believes the Mercedes is built for this track. Luca Mars, at age 16, he wants to hand the car over in good shape to his co-driver, Billy Johnson. Bret Mars, Luca's father, he raced with Dean Martin and this Ford Mustang team at KOHR Motorsport. Billy Johnson has raced all over the world and says Luca Mars is the fastest co-driver he has worked with.
Mars was on pole at Road America just a few weekends ago. The Murillo Racing Mercedes continues on in the race lead while Harry Gottsacker for Hyundai is on his merry way in TCR. We can see a battle now continuing in Grand Sport between Sheena Monk in the Mustang and Michael Galante in the Porsche Cayman. JG Wentworth/PF Racing vs. Hardpoint. We've elapsed 40 minutes of the motor race and so in another 20 minutes this thing will be half over. How about that?! Mars is keeping in touch very much so, with Murillo in P1. This lead battle in Grand Sport has been the big kahuna for the whole race thus far, look.
Mars though, is about 4/10ths of a second quicker in lap time than what we see from Murillo. He is coming in a big hurry. They round Oak Tree corner. Son of Oak Tree is a mere sapling and is still growing. VIR is the place to be this weekend and the lead arm wrestle is getting hotter and hotter. No one is begging for mercy yet. Driver changes are now possible as we have passed the 40 minute mark and we see one of the Turner Motorsports cars, the #96 has been handed over to Robby Foley and in #95, now it is Bill Auberlen into the #95. The BMW M4 GT4's struggle in this heat and humidity as Don Salama, the "Ice Man" is working the strategy for Turner Motorsports, a driver himself in the past.
Alan Brynjolfsson, if things go so well, they could lock up the Grand Sport championship today. They would have an insurmountable lead headed for the season finale at Road Atlanta during Petit Le Mans weekend. Slicing the cake, with an hour and 15 minutes to go, 55-60 minutes is the target. Trouble for the #7 Aston Martin! Out of petrol! Alan Brynjolfsson is crawling and is a long way from home! He is down at turns one and two! Jeepers creepers! He is stuck. Legendary team owner and strategist, Kevin Doran, is assisting the Wright Motorsports/Volt Racing team. So, this is the second championship contender to hit trouble today!
Any of these GS cars ought to be able to go a good distance on petrol! The championship leader is dead in the water! Ouch! That really hurts! Feeling the sting of a dry fuel tank. Full Course Yellow, now. Full Course Yellow. Alan Brynjolfsson is now on the back of the tow truck as we see pit stop time for Grand Sport. The Murillo Mercedes is in the lane with Kenny Murillo handing over to Christian Szymczak. Billy Johnson has a chance to become the all-time winningest Michelin Pilot Challenge Grand Sport driver. He wants a victory. He really does. Once car for this team instead of two as Luca Mars moves over to the #59 and they have leapfrogged the #72 in the lane! Wow!
Billy Johnson is serviced and sent. The Volt Lighting Aston Martin now crawls to the lane on the end of a tow rope behind one of the safety trucks. The top runners in TCR are Harry Gottsacker, Tyler Gonzalez, NMason Filippi, Victor Gonzalez, Taylor Hagler, A.J. Muss, and Michael Johnson and all of those cars bar one, are Hyundai's. Victor Gonzalez is the odd man out in the Honda Civic FK7 TCR as the TCR cars are in the pit lane for service, for tires, fuel, and driver changes. Now then, we see the #19 van der Steur Veloster and one of the Bryan Herta Autosport Elantra's as wel as the Belgard & Techniseal Audi RS3 LMS TCR.
Roy Block in the Alfa Romeo is the erstwhile class leader, but that might just change here in a lap or so. Rory van der Steur is now second in class. It appears the wave around past the safety car is happening and in replay, yikes! One of the race cars nearly makes contact with the bright yellow Porsche 911 safety car! Mama Mia! That was close! The Volt Racing Aston Martin has finally crawled it's way to the pit lane. The lollipop man on the crew points the car into the pit box. No real urgency which tells me that this may be game over. Wait. Never mind? The crew are changing tires. So now, the field assembles just behind the Porsche safety car.
We are ready to get back to racing but the Volt Racing Aston Martin are surely in a spot of bother. Poor Alan Brynjolfsson is baking in the heat inside that car and emotionally he must be fried as well. This is excruciating! We are into the race's second half. One hour down and now less than one hour to go. Bill Auberlen now assumes the Grand Sport lead. Auberlen, Hart, McAllister, Liefooghe, Johnson, Szymczak, Plumb, Davis, McQuarrie, and Pumpelly. So, we are getting closer to a restart. Different drivers now at the wheels of these cars.
