The 2022 GT Challenge at VIR (known as the 2022 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR for sponsorship reasons) was a sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The race was held at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia on August 28, 2022. The race was the eleventh round of the 2022 IMSA SportsCar Championship, and the eighth round of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup.

Background

International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2022 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2021. It was the ninth consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The 2022 GT Challenge at VIR was the eleventh of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2022 by IMSA, and it was the last of eight rounds held as part of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup. The race was held at the seventeen-turn Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia on August 28, 2022.

As in previous years, it would be the second of two GT-only rounds of the IMSA SportsCar Championship, in which only the GTD Pro and GTD classes competed. After the previous years edition was moved to October, the race returned to its traditional date of August.

The No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports entry entered the event as defending GTD-class winners, while the GTD Pro class would compete at Virginia International Raceway for the first time in class history.

Before the race, Matt Campbell and Mathieu Jaminet led the GTD Pro Drivers' Championship with 2793 points; the duo held a 227 point lead over Ben Barnicoat. With 2329 points, Stevan McAleer led the GTD Drivers' Championship by 36 points over Ryan Hardwick and Jan Heylen in second while Roman De Angelis was third with 2285 points. Porsche and BMW were leading their respective Manufactures' Championships while Pfaff Motorsports and Gilbert Korthoff Motorsports each led their own Teams' Championships.

Entries A total of 18 cars took part in the event split across two classes. 5 cars were entered in GTD Pro and 13 in GTD. In GTD, Magnus Racing and Team Hardpoint made their first appearances since the Watkins Glen round. Jules Gounon joined Cooper MacNeil in the WeatherTech Racing entry. No changes happened in GTD Pro.

Practice There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Sunday; one on Friday and one on Saturday. The first session on Friday afternoon ran for 60 minutes while the second session on Saturday morning lasted 90 minutes.

Practice 1 The first practice session took place at 3:50 pm ET on Friday and ended with Connor De Phillippi topping the charts for BMW M Team RLL, with a lap time of 1:45.196. ClassTeamDriverTime1GTD Pro25BMW M Team RLLConnor De Phillippi1:45.196_2GTD32Team Korthoff MotorsportsMike Skeen1:45.348 +0.1523GTD16Wright MotorsportsJan Heylen1:45.390 +0.194Source:

Practice 2 The second and final practice session took place at 10:40 am ET on Saturday and ended with Jack Hawksworth topping the charts for Vasser Sullivan Racing, with a lap time of 1:43.984. ClassTeamDriverTime1GTD Pro14Vasser Sullivan RacingJack Hawksworth1:43.984_2GTD51Rick Ware RacingAidan Read1:44.518 +0.5343GTD96Turner MotorsportBill Auberlen1:44.610 +0.626Source:

Qualifying

Saturday's afternoon qualifying was broken into one session for the GTD Pro and GTD classes, which lasted for 15 minutes. The rules dictated that all teams nominated a driver to qualify their cars, with the Pro-Am (GTD) class requiring a Bronze/Silver Rated Driver to qualify the car. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order.

Ross Gunn took overall pole for Heart of Racing Team, while Russell Ward and Winward Racing scored pole in GTD.

