2017 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR

The 2017 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR was a sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The Race was held at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia on August 27, 2017. The race was the tenth round of the 2017 IMSA SportsCar Championship.

Background

IMSA's president Scott Atherton confirmed the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR was part of the series' schedule for the 2017 IMSA SportsCar Championship at Road America's victory lane in August 2016.[1] It was the fourth consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The 2017 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR was the tenth of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2017 by IMSA, and was the seventh round not held on the held as part of the North American Endurance Cup.[2] The race was held at the ten-turn 3.270 mi (5.263 km) Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia on August 27, 2017.[2] Much like in previous years, the event was a GT only round, in which the GTLM and GTD classes were scheduled to compete.[3] After the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase three weeks earlier, Antonio García and Jan Magnussen led the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 239 points, ahead of Bill Auberlen and Alexander Sims with 231 points, and Joey Hand and Dirk Müller with 230 points.[4] In GTD, the Drivers' Championship was led by Alessandro Balzan and Christina Nielsen with 254 points, ahead of Ben Keating and Jeroen Bleekemolen with 239 points.[4] Ford and Ferrari were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Corvette Racing and Scuderia Corsa each led their own Teams' Championships.[4]

On August 16, 2017, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outlining Balance of performance for the event.[5] In GTLM, the Chevrolet Corvette C7.R received a 0.5 mm larger air restrictor and an increased fuel restrictor. The BMW M6 GTLM and Ford GT received reductions in fuel capacity. In GTD, the Acura NSX GT3 received a fuel capacity reduction of 3 liters and a decreased fuel restrictor. The Audi R8 LMS received a smaller fuel restrictor while the Ferrari 488 GT3 received an increase in fuel restriction.

Entries

Further information: 2017 IMSA SportsCar Championship § Entries

A total of 25 cars took part in the event split across two classes. 9 cars were in GTLM, and 16 in GTD.[6] In GTLM, Risi Competizione returned after missing the previous four rounds.[7] In GTD, Trent Hindman subbed for Ben Keating the #33 Riley Motorsports - Team AMG entry due to Hurricane Harvey making landfall affecting Ben's car delaerships.[8][9] Lone Star Racing made their first appearance since the Circuit of the Americas round. Patrick Long returned to the Alegra Motorsports entry.[10]

Practice

There were three practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Sunday, two on Friday and one on Saturday. The first two one-hour sessions were on Friday morning and afternoon. The third on Saturday morning lasted an hour.[11]

Practice 1

The first practice session took place at 11:45 am ET on Friday and ended with Tommy Milner topping the charts for Corvette Racing, with a lap time of 1:42.341.[12] Jeroen Mul set the fastest time in GTD.[13]

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap
1 GTLM 4 Corvette Racing Tommy Milner 1:42.341 _
2 GTLM 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Richard Westbrook 1:42.444 +0.103
3 GTLM 62 Risi Competizione Giancarlo Fisichella 1:42.516 +0.175
Sources:[14][15]

Practice 2

The second practice session took place at 4:10 pm ET on Friday and ended with Antonio García topping the charts for Corvette Racing, with a lap time of 1:41.323.[16] The GTD class was topped by the #16 Change Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 of Jeroen Mul with a time of 1:43.830. Andy Lally was second in the #93 Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian entry and Andrew Davis rounded out the top 3.[17]

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap
1 GTLM 3 Corvette Racing Antonio García 1:41.323 _
2 GTLM 24 BMW Team RLL John Edwards 1:41.405 +0.082
3 GTLM 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Dirk Müller 1:41.667 +0.344
Sources:[18][19]

Practice 3

The third and final practice session took place at 8:45 am ET on Saturday and ended with Toni Vilander topping the charts for Risi Competizione, with a lap time of 1:40.855.[20] The GTD class was topped by the #16 Change Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 of Jeroen Mul with a time of 1:43.223.[21]

