The 2018 Oak Tree Grand Prix 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 19, 2018. The race was the tenth round of the 2018 IMSA SportsCar Championship.

Background

International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2018 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2017. It was the fifth consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The 2018 Oak Tree Grand Prix was the tenth of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2018 by IMSA, and was the seventh round not held on the held as part of the North American Endurance Cup. The race was held at the ten-turn Virginia International Raceway on August 19, 2018. As in previous years, the event was also the second GT-only round of the IMSA SportsCar Championship season, in which only the GTLM and GTD classes were scheduled to compete.

After the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase 2 weeks earlier, Ryan Briscoe and Richard Westbrook led the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 241 points, ahead Antonio García and Jan Magnussen with 237 points, and Joey Hand and Dirk Müller with 232 points. With 250 points, the GTD Drivers' Championship was led by Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow with an eighteen-point advantage over Katherine Legge with 232 points. Ford and Lamborghini were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Ford Chip Ganassi Racing and Paul Miller Racing each led their own Teams' Championships.

On August 13, 2018, IMSA issued the latest technical bulletin outlining Balance of Performance for the event. In GTD, the Ferrari 488 GT3 received a reduction in turbo boost and a fuel capacity reduction of 2 liters. No changes were made in GTLM.

Entries A total of 18 cars took part in the event split across 2 classes. 8 cars were entered in GTLM, and 10 in GTD. In GTD, Park Place Motorsports and Squadra Corse Garage Italia were absent. Gunnar Jeannette substituted for Alessandro Pier Guidi in the Scuderia Corsa #63 entry due to a clash with the FIA World Endurance Championship round at Silverstone. Mario Farnbacher substituted for Álvaro Parente returned to the Meyer Shank Racing #86 entry.

Practice There were three practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Sunday, two on Friday and one on Saturday. The first two one-hour sessions were on Friday morning and afternoon. The third on Saturday morning lasted an hour.

Practice 1 The first practice session took place at 11:45 am ET on Friday and ended with Richard Westbrook topping the charts for Ford Chip Ganassi Racing, with a lap time of 1:42.627. ClassTeamDriverTime1GTLM67Ford Chip Ganassi RacingRichard Westbrook1:42.627_2GTLM912Porsche GT TeamEarl Bamber1:42.761 +0.1343GTLM66Ford Chip Ganassi RacingJoey Hand1:42.793 +0.166Source:

Practice 2 The second practice session took place at 4:25 pm ET on Friday and ended with Antonio García topping the charts for Corvette Racing, with a lap time of 1:41.743. ClassTeamDriverTime1GTLM3Corvette RacingAntonio García1:41.743_2GTLM67Ford Chip Ganassi RacingRyan Briscoe1:42.262 +0.5193GTLM4Corvette RacingTommy Milner1:42.351 +0.608Source:

Practice 3 The third and final practice session took place at 8:35 am ET on Saturday and ended with Tommy Milner topping the charts for Corvette Racing, with a lap time of 1:41.205. ClassTeamDriverTime1GTLM4Corvette RacingTommy Milner1:41.205_2GTLM25BMW Team RLLConnor De Phillippi1:41.448 +0.2433GTLM912Porsche GT TeamEarl Bamber1:41.512 +0.307Source:

Qualifying Saturday afternoon's 40-minute qualifying session was divided into two groups. Both categories had 15-minute individual sessions, and regulations stipulated teams to nominate a single driver to qualify their cars. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order with the grid arranged to put the GTLM cars ahead of all GTD entries.

Qualifying results Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by . ClassTeamDriverTime1GTD15 3GT Racing Jack Hawksworth1:44.107_92GTD33 Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsport Jeroen Bleekemolen1:44.323 +0.216103GTD96 Turner Motorsport Bill Auberlen1:44.360 +0.253114GTD14 3GT Racing Kyle Marcelli1:44.516 +0.409125GTD48 Paul Miller Racing Madison Snow1:44.626 +0.519136GTD58 Wright Motorsports Patrick Long1:44.758 +0.651147GTD93 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanin Lawson Aschenbach1:44.797 +0.690178GTD86 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanin Mario Farnbacher1:44.954 +0.847169GTD63 Scuderia Corsa Cooper MacNeil1:45.506 +1.3991810GTD44 Magnus Racing John Potter1:45.918 +1.8111611GTLM67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ryan Briscoe1:55.580+11.473112GTLM911 Porsche GT Team Patrick Pilet1:56.170 +12.063213GTLM24 BMW Team RLL John Edwards1:56.185 +12.078314GTLM3 Corvette Racing Antonio García1:56.760 +12.653415GTLM25 BMW Team RLL Connor De Phillippi1:57.148 +13.041516GTLM66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Joey Hand1:57.202 +13.095617GTLM4 Corvette Racing Tommy Milner1:57.492 +13.385718GTLM912 Porsche GT Team Earl Bamber1:57.874 +13.7678Sources:

The No. 93 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanin entry was moved to the back of the GTD field as per Article 43.5 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting driver). The No. 63 Scuderia Corsa entry was moved to the back of the GTD field as per Article 43.6 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires). The No. 44 Magnus Racing entry was moved to the back of the GTD field as per Article 43.6 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).

