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The 2016 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR 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, 2016. The race was the tenth round of the 2016 IMSA SportsCar Championship.

Background

Preview

International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2016 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2015. It was the third consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The 2016 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR was the tenth of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2016 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 3.270 mi (5.263 km) Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia on August 28, 2016.

IMSA altered the balance of performance to try to create parity within the GTLM and GTD categories. The BMW M6 GTLM's refuelling hose restrictor was increased by 1 mm (0.039 in). The Ferrari 488 GTE and Ford GT's refuelling hose restrictor was shortened by 0.5 mm (0.020 in). Audi's R8 LMS had its refuelling hose restrictor increased by 0.5 mm (0.020 in). The Dodge Viper GT3-R and Ferrari 488 GT3 had their refuelling hose restrictor shortened by 0.5 mm (0.020 in). The Lamborghini Huracán GT3's refuelling hose restrictor was shortened by 1.5 mm (0.059 in).

Before the race, Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner led the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 264 points, ahead of Ryan Briscoe and Richard Westbrook in second by 13 points. With 243 points, Alessandro Balzan and Christina Nielsen led the GTD Drivers' Championship, 15 points ahead of Andy Lally and John Potter. Chevrolet and Audi were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Corvette Racing, and Scuderia Corsa each led their own Teams' Championships.

Entry list

Twenty-one cars were officially entered for the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR, with most of the entries being in the Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) category. GTLM was represented by nine entries from five different brands. In the list of GTD entrants, twelve GT3-specification vehicles were represented by six different manufacturers. Alex Job Racing's No. 22 and Park Place Motorsports No. 73 Porsche's withdrew over balance of performance concerns. Although it was listed as an entrant, Black Swan Racing's No. 540 car was withdrawn due to family obligations for Tim Pappas. With the absence of the Prototype (P) and Prototype Challenge (PC) classes from the field, only two racing classes were represented in Virginia International Raceway.

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.

In the first practice session, Bamber's No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR lapped quickest at 1:43.232, 0.018 seconds ahead of Joey hand in the No. 66 CGR car. García was third fastest in Corvette Racing's No. 3 car, Briscoe's No. 67 Ford GT placed fourth and Giancarlo Fisichella's Risi Ferrari rounded out the top five. Lamborghini paced GTD with Paul Miller's Huracán of Madison Snow lapping 1:45.722, ahead of Spencer Pumpelly's Change Lamborghini. The session had two stoppages. The first was when the No. 25 Team RLL BMW M6 GTLM lost its roof on track. A spin by Davis' No. 6 Stevenson Audi into the turn-fifteen barriers gave right-side damage and caused the second stoppage.

The second practice session saw García lap quickest for Corvette at 1:42.623. Ford were second and third after laps by Hand and Briscoe. GTD saw Bryan Sellers No. 48 Paul Miller Lamborghini record the quickest class lap: 1:44.944, 0.165 seconds faster than Bleekemolen's second-placed No. 33 Riley Motorsport Viper.

In the last practice session, Magnussen went fastest for Corvette at 1:41.637. Müller's No. 66 CGR car was second, followed by RLL's Werner in third. Risi were fourth after a lap by Fisichella, and Westbrook No. 67 CGR Ford GT rounded out the top five. Lamborghini took the first two GTD positions, led by Paul Miller's No. 48 car driven by Snow (whose benchmark time of 1:43.864 was 0.262 seconds quicker than Corey Lewis' No. 16 Change Lamborghini).

Qualifying

Saturday afternoon's 40-minute two-group qualifying session gave 15-minute sessions to all categories. Cars in GTD were sent out first before those grouped in GTLM had a separate identically timed session. Regulations stipulated teams to nominate one qualifying driver, with the fastest laps determining each classes starting order. IMSA would arranged the grid to put all GTLMs ahead of the GTD cars.

Magnussen in the No. 3 Corvette set a new category track record, and his took first pole position since the 2014 Tequila Patrón Sports Car Showcase with a lap of 1 minute, 41.557 seconds. He was joined on the grid's front row by Milner whose best lap in the sister No. 4 Corvette was 0.011 seconds slower. Hand's No. 66 Ford took third followed by Giancarlo Fisichella's Risi car in fourth. John Edwards' No. 100 Team RLL BMW M6 started from fifth place.

