VIR – Corvette wins in GTLM, Porsche in GTD

The Michelin GT Challenge, penultimate round of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, took place this Saturday, October 9 at the VIRaceway. An event exclusively reserved for GT sports cars, divided into two categories, GTLM (Le Mans) et GTD (Daytona). Corvette Racing avait dominé les qualifications en plaçant ses deux voitures, la numéro 4 et la numéro 3, aux deux premières positions, séparées… par trois minuscules millièmes de seconde. Le duo Tommy Milner et Nick Tandy s’éçançait donc en pole position devant les leaders du championnat Antonio Garcia et Jordan Taylor ainsi que la Porsche de WeatcherTech Racing dans laquelle Kévin Estre était présent aux côtés de Cooper MacNeil.

Also read > VIR – Qualifying: Tommy Milner in pole position for… 3 thousandths!

Behind the Porsche Taycan Turbo S, the first electric safety car in the history of IMSA, the green flag was lowered for 2h40 of racing on the Virginia track. The qualifying trifecta changed from the first moments of the race as MacNeil was surprised by Rob Foley at the wheel of the number 6 BMW M3 GT96, in the GTD category. The number 79 of the German firm regained its position a few minutes later while, in the duel of Chevrolet Corvette C8.Rs, Jordan Taylor surprised Tommy Milner on the outside to take the lead of the race. Relegated to more than 35 seconds of the leading duo, MacNeil gave way to Kévin Estre who started again in the middle of the GTD peloton. The Frenchman returned to competition across the Atlantic for the first time since the 24 Hours of Daytona on January 31.

The race heats up after the safety car

Less than an hour and a half from the end of the race, Mario Farnbacher (Acura NSX GT3) finished his race under the wall of tires. The German driver emerged from his vehicle unscathed after this impressive off-track exit. The safety car appeared and the three GTLMs took advantage of the long neutralization to go to the pits. The Safety Car disappeared after 20 minutes of yellow flag. Kévin Estre tried to take advantage of the restart to take the advantage over Nick Tandy but the latter's rough defense sent the Frenchman to the grass.

This is an example of how @VIRNow produces such good racing… #Corvette #C8R #MichelinVIR pic.twitter.com/hMlDR0au6a

— Corvette Racing (@CorvetteRacing) October 9, 2021

A maneuver which did not intimidate the 32-year-old driver: he tried his luck again and seized second place with authority. Hungry, the Lyonnais lurked in the wake of Antonio Garcia's yellow C8.R and waited for the right moment to pounce on his prey. This moment arrived when the Spaniard honked behind a latecomer. Estre was sneaking up to take the lead, but Tandy followed suit and sent the Porsche spinning into the green grass. A succession of actions almost eclipsing the takeover of Laurens Vanthoor (Porsche 911 GT3R) in GTD, less than an hour from the end. A fleeting reign as Bill Auberlen put the number 6 BMW M3 GT96 back at the top of its category.

A clash confirms the classification of the two categories

An exit from the track by Kévin Estre at the start of the last 40 minutes put an end to WeatherTech Racing's hopes of victory. If he found himself in the lead again after the double stop of the Americans, the tricolor emerged with a disbursement of around forty seconds on the number 8 Chevrolet Corvette C4.R of Nick Tandy and Tommy Milner. Victory then seemed assured for the American brand, it remained to be seen which duo would obtain it, Antonio Garcia catching up a quarter of an hour from the checkerboard. Both categories saw their outcome occur in the same accident ten minutes from goal. Garcia and Auberlen collided in a right turn and the Californian returned to the pits at slow speed with a puncture on the right rear. Nick Tandy and Laurens Vanthoor then flew towards success in their respective rankings. A category victory all the more remarkable for Vanthoor and his teammate Zacharie Robichon, because they started from the back of the grid following their team's intervention on their car between the two qualifying sessions.

Find the race rankings HERE