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VEACH: Virginia is for Racing Lovers

Racers Edge Motorsports driver Zach Veach files his latest Sportscar365 column…

Photo: Virginia

“Virginia is for lovers” …

I never quite understood that slogan but you see it everywhere as you’re driving into Virginia International Raceway.

One thing I do understand, though, is my love for VIR is unlike most racetracks at which I’ve had the privilege to compete. Arguably, it’s the one track in America I had to wait the longest to do so.

I never got the opportunity to run the early tier formula cars there and by the time I was climbing the Road To Indy, VIR was known in our circle as a sports car-only track.

My 15-year wait was over in 2021 when I got to run there for the first time in a GT3 car, and I immediately fell in love with the place.

Without any preconceived notions developed by years in an open wheel car, the capabilities of a GT3 car around the circuit was all I knew which made it really easy to get up to speed.

The characteristics of the circuit are smooth hands and a lot of commitment.

It’s truly an enjoyable experience when you put a good lap together, like qualifying on an oval trimmed all the way out. “Virginia is for RACING lovers..”- now that, I understand, completely.

Photo: Racers Edge Motorsports

We started the weekend with a couple of test sessions on Thursday to get up to speed and Luca and I were pleasantly surprised with the pace and feel of the Acura NSX GT3 Evo22, ending up in the top-three in class and top-three overall at the end of the day.

Optimistically cautious, we made a couple of changes to the Acura overnight and saddled back up for two more practice sessions on Friday.

Friday we found the same pace again, running in the top three in class and the top five overall. The weather cooperated despite the predicted forecast, and we had dry sessions on both days.

The Acura NSX seemed to be really strong in the high speed esses and high commitment corners. We tried to use these strengths as much as we could to our advantage and turned our focus on a couple of the weaker areas for qualifying Saturday morning.

Hoping for the same conditions for qualifying, we woke up on Saturday morning to find a lot of rain from overnight that continued as we drove into the track.

There was a couple of sessions before our GT World Challenge America qualifying we were hoping would help dry up the track for us, but the surface had just gotten to the point of slicks when we rolled out.

Luca was out first for his qualifying sessions in the Acura as the conditions continued to improve with every lap and ended up P3 in class at the checkered!

I jumped into the NSX expecting the same progression but wanted to get a lap in early incase any rain was still coming. Our first banker lap put us up to P1 and I teed off on our second lap! Finding another 0.30 seconds in Turn 1, I pushed into T3 expecting the corner I saw just a minute before, I was surprised with an immediate loss of the rear when I got to the corner exit and had a quick 360 on track and kept going.

A previous car had hit a dense puddle and scattered the water all over the corner and caught me out not being able to see it. Once I got the Acura going again, the peak of the tire was gone with the spin and we ended up P8 for Race 2.

Photo: Racers Edge Motorsports

Luca took the green with the Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 for race, but despite a couple of green flag laps, the race was plagued with a lot of yellow time. Those who were watching at home, we tried to make the restarts as exciting as possible.

Our first stint was strong; Luca did a great job recovering after losing a spot on the start and settled in with the pack. When he came in for the driver change, I took over the Acura in P5 that jumped to P4 with the pits cycling out.

Just as the tires were starting to come in and we were settled, a full course yellow came out. Thinking it would be quick, I was happy with the chance to have the field bunched back up so we could work for the podium. That caution period took quite a few laps for some track repair that needed to be done.

We all did our best to keep any sort of tire and brake temperatures in the Acura NSX and finally got the nod that we’d be going back to green.

I got a good start on Hindman in the Porsche in front of me, with my run I looked to the inside, he followed, I popped to the outside and out broke him a little to be at his door and tried to roll the outside. Side by side until the corner exit, I just couldn’t get the power down on the dirty surface and settled back behind him.

Not a lap or two later, back to yellow with another chance to grab another position on track. As we went back to green my jump wasn’t as strong, but I was able to really ship the outside this time, I was able to almost get a nose ahead of him by corner apex, but again, no avail getting to the power on the dirty surface, so we stayed P4 in class and finished the remaining five minutes of the race under green.

The result at the checkered wasn’t the podium we wanted but overall, we felt good to finally be racing our way forward.

Photo: Racers Edge Motorsports

The weather for Race 2 was almost the exact opposite on conditions: from cool and cloudy on Saturday, to very hot and sunny on Sunday. The track temp was substantially warmer and we were trying to figure out how we should combat the heat.

Starting P8, we wanted to give Luca our last new set of tires to finish the race so I started on our used set from qualifying. From the drop of the green flag, I was really struggling to keep the NSX under me at the speed I needed to be going to hang with other pro drivers around.

My concern was foreshadowing my soon to be made mistake coming onto the front straight, a couple of laps later. As the race pace was dropping, I went into the last corner a bit faster with everyone else and when I did, I got a big bottom out of the car and sent me like a cannonball into the weeds. I regained control of the Acura and got back on track and sent a prayer to the racing gods for a yellow.

That prayer was answered just at the end of my stint as I brought the car into the box at the pit window. Luca got the Acura NSX car in we P8 and went to work with a brand-new set of tires. The quick pit stop by the crew jumped us two spots on the grid, and the fresh rubber calmed the rear early in the stint.

Luca started picking off his competitors one by one as he raced his way back up to the top five. With less than ten minutes to go, it looked like a P4 class finish was going to be our fate as he started chasing the field again. 

Just then, some heavy battling from the lead cars into turn 1 caused a spin, so Luca slipped up another position, then a drive through levied at another competitor move us into podium contention. At the end of the day, other teams’ misfortune isn’t how you want to get a podium but with racing, that’s just the way it goes sometimes.

We lost out on a podium because of a penalty at COTA. We just have to stay focus to keep pushing and run our own race, no matter what the competition might be doing around us on track or in the pits. That focus is difficult sometimes, to essentially keep blinders on in the paddock, but it pays off.

As the season has progressed, we’re getting quicker, and stronger as a team. We felt closer than we’ve ever been this year, it keeps trending in an upwards direction. We just have to continue the fight at Road America.

Zach Veach is a former open-wheel ace turned sports car racing driver, competing in Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS in the No. 93 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 alongside Luca Mars.

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