Gunn Storms to VIR Pole for Heart of Racing, Aston Martin

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

Ross Gunn has claimed top qualifying honors for Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway, in the first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD Pro pole for The Heart of Racing and Aston Martin.

Gunn reeled off a quick lap of 1:43.953 in the No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 to edge out the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD of Antonio Garcia by 0.714 seconds.

Garcia’s lap came prior to a spin and light contact with the Turn 3 barriers with five minutes to go in the 15-minute session. It did not result in a red flag.

It marked Gunn’s first career WeatherTech Championship pole in the car he’ll share with Alex Riberas in the two-hour and 40-minute race.

Matt Campbell made a late-session improvement to third in the GTD Pro points-leading No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, ahead of the No. 25 Team RLL BMW M4 GT3 of Connor De Phillippi and the Jack Hawksworth-driven No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3, which completed the top five overall and in category.

Winward Racing’s Russell Ward claimed the GTD class pole, thanks to a 1:45.010 lap in the No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.

Ward edged out the No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 of Aidan Read by 0.067 seconds, with Madison Snow just four-thousanths of a second slower in third.

The pole for Winward came despite an off-course excursion for Ward who along with co-driver Philip Ellis, are fresh off their first class victory of the season at Road America.

The top nine in GTD were separated by less than one second in another ultra-competitive session.

The Michelin GT Challenge gets underway Sunday at 2 p.m. ET with live coverage on CNBC and Peacock.

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