VIR Post-Race Notebook

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

***Paul Miller Racing became the seventh different GTD Pro class winner in eight races this season following Madison Snow and Bryan Sellers’ controlling victory in Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway. Only AO Racing has been repeat winners in the class so far this season.

***Laurin Heinrich saw his GTD Pro championship lead reduced to just 17 points over Heart of Racing Team’s Ross Gunn, following Gunn’s third place finish alongside Alex Riberas in the No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo and Heinrich’s seventh place class result.

***It came after the German was forced to serve a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility after contact with the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 of Jack Hawksworth, on top of a black-and-orange flag for the car not adhering to IMSA and Michelin’s tire operational requirements that forced an early pit stop at the 35-minute mark.

***A total of four cars: No. 77 AO Porsche, No. 78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, No. 13 AWA Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R and No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 were all forced to pit due to being outside of the prescribed tire pressure mandates.

***With their win, Snow and Sellers have moved to within 111 points of Heinrich in the GTD standings with two races to go at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

***An early race pit stop propelled Gunn into the lead but a drive-through penalty for failure to adhere to the minimum refueling time dropped the Englishman back one position. “It was a shame about the penalty, but overall very happy with the end result,” said Gunn.

***Both of the factory-supported Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller entries suffered mechanical gremlins, with the No. 3 entry of Alexander Sims stopping on the track multiple times before being diagnosed with power steering issues, prior to suspension failure. A starter motor issue, meanwhile, delayed Nicky Catsburg on the car’s final pit stop.

***Sims said: “I felt pretty comfortable out in front of the Aston Martin, and we were holding our own. That’s when the car cut out on me, and the power steering failed. After a few laps, I understood why these are designed to have power steering. This isn’t a formula car in terms of the steering weight where you could get through it. But after four or five laps, I knew it wasn’t going to last. I just tried to give the guys enough time to at least preempt what we needed to do in the garage, but it was a big change and set us way back.”

***The No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3 of Marvin Kirchhofer encountered radio issues, prompting the Canadian squad to put starting driver Oliver Jarvis back into the car for the final stint, which ended up solving the issue.

***Kenton Koch claimed his second career WeatherTech Championship victory, 3,129 days after helping take JDC-Miller Motorsports to Prototype Challenge class honors in the 2016 Rolex 24 at Daytona. It came in only Koch’s second race in his sprint role with the team, having replaced Mike Skeen, who was calling strategy on the team’s pit box.

***Koch said: “The part that’s hard for me is that Mike and I are very good friends. For him to be on the box and for me to be in this position, it stings a little bit for me because Mike can definitely do the job. Fortunately we were all in position here to be able to deliver for the team.”

***Inception Racing’s final race with its McLaren went up in a blaze of  smoke when the engine failed with Frederik Schandorff at the wheel. Co-driver Brendan Iribe confirmed on social media what Sportscar365 revealed on Saturday, in that the British squad will roll out a Ferrari beginning with next month’s round at The Brickyard.

***The No. 45 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Lamborghini of Danny Formal and Kyle Marcelli finished 12th in GTD after early race contact with Patrick Gallagher’s No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW that led to a damaged air jack and the rear bodywork coming loose and affecting the car’s aero balance.

***Team principal Wayne Taylor said: “The problems with the rear balance and air jack were very unfortunate. We have proven we have the pace and the ability to be competitive. The No. 45 DEX Imaging Lamborghini did a great job today overcoming tough circumstances.”

***Gradient Racing’s run, meanwhile, was hampered in the final hour when a wheel bearing failed after suspected contact with the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R of Adam Adelson, which resulted in a trip to the garage for Stevan McAleer.

***McAleer managed to return to action in the closing stages to finish second of the Bronze-rated nominated entries, ahead of Iribe’s stricken McLaren but behind Bob Akin Bronze Cup points leader Orey Fidani, who extended his advantage to 60 points over Sheena Monk.

***Honda’s TCR class victory in Saturday’s Michelin Pilot Challenge race means that 17 of IMSA’s 18 manufacturers have now visited victory lane this season. Only Toyota has not won at least one race in an IMSA-sanctioned competition this year.

***All four WeatherTech Championship classes are back in action for the next round at The Brickyard, with the six-hour Battle on the Bricks set for Sept. 22 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as part of an expanded Michelin Endurance Cup schedule for this year.

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