It wasn’t rain, but Snow on the GTD PRO parade for everyone except Paul Miller Racing. At the track where he and Bryan Sellers captured their most recent victory, Madison Snow seized his first pole position since PMR moved to GTD PRO, as well as a new track record in qualifying for Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge at VIR, the final sprint race and the lone GT-only race of the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Snow’s 1m43.206s lap around the 3.27-mile, 17-turn VIRginia International Raceway in the No. 1 BMW M4 GT3 was good for an average of 114.06mph, and beat the GTD PRO record as well as the quicker GTD record, which still stands for Ross Gunn. Snow turned his best time, good for his 13th pole position, on his fourth lap, which seemed to be the sweet spot for most competitors, although a few went faster on their fifth.
“It’s definitely a step in the right direction,” said Snow. “[It’s] the best we’ve done. We were on the podium last race, get the pole here…. We definitely have the right momentum headed towards the end of the season.”
The Ford Mustang GT3 had its best day in its inaugural season, with Giammarco Levorato capturing the GTD pole and sixth starting spot overall in the No. 55 Proton Competition Mustang GT3 with a 1m43.900s lap. Not only that, but it will be an all-Ford Multimatic Motorsports second row with Mustang GT3s qualifying second and third.
“It’s super satisfying, because we are working really a lot with with Ford, with Proton, with my teammate Corey [Lewis], also with my teammate Ryan [Hardwick] for the endurance races,” Levorato said. “We know how much work there is on this car, so this is the perfect start of the weekend, for sure.”
Antonio Garcia put the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R on the outside of the first row with a 1m43.346s lap, ahead of the two GTD PRO Mustangs. Harry Tincknell, who like Levorato is racing at VIR for the first time, qualified third in the No. 64 with a 1m43.630, 0.099s better than Joey Hand in the No. 65. Tommy Milner was the last GTD PRO car ahead of Levorato, and will start the No. 4 Corvette inside the GTD polesitter on the third row.
Kenton Koch held the GTD pole briefly, but after setting a 1m44.106s time on his fourth lap, he couldn’t push the No. 32 Korthoff Preston Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3 any faster on the fifth, while Levorato did. The No. 32 will line up second in GTD, on the inside of the fourth row. Outside Koch will be the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R after Elliott Skeer, who held the top time in Saturday morning’s practice, turned a 1m44.118s.
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It will be two GTD PRO cars on the fifth row. Vasser Sullivan Racing held Jack Hawksworth in the pits at the beginning of qualifying, hoping he’d have a clearer lap on a more-rubbered-in track later, but the strategy didn’t pan out and the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 will start ninth. The No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S Evo will be alongside courtesy of VIR rookie Oliver Jarvis.
Zacharie Robichon (No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo) and Patrick Gallager (No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3) qualified fourth and fifth in GTD and will make up the sixth row at the start.
It was a rough day for the championship leaders in both classes. The No. 77 AO Racing Porsche of GTD PRO championship leader Laurin Heinrich will start deep in the field, as Klaus Bachler could do no better than 13th overall and eighth in GTD PRO. If there’s a bright spot, Heinrich’s closest rival in the championship, Ross Gunn, will have a challenging race as the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin starts alongside Bachler. Russell Ward had a rough qualifying session in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes AMG GT3, and he and partner Philip Ellis will have need to move up as they try to keep their healthy margin in the GTD championship over Gallagher and Robby Foley.
The 2h40m Michelin GT Challenge will get under way 12:10 p.m. ET on Sunday, with live coverage on USA Network and Peacock.