The2019 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR was asports car race sanctioned by theInternational Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The race was held atVirginia International Raceway inAlton, Virginia, on August 25, 2019. The race was the tenth round of the2019 IMSA SportsCar Championship, and the sixth round of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup.Nick Tandy andPatrick Pilet won the race overall in the #911Porsche GT TeamPorsche 911 RSR leading home a 1-2 for Porsche who clinched the GTLM manufactures championship. In GTD, the #33Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsports ofBen Keating andJeroen Bleekemolen took their first win of the season.[1]
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International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the2019 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2018.[2] It was the sixth consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The 2019 Oak Tree Grand Prix was the tenth of twelve sports car races of 2019 by IMSA, and it was the sixth of seven rounds held as part of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup.[3] The race was held at the seventeen-turn 3.270 mi (5.263 km)Virginia International Raceway inAlton, Virginia on August 25, 2019.[4] As in previous years, it would be the second of two GT-only rounds of theIMSA SportsCar Championship, in which only the GTLM and GTD classes competed.[5]
On August 15, 2019, IMSA released a technical bulletin regarding theBalance of Performance for the race. In GT Le Mans, TheFord GT received a 5 kilogram weight increase, and gained 10 horsepower. TheBMW M8 GTE received a 6.5 horsepower reduction and fuel capacity reduction of 1 liter. In GTD, theAudi R8 LMS GT3 Evo andFerrari 488 GT3 were given weight reductions of 20 and 10 kilograms respectively, while theMcLaren 720S GT3 got a fuel capacity reduction of 4 liters.[6]
Before the race,Earl Bamber andLaurens Vanthoor led the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 248 points, 14 points ahead ofPatrick Pilet andNick Tandy in second followed byRyan Briscoe andRichard Westbrook with 230 points in third.[7] In GTD,Mario Farnbacher andTrent Hindman led the Drivers' Championship with 209 points; the duo held a thirty-six point advantage overBill Auberlen andRobby Foley in second.[7]Porsche anAcura were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, whilePorsche GT Team andMeyer Shank Racing each led their own Teams' Championships.[7]
A total of 21 cars took part in the event split across two classes. 8 cars were entered in GTLM, and 13 in GTD. In GTD,Scott Hargrove returned to Pfaff Motorsports afterDennis Olsen andMatt Campbell filled in the previous two rounds.[8] Due to a scheduling conflict forChristina Nielsen, who was atSuzuka International Racing Course for theSuzuka 10 Hours, was replaced by Alice Powell.[9]Starworks Motorsport withdrew from the event following continued performance issues with its Audi R8 after competing atRoad America.[10] No changes happened in GTLM.
There were three practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, two on Friday and one on Saturday. The first session on Friday morning lasted one hour while the second session on Friday afternoon lasted one hour. The third on Saturday morning lasted one hour.[11]
The first practice session took place at 11:45 amET on Friday and ended withLaurens Vanthoor topping the charts forPorsche GT Team, with a lap time of 1:41.296.Nick Tandy was second fastest in the sister No. 911 Porsche followed by Ryan Briscoe's No. 67 Ford GT in third position.[12]Dirk Müller in the No. 66 Ford GT was fourth fastest andJan Magnussen's No. 3 Corvette rounded out the top five.[13][14] The GTD class was topped by the No. 33Mercedes-AMG Team Riley MotorsportsMercedes-AMG GT3 ofBen Keating with a time of 1:44.336.Patrick Long was second fastest in the No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche followed byAndy Lally in the No. 44Magnus Racing Lamborghini in third position.[12]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GTLM | 912 | Porsche GT Team | Laurens Vanthoor | 1:41.296 | _ |
| 2 | GTLM | 911 | Porsche GT Team | Nick Tandy | 1:41.435 | +0.139 |
| 3 | GTLM | 67 | Ford Chip Ganassi Racing | Ryan Briscoe | 1:41.478 | +0.182 |
| Sources:[15][16] | ||||||
