2017 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR

Track map of VIR

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.

Background

Virginia International Raceway, where the race was held.

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.

Entries

Further information: 2017 IMSA SportsCar Championship § Entries

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]

Practice

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]

Practice 1

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]

Practice 2

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]

Practice 3

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]

Qualifying

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]

Qualifying results

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]

• ¹ The No. 75 SunEnergy1 Racing entry was moved to the back of the GTD field as per Article 43.6 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires). ^[24]
• ² The No. 80 Lone Star Racing entry was moved to the back of the GTD field as per Article 43.6 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires). ^[24]

Race

Post-race

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]

Results

Class winners are denoted in bold and ‡.

Final race classification Pos Class No. Team Drivers Chassis Tire Laps Time/Retired Engine 1 GTLM 3 Corvette Racing Jan Magnussen Antonio García Chevrolet Corvette C7.R M 93 2:41.17.089‡ Chevrolet LT5.5 5.5 L V8 2 GTLM 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ryan Briscoe Richard Westbrook Ford GT M 93 +12.031 Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Twin-turbo V6 3 GTLM 62 Risi Competizione Toni Vilander Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari 488 GTE M 93 +12.649 Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8 4 GTLM 25 BMW Team RLL Bill Auberlen Alexander Sims BMW M6 GTLM M 93 +28.026 BMW 4.4 L Turbo V8 5 GTLM 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Dirk Müller Joey Hand Ford GT M 93 +1:08.064 Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Twin-turbo V6 6 GTLM 4 Corvette Racing Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner Chevrolet Corvette C7.R M 93 +1:39.084 Chevrolet LT5.5 5.5 L V8 7 GTLM 912 Porsche GT Team Gianmaria Bruni Laurens Vanthoor Porsche 911 RSR M 92 +1 lap Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 8 GTLM 911 Porsche GT Team Patrick Pilet Dirk Werner Porsche 911 RSR M 92 +1 lap Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 9 GTD 16 Change Racing Corey Lewis Jeroen Mul Lamborghini Huracán GT3 C 91 +2 Laps‡ Lamborghini 5.2 L V10 10 GTD 96 Turner Motorsport Jens Klingmann Jesse Krohn BMW M6 GT3 C 91 +2 Laps BMW 4.4L Turbo V8 11 GTD 33 Riley Motorsports – Team AMG Jeroen Bleekemolen Trent Hindman Mercedes-AMG GT3 C 90 +3 Laps Mercedes AMG M159 6.2 L V8 12 GTD 63 Scuderia Corsa Christina Nielsen Alessandro Balzan Ferrari 488 GT3 C 90 +3 Laps Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8 13 GTD 48 Paul Miller Racing Bryan Sellers Madison Snow Lamborghini Huracán GT3 C 90 +3 Laps Lamborghini 5.2 L V10 14 GTD 50 Riley Motorsports – WeatherTech Racing Cooper MacNeil Gunnar Jeannette Porsche 911 GT3 R C 89 +4 Laps Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 15 GTD 14 3GT Racing Robert Alon Sage Karam Lexus RC F GT3 C 89 +2 Laps Lexus 5.0L V8 16 GTD 54 CORE Autosport Jon Bennett Colin Braun Porsche 911 GT3 R C 89 +4 Laps Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 17 GTD 28 Alegra Motorsports Patrick Long Daniel Morad Porsche 911 GT3 R C 89 +4 Laps Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 18 GTD 73 Park Place Motorsports Jörg Bergmeister Patrick Lindsey Porsche 911 GT3 R C 88 +5 Laps Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 19 GTD 80 Lone Star Racing Dan Knox Mike Skeen Mercedes-AMG GT3 C 87 +6 Laps Mercedes AMG M159 6.2 L V8 20 GTD 57 Stevenson Motorsports Andrew Davis Lawson Aschenbach Audi R8 LMS C 86 +7 Laps Audi 5.2L V10 21 DNF GTLM 24 BMW Team RLL John Edwards Martin Tomczyk BMW M6 GTLM M 72 Steering BMW 4.4 L Turbo V8 22 DNF GTD 15 3GT Racing Scott Pruett Jack Hawksworth Lexus RC F GT3 C 71 Crash Damage Lexus 5.0L V8 23 DNF GTD 86 Michael Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian Jeff Segal Oswaldo Negri Jr. Acura NSX GT3 C 26 Crash Damage Acura 3.5 L Turbo V6 24 DNF GTD 93 Michael Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian Andy Lally Katherine Legge Acura NSX GT3 C 22 Crash Damage Acura 3.5 L Turbo V6 25 DNF GTD 75 SunEnergy1 Racing Tristan Vautier Kenny Habul Mercedes-AMG GT3 C 6 Power Steering Mercedes AMG M159 6.2 L V8 Sources: [30] [31]

Tyre manufacturers Key Symbol Tyre manufacturer C Continental M Michelin

Standings after the race

Prototype Drivers' Championship standings [29] Pos. +/– Driver Points 1 Jordan Taylor Ricky Taylor 258 2 João Barbosa Christian Fittipaldi 232 3 Dane Cameron Eric Curran 227 4 Misha Goikhberg Stephen Simpson 224 5 Ryan Dalziel Scott Sharp 213

PC Drivers' Championship standings [29] Pos. +/– Driver Points 1 James French Patricio O'Ward 252 2 Don Yount 212 3 Buddy Rice 150 4 Gustavo Yacamán 121 5 Kyle Masson 108

