CLEAR SKIES AHEAD FOR PAUL MILLER RACING’S VIR ASSAULT
After a rainy day at VIRginia International Raceway for final practice and qualifying, Paul Miller Racing duo Corey Lewis and Bryan Sellers are expecting clear skies for tomorrow’s latest round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
HEINRICHER RACING QUALIFIES FIFTH AT VIR
Making her North American racing debut, Alice Powell placed the Heinricher Racing No. 57 Caterpillar Acura NSX GT3 with Meyer Shank Racing on the third row for Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge.
BMW TEAM RLL QUALIFIES 7th AND 8th AT VIR
BMW Team RLL will start from the seventh and eighth GTLM class positions in tomorrow’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Michelin GT Challenge at VIR. With a lap of 1:41.703 minutes around the 3.27-mile, 17-turn Virginia International Raceway, John Edwards qualified the No. 24 BMW M8 GTE seventh – 1.073 seconds from the pole sitting No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR. Connor De Phillippi, the winner of this race last year (along with Alexander Sims), qualified the No. 25 BMW M8 GTE in the eighth spot with a 1:41.772 minute lap. Edwards will share the No. 24 machine with Jesse Krohn, the duo finishing third here in 2018. De Phillippi will co-drive with Tom Blomqvist in the No. 25 M8.
PORSCHE GT TEAM ON IMSA POLE IN VIRGINIA
Track conditions proved to be difficult at the qualifying for the ninth round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. With the surface drying up slowly after a rain shower, the Porsche GT Team claimed the first and sixth spot on the starting grid during the 15-minute qualifying. Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium) lapped the 5.263 kilometre circuit with the ca. 510 hp Porsche 911 RSR in 1:40.630 minutes and secured pole position for the team. Nick Tandy (Great Britain) put the vehicle with starting number 911 on sixth. Vanthoor’s pole position is the fifth for the Porsche GT Team so far this season.
BIG IMPROVEMENT PLACES MEYER SHANK RACING FOURTH ON THE GRID AT VIR
Meyer Shank Racing driver Trent Hindman made his ninth qualifying run this season, placing the No. 86 Acura NSX GT3 fourth on the grid for the Michelin GT Challenge on Sunday.
ROUND EIGHT VICTORY FOR BHURIT BHIROMBHAKDI THROWS AUDI SPORT R8 LMS CUP TITLE RACE WIDE OPEN
Under azure blue skies, the Audi Sport R8 LMS Cup was unleashed upon the iconic 5.807km Suzuka Circuit for round eight and the 88th race in its eighth season. Despite the abundance of the auspicious number eight, it was dazzling talent rather than luck which saw Singha Plan-B by Absolute Racing’s Bhurit Bhirombhakdi soar to victory and race right back into the GT3 title fight.
BEST PORSCHE 911 GT3 R STARTS FROM ELEVENTH GRID SPOT IN SUZUKA 10 HOURS
The Porsche team Absolute Racing will take up round four of the Intercontinental GT Challenge from eleventh on the grid. In the pole shootout on the Formula 1 circuit at Suzuka (Japan), works driver Dirk Werner (Germany) turned the fastest Porsche lap so far this weekend in a time of 2:01.306 minutes. The German shares the No. 912 Porsche 911 GT3 R with Porsche Young Professionals Matt Campbell (Australia) and Dennis Olsen (Norway). The trio won the season-opening round at Bathurst (Australia) and currently rank third in the drivers’ classification. The identical, 500+hp vehicle fielded by Earl Bamber Motorsport (EBM) with the starting number 911 qualified on 24th.
FLYING FARFUS SEALS SUZUKA 10 HOURS POLE FOR BMW TEAM SCHNITZER
Augusto Farfus has claimed pole position for Sunday’s Suzuka 10 Hours and round four of this season’s Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli campaign after producing what the Brazilian described as the ‘lap of my life’.
