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Track temperatures reaching 120 degrees Fahrenheit, an abrasive track surface and long green-flag runs placed a premium on tire consistency and degradation management throughout Sunday’s two-hour 40-minute Michelin GT Challenge at VIR. For overall winners Andrea Caldarelli and Sandy Mitchell, the Michelin tires helped the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Temerario GT3 stay strong through those demanding conditions. “It’s tough for the tires for sure,” said Caldarelli. “It’s such a hot day, the track is really abrasive, so degradation is not easy. But we had a really, really good car with the tires. “They worked really nice and we didn’t have much degradation, which was what we were really looking for.” That consistency became increasingly important as the race progressed. The final two hours and 20 minutes ran under green, creating extended stints and putting additional emphasis on how well teams could manage tire performance over time. Drivers a...

Photo: Brandon Badraoui/IMSA Pfaff Motorsports gave the Lamborghini Temerario GT3 its second consecutive IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship victory in Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway. Sandy Mitchell took the No. 9 Lamborghini to a 1.517-second win over the No. 64 Ford Mustang GT3 EVO of Ben Barker to deliver a controlling win for the new-for-2026 GT3 car, only one race after its first victory in global competition at Road America. Pole-sitter Andrea Caldarelli stretched into an early lead following a first-lap full-course caution for a violent accident from the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Alexander Sims, whose GTD Pro entry was nearly overturned after a heavy impact with the tire barriers. While Sims climbed from the car under his own power and was released from the trackside medical center, the final 2 hours and 20 minutes of the two-hour and 40-minute contest ran caution-free. It ma...

Photo: Wes Duenkel/Ford Will Lucas claimed his first career Mustang Challenge North America victory after title contenders Cole Loftsgard and Devin Anderson collided in dramatic fashion in Race 2 at Virginia International Raceway. Lucas, in the No. 34 Wheelhouse Motorsports Ford Mustang Dark Horse R, finished ahead of second-placed Sandy Satullo in the 45-minute race, which ended under full course caution after a late-race accident for Chris Clarke. There was also drama at the front of the pack early on as the No. 22 TechSport Mustang of Anderson and Loftsgard’s No. 42 Round 3 Racing entry came together while battling for the lead on Lap 5. Loftsgard spun into the Turn 1 grass as a result, with Anderson handed a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility, which dropped Anderson to eighth at the time. While Anderson charged back to finish fourth, Loftsgard recovered to third, extending his championship lead despite having his worst finish since Race 2 at WeatherTech Ra...

Photo: Wes Duenkel/Ford Gregory Liefooghe led home a Ford Mustang GT4 1-2 finish following a dramatic conclusion to Saturday’s Virginia is for Racing Lovers Grand Prix at Virginia International Raceway. Liefooghe, in the No. 19 Stephen Cameron Racing Mustang, passed the No. 60 KohR Motorsports entry of Mike Skeen on the inside of Turn 1 with three minutes to go, just moments before the GS championship-leading No. 13 McCumbee McAleer Racing Mustang of Robert Noaker was spun by a Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4 EVO and lost pieces of his car’s rear bumper, leading to a caution for debris. The two-hour contest ended under full-course caution as a result. It marked the first IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge win for the longtime California-based team, with Liefooghe sharing driving duties with Sean Quinlan. Additionally, it was the Mustang GT4’s first series win since Road America 2025. Luca Mars and Dillon Machavern took over the GS points lead with a third place resu...

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA Westin Workman regained his spot atop the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge GSX field in the first of two 45-minute sprint races at Virginia International Raceway. From pole, the driver of the No. 8 RAFA Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 led all 22 laps around the 3.27-mile, 17-turn course. As the race ended under full-course caution, the margin of victory was not reflective of the 14-plus second lead he built prior to the yellow. It’s his eighth win of the season in nine rounds, and a welcome recovery after an early race mechanical issue sidelined him in the second race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Workman sought consistency over the course of the race and regularly gapped his opponents by several tenths per lap. A Lap 7 pass exiting the final turn, Turn 17, netted Caio Chaves second place in the No. 98 Panam Motorsport Toyota ahead of Courtney Crone in third in her No. 35 CarBahn Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 EVO. The Bronze Cup championship battle took a...

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA Danny Formal put the No. 45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 on top of the time sheets in the second and final IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship practice session prior to qualifying for tomorrow’s Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway. Formal reeled off a 1:45.591 lap time in the GTD class entry to outpace the GTD Pro class pace-setting No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Nicky Catsburg by 0.062 seconds. The No. 59 Team RLL McLaren 720S GT3 Evo of Max Esterson made a late-session improvement to third quickest overall and second in GTD Pro. Andrea Caldarelli and Casper Stevenson completed the top-five in their Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Temerario GT3 and DragonSpeed Corvette, respectively. Robby Foley was sixth overall in the Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO, while Vasser Sullivan’s No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 showed a return to form with Jack Hawksworth credited ...

Photo: Brandon Badraoui/IMSA Fred Vervisch paced the opening practice session for Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway, leading a 1-2 in the GTD Pro class for the factory Ford Mustang GT3 EVOs. The Belgian in the No. 65 Mustang reeled off a chart-topping 1:46.065 to edge out the GTD pace-setting No. 70 Inception Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo of Frederik Schandorff by just 0.003 seconds. Tom Gamble slotted in third quickest overall in the GTD points-leading No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, followed by the No. 64 Multimatic Motorsports-run Mustang of Dennis Olsen in fourth. The GTD Pro championship-leading No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Neil Verhagen completed the overall top-five but had a sizable accident in Turn 14 that brought out the session’s only red flag. Verhagen returned to the track in the final 12 minutes with a fully repaired car after sustaining mostly front bodywork damage in his off-course moment. ...