Qualifying results Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by . ClassTeamDriverTime1GTD Pro23 Heart of Racing Team Ross Gunn1:43.953_12GTD Pro3 Corvette Racing Antonio Garcia1:44.667 +0.71423GTD Pro9 Pfaff Motorsports Matt Campbell1:44.719 +0.76634GTD Pro25 BMW M Team RLL Connor De Phillippi1:44.791 +0.83845GTD Pro14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Jack Hawksworth1:44.890 +0.93756GTD57 Winward Racing Russell Ward1:45.010 +1.05767GTD51 Rick Ware Racing Aidan Read1:45.077 +1.12478GTD1 Paul Miller Racing Madison Snow1:45.081 +1.12889GTD39 CarBahn with Peregrine Racing Robert Megennis1:45.155 +1.202910GTD32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mike Skeen1:45.328 +1.3751011GTD27 Heart of Racing Team Roman De Angelis1:45.402 +1.4491112GTD96 Turner Motorsport Robby Foley1:45.490 +1.5371213GTD12 Vasser Sullivan Racing Frankie Montecalvo1:45.830 +1.8771314GTD42 NTE Sport/SSR Jaden Conwright1:45.965 +2.0121415GTD79 WeatherTech Racing Cooper MacNeil1:46.648 +2.6951516GTD16 Wright Motorsports Ryan Hardwick1:46.763 +2.8101617GTD99 Team Hardpoint Rob Ferriol1:47.266 +3.3131718GTD44 Magnus Racing John Potter1:47.905 +3.95218Sources:

Race

Post-Race With 3173 points, Campbell and Jaminet's victory allowed them to extend their advantage to 265 points as García and Taylor took over second position in the GTD Pro Drivers' Championship. As a result of finishing second place, De Angelis took the lead of the GTD Drivers' Championship with 2630 points while McAleer dropped to second. Ellis and Ward jumped to fourth after being sixth coming into Virginia International Raceway. Porsche and BMW continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Pfaff Motorsports kept their advantage in the GTD Pro Teams' Championship. Heart of Racing Team took the lead of the GTD Teams' Championship with 1 round remaining.

Race results Class winners are denoted in bold and .

PosClassTeamDriversChassisLapsTime/RetiredEngine1GTD Pro9 Pfaff Motorsports Matt Campbell Mathieu JaminetPorsche 911 GT3 R862:40:37.906Porsche 4.0 L Flat-62GTD Pro3 Corvette Racing Antonio García Jordan TaylorChevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD86 +0.823Chevrolet 5.5L V83GTD57 Winward Racing Philip Ellis Russell WardMercedes-AMG GT3 Evo86 +4.463Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V84GTD27 Heart of Racing Team Roman De Angelis Maxime MartinAston Martin Vantage AMR GT386 +10.799Aston Martin 4.0 L Turbo V85GTD1 Paul Miller Racing Bryan Sellers Madison SnowBMW M4 GT386 +12.960BMW S58B30T0 3.0 L Twin Turbo I66GTD12 Vasser Sullivan Racing Frankie Montecalvo Aaron TelitzLexus RC F GT386 +14.475Toyota 2UR 5.0 L V87GTD16 Wright Motorsports Ryan Hardwick Jan HeylenPorsche 911 GT3 R86 +15.136Porsche 4.0 L Flat-68GTD79 WeatherTech Racing Cooper MacNeil Jules GounonMercedes-AMG GT3 Evo86 +15.545Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V89GTD Pro14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Ben Barnicoat Jack HawksworthLexus RC F GT386 +18.029Toyota 2UR 5.0 L V810GTD96 Turner Motorsport Bill Auberlen Robby FoleyBMW M4 GT386 +25.791BMW S58B30T0 3.0 L Twin Turbo I611GTD Pro23 Heart of Racing Team Ross Gunn Alex RiberasAston Martin Vantage AMR GT386 +43.249Aston Martin 4.0 L Turbo V812GTD32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Stevan McAleer Mike SkeenMercedes-AMG GT3 Evo86 +46.179Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V813GTD Pro25 BMW M Team RLL John Edwards Connor De PhillippiBMW M4 GT386 +54.079BMW S58B30T0 3.0 L Twin Turbo I614GTD51 Rick Ware Racing Ryan Eversley Aidan ReadAcura NSX GT3 Evo2286 +1:10.978Acura 3.5 L Turbo V615GTD99 Team Hardpoint Rob Ferriol Katherine LeggePorsche 911 GT3 R86 +1:11.397Porsche 4.0 L Flat-616GTD39 CarBahn with Peregrine Racing Robert Megennis Jeff WestphalLamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo86 +1:38.629Lamborghini 5.2 L V1017GTD44 Magnus Racing John Potter Andy LallyAston Martin Vantage AMR GT385 +1 LapAston Martin 4.0 L Turbo V818 DNFGTD42 NTE Sport/SSR Marco Holzer Jaden ConwrightLamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo1Did Not FinishLamborghini 5.2 L V10Source:

