Altoe Storms to VIR Pole for DragonSpeed

Photo: Brandon Badraoui/IMSA

Giacomo Altoe secured overall pole for Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway, giving DragonSpeed its fourth top-qualifying run of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.

The Italian drove his No. 81 Ferrari 296 GT3 to a chart-topping 1:44.433, edging out the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Neil Verhagen by 0.045 seconds.

Altoe helped co-driver Albert Costa inch closer to the lead of the GTD Pro class championship lead. Costa entered the weekend just 30 points behind the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims.

Paul Miller Racing teammate Dan Harper qualified the No. 48 BMW in third, with the pair of factory-supported Corvettes completing the top-five.

It came after a precautionary engine change for the No. 4 Corvette after issues in second practice.

Seb Priaulx was sixth quickest in the No. 64 Multimatic Ford Mustang GT3, ahead of Klaus Bachler’s No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R and the No. 65 Ford of Frederic Vervisch.

The No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 of Aaron Telitz found trouble after spinning off course in Turn 14, although improved on his initial 1:47.044 lap time set prior to the incident.

GTD pole honors went to the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus of Jack Hawksworth.

In a reverse driver strategy that typically sees Silver-rated Parker Thompson qualify, Hawksworth reeled off a 1:44.860 to edge out points leader Russell Ward by 0.138 seconds.

Ward, who scored class pole last time out at Road America, will start second in the No. 57 Winward Racing Meredes-AMG GT3 Evo.

Road America class winner Onofrio Triarsi was third in the No. 021 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari, just 0.001 seconds slower than Ward’s time.

The No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo of Casper Stevenson and the Manny Franco-qualified No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari completed the top-five in class.

The Michelin GT Challenge gets underway Sunday at 2 p.m. EST with live coverage on USA Network, Peacock, as well as IMSA’s YouTube channel for international viewers.

RESULTS: Qualifying

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John