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WeatherTech Championship

Milner, Foley Claim VIR Poles

Tommy Milner leads Corvette Racing lockout of front row for Michelin GT Challenge at VIR…

Photo: IMSA

Tommy Milner denied Jordan Taylor of his sixth consecutive IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship pole in a closely fought GT Le Mans qualifying session between the Corvette Racing teammates for Saturday’s Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway.

Milner reeled off a best lap of 1:40.263 to edge out class championship leader Taylor by just 0.003 seconds.

It marked Milner’s long-awaited first WeatherTech Championship pole in the car he’ll share with Nick Tandy in the two-hour and 40-minute GT-only contest.

The No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19, which paced both of Friday’s practice sessions in the hands of Porsche factory driver Kevin Estre, will roll off third on the grid after being qualified by Cooper MacNeil.

MacNeil’s 1:41.445 was less than 1.2 seconds off Milner’s pole-winning lap.

Foley Claims GTD Pole; Gunn Gains Max Points

Robby Foley claimed GT Daytona class pole while Ross Gunn gained maximum qualifying points by qualifying on top in Q2.

Foley’s 1:43.809 in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 edged out the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo of Madison Snow by 0.236 seconds.

Trent Hindman will start third in class in the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R followed by Roman De Angelis aboard the No. 23 The Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

The No. 39 CarBahn with Peregrine Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo of Richard Heistand completed the top-five in qualifying.

Drama for GTD Points Leaders in Qualifying

The class championship-leading Pfaff Motorsports Porsche, which initially qualified seventh in the hands of Zach Robichon, will start at the rear of the 15-car GTD field due to the crew touching the car between qualifying sessions.

It came after a spin by Robichon during the session.

Co-driver Laurens Vanthoor pitted after hearing the news during Q2 as the car automatically gets last place qualifying points.

Gunn’s 1:43.356 in the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin was 0.141 seconds clear of teammate Alex Riberas in second.

The Michelin GT Challenge gets underway Saturday at 12 p.m. ET with live coverage on NBC.

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

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