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap
1 GTLM 62 Risi Competizione Toni Vilander 1:40.855 _
2 GTLM 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Dirk Müller 1:41.029 +0.174
3 GTLM 24 BMW Team RLL John Edwards 1:41.054 +0.199
Sources:[22][23]

Qualifying

Saturday afternoon's 40-minute two-group qualifying, each category had separate 15-minute sessions. Regulations stipulated that teams nominate one qualifying driver, with the fastest laps determining each class' starting order. IMSA then arranged the grid to put GTLMs ahead of GTD cars.[24][11]

Qualifying was broken into two sessions. The first was for cars in GTD class. Jeroen Mul qualified on pole for the class driving the #16 car for Change Racing, besting Jesse Krohn in the Turner Motorsport entry.[25]

The final session of qualifying was for the GTLM class. Joey Hand qualified on pole driving the #66 car for Ford Chip Ganassi Racing, beating Alexander Sims in the #25 BMW Team RLL entry by over two tenths of a second.[26]

Qualifying results

Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by ‡.

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap Grid
1 GTLM 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Joey Hand 1:40.211 _ 1‡
2 GTLM 25 BMW Team RLL Alexander Sims 1:40.415 +0.204 2
3 GTLM 24 BMW Team RLL John Edwards 1:40.441 +0.230 3
4 GTLM 62 Risi Competizione Giancarlo Fisichella 1:40.606 +0.395 4
5 GTLM 4 Corvette Racing Tommy Milner 1:40.758 +0.547 5
6 GTLM 3 Corvette Racing Jan Magnussen 1:40.802 +0.591 6
7 GTLM 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Richard Westbrook 1:40.841 +0.630 7
8 GTLM 912 Porsche GT Team Laurens Vanthoor 1:41.339 +1.128 8
9 GTLM 911 Porsche GT Team Dirk Werner 1:41.991 +1.780 9
10 GTD 16 Change Racing Jeroen Mul 1:43.391 +3.180 10‡
11 GTD 96 Turner Motorsport Jesse Krohn 1:43.621 +3.410 9
12 GTD 57 Stevenson Motorsports Andrew Davis 1:43.770 +3.559 13
13 GTD 33 Riley Motorsports - Team AMG Jeroen Bleekemolen 1:43.826 +3.615 14
14 GTD 15 3GT Racing Jack Hawksworth 1:43.845 +3.634 15
15 GTD 14 3GT Racing Sage Karam 1:44.105 +3.894 15
16 GTD 48 Paul Miller Racing Madison Snow 1:44.131 +3.920 16
17 GTD 28 Alegra Motorsports Daniel Morad 1:44.146 +3.935 17
18 GTD 93 Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Katherine Legge 1:44.441 +4.230 18
19 GTD 63 Scuderia Corsa Christina Nielsen 1:44.573 +4.362 10
20 GTD 73 Park Place Motorsports Patrick Lindsey 1:44.697 +4.486 19
21 GTD 86 Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Oswaldo Negri Jr. 1:45.080 +4.869 20
22 GTD 50 Riley Motorsports - WeatherTech Racing Cooper MacNeil 1:45.530 +5.319 21
23 GTD 75 SunEnergy1 Racing Kenny Habul 1:46.011 +5.800 241
24 GTD 54 CORE Autosport Jon Bennett 1:46.106 +5.895 23
25 GTD 80 Lone Star Racing Dan Knox 1:46.768 +6.557 252
Sources:[27][28]
  • 1 The No. 75 SunEnergy1 Racing entry was moved to the back of the GTD field as per Article 43.6 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).[24]
  • 2 The No. 80 Lone Star Racing entry was moved to the back of the GTD field as per Article 43.6 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).[24]

Race

Post-race

The result kept García and Ricky Taylor atop the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 274 points, 16 points ahead of fourth-place finishers Auberlen and Sims.[29] The result kept Balzan and Nielsen atop the GTD Drivers' Championship while Klingmann advanced from fifth to third.[29] Chevrolet and Mercedes-AMG took the lead their respective Manufacturers' Championships while Corvette Racing, and Scuderia Corsa kept their respective advantages in the Teams' Championships with two rounds left in the season.[29]

Results

Class winners are denoted in bold and ‡.