In GTD, Madison Snow took pole position in PMR's No. 48 Lamborghini with a 1 minute, 44.956 time. Matt Bell's No. 9 Stevenson Motorsports Audi R8 LMS qualified second, and Cédric Sbirrazzuoli's No. 27 Dream Racing took third. Rounding out the top five in class were the No. 6 Stevenson Motorsport Audi of Andrew Davis in fourth, and Corey Lewis' No. 16 Change Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3.

Qualifying results

Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by ‡.

Pos.	Class	No.	Team	Driver	Time	Gap	Grid
1	GTLM	3	Corvette Racing	Jan Magnussen	1:41.557	_	1‡
2	GTLM	4	Corvette Racing	Tommy Milner	1:41.568	+0.011	2
3	GTLM	66	Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	Joey Hand	1:41.817	+0.260	3
4	GTLM	62	Risi Competizione	Giancarlo Fisichella	1:42.225	+0.668	4
5	GTLM	100	BMW Team RLL	John Edwards	1:42.227	+0.670	5
6	GTLM	25	BMW Team RLL	Dirk Werner	1:42.255	+0.698	6
7	GTLM	911	Porsche North America	Nick Tandy	1:42.276	+0.719	7
8	GTLM	67	Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	Richard Westbrook	1:42.314	+0.757	21
9	GTLM	912	Porsche North America	Frédéric Makowiecki	1:42.372	+0.815	8
10	GTD	48	Paul Miller Racing	Madison Snow	1:44.956	+3.399	9‡
11	GTD	9	Stevenson Motorsports	Matt Bell	1:45.247	+3.690	10
12	GTD	27	Dream Racing	Cédric Sbirrazzuoli	1:45.251	+3.694	11
13	GTD	6	Stevenson Motorsports	Andrew Davis	1:45.302	+3.745	12
14	GTD	16	Change Racing	Corey Lewis	1:45.372	+3.815	13
15	GTD	23	Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing	Mario Farnbacher	1:45.563	+4.006	20
16	GTD	33	Riley Motorsports	Ben Keating	1:45.680	+4.123	14
17	GTD	63	Scuderia Corsa	Christina Nielsen	1:45.997	+4.440	15
18	GTD	97	Turner Motorsport	Michael Marsal	1:46.236	+4.679	16
19	GTD	96	Turner Motorsport	Bret Curtis	1:46.431	+4.874	17
20	GTD	44	Magnus Racing	John Potter	1:46.559	+5.002	18
21	GTD	80	Lone Star Racing	Dan Knox	1:48.115	+6.558	19
Sources:

• The No. 23 AJR, No. 67 CGR, and No. 80 Lone Star Racing entries were sent to the rear of their respective class fields as per 40.1.5 of the Sporting regulations (Tire change).

Race

Post race

With a total of 287 points, Gavin and Milner's ninth-place finish finished allowed them to keep their advantage in the GTLM Drivers' Championship, but their advantage was reduced to 7 points over Briscoe and Westbrook. Bamber and Makowiecki advanced from sixth to fourth. The final results of GTD allowed Balzan and Nielsen to extend their advantage in the GTD Drivers' Championship to 20 points as Bleekemolen and Keating jumped to second. Lally and Potter dropped from second to sixth. Chevrolet and Audi continued to top their respective Manufactures' Championships, while Corvette Racing and Scuderia Corsa kept their respective advantages in their of Teams' Championships with two rounds left in the season.

Race Results

Class winners are denoted in bold and ‡. GTLM stands for Grand Touring Le Mans and GTD (Grand Touring Daytona).

