2020 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR

The 2020 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 22, 2020. This race was the fifth round of the 2020 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the fourth round of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup.

Track map of VIR

The overall race was won by the #3 Corvette Racing team of Antonio García and Jordan Taylor, the duo's third and the team's fourth victories of the season. In GTD, Bill Auberlen collected his record-breaking 61st career IMSA victory, as Turner Motorsport scored their first class victory of the season.[1]

Background

Due to Virginia's COVID-19 gathering restrictions, fans were barred from attendance for the first time this season.[2] The previous three rounds had limited attendance, but the VIR round was the first to outright prevent any fans from entering the grounds. Patrick Pilet and Nick Tandy entered the race as defending champions, although only Tandy participated in the 2020 iteration.[3]

On August 14, 2020, IMSA released the latest technical bulleting, outlining the BoP for the race.[4] In GTLM, the BMW M8 GTE received a five kilogram weight reduction, while the Corvette and Porsche received 20 kilogram weight increases. The Porsche also received a five-liter fuel capacity increase. In GTD, the Audi received a 20 kilogram weight reduction, while the Lexus (which had won the previous three events) had 15 kilograms of ballast added to its total weight.

Entries
Further information: 2020 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship § Entries

A total of 20 cars took part in the event, split across two classes. 6 were entered in GTLM, while 14 were entered in GTD. The lone change from the previous round was the return of Paul Miller Racing's Lamborghini Huracan, which had been absent since the opening race at Daytona.[5]

Qualifying

Frédéric Makowiecki scored overall pole for Porsche GT Team, while Compass Racing's Corey Fergus started first in GTD.[6]

Qualifying results

Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by double-dagger.

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap Grid
1 GTLM 911 Porsche GT Team Frédéric Makowiecki 1:40.389 _ 1double-dagger
2 GTLM 912 Porsche GT Team Laurens Vanthoor 1:40.519 +0.130 2
3 GTLM 25 BMW Team RLL Connor De Phillippi 1:41.095 +0.706 3
4 GTLM 3 Corvette Racing Jordan Taylor 1:41.228 +0.839 4
5 GTLM 4 Corvette Racing Oliver Gavin 1:41.662 +1.273 5
6 GTLM 24 BMW Team RLL John Edwards 1:41.716 +1.327 6
7 GTD 76 Compass Racing Corey Fergus 1:45.236 +4.847 7double-dagger
8 GTD 96 Turner Motorsport Robby Foley 1:45.310 +4.921 8
9 GTD 12 AIM Vasser Sullivan Frankie Montecalvo 1:45.397 +5.008 9
10 GTD 86 Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian Matt McMurry 1:45.434 +5.045 10
11 GTD 48 Paul Miller Racing Madison Snow 1:45.453 +5.064 11
12 GTD 14 AIM Vasser Sullivan Aaron Telitz 1:45.524 +5.135 12
13 GTD 63 Scuderia Corsa Cooper MacNeil 1:45.565 +5.176 13
14 GTD 57 Heinricher Racing w/ MSR Curb-Agajanian Mikhail Goikhberg 1:45.570 +5.181 14
15 GTD 22 Gradient Racing Till Bechtolsheimer 1:46.196 +5.807 15
16 GTD 23 Heart of Racing Team Ian James 1:46.391 +6.002 16
17 GTD 74 Riley Motorsports Gar Robinson 1:46.391 +6.002 17
18 GTD 16 Wright Motorsports Ryan Hardwick 1:46.459 +6.070 18
19 GTD 30 Team Hardpoint Rob Ferriol 1:46.726 +6.337 19
20 GTD 44 GRT Magnus Racing Team John Potter 1:48.186 +7.797 20
Source:[7]

Results

Class winners are denoted in bold and double-dagger.

