Practice starts today 8/22/25 for the IMSA race at VIR race this weekend

For IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers have weighed in on the new-for-2025 class split between the GTD Pro and GTD categories, with most having admitted to just being a “different” element to races.
In a change for this season, all GTD Pro class cars start each race ahead of the GTD pack, even if some of the Pro-Am driver-enforced entries end up quicker in qualifying, which is now run in separate 15-minute sessions.

Additionally, GTD Pro cars are cycled to the front of the pack while under most full-course cautions, helping provide direct on-track battles between cars in their respective classes.
This has led to mixed feelings within the paddock, particularly with GTD competitors, who had previously been able to leverage slower GTD Pro cars while fighting for positions in their own class.

“The intermingling of the two classes is interesting from the GTD field,” said Triarsi Competizione driver Kenton Koch.
“I’m sure a lot of the GTD competitors are kind of frustrated with that, but the GTD Pro guys are really, really happy about that, but that’s just kind of how the nature of the beast works.

“It’s something different that you have to adapt to, and it’s neither bad nor good. It’s just the way it is and what you have to do to make the best of the situation. It’s no complaints, it’s just different.”
Vasser Sullivan Lexus ace Jack Hawksworth, meanwhile, admits the new procedures are “pretty different” to what was in place since the launch of the GTD Pro class in 2022.

“I like it in the sense that you’re always racing the guys in your class off the start but where it does become confusing is you end up with much faster cars behind slower cars,” he said.
“For instance you look at Road America, the fastest car was the Mercedes-AMG, and they qualified on pole overall, and they had to start behind cars which in qualifying, and they were two or three seconds a lot faster than.
“So it definitely makes it interesting because you end up with a set of faster cars kind of stuck behind a set of slower cars, which bunches the field up.

“From a GTD perspective, if you were able to then get one or two of the GTD Pro cars between you and the other GTD cars, as long as another caution doesn’t come out, it’s quite a big advantage, and you can obviously then pull out a big gap artificially because you’ve got cars from the other class slowing down the front-runners in your class.

“It’s different. It makes it at the end of a race, if you’ve got a [late] restart or something, it’s kind of re-rack and kind of turns it into a shootout, which is exciting for everybody.
“Like Kenton said, it’s just different. I don’t really have an opinion on an opinion on it. It’s just different.”
When asked if it will be any different this weekend, being a GT-only race, Hawksworth said it could add a new dynamic.
“If you’re the GTD leader, you would probably want to leave a gap to the GTD Pro cars on a restart. But IMSA has been very inconsistent in the way that they call this gapping rule.

“Like sometimes you get a penalty, if you leave more than a 10 or 15-car length gap and then another time you can jump the start or be way behind and get a big run, and they allow it. So, it’s hard to know, really.
“For the GTD Pro guys, it will make a big difference because they won’t have to worry about the P2s or the GTPs in front of them, so they can time their own restart.

“But for the GTD guys, they still have the same situation [of being] held up behind the GTD Pro cars off the start and off the restart, and it becomes a kind of game of how much of a gap do you dare leave on one of these restarts.”

Koch added: “It can be frustrating for the GTD guys but by the same token, if you are buried in a pack of GTD cars, and you don’t have the pace, but you have got craft and your savvy, I think it gives those guys opportunities to potentially get track position because that backed half of the GTD Pro field on a restart that might hold up the fast guys.
“It can actually add a whole other [element that’s] maybe good for the guys in the middle of the GTD field, but, frustrating for the top half of the GTD field.”
Ford Multimatic Motorsports driver Mike Rockenfeller, a front-runner in the GTD Pro class, meanwhile, says he prefers the new system IMSA introduced this year.

“For me, personally, last year I raced the first year in GTD Pro and the restarts, we didn’t have a class split,” he said.
“I preferred much more like it is [now]. When you wanted to race the guys you are racing [in class] and sometimes there were ten cars in between you and your next GTD Pro and there’s obviously no way that you make it back to your GTD Pro guy or GTD, it doesn’t matter whoever you race or which category.

“I think it’s a lot better, the way it is. I prefer it, but of course, like Jack said, basically, if the pace difference is as big as it sometimes has been, then it’s not so much fun sometimes… for both.
“I have been in the GTD Pro [car] not being able to be fast enough compared to the quickest GTD. That is something you don’t like for sure.
“And I guess the guy in the GTD [car] is kind of not happy if he’s held up.

“It’s not like a different category, really; the cars are the same. In prototype, it’s different, you just go through, and you race your guys, but here it’s sometimes it’s tough.
“But it’s part of the game, and it sometimes plays in your way and sometimes not, but I think in general the racing, it’s a lot of fun in your own category, for sure.
“I think this year it’s much cleaner in that respect that people understand, which category you are in, because the cars are the same.
I think for the fans, it’s a lot better that we see the battles in-between each GT category. That’s my opinion.”

DragonSpeed Ferrari leads first VIR practice

Under cloudy skies, preparation for the Michelin GT Challenge at VIRginia International Raceway got underway with the No. 81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3 recording the fastest time in the first practice session.

DragonSpeed's lead driver Albert Costa took the Ferrari to the top of the timesheets with a 1m45.032s as his best time, the best in GTD PRO.

Leading GTD was the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO of Russell Ward, who turned in a 1m45.471s, good for second-best overall out of 23 GT3 cars.

From GTD PRO, Andrea Caldarelli was second fastest in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2, followed by Road America winner Neil Verhagen in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO.

The two Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.Rs, and the No. 64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Mustang GT3, also featured in the overall top 10.

Frederik Schandorff was second in GTD aboard the No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 EVO; then the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari and No. 13 AWA Corvette in third and fourth.

All 90 minutes proceeded with no major incidents, and only a brief red flag for debris on circuit. The best times of all 23 cars were covered by a spread of just under two seconds.

Practice 2 starts tomorrow at 10:35am ET, with qualifying starting later that afternoon at 4:55pm ET.

After second practice for the IMSA Michelin GT Challenge at VIR, Ferraris are on top of both GT classes, and in GTD PRO, the top two cars set identical lap times.
For the second session in a row, the No. 81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3 set the outright fastest time and the top time in GTD PRO. After Albert Costa set the pace in Practice 1, this time it was co-driver Giacomo Altoe that led the way with a 1m45.011s.

Only a minute later, Sebastian Priaulx in the "Liquid Carbon" No. 64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Mustang GT3 (pictured above) set the exact same time as Altoe, which held up for second place.
In GTD, Onofrio Triarsi set the fastest time in the No. 021 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari, posting a 1m45.324s about 40 minutes into the 90-minute session.

All 90 minutes proceeded with no red flags, but with about 15 minutes to go,
smoke began to pour from out of the exhausts of the No. 4 Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R. Tommy Milner’s car was pulled behind the wall at Turn 1 safely, then retreated to the garage. The car will undergo a precautionary engine change ahead of qualifying.

Co-driver Nicky Catsburg had set the third-fastest time in the car earlier in the session, ahead of teammate Antonio Garcia in the No. 3 Corvette.

The No. 78 Forte Racing Lamborghini also spent most of the session in the garage with a fuel pump issue, before returning late. On the other hand, the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus enjoyed an uninterrupted practice after losing most of the first session with electrical problems.

Behind the Triarsi 296, the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 of Jack Hawksworth was second fastest in GTD, followed by the No. 45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 of Danny Formal, and the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO of Russell Ward.

Rounding out the top five in each class, and the top ten overall, were the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO and the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari.
Heading into this afternoon’s qualifying session at 4:55 ET, the field is very close around VIRginia International Raceway:
Less than one second covered the best times of 19 out of the 23 cars entered.