The Volt Racing Aston Martin is now back on track with Trent Hindman at the controls. Alan Brynjolfsson must be spent. He will have to get some fluids and chill out as best he can. He has gone into the media center to get some air conditioning. Wow. He's hot. Everyone is. Trent Hindman will fight on and now, Billy Johnson and Bill Auberlen are going to be pushing and Jason Hart wants by Auberlen already. Green flag. Auberlen leads the motor race as the top four are on a different fuel steategy than everyone else. Johnson defends from Christian Szymczak. Joey Hand and Robun Liddell are pushing and so is Kyle Marcelli.
Look out as Owen Trinkler in the #64 TGM Porsche Cayman, there's hip and shoulder all over the shop here. Yikes! This is Michelin Pilot Challenge at it's best, and everyone has their elbows out. Sean McAllister being chased by Greg Liefooghe as someone drops a wheel in The Rollercoaster. Billy Johnson drove Ford Mustang's with Jack Roush Jr. many moons ago and he wants to break the wins tie with Matty Plumb. He is doing all he can to rattle Greg Liefooghe as Eric Rockwell goes off the road throug the exit of Hog Pen!
Wow. So, he picks up the curb and he swishes and sweeps across the grass as Bill Auberlen has Jason Hart right on his six. These two have raced each other in GT4 for many years. They are not in the championship fight. Both drivers just want to win this mot0r race. That's what they want. Rory van der Steur, Parker Chase, and Karl Wittmer, the top three in TCR. Hyundai Veloster vs. Hyundai Elantra vs. Honda Civic. The #98 BHA Elantra could have a fluid leak. You can see the different bodywork. Hatchback vs. sedan. Something is coming out of the overflow pipe from under the car.
Is that petrol? Is it water? Rory van der Steur now has rear end damage and he is losing downforce and he can't dreive the car. Now then, Parker Chase is monstering van der Steur as they fly down Madison Avenue! Holy mackerel! Will van der Steur go to the lane to get the bodywork torn away? Parker Chase takes the lead and that carbon fiber is now like a parachute on the back of a dragster. Parker Chase has done some stock car racing and so he knows how the argy bargy works and how to use the chrome horn. Bill Auberlen leading overall from Jason Hart and Greg Liefooghe. Poor old van der Steur, that bodywork damage has made a pig's breakfast of his motor race.
Five Porsche Cayman's all in a row from sixth to tenth in GS! McAllister, Plumb, Davis, Pumpelly, and McQuarrie. Billy Johnson in the Mustang also makes his move on Christian Szymczak in the Mercedes. The incident between the #98 and #19 TCR Hyundai's is under review by the stewards. Hart pressing Auberlen down Madison Avenue another time. Wittmer moves past van der Steur into second in TCR. Michael Lewis and Taylor Hagler are getting into the picture. No further action on the scrappiness between van der Steur and Parker Chase.
Trent Hindman now back at the wheel of the #7 Aston Martin. Alan Brynjolfsson was devastated when the Aston Martin stalled. He was on his in lap. The engine died because of the heat and the ECU cooked itself. But they will be back at Road Atlanta for the season finale. Brynjolfsson and the team were steaming hot. He is fine now, having cooled off. It was not fuel. It was an ECU issue that cut the power to the car. Meantime, the TCR scrap is spicy as Wittmer is not letting Chase get away while poor old Rory van der Steur goes off in the grass in The Rollercoaster. Rory van der Steur has dropped like a stone from the top to sixth in class.
Denis Dupont, ana mazing driver in the #15 Audi RS3 LMS TCR. His car has the DSG gearbox. In the meantime, Billy Johnson is closing in, in third place as Christian Szymczak is right on his six while he is doing all he can to move around Greg Liefooghe. Luca Mars was having a real battle with the Murillo Racing entry. Circumstances have put Luca Mars into the car with Billy Johnson and now, Luca is working with a real veteran driver and they beat the Mercedes off the pit lane. Liefooghe and Sean Quinlan have won GT4 championships before and Steve Cameron knows these GT4 cars and especially the BMW's like the back of his hand.
Liefooghe has hot air he is running into from behind the other BMW of Bill Auberlen as the #47 Porsche Cayman has plummeted to 25th overall. Parker Chase has Karl Wittmer all over him. VCMG and Honda have won just once, at Sebring, with one race to go, the championship decider at Road Atlanta right at the end of September. Through the Left Hook they go. Chase, Wittmer, Lewis, the top three, with Tyler Maxson next up. The blue cars, the Bryan Herta Autosport cars are pushing and now, Gonzalez makes a mistake and Lewis makes the pass and here comes Tyler Maxson as well, on Karl Wittmer.
