VIR Friday Notebook

***An engine change for the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 forced the GT Daytona championship leaders to miss Friday’s second practice session. The Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow-driven entry is expected to be ready for final practice on Saturday morning.

***While it marked the second engine issue for the team in the last three races, Sellers and Snow rebounded to claim class victory at Lime Rock following a rapid rebuild, which also incidentally came in a GT-only weekend.

***GT Le Mans championship leaders Ford Chip Ganassi Racing is seeking its fifth consecutive class win on Sunday. Of note, the Ford GT has not won at Virginia International Raceway, with Corvette Racing having claimed victories here in 2016-17, with Porsche GT Team (2015) and Risi Competizione (2014) prior to that.

***IMSA issued further clarification to the autonomous fuel supply tanks, in a bulletin issued to teams earlier this week that depicts a diagram for the permitted fill plate, which is sealed during the sanctioning body’s inspection of the fuel rigs on Thursday.

***VIR marks a home race of sorts for Lexus, which is racing near TRD’s East Coast facility in Salisbury, N.C. The facility provides support to Toyota’s NASCAR programs as well as engineering resources to the Lexus RC F GT3.

***WeatherTech SportsCar Championship teams were welcomed into Virginia on Wednesday with a transporter parade through Danville. 

***Virginia Governor Ralph Northam will serve as the Grand Marshal of Sunday’s two-hour and 40-minute race. 

***Several Balance of Performance adjustments have been made to Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge GS cars this weekend, most notably a 10 kg weight increase and revised ride height for the Mercedes-AMG GT4 and 2 mm reduced air restrictor for the Ford Mustang GT4.

***A number of drivers are pulling duty this weekend between multiple series, including Paul Miller’s Snow and Turner Motorsport driver Robby Foley, who are also entered in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America and IMSA Prototype Challenge presented by Mazda races, respectively. 

***Stephen Simpson, who has claimed recent victories in WeatherTech Championship Prototype and Continental Tire Challenge TCR competition, will be seeking a unique trifecta in his IPC debut in the No. 30 Extreme Speed Motorsports Ligier JS P3 alongside Kris Wright. 

***Simpson has been drafted into the Scott Sharp-owned team to help Wright maintain his championship lead in LMP3. “It’s funny, I actually drove the car that I’m driving this weekend last year when it was brand new, and I shook it down,” he said. “I’ve driven it about three laps and that’s the most I’ve been in an LMP3 car.”

***The Biscuitville Grand Prix, round eight for the Continental Tire Challenge, gets underway Saturday at 2:05 p.m. EDT with live coverage on IMSA.tv. Tape-delayed coverage is set for Aug.  26 on FS1. Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge, meanwhile, will be broadcast live on FS1, starting at 1 p.m. EDT.