2021 GT Challenge at VIR

The 2021 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 October 9, 2021. The race was the eleventh round of the 2021 IMSA SportsCar Championship, and the eight round of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup.

Track map of VIR

Background

As in previous years, the event was also the second GT-only round of the IMSA SportsCar Championship season, in which only the GTLM and GTD classes were scheduled to compete.

Originally scheduled to run on August 22, 2021, the race was set to clash with the 24 Hours of Le Mans after the event was postponed from its original date in June to August.[1] As a result, IMSA rescheduled the event to October 9, 2021, and moved Petit Le Mans to November 13, 2021.[2][3]

On September 30, 2021, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outlining Balance of Performance for the event.[4] In GTD, the Lexus RC F GT3 received a 10 kilogram weight break. No changes were made in GTLM.

Entries
Further information: 2021 IMSA SportsCar Championship § Entries

A total of 18 cars took part in the event, split across 2 classes. 3 cars were entered in GTLM, and 15 in GTD.[5] In GTLM, Kévin Estre would be joining Cooper MacNeil in the #79 WeatherTech Racing entry. GTD saw various changes after the previous round, as Alegra Motorsports would return after skipping the previous 3 rounds.[6] Gilbert Korthoff Motorsports also returned for the first time since the Road America race with Mike Skeen partnering Guy Cosmo.[7] Compass Racing withdrew from the event in order to focus on the Indianapolis 8 Hours.[8] Mario Farnbacher subbed for Marc Miller, who was injured, in the Gradient Racing #66. [9]

Qualifying

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 4 Corvette Racing Tommy Milner 1:40.263 _ 1double-dagger
2 GTLM 3 Corvette Racing Jordan Taylor 1:40.266 +0.003 2
3 GTLM 79 WeatherTech Racing Cooper MacNeil 1:41.445 +1.182 3
4 GTD 96 Turner Motorsport Robby Foley 1:43.809 +3.546 4double-dagger
5 GTD 1 Paul Miller Racing Madison Snow 1:44.045 +3.782 5
6 GTD 16 Wright Motorsports Trent Hindman 1:44.145 +3.882 6
7 GTD 23 Heart of Racing Team Roman De Angelis 1:44.161 +3.898 7
8 GTD 39 CarBahn Motorsports with Peregrine Racing Richard Heistand 1:44.230 +3.967 8
9 GTD 14 Vasser-Sullivan Racing Aaron Telitz 1:44.358 +4.095 9
10 GTD 9 Pfaff Motorsports Zacharie Robichon 1:44.423 +4.160 10
11 GTD 12 Vasser-Sullivan Racing Frankie Montecalvo 1:44.447 +4.184 11
12 GTD 28 Alegra Motorsports Michael de Quesada 1:44.712 +4.449 12
13 GTD 32 Gilbert Korthoff Motorsports Guy Cosmo 1:44.790 +4.527 13
14 GTD 27 Heart of Racing Team Ian James 1:45.274 +5.011 14
15 GTD 66 Gradient Racing Till Bechtolsheimer 1:45.662 +5.399 15
16 GTD 19 GRT Grasser Racing Team Misha Goikhberg 1:45.699 +5.436 16
17 GTD 88 Team Hardpoint Rob Ferriol 1:46.416 +6.153 17
18 GTD 44 Magnus Racing with Archangel Motorsports John Potter 1:46.959 +6.696 18
Sources:[10][11]

Results

Class winners are denoted in bold and double-dagger.

