IMSA WeatherTech GT Challenge at VIR: Corvette Racing Claims First Win of the Season

Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims delivered their first victory of the 2023 season as they piloted the Velocity Yellow #3 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R to triumph in the Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) on Sunday. This win marks a critical boost for the duo in the IMSA WeatherTech GTD PRO championship, extending their lead to 53 points over DragonSpeed’s Albert Costa.

The race was marked by strategic pit stops, with Garcia being the first GTD PRO driver to pit, allowing Sims to establish an eight-second lead as competitors cycled through their stops. A pivotal moment occurred during Sims’s pit stop, coinciding with a well-timed Full Course Yellow triggered by a turbo failure on the #48 Paul Miller Racing BMW, facilitating a repositioning of the field.

A significant incident involving the #45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini, which caught fire while Danny Formal exited the vehicle safely, led to an additional caution. After the restart with 28 minutes remaining, Costa made a swift move to overtake Tommy Milner’s #4 Corvette for second place and began to close the gap to the leader Sims.

Ultimately, Sims maintained his composure, finishing 1.5 seconds ahead of Costa, with Milner completing the podium. The results saw the #64 Ford Multimatic Mustang GT3 in fourth and the #77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R in fifth place.

In the GTD category, Winward Racing’s Russell Ward and Philip Ellis secured their third victory of the season. Following a strong undercut strategy, they capitalized on a late penalty assessed to Mario Farnbacher of Forte Racing for blocking, allowing the #021 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 to secure second place. The Heart of Racing Team’s Aston Martin Vantage GT3 rounded out the GTD podium in third, further solidifying Ward and Ellis’s championship lead.

The next event for all four IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship classes will be the six-hour endurance race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on September 21.

Race Results Summary:

1. GTD PRO:

   • 1. 3 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R (Garcia/Sims)

   • 1. 81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3 (Costa)

   • 1. 4 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R (Milner/Catsburg)

2. GTD:

   • 1. 57 Mercedes-Benz AMG GT3 (Ward/Ellis)

   • 1. 021 Ferrari 296 GT3 (Triarsi/Koch)

   • 1. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 (Gamble/Stevenson)

Notable Points:

• The GTD PRO standings show Heinrich and Bachler maintaining third place despite penalties.
• Performance metrics indicate a strong strategic play by Winward Racing, reinforcing their championship positioning.

The season progresses with high stakes as teams prepare for the upcoming race at Indianapolis.