The 2017 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR was a sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The Race was held at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia on August 27, 2017. The race was the tenth round of the 2017 IMSA SportsCar Championship.
IMSA's president Scott Atherton confirmed the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR was part of the series' schedule for the 2017 IMSA SportsCar Championship at Road America's victory lane in August 2016. [1] It was the fourth consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The 2017 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR was the tenth of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2017 by IMSA, and was the seventh round not held on the held as part of the North American Endurance Cup. [2] The race was held at the ten-turn 3.270 mi (5.263 km) Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia on August 27, 2017. [2] Much like in previous years, the event was a GT only round, in which the GTLM and GTD classes were scheduled to compete. [3] After the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase three weeks earlier, Antonio García and Jan Magnussen led the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 239 points, ahead of Bill Auberlen and Alexander Sims with 231 points, and Joey Hand and Dirk Müller with 230 points. [4] In GTD, the Drivers' Championship was led by Alessandro Balzan and Christina Nielsen with 254 points, ahead of Ben Keating and Jeroen Bleekemolen with 239 points. [4] Ford and Ferrari were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Corvette Racing and Scuderia Corsa each led their own Teams' Championships. [4]
On August 16, 2017, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outlining Balance of performance for the event. [5] In GTLM, the Chevrolet Corvette C7.R received a 0.5 mm larger air restrictor and an increased fuel restrictor. The BMW M6 GTLM and Ford GT received reductions in fuel capacity. In GTD, the Acura NSX GT3 received a fuel capacity reduction of 3 liters and a decreased fuel restrictor. The Audi R8 LMS received a smaller fuel restrictor while the Ferrari 488 GT3 received an increase in fuel restriction.
A total of 25 cars took part in the event split across two classes. 9 cars were in GTLM, and 16 in GTD. [6] In GTLM, Risi Competizione returned after missing the previous four rounds. [7] In GTD, Trent Hindman subbed for Ben Keating the #33 Riley Motorsports - Team AMG entry due to Hurricane Harvey making landfall affecting Ben's car delaerships. [8] [9] Lone Star Racing made their first appearance since the Circuit of the Americas round. Patrick Long returned to the Alegra Motorsports entry. [10]
There were three practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Sunday, two on Friday and one on Saturday. The first two one-hour sessions were on Friday morning and afternoon. The third on Saturday morning lasted an hour. [11]
The first practice session took place at 11:45 am ET on Friday and ended with Tommy Milner topping the charts for Corvette Racing, with a lap time of 1:42.341. [12] Jeroen Mul set the fastest time in GTD. [13]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GTLM | 4 | Corvette Racing | Tommy Milner | 1:42.341 | _ |
| 2 | GTLM | 67 | Ford Chip Ganassi Racing | Richard Westbrook | 1:42.444 | +0.103 |
| 3 | GTLM | 62 | Risi Competizione | Giancarlo Fisichella | 1:42.516 | +0.175 |
| Sources: [14] [15] | ||||||
The second practice session took place at 4:10 pm ET on Friday and ended with Antonio García topping the charts for Corvette Racing, with a lap time of 1:41.323. [16] The GTD class was topped by the #16 Change Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 of Jeroen Mul with a time of 1:43.830. Andy Lally was second in the #93 Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian entry and Andrew Davis rounded out the top 3. [17]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GTLM | 3 | Corvette Racing | Antonio García | 1:41.323 | _ |
| 2 | GTLM | 24 | BMW Team RLL | John Edwards | 1:41.405 | +0.082 |
| 3 | GTLM | 66 | Ford Chip Ganassi Racing | Dirk Müller | 1:41.667 | +0.344 |
| Sources: [18] [19] | ||||||
The third and final practice session took place at 8:45 am ET on Saturday and ended with Toni Vilander topping the charts for Risi Competizione, with a lap time of 1:40.855. [20] The GTD class was topped by the #16 Change Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 of Jeroen Mul with a time of 1:43.223. [21]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GTLM | 62 | Risi Competizione | Toni Vilander | 1:40.855 | _ |
| 2 | GTLM | 66 | Ford Chip Ganassi Racing | Dirk Müller | 1:41.029 | +0.174 |
| 3 | GTLM | 24 | BMW Team RLL | John Edwards | 1:41.054 | +0.199 |
| Sources: [22] [23] | ||||||
Saturday afternoon's 40-minute two-group qualifying, each category had separate 15-minute sessions. Regulations stipulated that teams nominate one qualifying driver, with the fastest laps determining each class' starting order. IMSA then arranged the grid to put GTLMs ahead of GTD cars. [24] [11]
Qualifying was broken into two sessions. The first was for cars in GTD class. Jeroen Mul qualified on pole for the class driving the #16 car for Change Racing, besting Jesse Krohn in the Turner Motorsport entry. [25]
The final session of qualifying was for the GTLM class. Joey Hand qualified on pole driving the #66 car for Ford Chip Ganassi Racing, beating Alexander Sims in the #25 BMW Team RLL entry by over two tenths of a second. [26]
Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by ‡.
