Jagger Jones carried his torrid form in the Le Mans Prototype 3 (P3) class of the VP Racing SportsCar Challenge to VIRginia International Raceway. The 22-year-old grandson of motorsports legend Parnelli Jones claimed his sixth win in seven starts in Saturday’s 45-minute race, part of the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR weekend.
Jones’ No. 87 FastMD Racing with Remstar Duqueine D08 emerged unscathed from a mid-race bump that sent two Grand Sport X (GSX) competitors spinning. That near miss allowed P3 championship leader Steve Aghakhani (No. 6 MLT Motorsports Ligier JS P320) to briefly challenge Jones for the lead as they continued to navigate through lapped GSX traffic.
But Jones recovered from the scare and rebuilt the 1.5s buffer over Aghakhani that he enjoyed through the event’s first 20 minutes. Mindful of his comfortable championship lead, Aghakhani eased off in the closing laps and finished 4.55s behind Jones. Miguel Villagomez claimed third place and Bronze Cup driver honors in the No. 23 Escuderia ABRO Ligier.
“With the track temps, it was super-hot and super-slick and there were a lot of marbles,” Jones said. “I think we were all kind of sliding around a bit and that’s what made the race so exciting there.
“It’s a bit tricky with the traffic. Between Turn 3 and all the way up through the Esses, it’s really difficult to get by the GT4s. I was held up there, and then Steven and I almost went side-by-side for the lead through the Esses. It was hectic, but I’m just happy to bring the car home clean and get another win.”
Aghakhani leads the P3 standings by 560 points over Brian Thienes (No. 77 Forte Racing Ligier), who finished fifth on Saturday. Jones is 570 points off the lead, his deficit due to not competing in the opening two races of the championship at Daytona International Speedway.
Mars blasts off to GSX win in No. 59 KohR Ford Mustang
Luca Mars could have been disappointed when a brief full-course caution negated the 9s GSX lead he earned in the first 10 minutes of Saturday’s race.
Instead, Mars went back to work. He pushed the No. 59 KohR Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4 to a 45s margin over the GSX field, with the timing of the finish scoring him a full lap ahead of Mark Brummond (No. 25 Auto Technic Racing BMW M4 GT4), who earned GSX Bronze Cup driver honors.
Mars entered the weekend leading Jesse Lazare by 190 points in the GSX standings. The victory nearly tripled the 18-year-old Pennsylvanian’s points advantage, after Lazare crashed the No. 21 Motorsports In Action McLaren Artura GT4 in practice on Friday and did not start Saturday’s race.
Mars now has a 520-point advantage over Patrick Wilmot, who finished third Saturday in the No. 88 Split Decision Motorsports BMW. Lazare is 540 points back.
“Today really helped us pull away in the championship lead,” Mars said. “The car was really fast. The KohR Motorsports guys had this Ford Mustang on rails. It was pretty loose out there with the sun, and the track got kind of greasy.
“So, I had to hold on there. But I was able to get that big lead from the beginning and just work on pulling away to try to get the win.”
Mars admitted that having a huge lead can in some ways be more difficult than being embroiled in a tight battle.
“I was kind of moseying off and I had to get my attention back,” he said. “Usually, you have people all around you and you have to focus in on getting by the person in front of you. When there’s nobody in front of you, you don’t slack off, but you don’t have the same kind of concentration.”
Sunday’s race starts at 8:40 a.m. ET with a livestream on Peacock in the U.S. as well as IMSA.tv and YouTube.com/IMSAOfficial outside the U.S.