All these blue Hyundai's, someone send Bryan Herta cans of different colored spray paint so we can tell his cars apart. Wittmer ran wide and caught it but loses a place turning from Oak Tree onto Madison Avenue. Billy Johnson closing up again, look, on Greg Liefooghe. This is getting spicyu and here comes Christian Szymczak. He too wants to show up at this party, uninvited. This is a mighty scrap for position. Johnson, down Madison Avenue, you know he wants to give Liefooghe the rough end of the pineapple here. This is an intriguing three way fight.
Now, Wittmer loses a couple places to the Hyundai's and that Belgard & Techniseal Audi. The shaodws growing long here at VIR. Liefooghe is being given all he can handle with a BMW 1-2. Auberlen extending his lead as Billy Johnson is monstering Greg Liefooghe still as Christian Szymczak, too, he is pushing very hard. No worries for Auberlen. In terms of strategy, it is hard to tell how much fuel save cars gain under Full Course Yellow. The BMW's might not have enough gas. The top teams might need a splash and a dash before the motor race is done and dusted.
At Murillo Racing, Kenny Murillo, the data engineer, who is watching the race, he believes they are five laps short along with everyone else. So, we could see fuel mileage determine the race outcome. Murillo and company were surprised and now, a spin there for Liefooghe! Oh man! That was bonkers! There's scrapping too for the lead between the BHA Elantra's! In replay, Denis Dupont I think he got caught up with Liefooghe and Johnson and Johnson tags Liefooghe and sends him spinning on ye olde whirligig. Michael Lewis looking over at Parker Chase, "what on earth was that about, Parker? Give me a break!"
Lewis has a bit of damage to the #1 Hyundai as we have half an hour to go. Christian Szymczak is going for it as the stewards have the incident between #59 and #43 under review. #43 to the lane. Liefooghe is in and they wanted fuel but now the car is understeering, and they are now changing all four tires I believe, or only two, and he is down and away. Race Control will penalize Billy Johnson and KOHR Motorsports. In replay, Liefooghe to the inside, he hadn't cleared the apex and Johnson tagged him.
Drive through penalty, and you cannot take service. You have to serve the penalty and pit again next time 'round. Spencer Pumpelly and BGB Motorsports now in the fight. That is the #83 Porsche Cayman. Spencer Pumpelly sharing with Thomas Collingwood. The TCR battle continues on in earnest. Lewis, Chase, Wittmer, Maxson and the rest. The #59 Mustang still must serve it's penalty. Liefooghe now has to work his way through TCR traffic. Auberlen ekes out a gap on Billy Johnson and Liefooghe continues hanging right in there.
Johnson to the lane. Serving his penalty, he brings the KOHR Mustang to the pit lane. This is agony and Johnson will drop to seventh place or so as Joey Hand in the #40 PF Racing Mustang moves up. He comes out ahead of Owen Trinkler in the #64 TGM Porsche Cayman. Christian Szymczak might be bale to make it home but we are not sure. The rear fender is flapping on the left side of the #1 Hyundai Elantra and now, we ncould have a yellow, but the #19 Hyundai is now back on track. That's a wild spin through turn ten for Rory van der Steur! They were coming up aiming for the wine and roses but they will end up with jokers today.
The TCR cars go sideways a lot and the front wheel drive cars can indeed go sideways. Michael Lewis and Taylor Hagler, they are looking for back-to-back MPC TCR titles. When will Bill Auberlen hit the pit lane? The winningest driver in IMSA with 65. GT4 in Michelin Pilot though does not count or there would be more victories. Bill Auberlen is just wringing everything out of that car that he possibly can. We don't know if #72, #46, or #83 can make ti to the end and now, Christian Szymczak is all over Bill Auberlen like a cheap suit. 20 minutes left on the board. Pumpelly is 13 odd seconds down on the lead battle.
Auberlen does not want to give up the lead. But here comes Szymczak! He really wants it down Madison Avenue. But Auberlen also needs clean air to the radiator. #72 has not won and they are way down the order and so is Auberlen and Machavern in the #95. Andrews, Plumb, Davis, Hand, Johnson, Owen Trinkler, and Eric Foss, completing the top ten. McCann Racing have had a frustrating 2022 season but they are getting better. How much longer can Bill Auberlen hold down the lead of the motor race? Will he crack under pressure? Will he stay with it? Will Christian Szymczak make further inroads?
Stay tuned to find out. We are approaching an exciting conclusion to Michelin Pilot Challenge here at Virginia International Raceway. Scott Andrews muscles his way past Spencer Pumpelly. Wow. A loose tire carcass now too, look, for the #93 Carbahn with Peregrine Racing Porsche Cayman! It could be game over for Tyler McQuarrie and Mark Siegel. Wittmer passes Chase in TCR as Lewis leads in class by a second and a half while Stephen Simpson is also doing all he can to make a move. Auberlen and Szymczak battling for the lead.
