Pfaff Motorsports continued its successful month of August as Andrea Caldarelli and Sandy Mitchell led their pole-sitting No. 9 Lamborghini Temerario GT3 to the overall and GTD PRO victory in Sunday’s GT-only Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway (VIR). Meanwhile, the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 secured its third consecutive GTD class victory, with Philip Ellis and Russell Ward taking over the championship lead in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
The opening lap set the stage for the first of the final three races for the GTD PRO and GTD classes, with drivers frantically jockeying for position. Caldarelli used his pole position to his advantage, immediately placing the Pfaff Lamborghini at the front of the field.
However, shortly after the green flag dropped, an incident involving Harry King in the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) sent Alexander Sims into the Turn 8 tire barrier, extensively damaging the Pratt Miller Racing No. 3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R and ending its day.
Fortunately, Sims walked away from the incident unharmed, but the resulting cleanup brought out the first and only full-course yellow of the race.
The race resumed following a lengthy cleanup, with nearly 20 minutes lost under caution. Once again, Caldarelli maintained the lead on the restart, while the Temerario’s predecessor, the No. 45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, showed the way in GTD with Danny Formal behind the wheel.
The first round of pit stops came toward the end of Hour 1, with teams employing different strategies throughout the race. Ultimately, nearly every car in both classes made its scheduled stop, with King being the lone outlier in the No. 77 “Rexy” Porsche.
King returned to pit lane with 90 minutes remaining for a driver change to veteran Porsche driver Nick Tandy, completing the first round of service for the AO Racing entry.
The final round of pit stops came as the race entered its final hour, setting the stage for increasingly intense battles across both classes.
One of the first major changes in the fight for the class leads came when Tom Gamble pounced on the GTD lead aboard the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo. Gamble overtook Formal after the WTR driver went wide and into the dirt, while Tandy was handed a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility after contact involving Ben Barnicoat in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3, which was pushed off track at Turn 4.
Formal’s loss of the lead triggered a chain reaction of misfortune for the Lamborghini contender. After fending off Philip Ellis in the Winward Mercedes, contact between the two drivers in the battle for second resulted in a drive-through penalty for Formal, ending Lamborghini’s hopes of sweeping both GTD PRO and GTD.
With Formal falling out of contention for the GTD lead, a new fight emerged in both classes with less than 30 minutes remaining. Gamble engaged Ellis in a battle for the GTD lead, while Tommy Milner in the Pratt Miller Racing No. 4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R fought for valuable GTD PRO championship points against fellow title contender Connor De Phillippi in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO.
Gamble initially gained the upper hand over Ellis in GTD, while De Phillippi powered past Milner for position in GTD PRO. Gamble used Milner as a buffer between himself and Ellis, but Milner eventually allowed the Winward Mercedes through, reigniting the battle for the GTD lead.
The British driver continued to fend off Ellis, but Gamble’s aggressive defense ultimately drew the attention of race officials. A subsequent drive-through penalty ended Heart of Racing’s hopes of securing the GTD victory.
While the battle for the GTD lead unfolded, two podium contenders were forced to make late pit stops inside the final 10 minutes, reshuffling the running order.
Nikita Johnson brought the No. 59 Team RLL McLaren 720S GT3 EVO into pit lane with eight minutes remaining to replenish fuel, surrendering his third-place position and allowing the two Ford Racing Mustangs to move into second and third in GTD PRO. GTD saw a similar shake-up when Albert Costa brought the No. 34 Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO into pit lane late, allowing class polesitter Frederik Schandorff to move into third in the closing laps.
Ultimately, Mitchell crossed the finish line first aboard the Pfaff Temerario GT3 to secure the GTD PRO victory, despite a late scare involving a warning for failure to adhere to controlled powertrain parameters.
In GTD, Ellis cruised to the checkered flag aboard the Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, taking the victory by a 15-second margin after penalties shuffled the running order behind him.
Joining Mitchell on the GTD PRO podium were the No. 64 Ford Racing Mustang GT3 of Ben Barker and Dennis Olsen in second, while the team’s sister No. 65 Mustang GT3, driven by Christopher Mies and Frederic Vervisch, completed the podium in third.
In GTD, Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher continued their championship pursuit with a second-place finish aboard the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO. The No. 70 Inception Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO, driven by Brendan Iribe and Frederik Schandorff, inherited third.
Pfaff’s GTD PRO victory marked Lamborghini’s first overall win in IMSA competition, while the Temerario GT3 secured its second consecutive global victory through the IMSA paddock.
For Winward Racing, the GTD victory marked the first time a team has won three consecutive races in the class since 2020, when Vasser Sullivan accomplished the feat.
Exiting VIR, the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW continues to lead the GTD PRO championship by a slim margin over the No. 4 Pratt Miller Racing Corvette. In GTD, Winward Racing’s No. 57 Mercedes-AMG takes the championship lead into the penultimate race following its victory, with the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW trailing, while three cars remain within 150 points of the lead.
Following the GT-only round, the GTP and LMP2 classes will reconvene with their production-based counterparts in September, when the series returns to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the final sprint race of the season. The final two rounds at Indianapolis and Road Atlanta will feature all four classes as the championship battles move toward their conclusion.
