Madison Snow wasted no time putting in a statement at VIRginia International Raceway, posting a time better than the GTD PRO track record in the first 10 minutes of the first practice for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Michelin GT Challenge.
GTD PRO cars filled the first four slots in the test session for the sole GT-only race of the season, but none could get within half a second of Snow’s 1m43.561s (113.67mph) in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3. Championship leader Laurin Heinrich, paired with Klaus Bachler for the weekend, was closest to Snow at 1m44.070s in the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R.
Alexander Sims in the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R was third in GTD PRO, nearly another quarter-second back of Heinrich with a 1m44.315s lap. Alex Riberas — whose partner in the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, Ross Gunn, holds both the GTD PRO and GTD records at VIR — was fourth in GTD PRO and overall, with a couple of GTD cars in between he and Nicky Catsburg in the No. 4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R in fifth.
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Frederik Schandorff was the fastest of those GTD cars, turning a 1m44.381s (112.78mph) in the No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 Evo to lead championship leader Winward Racing’s Mercedes AMG GT3, courtesy of Philip Ellis’s 1m44.483s lap.
“It felt great when the tires were new, not in the end,” noted Schandorff. “We were actually struggling a bit in the end. So we’re just trying to work on the setup and then also to get Brendan [Iribe] in the groove. He did really well here in the end, so I’m really excited for for the next few days.”
Schandorff’s statement points not only to the importance of tire management at VIR, but also the changing nature of the track; most teams put in their best time in their first eight laps. Although with temperatures in the low 80-degree Fahrenheit range it was not exceptionally hot, the surface conditions can fluctuate with the weather.
“This track here at VIR seems to change quite a bit, especially with the heat in the track,” explained Ellis’s partner in the Winward Mercedes, Russell Ward, before he noted one thing that gives the team an edge. “So having the GT4 [Michelin Pilot Challenge] before us really helps you get track temperatures, get an idea of where we want our starting pressures to be, and stuff like that. So it’s a big advantage.”
Third in GTD and eighth overall was Stevan McAleer with a 1m44.573s lap in the No. 66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX Evo22 he shares with Sheena Monk. The two are fresh off their first podium together in the last outing at Road America.
Robby Foley was fourth for Turner Motorsports in the No. 96 BMW M4 GT3 as he and Patrick Gallagher look to back up their Road America win, with Elliott Skeer wrapping up the GTD top five in the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.
The session was green for the entire 90 minutes, although there were numerous off-course excursions. Harry Tincknell had the lone contact with a barrier, but that only resulted in minor bodywork damage to the No. 64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Mustang GT3, which finished the session sixth in GTD PRO.
The second free practice, a 1h45m session, takes place Saturday morning at 10:15am ET.