GTLM Drivers' Championship standings [29] Pos. +/– Driver Points 1 Antonio García Jan Magnussen 274 2 1 Bill Auberlen Alexander Sims 258 3 1 Joey Hand Dirk Müller 257 4 Ryan Briscoe Richard Westbrook 257 5 Patrick Pilet Dirk Werner 240

GTD Drivers' Championship standings [29] Pos. +/– Driver Points 1 Alessandro Balzan Christina Nielsen 282 2 Jeroen Bleekemolen 269 3 2 Jens Klingmann 252 4 1 Lawson Aschenbach Andrew Davis 245 5 3 Ben Keating 239

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

Prototype Teams' Championship standings [29] Pos. +/– Team Points 1 #10 Wayne Taylor Racing 258 2 #5 Mustang Sampling Racing 232 3 #31 Whelen Engineering Racing 227 4 #85 JDC-Miller MotorSports 224 5 #2 Tequila Patrón ESM 213

PC Teams' Championship standings [29] Pos. +/– Team Points 1 #38 Performance Tech Motorsports 252 2 #26 BAR1 Motorsports 217 3 #20 BAR1 Motorsports 212 4 #8 Starworks Motorsport 58 5 #88 Starworks Motorsport 28

GTLM Teams' Championship standings [29] Pos. +/– Team Points 1 #3 Corvette Racing 274 2 1 #25 BMW Team RLL 258 3 1 #66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing 257 4 #67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing 257 5 #911 Porsche GT Team 240

GTD Teams' Championship standings [29] Pos. +/– Team Points 1 #63 Scuderia Corsa 282 2 #33 Riley Motorsports Team AMG 269 3 2 #96 Turner Motorsport 252 4 1 #57 Stevenson Motorsports 245 5 1 #73 Park Place Motorsports 238

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

Prototype Manufacturers' Championship standings [29] Pos. +/– Manufacturer Points 1 Cadillac 277 2 Nissan 253 3 Mazda 216

GTLM Manufacturers' Championship standings [29] Pos. +/– Manufacturer Points 1 1 Chevrolet 288 2 1 Ford 286 3 BMW 272 4 Porsche 267 5 Ferrari 142

GTD Manufacturers' Championship standings [29] Pos. +/– Manufacturer Points 1 1 Mercedes-AMG 293 2 1 Ferrari 292 3 Porsche 283 4 2 Lamborghini 279 5 1 Acura 278

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

References

1. Dagys, John (August 5, 2016). "2017 WeatherTech Championship Schedule Released". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
2. Dagys, John (November 15, 2016). "2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship schedule released". foxsports.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
3. Allaway, Phil (August 5, 2016). "IMSA Announces 2017 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Schedule". frontstretch.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
4. "2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Point Standings: After Round 9" (PDF). IMSA. August 8, 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 22, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
5. Dagys, John (August 16, 2017). "Corvette Gets Power Increase for VIR". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
6. Dagys, John (August 17, 2017). "WeatherTech Racing to Continue With Porsche at VIR". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
7. Kilshaw, Jake (August 7, 2017). "Risi to Make GTLM Return at VIR, Complete Season". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
8. Dagys, John (August 25, 2017). "Hindman to Sub for Hurricane-Bound Keating". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
9. Dagys, John (August 25, 2017). "VIR Friday Notebook". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
10. Dagys, John (August 24, 2017). "VIR Thursday Notebook". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
11. Dagys, John (August 24, 2017). "Continental Tire Keys to the Race: VIR". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
12. Dagys, John (August 25, 2017). "Milner Quickest in Opening Practice at VIR". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
13. Pruett, Marshall (August 25, 2017). "Corvette leads IMSA GT first practice at VIR". racer.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
14. "03_Results.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. August 25, 2017. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
15. "07_ Driver Fastest Lap.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. August 25, 2017. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
16. Dagys, John (August 25, 2017). "Garcia, Corvette Top Friday at VIR". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
17. Pruett, Marshall (August 25, 2017). "Garcia gives Corvette Friday practice sweep at VIR". racer.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
18. "03_Results.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. August 25, 2017. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
19. "07_ Driver Fastest Lap.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. August 25, 2017. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
20. Dagys, John (August 26, 2017). "Vilander Quickest in Practice 3 at VIR". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
21. Pruett, Marshall (August 26, 2017). "Risi Ferrari surges in third VIR IMSA practice". racer.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
22. "03_Results.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. August 26, 2017. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
23. "07_ Driver Fastest Lap.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. August 26, 2017. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
24. "2017 IMSA Sporting Regulations & Series Supplementary Regulations of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship sanctioned by IMSA" (PDF). IMSA. April 10, 2017. pp. 39, 81–83, 125. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
25. Dagys, John (August 26, 2017). "Mul Storms to GTD Pole at VIR". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
26. Dagys, John (August 26, 2017). "Hand Takes Ford, CGR to Fifth Pole of Season". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
27. "03_Results.PDF" (PDF). IMSA. August 26, 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
28. "01_Starting Grid - Official.PDF" (PDF). IMSA. August 27, 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 23, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
29. "2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Point Standings: After Round 10" (PDF). IMSA. August 29, 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 23, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
30. "03_Results - Official.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. August 29, 2017. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
31. "2017 MICHELIN GT CHALLENGE AT VIR". racing-reference.info. Retrieved July 23, 2023.

External links

IMSA SportsCar Championship
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