Final race classification Pos Class No. Team Drivers Chassis Tire Laps Time/Retired Engine 1 GTLM 3 Corvette Racing Antonio García Jan Magnussen Chevrolet Corvette C7.R M 90 2:40:13.166‡ Chevrolet LT5.5 5.5 L V8 2 GTLM 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Dirk Müller Joey Hand Ford GT M 90 +0.802 Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Twin-turbo V6 3 GTLM 912 Porsche North America Earl Bamber Frédéric Makowiecki Porsche 911 RSR M 90 +1.448 Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 4 GTLM 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ryan Briscoe Richard Westbrook Ford GT M 90 +6.004 Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Twin-turbo V6 5 GTLM 25 BMW Team RLL Bill Auberlen Dirk Werner BMW M6 GTLM M 90 +6.243 BMW 4.4 L Turbo V8 6 GTLM 911 Porsche North America Patrick Pilet Nick Tandy Porsche 911 RSR M 90 +7.168 Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 7 GTLM 62 Risi Competizione Toni Vilander Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari 488 GTE M 90 +25.016 Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8 8 GTLM 100 BMW Team RLL John Edwards Lucas Luhr BMW M6 GTLM M 89 +1 Lap BMW 4.4 L Turbo V8 9 GTD 48 Paul Miller Racing Bryan Sellers Madison Snow Lamborghini Huracán GT3 C 88 +2 Laps‡ Lamborghini 5.2 L V10 10 GTD 9 Stevenson Motorsports Lawson Aschenbach Matt Bell Audi R8 LMS C 88 +2 Laps Audi 5.2L V10 11 GTD 6 Stevenson Motorsports Andrew Davis Robin Liddell Audi R8 LMS C 88 +2 Laps Audi 5.2L V10 12 GTD 23 Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing Mario Farnbacher Alex Riberas Porsche 911 GT3 R C 88 +2 Laps Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 13 GTD 16 Change Racing Corey Lewis Spencer Pumpelly Lamborghini Huracán GT3 C 87 +3 Laps Lamborghini 5.2 L V10 14 GTD 33 Riley Motorsports Jeroen Bleekemolen Ben Keating Dodge Viper GT3-R C 87 +3 Laps Dodge 8.3L V10 15 GTD 63 Scuderia Corsa Christina Nielsen Alessandro Balzan Ferrari 488 GT3 C 87 +3 Laps Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8 16 GTD 97 Turner Motorsport Michael Marsal Markus Palttala BMW M6 GT3 C 87 +3 Laps BMW 4.4L Turbo V8 17 GTLM 4 Corvette Racing Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner Chevrolet Corvette C7.R M 86 +4 Laps Chevrolet LT5.5 5.5 L V8 18 GTD 80 Lone Star Racing Dan Knox Mike Skeen Dodge Viper GT3-R C 84 +6 Laps Dodge 8.3L V10 19 GTD 27 Dream Racing Cédric Sbirrazzuoli Luca Persiani Lamborghini Huracán GT3 C 75 +15 Laps Lamborghini 5.2 L V10 20 DNF GTD 96 Turner Motorsport Bret Curtis Jens Klingmann BMW M6 GT3 C 25 Did Not Finish BMW 4.4L Turbo V8 DSQ GTD 44 Magnus Racing John Potter Andy Lally Audi R8 LMS C 88 Excluded Audi 5.2L V10 Sources:

Tyre manufacturers Key Symbol Tyre manufacturer C Continental M Michelin

Championship standings after the race

Prototype Drivers' Championship standings Pos. +/– Driver Points 1 João Barbosa Christian Fittipaldi 253 2 Eric Curran Dane Cameron 252 3 Jordan Taylor Ricky Taylor 242 4 Marc Goossens 223 5 Oswaldo Negri Jr. 220 Source:

PC Drivers' Championship standings Pos. +/– Driver Points 1 Alex Popow Renger van der Zande 293 2 Robert Alon Tom Kimber-Smith 286 3 Stephen Simpson Misha Goikhberg 260 4 Jon Bennett Colin Braun 245 5 James French Kyle Marcelli 241 Source:

GTLM Drivers' Championship standings Pos. +/– Driver Points 1 Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner 287 2 Ryan Briscoe Richard Westbrook 280 3 Antonio García Jan Magnussen 259 4 2 Earl Bamber Frédéric Makowiecki 250 5 Bill Auberlen Dirk Werner 246 Source:

GTD Drivers' Championship standings Pos. +/– Driver Points 1 Alessandro Balzan Christina Nielsen 268 2 1 Jeroen Bleekemolen Ben Keating 248 3 1 Andrew Davis Robin Liddell 243 4 1 Mario Farnbacher Alex Riberas 236 5 2 Bryan Sellers Madison Snow 231 Source:

