Pfaff Lamborghini wins IMSA VIR as late penalty decides GTD

Sandy Mitchell, Andrea Caldarelli converted pole into victory for Pfaff, while Philip Ellis inherited the GTD win after Tom Gamble was penalised for late contact

Sandy Mitchell and Andrea Caldarelli claimed victory for Pfaff Motorsports in the Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway.

Mitchell took the closing stint from pole-winner Caldarelli, and coasted to the win by 1.517s on the 3.27-mile, 18-turn natural terrain road course. It’s the second consecutive win for Caldarelli and co.

Ford Racing’s Ben Barker and Dennis Olson finished second, ahead of teammates Christopher Mies and Frederic Vervisch in third.

The GTD Pro championship tightened considerably, with Paul Miller Racing’s Neil Verhagen and Connor De Phillippi just 23 points ahead of Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports’ duo of Nicky Catsburg and Tommy Milner, with Caldarelli and Mitchell now 56 points behind.

The GTD class featured late drama, with Tom Gamble (Heart of Racing) and Philip Ellis (Winward Racing) coming together late, handing the former a drive-through penalty and the latter the win. Turner Motorsport finished second 6.413s behind with Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher.

With three wins in a row now for reigning two-time champions Winward Racing, they took over the GTD points lead, with Foley and Gallagher 36 points behind. Dudu Barrichello, the points leader coming in with Heart of Racing, slid down to third at 56 points back leaving VIR.

The race

Caldarelli (Pfaff Motorsports) led the field – GTD Pro and overall – to the green flag into Turn 1 and immediately established a gap.

Moments later, however, Alexander Sims (Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports) and Harry King (AO Racing) were fighting side-by-side when a collision sent the former off track and hard into the tire barriers in Turn 8. The #3 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Sims went went nose-up and briefly became airborne before coming to rest partially on the tire barriers.

The restart came with roughly 2h21m remaining, with Caldarelli once again getting a solid jump on Nicky Catsburg.

#14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3: Jack Hawksworth, Ben Barnicoat

Photo by: Art Fleischmann

In GTD, Conquest Racing’s Lorenzo Patrese was hit with a drive-through penalty by Race Control for incident contact with class pole-sitter DragonSpeed prior to the caution. As a result, Danny Formal (Wayne Taylor Racing) took over the class lead.

With 2h remaining, Caldarelli only squeezed out a 1s lead over Catsburg as driver changes began for the majority of the field. Caldarelli pitted from the lead with 1h48m remaining, handing the No. 9 Lamborghini to Mitchell. Catsburg briefly inherited the overall lead before an off-track moment, then stopped a few minutes later for Tommy Milner to take over the No. 3 Corvette. The stop was delayed slightly when the door failed to latch properly.

#77 AO Racing Porsche 911: Nick Tandy, Harry King

Photo by: Art Fleischmann

King remained out on track as part of an extended opening stint, with Mitchell a distant second at 33s behind but running 1.3s per lap faster than the leader.

The GTD class saw Patrese assume the lead but had yet to make his first full pit stop. Patrese finally pitted with under 1h38m to go, handing the lead to Trent Hindman, who took over for Formal.

King’s lead stabilized at 30s with 1h33m left, but still had not made his first pit stop. King finally dove to pit lane with 1h28m to go, cycling Hindman back to the front.

Mitchell held a 8.2s lead over Ford Racing’s Ben Barker with 1h16m left, while Hindman’s lead in GTD was at 1.4s over the Heart of Racing’s Tom Gamble.

The field logged 50 laps with just over 1hr left in the 2h40m sprint race, which is when Mitchell pitted from the lead; Barker took over the top spot. Hindman pitted from the GTD lead with just under 1h to go, with Formal taking over and emerging directly ahead of Gamble.

The GTD Pro lead saw Barker pit the next lap, with Tandy taking over the lead and Mitchell rising back to second. Tandy pitted shortly after.

With under 50m to go, Tandy was thrust into a tight battle with Ben Barnicoat (Vasser Sullivan) that saw the two come together and send the latter off course briefly. Tandy was handed a drive-through penalty as a result of the contact.

#59 RLL Team McLaren McLaren 720S GT3 EVO: Max Esterson, Nikita Johnson

Photo by: Art Fleischmann

Meanwhile, Formal was also hit with a drive-through penalty for blocking Winward Racing’s Philip Ellis.

With 36m to go, Mitchell held a 4s lead over Barker, while Gamble’s lead stood at 1.5s over Ellis in GTD.