The second practice session took place at 4:30 PMET on Friday and ended withPatrick Pilet topping the charts forPorsche GT Team, with a lap time of 1:41.234.Antonio García was second fastest in the No. 3 Corvette followed byEarl Bamber in the No. 912 Porsche in third.[17]Richard Westbrook in the No. 67 Ford GT was fourth fastest andJesse Krohn's No. 24 BMW rounded out the top five.[18] The GTD class was topped by the No.14AIM Vasser SullivanLexus RC F GT3 ofJack Hawksworth with a time of 1:43.783.Robby Foley was second fastest in the No. 96 BMW followed byBryan Sellers in the No. 48Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini in third position.[19] The session was disrupted when the No. 44Magnus Racing Lamborghini of Andy Lally stopped on track with a mechanical problem.[18]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GTLM | 911 | Porsche GT Team | Patrick Pilet | 1:41.234 | _ |
| 2 | GTLM | 3 | Corvette Racing | Antonio García | 1:41.324 | +0.090 |
| 3 | GTLM | 912 | Porsche GT Team | Earl Bamber | 1:41.337 | +0.103 |
| Sources:[20][21] | ||||||
The third and final practice session took place at 8:35 amET Saturday was held on a wet track. Vanthoor's No. 912 Porsche lapped fastest at 2:00.631, ahead of Nick Tandy in the No. 911 Porsche.[22]Joey Hand was third in the No. 66 Ford GT followed byConnor De Phillippi's No. 25 BMW in fourth, and Magnussen's No. 3 Corvette rounded out the top five.[23] GTD was led byJeroen Bleekemolen's No. 33 Mercedes-AMG with a lap of 2:03.544. Lally was second-fastest and had the categories fastest time for most of the session.[24] Richard Heistand was third fastest in the No. 14 Lexus followed by Toni Vilander's No. 63 Ferrari in fourth.[25]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GTLM | 912 | Porsche GT Team | Laurens Vanthoor | 2:00.631 | _ |
| 2 | GTLM | 911 | Porsche GT Team | Nick Tandy | 2:00.938 | +0.307 |
| 3 | GTLM | 66 | Ford Chip Ganassi Racing | Joey Hand | 2:01.262 | +0.631 |
| Sources:[26][27] | ||||||
Saturday's early afternoon qualifying session was divided into two groups that lasted 15 minutes each.[11] Cars in GTD were sent out first and, after a ten-minute interval, GTLM vehicles drove onto the track. All cars were required to be driven by one participant and the starting order was determined by the competitor's fastest lap.[28] IMSA then arranged the grid so that the GTLM field started in front of all GTD cars. The session took place on a damp track but dried out as it progressed.[29]
The first was for cars in the GTD class.Zacharie Robichon in the No. 9 Porsche was fastest on the car's final lap timed lap with a time of 1 minute and 45.826 seconds to clinch his secondpole position of the season.[30][31] He was joined byFrankie Montecalvo's No. 12 Lexus on the grid's front row with his best lap being 0.324 seconds slower, and Richard Heistand drove the No. 14AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus to third place.[31][30]Trent Hindman qualified the No. 86 Acura fourth, ahead of Alice Powell's fifth placed Acura.[29]
The final session of qualifying was for cars in the GTLM class. Laurens Vanthoor in the No. 912 Porsche clinched his second pole position of the season. The No. 3 Corvette of Magnussen 0.078 seconds off the pace in second.[31] The two Fords were third and fourth (the No. 67 car driven by Briscoe in front of the No. 66 vehicle of Hand).[29]Oliver Gavin's No. 4 Corvette completed the top five category qualifiers.[30] Tandy was sixth after spinning at turn twelve, and made contact with the barrier leaving damage on the left side.[32] The twoBMW Team RLL cars rounded out the GTLM field.[30]
Pole positions in each class are indicated inbold and by ‡.
The final results of GTLM kept Bamber and Vanthoor atop the Drivers' Championship with 280 points, but their advantage had been reduced by three as the victory of Pilet and Tandy meant the two drivers were eleven points behind. García and Magnussen's strong result allowed the duo to move into third while Briscoe and Westbrook fell to fourth as a result of finishing in fifth place.[40] The final results of GTD meant Farnbacher and Hindman extended their advantage to 37 points as Robichon took over second position. Montecalvo and Bell advanced from fifth to fourth while Auberlen and Foley dropped from second to third.[40] Porsche and Acura continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Porsche GT Team and Meyer Shank Racing kept their respective advantages in their Teams' Championships with two rounds left in the season.[40]
Class winners are denoted inbold and ‡.
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| Previous race: Road Race Showcase at Road America | 2019 season | Next race: Monterey Grand Prix |
