VIRginia International Raceway hosted Round 9 of the GT-only IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on Sunday.
Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia overcame this two-hour and forty-minute race to claim a second success this season (GTD Pro) at the wheel of the Corvette Racing #3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.
Five cars were in contention for victory in the GTD Pro class, as well as in the overall standings, but several race facts sorted through the list of contenders for overall victory. In the fight for the provisional podium, the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R and the #79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 collided, which caused damage to the front right of the Porsche and damage to the left rear of the Mercedes. Both crews lost time, especially Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon who lost two laps in the manoeuvre. The Heart of Racing Team’s No.23 Aston Martin Vantage was responsible for contact with the No.32 Mercedes (GTD) and suffered a penalty that also dropped it in the standings.
After two safety car interventions and almost two hours of racing already wrapped up, the fight for victory turned into a duel between Vasser Sullivan’s #14 Lexus RC F GT3, which started on pole, and the Chevrolet Corvette #3. Solidly in the lead after a solid start to the race from Jack Hawksworth, Ben Barnicoat, in the Lexus, lost the lead to Jordan Taylor who, thanks to a second pit stop 5 seconds shorter, was able to propel the Corvette at the top of the hierarchy, and this, 56 minutes from the presentation of the checkered flag.
From then on, Jordan Taylor was no longer joined by Ben Barnicoat and imposed the Corvette on the finish line with 2 seconds ahead of the Lexus. 12th in the general classification after its setbacks, the Porsche n°9 of Patrick Pilet and Klaus Bachler completes the podium of the day. Next come the Aston Martin n°23 and the Mercedes n°79.
Starting from pole position in the GTD class, Paul Miller Racing’s #1 BMW M4 GT3, driven by Madison Snow and Bryan Sellers, was never really threatened. Despite two restarts to manage, Snow and Sellers mastered their race to triumph brilliantly with 77 laps out of 81 in the lead, and 12 seconds ahead of the n°96 BMW of Turner Motorsport, while the n°57 Mercedes of Winward Racing finished in 3rd place.
The five categories – GTP, LMP2, LMP3, GTD Pro and GTD – meet on September 15, 16 and 17 at Indianapolis.
2023-08-27 20:56:00
#IMSA #Corvette #Racing #beats #LexusVasser #Sullivan #VIRginia #International #Raceway
