After a rain-soaked Thursday limited track time, clearer skies greeted the GT America powered by AWS competitors for Practice 2 at VIRginia International Raceway.
The dry 30-minute Friday morning session gave drivers their first proper chance to push the pace, and Blake McDonald continued to lead the way, just as he did in the rain the day prior
McDonald, behind the wheel of the No. 11 DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, picked up right where he left off, jumping to the top of the timesheets early in the session. Justin Rothberg looked strong in the opening stages as well in his No. 29 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3, initially challenging for the top spot.
Midway through the session, Jason Bell vaulted up into second place in his No. 2 Racers Edge Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT3, briefly beating out Rothberg. However, the order continued to shuffle as the track evolved and the session progressed, with Memo Gidley moving into P2 in the No. 56 SKI Autosports Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II.
Kyle Washington then slotted into third in his No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 992 GT3 R, pushing Bell down the order into fifth behind the No. 50 Chouest Povoledo Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Ross Chouest.
In the GT4 class, Michael Fitzpatrick set the early benchmark and held firm throughout the session in his No. 89 89x Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT as drivers continued dialing in their setups.
With improving weather and more competitive times across the board, anticipation builds for the qualifying session Friday morning.
Let’s Get Racing
The GT America powered by AWS will return to the track for Qualifying on Saturday morning, July 19th at 8:30 AM ET.
If you can’t make it to Virginia International Raceway, be sure to tune-in to SRO’s free live streams all weekend long on YouTube (GTWorld) and Twitch (SROMotorsports) and follow all the action through our social media channels and the event hashtag #GTVIR.
