VIR Thursday Notebook

Photo: Tony DiZinno

***Following an all-class sprint race at Road America, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is back in action this weekend, but in a GT-only format. Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge, for the GTD Pro and GTD classes, will mark the final sprint race of the year, with next month’s Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta counting towards Michelin Endurance Cup rounds.

***Pfaff Motorsports has arrived at Virginia International Raceway with its third different Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 chassis in the last two events, after an accident in practice at Road America resulted in the Canadian squad borrowing a car from fellow Lamborghini squad Forte Racing, which it gave back to the team post-race.

***Team manager Steve Bortolotti confirmed to Sportscar365 that its latest chassis, built up in between events, is an ex-Iron Lynx-run Huracan GT3 EVO2 that was previously used in WeatherTech Championship competition in 2023.

***Both of the Multimatic Motorsports-run GTD Pro class Ford Mustang GT3s are sporting special liveries this weekend, ahead of an official reveal tomorrow.

***Ford Performance returns to the site of the Ford Mustang GT3’s first pole and podium in WeatherTech Championship competition. Proton Competition driver Giammarco Levorato, who now competes for the team in the FIA World Endurance Championship, claimed GTD pole honors at VIR last year, while Harry Tincknell and Mike Rockenfeller gave the car its first series podium finish, with a second-place result in GTD Pro.

***Kenton Koch, who is coming off his first GTD class victory of the season last time out at Road America, has driven three different GT3-spec cars this year. Koch currently leads the GT World Challenge America powered by AWS Pro class points standings in a Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO, while he started his WeatherTech Championship season in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo before switching to Triarsi Competizione’s Ferrari 296 GT3 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

***Koch, who is confirmed at Triarsi for the rest of the season, said: “I would say if you were to put cars in a spectrum of differences and how you drive one and the other, you have a BMW [on one end] and then you have to Ferrari [on the other end] and then every other car is in-between that… There’s not one that I particularly like over the other. I’m very fortunate to be able to have driven a couple of different manufacturers. But they all kind of have their own characteristic that make them what they are and how to get the most from each one of them is always interesting.”

***Sportscar365 revealed earlier this week that Random Vandals is planning an expansion into the WeatherTech Championship GTD Pro ranks next year.

***Paul Miller Racing driver Madison Snow said this weekend’s GT-only race is a “great spot” for fans new to the sport to learn about the WeatherTech Championship due to its simplified two-class structure of GTD Pro and GTD, which features the same regulation of machinery.

***Snow said: “If I’m sitting here trying to explain racing to somebody who’s never seen it before, somebody is like, ‘Hey, what do you do for living?’ And you tell them what your race car is, and you tell them to go watch IMSA. It’s really confusing for somebody to jump into IMSA and have any idea what’s going on or who you’re racing with so many classes, so many cars out there, and the strategy being so different. Something like this race has been great spot for a new fan to watch.”

***Wright Motorsports will undertake a total of five races this weekend, with team owner/driver Adam Adelson entered in all three VP SportsCar Challenge 45-minute sprints, including Sunday’s Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Race 2 makeup round. Adelson, in the No. 24 Porsche 911 GT3 R, currently leads the GTDX standings in the category’s first season of competition.

***Adelson said: “This is a double duty weekend for me, where I’ll be participating in three VP Challenge [races] in addition to the WeatherTech race. It’s imperative that we perform at the top of our game, as there are championships on the line. I know that Wright Motorsports will give me a great car, and I’m excited to keep the positive momentum going.”

***It was revealed on Thursday that Wright will continue its GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup campaign next weekend at the Nürburgring, with Adelson, Elliott Skeer and Porsche Motorsport North America Selected Driver Tom Sargent entered in the Gold Cup class. The trio made their SRO Europe debut in the recent CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, finishing fourth in class.

***AO Racing is represented on two continents this weekend, with Laurin Heinrich and Klaus Bachler piloting the team’s No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R at VIR this weekend, while its LMP2 effort continues in the European Le Mans Series at Spa-Francorchamps with PJ Hyett, Dane Cameron and Louis Deletraz under the TF by AO banner. Hyett and Cameron are coming off back-to-back WeatherTech Championship LMP2 wins, while they and Deletraz also won the most recent ELMS race in LMP2 Pro-Am.

***After previously running ‘Roxy’ at VIR, ‘Rexy’ makes its debut at the 3.27-mile circuit this weekend.

***AO is hosting its first-ever “Cars & Characters (and coffee)” event at its shop in St. Charles, Ill. on Sat. Sept. 6 from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. Both its ‘Rexy’ Porsche and ‘Spike’ the Oreca 07 Gibson LMP2 car will be on display and conduct fire-ups, along with raffles, a bounce house, face painters and stories from team principal Gunnar Jeannette. Click Here for more details.

***Flying Lizard Motorsports co-owner and program manager Darren Law has been announced as the new executive director of SAFEisFast, a leading role in providing free championship-winning advice to the next generation of aspiring racing drivers. Law takes over from IMSA race winner Jim Mullen, who has served as executive and creative director since its inception in 2010, ushering in a new era for the program which was established by Bobby Rahal.

***The WeatherTech Championship has a single practice session tap for Friday, from 3:05-4:35 p.m. EST, although Michelin Pilot Challenge, VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, Mustang Challenge and Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin will also all be in action.

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