Pos Class No. Team Drivers Chassis Laps Time/Retired
Engine
1 GTLM 4 United States Corvette Racing United States Tommy Milner
United Kingdom Nick Tandy		 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R 87 2:40:45.036double-dagger
Chevrolet 5.5L V8
2 GTLM 3 United States Corvette Racing Spain Antonio García
United States Jordan Taylor		 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R 87 +17.852
Chevrolet 5.5L V8
3 GTLM 79 United States WeatherTech Racing United States Cooper MacNeil
France Kévin Estre		 Porsche 911 RSR-19 87 +38.655
Porsche 4.2L Flat-6
4 GTD 9 Canada Pfaff Motorsports Canada Zacharie Robichon
Belgium Laurens Vanthoor		 Porsche 911 GT3 R 85 +2 Lapsdouble-dagger
Porsche 4.0L Flat-6
5 GTD 1 United States Paul Miller Racing United States Bryan Sellers
United States Madison Snow		 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 85 +2 Laps
Lamborghini 5.2L V10
6 GTD 14 United States Vasser-Sullivan Racing United States Aaron Telitz
United Kingdom Jack Hawksworth		 Lexus RC F GT3 85 +2 Laps
Lexus 5.0L V8
7 GTD 16 United States Wright Motorsports United States Trent Hindman
United States Patrick Long		 Porsche 911 GT3 R 85 +2 Laps
Porsche 4.0L Flat-6
8 GTD 23 United States Heart of Racing Team Canada Roman De Angelis
United Kingdom Ross Gunn		 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 85 +2 Laps
Mercedes-Benz M177 4.0 L Turbo V8
9 GTD 27 United States Heart of Racing Team United Kingdom Ian James
Spain Alex Riberas		 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 85 +2 Laps
Mercedes-Benz M177 4.0 L Turbo V8
10 GTD 39 United States CarBahn Motorsports with Peregrine Racing United States Richard Heistand
United States Jeff Westphal		 Audi R8 LMS Evo 85 +2 Laps
Audi 5.2L V10
11 GTD 28 United States Alegra Motorsports Canada Daniel Morad
United States Michael de Quesada		 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 85 +2 Laps
Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2L V8
12 GTD 19 Austria GRT Grasser Racing Team Canada Misha Goikhberg
France Franck Perera		 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 85 +2 Laps
Lamborghini 5.2L V10
13 GTD 88 United States Team Hardpoint United States Rob Ferriol
United Kingdom Katherine Legge		 Porsche 911 GT3 R 85 +2 Laps
Porsche 4.0L Flat-6
14 GTD 32 United States Gilbert Korthoff Motorsports United States Guy Cosmo
United States Mike Skeen		 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 84 +3 Laps
Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2L V8
15 GTD 96 United States Turner Motorsport United States Bill Auberlen
United States Robby Foley		 BMW M6 GT3 84 +3 Laps
BMW 4.4L Turbo V8
16 GTD 12 United States Vasser-Sullivan Racing United States Frankie Montecalvo
United States Zach Veach		 Lexus RC F GT3 83 +4 Laps
Lexus 5.0L V8
17 GTD 44 United States Magnus Racing with Archangel Motorsports United States John Potter
United States Andy Lally		 Acura NSX GT3 Evo 72 Did Not Finish
Acura 3.5L Turbo V6
18 GTD 66 United States Gradient Racing United Kingdom Till Bechtolsheimer
United States Mario Farnbacher		 Acura NSX GT3 Evo 39 Did Not Finish
Acura 3.5L Turbo V6
Source:[12]

References
  1. Lloyd, Daniel (March 4, 2021). "24H Le Mans Postponed to August". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  2. Lloyd, Daniel (March 4, 2021). "VIR, Petit Dates Changed in Response to Le Mans Clash". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  3. Allaway, Phil (March 4, 2021). "IMSA Postpones VIR, Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta Weekends to Avoid Le Mans Clash". frontstretch.com. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  4. Dagys, John (September 30, 2021). "Lexus RC F GT3 Gets Weight Break for VIR". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  5. Dagys, John (September 29, 2021). "Estre Rejoins WeatherTech Racing; 18 Entries for VIR". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  6. Dagys, John (September 23, 2021). "Alegra Mercedes Set for Return at VIR". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  7. Dagys, John (September 21, 2021). "Skeen Joins Gilbert Korthoff Mercedes Entry for VIR". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  8. Dagys, John (September 29, 2021). "Compass to Forgo Sprint Cup Finale at VIR; Focus on Indy 8H". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  9. Dagys, John (September 28, 2021). "Farnbacher to Fill in for Injured Miller at VIR". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  10. "03_Results_Qualifying-GTD-Points-GTLM-Position-and-Points.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  11. "03_Results_Qualifying-GTD-Position.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
  12. "03_Results_Race_Unofficial.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
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