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

Prototype Teams' Championship standings Pos. +/– Team Points 1 No. 5 Action Express Racing 253 2 No. 31 Action Express Racing 252 3 No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing 242 4 No. 90 VisitFlorida Racing 223 5 No. 60 Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian 220 Source:

PC Teams' Championship standings Pos. +/– Team Points 1 No. 8 Starworks Motorsport 293 2 No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports 286 3 No. 54 CORE Autosport 268 4 No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports 266 5 No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports 260 Source:

GTLM Teams' Championship standings Pos. +/– Team Points 1 No. 4 Corvette Racing 287 2 No. 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing 280 3 No. 3 Corvette Racing 259 4 2 No. 912 Porsche North America 250 5 No. 25 BMW Team RLL 246 Source:

GTD Teams' Championship standings Pos. +/– Team Points 1 No. 63 Scuderia Corsa 268 2 1 No. 33 Riley Motorsports 243 3 1 No. 6 Stevenson Motorsports 236 4 1 No. 23 Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing 231 5 2 No. 48 Paul Miller Racing 228 Source:

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

Prototype Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos. +/– Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 271 2 Honda 259 3 Mazda 242 4 BMW 56 5 Ford 30 Source:

GTLM Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos. +/– Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 297 2 Ford 281 3 Porsche 267 4 BMW 258 5 Ferrari 256 Source:

GTD Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos. +/– Manufacturer Points 1 Audi 280 2 Porsche 271 3 Ferrari 266 4 Dodge 262 5 BMW 248 Source:

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

References

1. ^ Pruett, Marshall (August 8, 2015). "IMSA: 2016 schedule revealed". Racer. Archived from the original on January 1, 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
2. ^ "IMSA announces new title sponsor, 2016 schedule". motorsport.com. August 9, 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
3. Dagys, John (25 August 2016). "VIR Thursday Notebook". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
4. ^ "02_Official Points.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Alkamel Systems. 19 August 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
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6. Pruett, Marshall (17 August 2016). "IMSA: No. 22 WeatherTech Porsche exits GTD". Racer. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
7. ^ Dagys, John (18 August 2016). "Park Place Pulls Porsche GTD Entry for VIR". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
8. ^ Dagys, John (25 August 2016). "Continental Tire Keys to the Race: VIR". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
9. ^ Dagys, John (26 August 2016). "Bamber Quickest in Opening Practice at VIR". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
10. ^ Pruett, Marshall (26 August 2016). "IMSA: Porsche, Lamborghini lead FP1 at VIR". Racer. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
11. ^ "IMSA: Corvette, Lamborghini top scorching FP2". Racer. 26 August 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
12. Dagys, John (26 August 2016). "Garcia Quickest on Friday at VIR". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
13. ^ Dagys, John (27 August 2016). "Magnussen Quickest in Practice 3 at VIR". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
14. Pruett, Marshall (27 August 2016). "IMSA: Magnussen pushes speeds higher in VIR FP3". Racer. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
15. ^ "2016 IMSA Sporting Regulations & Series Supplementary Regulations of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship" (PDF). International Motor Sports Association. May 25, 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 5, 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
16. ^ "Magnussen Heads Corvette 1-2 In VIR Qualifying". dailysportscar.com. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
17. ^ Dagys, John (27 August 2016). "Magnussen Leads Corvette Front Row Sweep at VIR". Sportscar365.com. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
18. Dagys, John (27 August 2016). "Snow Takes Paul Miller Lamborghini to GTD Pole at VIR". Sportscar365.com. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
19. "03_Results.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Alkamel Systems. 27 August 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 May 2024. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
20. "01_Starting Grid.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Alkamel Systems. 28 August 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 May 2024. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
21. ^ "00_Official Points.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Alkamel Systems. 29 August 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 September 2024. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
22. "03_Results.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Alkamel Systems. 28 August 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 May 2024. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
23. "2016 MICHELIN GT CHALLENGE AT VIR". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 25 May 2024.

External links

• 2016 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season
• August 2016 sports events in the United States
• 2016 in sports in Virginia
• VIR 240