Ellis began to close significantly on Gamble for the GTD lead, with the gap down to 0.6s with 29m remaining.

Ellis caught Gamble as the two went side-by-side through the rollercoaster section, with the latter holding firm despite the pressure.

With 10m to go, Mitchell held a 3.8s lead over Barker, with Nikita Johnson (RLL Team McLaren) a distant third at 37s back. In GTD, Gamble continued to hold a 0.5s gap on Ellis, with Robby Foley (Turner Motorsport) 17s back in third.

#57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: Russell Ward, Philip Ellis

Photo by: Art Fleischmann

Ellis made a late move on Gamble to try to take the lead with just over 6m to go into Turn 3, but Gamble slid up into Ellis and sent him off into the dirt briefly. Although the incident went under review, Gamble handed the lead to Ellis, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Race Control from handing Gamble a drive-thru penalty. Gamble took the penalty with 3m to go.

Mitchell took the GTD Pro and overall victory by 1.517s over Barker, while Ellis claimed the GTD win after Gamble served his penalty.

RACE

All Stats

Cla	Drivers	#	Chassis	Laps	Time	Interval	Pits
1	A. Caldarelli S. Mitchell Pfaff Motorsports	9	Lamborghini Temerario GT3	84	2:41'29.130		3
2	B. Barker D. Olsen Ford Racing	64	Ford Mustang GT3	84	+1.517 2:41'30.647	1.517	3
3	C. Mies F. Vervisch Ford Racing	65	Ford Mustang GT3	84	+39.039 2:42'08.169	37.522	3
4	M. Sorensen V. Hasse-Clot Car Blanche	68	Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo	84	+42.437 2:42'11.567	3.398	3
5	N. Verhagen C. de Phillippi Paul Miller Racing	1	BMW M4 GT3 EVO	84	+44.229 2:42'13.359	1.792	3
6	R. Ward P. Ellis Winward Racing	57	Mercedes-AMG GT3	84	+58.643 2:42'27.773	14.414	3
7	T. Milner N. Catsburg Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports	4	Corvette Z06 GT3.R	84	+59.234 2:42'28.364	0.591	3
8	J. Hawksworth B. Barnicoat Vasser Sullivan Racing	14	Lexus RC F GT3	84	+1'04.004 2:42'33.134	4.770	3
9	P. Gallagher R. Foley Turner Motorsport	96	BMW M4 GT3 EVO	84	+1'05.056 2:42'34.186	1.052	3
10	B. Iribe F. Schandorff Inception Racing	70	Ferrari 296 GT3	84	+1'07.007 2:42'36.137	1.951	3
11	D. Barrichello T. Gamble Heart Of Racing Team	27	Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo	84	+1'07.560 2:42'36.690	0.553	4
12	M. Esterson N. Johnson RLL Team McLaren	59	McLaren 720S GT3 EVO	84	+1'10.928 2:42'40.058	3.368	4
13	D. Formal T. Hindman Wayne Taylor Racing	45	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2	84	+1'11.377 2:42'40.507	0.449	4
14	O. Fidani M. Bell 13 Autosport	13	Corvette Z06 GT3.R	84	+1'14.883 2:42'44.013	3.506	3
15	N. Tandy H. King AO Racing	77	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	84	+1'34.688 2:43'03.818	19.805	4
16	A. Costa L. Patrese Conquest Racing	34	Ferrari 296 GT3	84	+1'35.948 2:43'05.078	1.260	5
17	M. Filippi R. Wickens DXDT Racing	36	Corvette Z06 GT3.R	84	+1'36.730 2:43'05.860	0.782	3
18	A. Telitz B. Pedersen Vasser Sullivan Racing	12	Lexus RC F GT3	84	+1'37.188 2:43'06.318	0.458	3
19	A. Adelson C. Ilott Wright Motorsports	120	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	84	+1'38.614 2:43'07.744	1.426	3
20	J. Walker C. Lewis Gradient Racing	66	Ford Mustang GT3	83	+1 Lap 2:42'29.398	1 Lap	5
21	G. Altoè C. Stevenson DragonSpeed	81	Corvette Z06 GT3.R	78	+6 Laps 2:42'34.788	5 Laps	6
22	S. Monk F. Fraga Myers Riley Motorsports	16	Ford Mustang GT3	60	+24 Laps 2:43'09.326	18 Laps	8
23	A. Garcia A. Sims Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports	3	Corvette Z06 GT3.R	0			1
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