Standings after the race

+DPi Drivers' Championship standings +/– Driver Points 1 Filipe Albuquerque Ricky Taylor 3066 2 Tom Blomqvist Oliver Jarvis 3047 3 Sébastien Bourdais Renger van der Zande 2914 4 Alex Lynn Earl Bamber 2899 5 Pipo Derani 2739Source:

+LMP2 Drivers' Championship standings +/– Driver Points 1 John Farano 1640 2 Ryan Dalziel Dwight Merriman 1607 3 Steven Thomas 1547 4 Juan Pablo Montoya Henrik Hedman 1532 5 Dennis Andersen Anders Fjordbach 1516Source:

+LMP3 Drivers' Championship standings +/– Driver Points 1 Jon Bennett Colin Braun 1716 2 Gar Robinson 1633 3 Garett Grist Ari Balogh 1597 4 João Barbosa 1458 5 Orey Fidani 1448Source:

+GTD Pro Drivers' Championship standings +/– Driver Points 1 Matt Campbell Mathieu Jaminet 3173 2 1 Antonio García Jordan Taylor 2908 3 1 Ben Barnicoat 2892 4 Ross Gunn Alex Riberas 2791 5 Connor De Phillippi John Edwards 2522Source:

+GTD Drivers' Championship standings +/– Driver Points 1 2 Roman De Angelis 2630 2 1 Stevan McAleer 2585 3 1 Ryan Hardwick Jan Heylen 2573 4 2 Phillip Ellis Russell Ward 2490 5 Bill Auberlen Robby Foley 2468Source:

Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

+DPi Teams' Championship standings +/– Team Points 1 #10 WTR - Konica Minolta Acura 3066 2 #60 Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian 3047 3 #01 Cadillac Racing 2914 4 #02 Cadillac Racing 2899 5 #31 Whelen Engineering Racing 2739Source:

+LMP2 Teams' Championship standings +/– Team Points 1 #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports 1659 2 #8 Tower Motorsport 1640 3 #18 Era Motorsport 1607 4 #11 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports 1547 5 #81 DragonSpeed USA 1532Source:

+LMP3 Teams' Championship standings +/– Team Points 1 #54 CORE Autosport 1716 2 #74 Riley Motorsports 1633 3 #30 Jr III Motorsports 1597 4 #33 Sean Creech Motorsport 1458 5 #13 AWA 1448Source:

+GTD Pro Teams' Championship standings +/– Team Points 1 #9 Pfaff Motorsports 3173 2 1 #3 Corvette Racing 2908 3 1 #14 Vasser Sullivan Racing 2892 4 #23 Heart of Racing Team 2791 5 #25 BMW M Team RLL 2522Source:

+GTD Teams' Championship standings +/– Team Points 1 2 #27 Heart of Racing Team 2630 2 1 #32 Team Korthoff Motorsports 2585 3 1 #16 Wright Motorsports 2573 4 2 #57 Winward Racing 2490 5 #96 Turner Motorsport 2468Source:

Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

+DPi Manufacturers' Championship standings +/– Manufacturer Points 1 Acura 3333 2 Cadillac 3300Source:

+GTD Pro Manufacturers' Championship standings +/– Manufacturer Points 1 Porsche 3173 2 Lexus 2922 3 Chevrolet 2918 4 Aston Martin 2861 5 BMW 2607Source:

+GTD Manufacturers' Championship standings +/– Manufacturer Points 1 BMW 2972 2 1 Mercedes-AMG 2949 3 1 Aston Martin 2913 4 Lamborghini 2709 5 Porsche 2700Source:

Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

References

External links