Final race classification
Pos Class No. Team Drivers Chassis Tire Laps Time/Retired
Engine
1 GTLM 3 Corvette Racing Jan Magnussen

Antonio García

Chevrolet Corvette C7.R M 93 2:41.17.089‡
Chevrolet LT5.5 5.5 L V8
2 GTLM 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ryan Briscoe

Richard Westbrook

Ford GT M 93 +12.031
Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Twin-turbo V6
3 GTLM 62 Risi Competizione Toni Vilander

Giancarlo Fisichella

Ferrari 488 GTE M 93 +12.649
Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8
4 GTLM 25 BMW Team RLL Bill Auberlen

Alexander Sims

BMW M6 GTLM M 93 +28.026
BMW 4.4 L Turbo V8
5 GTLM 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Dirk Müller

Joey Hand

Ford GT M 93 +1:08.064
Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Twin-turbo V6
6 GTLM 4 Corvette Racing Oliver Gavin

Tommy Milner

Chevrolet Corvette C7.R M 93 +1:39.084
Chevrolet LT5.5 5.5 L V8
7 GTLM 912 Porsche GT Team Gianmaria Bruni

Laurens Vanthoor

Porsche 911 RSR M 92 +1 lap
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
8 GTLM 911 Porsche GT Team Patrick Pilet

Dirk Werner

Porsche 911 RSR M 92 +1 lap
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
9 GTD 16 Change Racing Corey Lewis

Jeroen Mul

Lamborghini Huracán GT3 C 91 +2 Laps‡
Lamborghini 5.2 L V10
10 GTD 96 Turner Motorsport Jens Klingmann

Jesse Krohn

BMW M6 GT3 C 91 +2 Laps
BMW 4.4L Turbo V8
11 GTD 33 Riley Motorsports – Team AMG Jeroen Bleekemolen

Trent Hindman

Mercedes-AMG GT3 C 90 +3 Laps
Mercedes AMG M159 6.2 L V8
12 GTD 63 Scuderia Corsa Christina Nielsen

Alessandro Balzan

Ferrari 488 GT3 C 90 +3 Laps
Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8
13 GTD 48 Paul Miller Racing Bryan Sellers

Madison Snow

Lamborghini Huracán GT3 C 90 +3 Laps
Lamborghini 5.2 L V10
14 GTD 50 Riley Motorsports – WeatherTech Racing Cooper MacNeil

Gunnar Jeannette

Porsche 911 GT3 R C 89 +4 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
15 GTD 14 3GT Racing Robert Alon

Sage Karam

Lexus RC F GT3 C 89 +2 Laps
Lexus 5.0L V8
16 GTD 54 CORE Autosport Jon Bennett

Colin Braun

Porsche 911 GT3 R C 89 +4 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
17 GTD 28 Alegra Motorsports Patrick Long

Daniel Morad

Porsche 911 GT3 R C 89 +4 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
18 GTD 73 Park Place Motorsports Jörg Bergmeister

Patrick Lindsey

Porsche 911 GT3 R C 88 +5 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
19 GTD 80 Lone Star Racing Dan Knox

Mike Skeen

Mercedes-AMG GT3 C 87 +6 Laps
Mercedes AMG M159 6.2 L V8
20 GTD 57 Stevenson Motorsports Andrew Davis

Lawson Aschenbach

Audi R8 LMS C 86 +7 Laps
Audi 5.2L V10
21

DNF

GTLM 24 BMW Team RLL John Edwards

Martin Tomczyk

BMW M6 GTLM M 72 Steering
BMW 4.4 L Turbo V8
22

DNF

GTD 15 3GT Racing Scott Pruett

Jack Hawksworth

Lexus RC F GT3 C 71 Crash Damage
Lexus 5.0L V8
23

DNF

GTD 86 Michael Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian Jeff Segal

Oswaldo Negri Jr.

