Rothberg Scores Pole for Race 1 at VIR

Photo: Brian Cleary/SRO

Justin Rothberg will start this afternoon’s GT America powered by AWS race at Virginia International Raceway from the pole, despite setting the second quickest time in qualifying on Saturday morning.

The Turner Motorsport driver reeled off a best lap of 1:46.819 in his No. 29 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, which was 0.161 seconds slower than Blake McDonald’s No. 11 DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

McDonald, as has been the case with previous GT America events, will not take part in the pair of 40-minute races, with the Bronze-rated driver using the sessions as additional track time for his GT World Challenge America powered by AWS effort.

Memo Gidley will start alongside Rothberg on the front row in his No. 56 SKI Autosports Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II.

Jason Bell qualified third in his Racers Edge Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, which has undergone an overnight Balance of Performance adjustment.

Ross Chouest and SRO3 championship contender Kyle Washington completed the top-five.

CJ Moses recorded a competitive 1:53.838 lap time in his GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT2 to significantly outpace GT4 pole-sitter Michael Fitzpatrick in the No. 89 89x Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT4.

Race 1 gets underway at 1:10 p.m. EST with live coverage on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel and on Twitch.

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