Qualifying report
IMSA VIR
VIR IMSA: Vanthoor beats Magnussen to pole by 0.078s
Porsche’s Laurens Vanthoor will start the GT-only round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Virginia International Raceway from pole position after topping qualifying by 0.078s ahead of Corvette Racing’s Jan Magnussen.
Charles Bradley
Edited: Aug 24, 2019, 5:23 PM
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The track was dry with damp patches for the start of the GTLM session, with all cars on slick tires.
Ford’s Joey Hand was in the top spot before Vanthoor grabbed it back with 1m40.630s. Magnussen grabbed second with a last-gasp flyer, just missing out on pole by 0.078s while Vanthoor had already bailed out into the pits, with Ryan Briscoe’s Ford GT an identical margin back in third.
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“The first couple of laps you’re figuring out where the track is dry and when to use the tires, so it’s a little bit like poker,” said Vanthoor. “They told me I was safe [in P1], I said, ‘Are you sure? I’ve got another tenth in me’, but they made the call to pit.”
Hand slipped to fourth, ahead of Oliver Gavin in the second Corvette. In the second Porsche, Nick Tandy went off and hit the tires at Oak Hill Bend. He will start down in sixth, ahead of the BMW M8 GTEs of John Edwards and Connor de Phillippi.
#9 PFAFF Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, GTD: Scott Hargrove, Zacharie Robichon
Photo by: Scott R LePage / LAT Images
GT Daytona qualifying began in much more slippery conditions, with the majority of teams opting for slicks. The #14 AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus of Richard Heistand went off on its out lap, proving how treacherous the track surface was for those on slicks.
With the conditions improving throughout, position changes came thick and fast throughout the session. Just before the clock ticked down to zero, Zacharie Robichon was at the top of the times in his Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.
As the checkered flag flew, Frankie Montecalvo then grabbed the top spot in #12 AVS Lexus – but Robichon took class pole back with his final flying lap, a 1m45.826s, as he was the last of the frontrunners on track and took full benefit of the evolving track.
“Credit to the team for making the right call, so we got an extra lap on everyone else,” said the Canadian. “It was exciting, the car was moving around a lot. Just like driving back home on the ice!”
His fastest time was 0.324s quicker than Montecalvo, with the sister Lexus of Heistand qualifying third after its early off.
Trent Hindman and Alice Powell, making her series debut, were fourth and fifth fastest respectively in their Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3s.
Session results:
Cla Num Driver Class Chassis Time Gap 1 912 Earl Bamber
Laurens Vanthoor
GTLM Porsche 911 RSR 1'40.630 2 3 Jan Magnussen
Antonio Garcia
GTLM Corvette C7.R 1'40.708 0.078 3 67 Ryan Briscoe
Richard Westbrook
GTLM Ford GT 1'40.786 0.156 4 66 Joey Hand
Dirk Muller
GTLM Ford GT 1'40.956 0.326 5 4 Oliver Gavin
Tommy Milner
GTLM Corvette C7.R 1'41.578 0.948 6 911 Patrick Pilet
Nick Tandy
GTLM Porsche 911 RSR 1'41.615 0.985 7 24 Jesse Krohn
John Edwards
GTLM BMW M8 GTE 1'41.703 1.073 8 25 Tom Blomqvist
Connor de Phillippi
GTLM BMW M8 GTE 1'41.772 1.142 9 9 Scott Hargrove
Zacharie Robichon
GTD Porsche 911 GT3 R 1'45.826 5.196 10 12 Frankie Montecalvo
Townsend Bell
GTD Lexus RC F GT3 1'46.150 5.520 11 14 Richard Heistand
Jack Hawksworth
GTD Lexus RC F GT3 1'46.524 5.894 12 86 Mario Farnbacher
Trent Hindman
GTD Acura NSX GT3 1'46.697 6.067 13 57 Katherine Legge
Alice Powell
GTD Acura NSX GT3 1'48.159 7.529 14 96 Bill Auberlen
Robby Foley
GTD BMW M6 GT3 1'48.398 7.768 15 33 Ben Keating
Jeroen Bleekemolen
GTD Mercedes-AMG GT3 1'48.476 7.846 16 44 John Potter
Andy Lally
GTD Lamborghini Huracan GT3 1'48.567 7.937 17 48 Bryan Sellers
Corey Lewis
GTD Lamborghini Huracan GT3 1'51.132 10.502 18 63 Cooper MacNeil
Toni Vilander
GTD Ferrari 488 GT3 1'53.823 13.193 19 76 Paul Holton
Matt Plumb
GTD McLaren 720S GT3 1'54.213 13.583 20 74 Gar Robinson
Lawson Aschenbach
GTD Mercedes-AMG 1'56.054 15.424 21 73 Patrick Lindsey
Patrick Long
GTD Porsche 911 GT3 R 1'56.158 15.528 View full results
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