Once a year, the GT teams of the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship get their opportunity to shine. The pressure to perform with an overall win on the line is immense. Furthermore, this race has added stakes with it being late in the season. With both championships very tight at the top, this weekend will go a long way toward crowning our champions. Today, we preview the Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway (VIR).
GTD PRO: No More Hiccups
In racing, it’s assured that you will have a bad day. Whether it is self-inflicted or beyond your control, there will be a result that is an outlier. For championship leaders Paul Miller Racing, that was Road America. Connor de Philippi found the barrier at Canada Corner as the race reached halfway. That wreck singlehandedly turned the championship on its head.
In comparison, Paul Miller entered Road America with a 108-point advantage over second. Post Road America, the top seven in the series are separated by 151 points. Simultaneously, the top three are only 21 points apart. With three races to go and over 1100 points max on offer, things are far from settled.
Keeping It Clean
2026 is feeling like 2025 in one very interesting area – driving standards. Road America, for the second straight year, was not as clean as some in the paddock would have hoped. Second in GTD PRO points Tommy Milner was quick to point out the incidents didn’t carry over. “We had a good race last year at VIR with not many cautions,” Milner remarks. “I predict something similar. The racing’s been, by and large, quite good for us in GTD PRO.”
Milner and teammate Nicky Catsburg would benefit from another clean run this weekend. While Road America was not up to their lofty standards in terms of overall performance, a podium really was best case scenario. For a team that had a June to forget, the last two races have the team back to how they are accustomed to performing. And while the duo is still searching for that ever-elusive win, Milner reiterates the essentials. “We got to keep scoring points as we can take advantage of opportunities when they come our way.”
Certainly VIR means a little more for Milner as this is his de facto home race. “It’s the home track for me … still in Virginia, even though it’s
the opposite end of the state…about a four-and-a-half-hour drive from home. So, I get to see friends and family that don’t normally get to see me racing in person, and I get to see them at the racetrack as well. So, I’m excited for that.”
Familiar Surroundings
Nick Tandy returned to full-time GT racing with Porsche after spending the last three seasons in prototype racing. Safe to say Nick is enjoying his season with AO Racing so far. “The greatest racing I ever did in my life was when I was in the peak of GTLM,” Tandy says. “Honestly, GTD PRO is becoming that sort of racing. You know, it’s the sort of thing where you’ve got to be on it all the time. Generally, you always have got a chance.”
Significantly a chance Nick and AO Racing have. Coming into VIR, “Rexy” are only 21 points back of Paul Miller Racing. Notwithstanding their disaster start at Daytona, AO Racing has been clawing back and now find themselves in the fight. Like Milner, Tandy is keeping his eyes on the big picture. ““Do we need a win? If you ask me now, would I take a championship with three second places in the run to Atlanta, then absolutely. You know AO and Porsche and myself and Harry (King) and everyone in the team are there to try and, of course, win races, but win championships. This is the key aim at the start of the season every year.”
While Tandy has not been at VIR since 2021, he definitely knows his way around. He is a 3-time winner of this race from the GTLM era. While this will be his first time at the track in a GT3 Porsche, don’t bet against Nick nor let that fool you. In fact, if Rexy is not in the mix come the closing stages Sunday, be surprised…very surprised.
Extra Musings
Car Blanche by YRB returns to GTD PRO as the team employs Aston Martin factory driver Marco Sorenson. The Dane will team with Valentin Hasse-Clot in the No. 68 Vantage, making its second GTD PRO start this season. In Aston Martin’s announcement, the team stated Car Blanche will be in GTD PRO for the remainder of the season.
Pfaff Motorsports hopes to keep the spirits high after the Road America win (now officially the first global win for the Temerario). This coming despite the news the team is now in their final three races in IMSA. Andrea Calderelli and Sandy Mitchell have to really be feeling confident. Especially when you consider they were the fastest car on track on merit in the final two hours. Before the Tom Sargeant yellow, Calderelli held a ten second advantage over their GTD PRO rivals.
Quietly enough, Ford is maintaining pace in the championship fight. Chris Mies and Fred Vervisch enter this weekend’s festivities only 99 points out the lead. A second win of the season after successive top-5 finishes would definitely have Multimatic Motorsports licking their chops. And VIR would be a nice place to do it. The team ran second and fourth here in 2024 and finished fourth here last year. The Mustang GT3 has shown pace around this circuit. They very well could have the pace again to convert past promise and deliver big.
GTD: Do We Call It A Comeback?
Stop me if you have heard this before…Winward Racing is in championship contention late in the season. But 2026 has been off the script of their last two championship seasons. After winning the Rolex 24 in January, the team had a donut hole with only one top-5 in the proceeding four races. After a crash at Watkins Glen, the team left New York 300 points behind, fifth in the standings.
Fast forward to now. Winward comes into VIR on the heels of back-to-back wins, only 24 points out the lead in second. A 276-point swing in just two races! It is just another example of this team not knowing the word quit. It is also a testament of the resolve and the unwavering attitude of being here before and getting the job done. Based on how they were running after Daytona, even I had my doubts. Maybe this was the year the team would be dethroned. In my defense, this team just could not catch a break.
But once again, here we are – Russell Ward and Philip Ellis are in GTD championship contention down the stretch. Winward are the defending GTD champs at VIR and with them flipping the switch over the last month of racing, the team from Houston will make this quite the run to the finish.
Losing their Grip?
