| DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Since its rebirth in Y2K, VIRginia International Raceway has set the standard for amenities for spectators and competitors alike. Fans enjoy wandering the meticulously groomed lawns of the 3.27-mile, 17-turn facility, with countless A+ viewpoints, virtually unlimited access to the paddock and garage area, and some of the best track food this side of the Circuit de la Sarthe … why there’s even a tavern and restaurant on site. Competitors embrace the challenges of some of the most demanding and iconic sections of racetrack in North America with names like Horse Shoe, NASCAR Bend, Left Hook, Snake, the Climbing Esses, Oak Tree Curve, Roller Coaster and Hog Pen. Where better to showcase the drivers, teams and manufacturers of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s two GT categories, aka Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD)? Setting the Stage As has been typical since VIR has enjoyed its late-August date on the IMSA calendar, the Michelin GT Challenge will set the stage for the final chapters of the WeatherTech Championship in both GT classes. Heading into this weekend’s trip to extremely southern Virginia (so far south the most traveled route to the track goes through North Carolina), most if not all bets are off with regards to the drivers, teams and manufacturers titles in both categories. In the GTD PRO driver and team standings, Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims in the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R enjoy a slim 30-point lead over Albert Costa in the No. 81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3. Defending class champion Laurin Heinrich, together with co-driver Klaus Bachler, are a further 67 points back in the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (aka Rexy) – so 97 in arrears of the lead. Things are even closer on the manufacturers side as Chevrolet (2,330) leads BMW (2,313) by just 17 points. Ferrari is just 56 back in third, with Ford 82 back in fourth. It’s a similar story in GTD as Philip Ellis, Russell Ward and the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 stand atop the drivers and team standings with 2,147 points, 112 to the good of Jack Hawksworth, Parker Thompson and the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3 with Cooper Stevenson and the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo just five points further behind. On the other hand, whereas the GTD PRO manufacturers race is a near dead-heat between Chevrolet and BMW, GTD sees Mercedes-AMG (2,361) with a substantial – but by no means secure – advantage over Ferrari (2,207) with Lexus (2,168) third. Who’s Hot? |
| If history is any indication, Corvette and BMW are going to take some beating this weekend. After all, Corvette finished one-two in 2021 in the final GT Le Mans year, then second in 2022 with a win again in 2023 in GTD PRO. They did not figure last year in the Z06 GT3.R’s debut campaign. The ultra-consistent Garcia and Sims are still looking for their first win of the 2025 season, and VIR could well be just what the doctor ordered. Meanwhile, Paul Miller Racing’s BMW M4 GT3 took top GTD PRO honors at VIR last year in the hands of Madison Snow and Bryan Sellers, just a year after PMR and Turner Motorsport combined to earn a one-two finish for BMW in GTD. Snow is back in the No. 1 PMR BMW this season with co-driver Neil Verhagen and the pairing is coming off their first win of the campaign at Road America. Nor is Mercedes-AMG a stranger to success at VIR, witness the fact that they have been a fixture on the podium of late with last year’s one-three finish in GTD by Korthoff/Preston Motorsports and Winward Racing. Winward was also third in 2023. And lest we forget Ford Multimatic Motorsports, which last year achieved something of a breakthrough at VIR in the Mustang GT3’s debut season, capturing the Motul Pole Award in the GTD class and finishing second and fourth in GTD PRO. Sebastian Priaulx, Mike Rockefeller and the No. 64 Mustang currently stand fourth in the GTD PRO standings, and few would be surprised if they – or teammates Christopher Mies and Frederic Vervisch in the No. 65 Mustang – were to stand on or near the top step of the VIR podium come Sunday afternoon. Last Time Around VIR will also be the last time around this season for two GTD teams’ sprint-race specific lineups. The Michelin GT Challenge is the final non-endurance race of the campaign, given the upcoming six-hour TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the 10-hour Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. Drivers Jenson Altzman and Robert Megennis in the No. 66 Gradient Racing Ford Mustang GT3 will look to improve upon their best outing of 10th at Long Beach in their debut. Both drivers also race in Saturday’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race, making for their last “double-double” of the year. Similarly, Robert Wickens’ remarkable if all-too-concentrated run in this year’s slate of WeatherTech Championship standard-length races concludes this weekend. Together with co-drivers Tommy Milner and Alec Udell, the Canadian has shown plenty of pace at the helm of the hand-controlled No. 36 DXDT Racing Corvette. To date, however, he has yet to finish on the podium, although he and Udell came agonizingly close with a fourth-place finish in the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and a near-miss last time out at Road America when Udell lost the lead inside the final eight minutes. Both of these lineups have shown pace and form at times but haven’t yet had the results to match – and either or both entry standing on the podium would be a welcome end before their IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup lineups return at Indianapolis. Be sure to catch all the Michelin GT Challenge action from VIR this weekend on USA at 2 p.m. ET, with streaming on Peacock, IMSA.TV and IMSA’s Official YouTube channel. |