Acura NSX GT3 C 26 Crash Damage
Acura 3.5 L Turbo V6
24

DNF

GTD 93 Michael Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian Andy Lally

Katherine Legge

Acura NSX GT3 C 22 Crash Damage
Acura 3.5 L Turbo V6
25

DNF

GTD 75 SunEnergy1 Racing Tristan Vautier

Kenny Habul

Mercedes-AMG GT3 C 6 Power Steering
Mercedes AMG M159 6.2 L V8
Sources:[30][31]
Tyre manufacturers
Key
Symbol Tyre manufacturer
C Continental
M Michelin

Standings after the race

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

References

  1. ^ Dagys, John (August 5, 2016). "2017 WeatherTech Championship Schedule Released". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Dagys, John (November 15, 2016). "2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship schedule released". foxsports.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  3. ^ Allaway, Phil (August 5, 2016). "IMSA Announces 2017 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Schedule". frontstretch.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c "2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Point Standings: After Round 9" (PDF). IMSA. August 8, 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 22, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  5. ^ Dagys, John (August 16, 2017). "Corvette Gets Power Increase for VIR". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  6. ^ Dagys, John (August 17, 2017). "WeatherTech Racing to Continue With Porsche at VIR". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  7. ^ Kilshaw, Jake (August 7, 2017). "Risi to Make GTLM Return at VIR, Complete Season". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  8. ^ Dagys, John (August 25, 2017). "Hindman to Sub for Hurricane-Bound Keating". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  9. ^ Dagys, John (August 25, 2017). "VIR Friday Notebook". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  10. ^ Dagys, John (August 24, 2017). "VIR Thursday Notebook". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  11. ^ a b Dagys, John (August 24, 2017). "Continental Tire Keys to the Race: VIR". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  12. ^ Dagys, John (August 25, 2017). "Milner Quickest in Opening Practice at VIR". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  13. ^ Pruett, Marshall (August 25, 2017). "Corvette leads IMSA GT first practice at VIR". racer.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  14. ^ "03_Results.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. August 25, 2017. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  15. ^ "07_ Driver Fastest Lap.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. August 25, 2017. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  16. ^ Dagys, John (August 25, 2017). "Garcia, Corvette Top Friday at VIR". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  17. ^ Pruett, Marshall (August 25, 2017). "Garcia gives Corvette Friday practice sweep at VIR". racer.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  18. ^ "03_Results.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. August 25, 2017. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  19. ^ "07_ Driver Fastest Lap.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. August 25, 2017. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  20. ^ Dagys, John (August 26, 2017). "Vilander Quickest in Practice 3 at VIR". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  21. ^ Pruett, Marshall (August 26, 2017). "Risi Ferrari surges in third VIR IMSA practice". racer.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  22. ^ "03_Results.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. August 26, 2017. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  23. ^ "07_ Driver Fastest Lap.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. August 26, 2017. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  24. ^ a b c "2017 IMSA Sporting Regulations & Series Supplementary Regulations of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship sanctioned by IMSA" (PDF). IMSA. April 10, 2017. pp. 39, 81–83, 125. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  25. ^ Dagys, John (August 26, 2017). "Mul Storms to GTD Pole at VIR". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  26. ^ Dagys, John (August 26, 2017). "Hand Takes Ford, CGR to Fifth Pole of Season". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  27. ^ "03_Results.PDF" (PDF). IMSA. August 26, 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  28. ^ "01_Starting Grid - Official.PDF" (PDF). IMSA. August 27, 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 23, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  29. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Point Standings: After Round 10" (PDF). IMSA. August 29, 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 23, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  30. ^ "03_Results - Official.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. August 29, 2017. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  31. ^ "2017 MICHELIN GT CHALLENGE AT VIR". racing-reference.info. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
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