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GTLM | 66 |  Ford Chip Ganassi Racing | Joey Hand | 1:40.211 | _ | 1‡ |
| 2 | GTLM | 25 | BMW Team RLL |  Alexander Sims | 1:40.415 | +0.204 | 2 |
| 3 | GTLM | 24 | BMW Team RLL | John Edwards | 1:40.441 | +0.230 | 3 |
| 4 | GTLM | 62 | Risi Competizione |  Giancarlo Fisichella | 1:40.606 | +0.395 | 4 |
| 5 | GTLM | 4 | Corvette Racing | Tommy Milner | 1:40.758 | +0.547 | 5 |
| 6 | GTLM | 3 | Corvette Racing |  Jan Magnussen | 1:40.802 | +0.591 | 6 |
| 7 | GTLM | 67 | Ford Chip Ganassi Racing | Richard Westbrook | 1:40.841 | +0.630 | 7 |
| 8 | GTLM | 912 | Porsche GT Team |  Laurens Vanthoor | 1:41.339 | +1.128 | 8 |
| 9 | GTLM | 911 | Porsche GT Team |  Dirk Werner | 1:41.991 | +1.780 | 9 |
| 10 | GTD | 16 | Change Racing |  Jeroen Mul | 1:43.391 | +3.180 | 10‡ |
| 11 | GTD | 96 | Turner Motorsport |  Jesse Krohn | 1:43.621 | +3.410 | 9 |
| 12 | GTD | 57 | Stevenson Motorsports | Andrew Davis | 1:43.770 | +3.559 | 13 |
| 13 | GTD | 33 | Riley Motorsports - Team AMG | Jeroen Bleekemolen | 1:43.826 | +3.615 | 14 |
| 14 | GTD | 15 | 3GT Racing | Jack Hawksworth | 1:43.845 | +3.634 | 15 |
| 15 | GTD | 14 | 3GT Racing | Sage Karam | 1:44.105 | +3.894 | 15 |
| 16 | GTD | 48 | Paul Miller Racing | Madison Snow | 1:44.131 | +3.920 | 16 |
| 17 | GTD | 28 | Alegra Motorsports |  Daniel Morad | 1:44.146 | +3.935 | 17 |
| 18 | GTD | 93 | Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian | Katherine Legge | 1:44.441 | +4.230 | 18 |
| 19 | GTD | 63 | Scuderia Corsa | Christina Nielsen | 1:44.573 | +4.362 | 10 |
| 20 | GTD | 73 | Park Place Motorsports | Patrick Lindsey | 1:44.697 | +4.486 | 19 |
| 21 | GTD | 86 | Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian |  Oswaldo Negri Jr. | 1:45.080 | +4.869 | 20 |
| 22 | GTD | 50 | Riley Motorsports - WeatherTech Racing | Cooper MacNeil | 1:45.530 | +5.319 | 21 |
| 23 | GTD | 75 | SunEnergy1 Racing |  Kenny Habul | 1:46.011 | +5.800 | 24 1 |
| 24 | GTD | 54 | CORE Autosport | Jon Bennett | 1:46.106 | +5.895 | 23 |
| 25 | GTD | 80 | Lone Star Racing | Dan Knox | 1:46.768 | +6.557 | 25 2 |
| Sources: [27] [28] | |||||||
The result kept García and Ricky Taylor atop the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 274 points, 16 points ahead of fourth-place finishers Auberlen and Sims. [29] The result kept Balzan and Nielsen atop the GTD Drivers' Championship while Klingmann advanced from fifth to third. [29] Chevrolet and Mercedes-AMG took the lead their respective Manufacturers' Championships while Corvette Racing, and Scuderia Corsa kept their respective advantages in the Teams' Championships with two rounds left in the season. [29]
Class winners are denoted in bold and ‡.
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