Pos Class No. Team Drivers Chassis Laps Time/Retired
Engine
1 GTLM 3 United States Corvette Racing Spain Antonio García
United States Jordan Taylor		 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R 85 2:40:40.846double-dagger
Chevrolet 5.5L V8
2 GTLM 25 United States BMW Team RLL United States Connor De Phillippi
Canada Bruno Spengler		 BMW M8 GTE 85 +3.521
BMW S63 4.0L Turbo V8
3 GTLM 911 United States Porsche GT Team France Frédéric Makowiecki
United Kingdom Nick Tandy		 Porsche 911 RSR-19 85 +4.200
Porsche 4.2L Flat-6
4 GTLM 4 United States Corvette Racing United Kingdom Oliver Gavin
United States Tommy Milner		 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R 85 +1:10.860
Chevrolet 5.5L V8
5 GTD 96 United States Turner Motorsport United States Bill Auberlen
United States Robby Foley		 BMW M6 GT3 83 +2 Lapsdouble-dagger
BMW 4.4L Turbo V8
6 GTD 86 United States Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian Germany Mario Farnbacher
United States Matt McMurry		 Acura NSX GT3 Evo 83 +2 Laps
Acura 3.5L Turbo V6
7 GTD 74 United States Riley Motorsports United States Lawson Aschenbach
United States Gar Robinson		 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 83 +2 Laps
Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2L V8
8 GTD 14 United States AIM Vasser Sullivan United Kingdom Jack Hawksworth
United States Aaron Telitz		 Lexus RC F GT3 83 +2 Laps
Lexus 5.0L V8
9 GTD 16 United States Wright Motorsports United States Ryan Hardwick
United States Patrick Long		 Porsche 911 GT3 R 83 +2 Laps
Porsche 4.0L Flat-6
10 GTD 57 United States Heinricher Racing w/ MSR Curb-Agajanian Canada Mikhail Goikhberg
Portugal Álvaro Parente		 Acura NSX GT3 Evo 83 +2 Laps
Acura 3.5L Turbo V6
11 GTD 44 United States GRT Magnus Racing Team United States Andy Lally
United States John Potter		 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 83 +2 Laps
Lamborghini 5.2L V10
12 GTD 23 United States Heart of Racing Team Canada Roman De Angelis
United Kingdom Ian James		 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 83 +2 Laps
Aston Martin 4.0L Turbo V8
13 GTD 12 United States AIM Vasser Sullivan United States Townsend Bell
United States Frankie Montecalvo		 Lexus RC F GT3 83 +2 Laps
Lexus 5.0L V8
14 GTLM 912 United States Porsche GT Team New Zealand Earl Bamber
Belgium Laurens Vanthoor		 Porsche 911 RSR-19 82 +3 Laps
Porsche 4.2L Flat-6
15 GTD 22 United States Gradient Racing United Kingdom Till Bechtolsheimer
United States Marc Miller		 Acura NSX GT3 Evo 81 +4 Laps
Acura 3.5L Turbo V6
16 GTD 76 United States Compass Racing United States Corey Fergus
United States Paul Holton		 McLaren 720S GT3 74 Did Not Finish
McLaren M840T 4.0L Turbo V8
17 GTLM 24 United States BMW Team RLL United States John Edwards
Finland Jesse Krohn		 BMW M8 GTE 66 +19 Laps
BMW S63 4.0L Turbo V8
18 GTD 63 United States Scuderia Corsa United States Cooper MacNeil
Finland Toni Vilander		 Ferrari 488 GT3 55 Did Not Finish
Ferrari F154CB 3.9L Turbo V8
19 GTD 30 United States Team Hardpoint United States Rob Ferriol
United States Spencer Pumpelly		 Audi R8 LMS Evo 27 Did Not Finish
Audi 5.2L V10
20 GTD 48 United States Paul Miller Racing United States Bryan Sellers
United States Madison Snow		 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 83 Disqualified
Lamborghini 5.2L V10
Source:[8]

References
  1. "Three for Three: No. 3 Corvette Gets Win No. 3 of 2020 in IMSA GT Challenge at VIR". autoweek.com. 23 August 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  2. "Michelin GT Challenge at VIR to be held behind closed doors". motorsportweek.com. 29 July 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  3. "Michelin VIR Notebook". sportscar365.com. 20 August 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  4. "TB-IWSC-20-18-VIR-BoP-Tables-08142020.pdf" (PDF). imsa.com. 14 August 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  5. "20 Entries for Michelin GT Challenge at VIR". sportscar365.com. 12 August 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  6. "Frederic Makowiecki Wins Michelin GT Challenge at VIR Pole". frontstretch.com. 22 August 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  7. "03_Results_Qualifying.PDF" (PDF). August 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  8. "03_Results_Race_Official.PDF" (PDF). August 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
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