Auberlen is low on gas. Tyler McQuarrie's left rear tire had the carcass escape and so, the safety truck has come to his rescue. The wheel rim cut the tire apart and shredded the carcass off the car as Tyler Maxson is haranguing Parker Chase. The battle of the Hyundai Elantra's. The #65 Murillo Racing Mercedes of Tim Probert has spun after he was biffed by Greg Liefooghe. Liefooghe ran right over him. Probert sharing with Brent Mosing. Topping off the tank is a timed fuel fill and 48 seconds is a full fuel fill on a GS car.
Auberlen back in the race ahead of both Alec Udell and Robby Foley. Foley on a different strategy. Christian Szymczak has to fly and build a margin. Here he comes to the lane and has 12 seconds on Scott Andrews. The pit lane delta is almost half a minute. That includes the stop. So, Sztmczak is now between Andrew Davis and Joey Hand. Scott Andrews, the erstwhile leader in the #21 Riley Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT4 leading Spencer Pumpelly by three seconds with Matt Plumb next followed by Johnson and Hand. The rest of the top ten is Davis, Szymczak, Foss, Marcelli, Trinkler, and Auberlen.
The #22 Hardpoint Porsche Cayman is now stopped on the road as the Murillo car heads to the lane. We should see a late Full Course Yellow. Well, well, well. This shall put the cat among the pigeons before the end. The Hardpoint Porsche is now safely back into the pit lane. But it is game over for the duo of McAllister and Galante. They are back on track but out of contention. Not fully game over, but they are just also rans by now. Sean McAllister was indeed stranded and did get refueled after running the tank totally dry. We will have a major scramble in the closing moments.
Scott Andrews leads the motor race and he and Owen Trinkler pitted two laps later than everyone else. Andrews will be lifting and coasting. Emergency service under Full Course Yellow and if we are under Full Course Yellow in the waning 30 minutes, the lane is closed. It has been a tough year for the Plumb brothers in their Porsche Cayman who is now behind Spencer Pumpelly in the BGB Motorsports Porsche. Bill Riley says that the green flag laps nimber will be really close and they could very well roll the dice since they are not in the championship fight.
Billy Johnson and team boss Dean Martin at KOHR Motorsport are going for it. We are running out of time and we might get a one lap OK Corral shootout to end this thing. Michael Lewis is told his pace is good to the end and they have no fuel worries at BHA. Three and a half minutes to go as light are off atop the safety car. It will be a two lap dash. The #83 Porsche Cayman of Spencer Pumpelly is off the road! This could save the bacon for Scott Andrews because we might stay under yellow. He just pulled off. Is he in a safe haven? We do not know. He was crawling off the circuit. This will be a two lap dash. #83 ran out of gas. Game over.
Green, white, checker? No. Wait a minute. Two to go. This will be wild. Joey Hand is pushing hard and so is Andrew Davis! Christian Szymczak in there. This is going to be hot and heavy. Side by side stuff between Johnson and Davis. This is for the full Monty. The win at VIR. Wittmer running down Parker Chase in TCR as Joey Hand rounds up the #65 Murillo Tacing Mercedes. Hnda second to Andrews. Billy Johnson is running third around Szymczak. Agy bargy in Oak Tree as Tyler Maxson passes Karl Wittmer. Andrews will see the white flag with a swarm of angry contenders right behind.
One lap to go. Wittmer off the road and Maxson spins Wittmer out and he saves it! Wow! Well done Karl Wittmer as Andrew Davis spins out. Foley and Auberlen fighting in the top ten. Anton Dias Perera watching his co-driver nurse this Mercedes to the line. Michael Lewis could win BHA #1's first TCR race of 2022. Joey Hand and Billy Johnson fighting for position in their Mustang's. Johnson will send it past Hand. Everything to play for and the Mercedes is out of fuel! He's out of fuel! Joey Hand vs. Billy Johnson for the win. This is hot!
It's a drag race to the end and James Pesek and Joey Hand win at VIR!
Overall/Grand Sport: #40 Hand/Pesek PF Racing Ford Mustang GT4
TCR: #1 Lewis/Hagler Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Elantra N TCR
Scott Andrews cannot believe his luck. He had to back out of it. Michelin Pilot Challenge, delivers, once again, here at Virginia International Raceway! ...And then, there was one. One more race in the 2022 season, at Road Atlanta, in Braselton, Georgia, to settle the championship for 2022 to be run on the Friday of Petit Le Mans weekend, the final day of September. September 30th. Join us in the red clay hills of north Georgia, for the thrilling conclusion to an incredible season. See you soon. Stay tuned too, tomorrow, for the GTD Pro/GTD race for the WeatherTech Championship. That will be a hotly contested motor race as well.
See you tomorrow. For now, good night, from Virginia International Raceway.