Race

Post-race By finishing second place in the race, García and Magnussen took the lead of the GTLM Drivers' Championship. The result kept Sellers and Snow atop the GTD Drivers' Championship with 275 points, 13 points ahead of Legge. Ford and Lamborghini continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships while Corvette Racing took the lead of the GTLM Teams' Championship. Paul Miller Racing kept their advantage in the GTD Teams' Championship with two rounds remaining.

Results Class winners are denoted in bold and .

+Final race classificationClassTeamDriversChassisTireTime/RetiredEngine1GTLM25 BMW Team RLL Connor De Phillippi Alexander SimsBMW M8 GTE882:40.52.276BMW S63 4.0 L Turbo V82GTLM3 Corvette Racing Antonio García Jan MagnussenChevrolet Corvette C7.R88 +1.323Chevrolet LT5.5 5.5 L V83GTLM24 BMW Team RLL John Edwards Jesse KrohnBMW M8 GTE88 +2.116BMW S63 4.0 L Turbo V84GTLM66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Joey Hand Dirk MüllerFord GT88 +30.907Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Turbo V65GTLM912 Porsche GT Team Earl Bamber Laurens VanthoorPorsche 911 RSR88 +35.530Porsche 4.0 L Flat-66GTLM4 Corvette Racing Oliver Gavin Tommy MilnerChevrolet Corvette C7.R88 +36.345Chevrolet LT5.5 5.5 L V87GTD14 3GT Racing Dominik Baumann Kyle MarcelliLexus RC F GT386+2 LapsLexus 5.0L V88GTD58 Wright Motorsports Patrick Long Christina NielsenPorsche 911 GT3 R86 +2 LapsPorsche 4.0 L Flat-69GTD86 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanin Katherine Legge Mario FarnbacherAcura NSX GT386 +2 LapsAcura 3.5 L Turbo V610GTD63 Scuderia Corsa Cooper MacNeil Gunnar JeannetteFerrari 488 GT386 +2 LapsFerrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V811GTD33 Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsport Jeroen Bleekemolen Ben KeatingMercedes AMG GT386 +2 LapsMercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V812GTD48 Paul Miller Racing Bryan Sellers Madison SnowLamborghini Huracán GT386 +2 LapsLamborghini 5.2 L V1013GTD44 Magnus Racing John Potter Andy LallyAudi R8 LMS GT386 +2 LapsAudi 5.2L V1014GTD93 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanin Justin Marks Lawson AschenbachAcura NSX GT386 +2 LapsAcura 3.5 L Turbo V615GTD96 Turner Motorsport Robby Foley Bill AuberlenBMW M6 GT385 +3 LapsBMW 4.4 L Turbo V816GTD15 3GT Racing Jack Hawksworth David Heinemeier HanssonLexus RC F GT386 +2 LapsLexus 5.0L V817 DNFGTLM911 Porsche GT Team Patrick Pilet Nick TandyPorsche 911 RSR42ClutchPorsche 4.0 L Flat-618 DNFGTLM67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ryan Briscoe Richard WestbrookFord GT40EngineFord EcoBoost 3.5 L Turbo V6Sources:+ Tyre manufacturers Key Symbol Tyre manufacturer Continental Michelin

Notes

Standings after the race

+Prototype Drivers' Championship standings +/– Driver Points 1 Eric Curran Felipe Nasr 228 2 Filipe Albuquerque 221 3 Jon Bennett Colin Braun 218 4 Jordan Taylor Renger van der Zande 216 5 Misha Goikhberg Stephen Simpson 206

+GTLM Drivers' Championship standings +/– Driver Points 1 1 Antonio García Jan Magnussen 269 2 1 Ryan Briscoe Richard Westbrook 265 3 Joey Hand Dirk Müller 260 4 Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner 252 5 Earl Bamber Laurens Vanthoor 251

+GTD Drivers' Championship standings +/– Driver Points 1 Bryan Sellers Madison Snow 275 2 Katherine Legge 262 3 Jeroen Bleekemolen Ben Keating 246 4 Cooper MacNeil 237 5 1 Dominik Baumann Kyle Marcelli 227

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

+Prototype Teams' Championship standings +/– Team Points 1 No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing 228 2 No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing 221 3 No. 54 CORE Autosport 218 4 No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing 216 5 No. 99 JDC-Miller Motorsports 206

+GTLM Teams' Championship standings +/– Team Points 1 1 No. 3 Corvette Racing 241 2 1 No. 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing 237 3 No. 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing 232 4 No. 4 Corvette Racing 227 5 No. 912 Porsche GT Team 225

+GTD Teams' Championship standings +/– Team Points 1 No. 48 Paul Miller Racing 275 2 No. 86 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanin 262 3 No. 33 Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsports 246 4 No. 63 Scuderia Corsa 237 5 No. 14 3GT Racing 227

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

+Prototype Manufacturers' Championship standings +/– Manufacturer Points 1 Cadillac 269 2 Acura 254 3 Nissan 239 4 Mazda 238

+GTLM Manufacturers' Championship standings +/– Manufacturer Points 1 Ford 295 2 Chevrolet 283 3 Porsche 274 4 BMW 267 5 Ferrari 58

+GTD Manufacturers' Championship standings +/– Manufacturer Points 1 Lamborghini 282 2 Acura 263 3 1 Lexus 258 4 1 Mercedes-AMG 252 5 Ferrari 250

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

References

External links