The bad breaks Winward caught in the first half of the season appears to have made their way down to Heart of Racing. While a triple-digit lead is never safe in IMSA, you had the feeling that Mosport was just a bad day on an otherwise stellar season so far. The team, while they had not won yet, kept finding results (Long Beach withstanding) solidifying them as the championship favorite. And Road America was looking to follow the script.
Tom Gamble kept the No. 27 on the island surviving all the final hour chaos to finish fifth…on the road. But then the team was hit with a drive-thru penalty for unsafe re-entry on their final pit stop. With the penalty being given until the final yellow and the race not restarted, it resulted in a 44-second post-race time penalty. Instead of fifth, the team was credited with a fifteenth-place finish as a result.
Now the team must buckle down if they want to bring this championship home. A win this weekend would do wonders for Phoenix-based team as they look to shake off a collectively underwhelming mid-season stretch. While the team has only one podium in last five races at VIR, the car has shown pace and should be a solid contender this weekend.
In the Shadows
Behind Heart of Racing and Winward is the quietly consistent Turner Motorsport BMW. Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher, like Heart of Racing, have been knocking on the door for a win but have not quite sealed the deal yet. However, unlike Heart of Racing, the team has been steady climbing. Their tenth at Daytona has been their worst result of the season to date. Their consistency has kept them in the title race. However, Foley acknowledges they cannot stay where they are.
“I think we have to turn up the wick just a little bit,” Robby says. “…just be a little bit more aggressive now knowing that we have a small buffer back to P4, P5 in the championship.” Regardless, the blueprint is solid and little needs to change. “We just have to keep ourselves in that top five conversation like we have done.” But make no mistake, “Do we have to win? Of course, you’re always trying to win every weekend.” Still, Foley has the end in mind. “I would be very happy with a few second-place finishes, a bunch of podium trophies, and then big trophy at the end of the year.”
The Importance of Continuity
Continuity can be seen as the foundation of three vital C’s in endurance racing – the other two being chemistry and cohesion. Wayne Taylor Racing’s Danny Formal spoke on continuity with teammate Trent Hindman. “I’ve known Trent for a long time, and yeah, the relationship there is fantastic,” Formal explains. And when the driver relationship is smooth, it transitions to other parts of the team. “Engineering understands what we’re talking about, right? Trent and I speak pretty much the same car language. So, it’s quite easy for the engineers to work on the car.”
The continuity, however, has not yielded to more consistent results. Outside of their victory at Laguna Seca in May, it has not come close to scoring another podium. The continuity will also not continue with the car. This will be the final season for Lamborghini’s Huracan, the brand’s GT3 workhorse for the better part of the last decade.
Indeed, Formal has a special place in his heart for the impact the car and Lamborghini’s overall platform had on his career. “I’ve been part of the Young Driver Program of Lamborghini since 2021. They’ve helped me a lot in my career. for sure, the best sounding GT3 car of all-time, in my opinion. That car is gonna truly be missed. I’m gonna miss it for sure. It’s been great to us. It taught me how to race endurance racing. I come from the sprint world, sprint racing with Super Trofeo, and karting, right? Coming into this mindset of endurance racing, it’s been a big shift, it’s all been with the Huracan.”
Although the 2027 WTR Lambo program yet to be finalized, Formal and Hindman hope to send the Huracan out on a high.
Balance of Performance (BoP)
Weight
Ferrari will be getting the biggest weight break this weekend, 21kg lighter than at Road America. Corvette (-11kg) will also receive a significant weight break. Conversely, Ford (+3kg), McLaren (+4kg) and BMW (+5kg) will see slight weight increases for VIR.
Power
While Ferrari gets a weight break, their V6 engine will be pegged back further. Ferrari will see decreases in both power stages (-3.1% and -0.6% respectively). Joining them with a double drop is Aston Martin (-1.3% and -1.0%). Porsche will maintain max power in Stage 2 while losing 4.8% in Stage 1. The Temerario will see a 1.6% increase in Stage 2 with a marginal 0.1% Stage 1 drop. The overwhelming majority will see Stage 1 increases and Stage 2 drops.
Energy
The top losers in max energy for VIR are Porsche (-19MJ) and Ferrari (-15MJ). The Lamborghini Huracan tops the energy gainers (+21MJ) with BMW also gaining a significant boost (+10MJ).
No rear wing angle adjustments were made in this round of BoP.
Weekend Schedule (All times ET US)
Friday
- 3:10-4:40pm: Free Practice 1
Saturday
- 10:30am-12:00pm: Free Practice 2
- Qualifying
- GTD: 4:50pm
- GTD PRO: 5:10pm
Sunday
- Race: 12:10pm (2 Hours 40 Minutes)
Media Schedule
Radio (IMSA Radio)
Friday
- 3:05pm ET/12:05pm PT – Free Practice 1
Saturday
- 10:25am ET/7:25am PT – Free Practice 2
- 4:45pm ET/1:45pm PT – Qualifying
Sunday
- 11:30am ET/8:30am PT – Pre-Race
IMSA Radio race broadcast will be simulcast on SiriusXM Channels 206 (Vehicles) and 996 (SXM App). Coverage starts at 12pm ET/9am PT.
TV/Streaming (All International Coverage on IMSA YouTube Channel & IMSA.tv)
Saturday
- 4:45pm ET/1:45 pm PT – Qualifying (Peacock)
Sunday
- 12pm ET/9am PT – Race (NBC & Peacock)
Entry List Article: Click HERE
Time Converter for International Fans: Click HERE
Peacock: Click HERE
IMSA YouTube Channel: Click HERE
IMSA Radio: Click HERE
Headline Photo: 2025 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR Photo Courtesy: Virginia International Raceway/Facebook
