2023 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR

Virginia International Raceway, where the race was held.

International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2022.[1] It was the tenth consecutive year the event will be held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The 2023 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR was the ninth of eleven scheduled sports car races of 2023 by IMSA, and it was the sixth round held as part of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup.[2] The race was held at the seventeen-turn 3.270 mi (5.263 km) Virginia International Raceway on August 27, 2023.[3] As in previous years, it will be the second of two GT-only rounds of the IMSA SportsCar Championship, in which only the GTD Pro and GTD classes will compete.[4]

IMSA released two separate technical bulletins regarding the Balance of Performance for the event. The first one was released on August 16, 2023. In this bulletin, the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 received a 12-horsepower decrease, as well as a four-liter fuel capacity reduction.[5] The second technical bulletin was released on August 18, 2023. In this bulletin, the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo received a 15 kilogram weight increase, as well as a 0.5 mm larger air restrictor and a one-liter fuel capacity increase. The Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) received a 10 kilogram weight increase, 2 mm larger air restrictor, and an increase in fuel capacity of one liter.[6]

Before the race, Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth led the GTD Pro Drivers' Championship with 2810 points, ahead of Antonio García and Jordan Taylor in second with 2641 points, and Jules Gounon and Daniel Juncadella in third.[7] In GTD, the Drivers' Championship was led by Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow with 2611 points, ahead of Roman De Angelis and Marco Sørensen with 2406 points.[7] Lexus and BMW were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Vasser Sullivan Racing and Paul Miller Racing each led their own Teams' Championships.[7]

There were two practice sessions preceding the race start on Sunday, one on Friday afternoon and one on Saturday morning.[10]

Jack Hawksworth helped take the No. 14 Lexus's third pole position of 2023.

Qualifying featured one session.[10] The only session was for cars in the GTD Pro and GTD classes. Jack Hawksworth qualified on pole in GTD Pro driving the No. 14 car for Vasser Sullivan Racing, beating Daniel Juncadella in the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing entry by 0.096 seconds. Following in third was Antonio García's No. 3 Corvette while the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche and No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin rounded out the GTD Pro qualifiers.[19] Madison Snow qualified on pole in GTD driving the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing car. Snow was 0.153 seconds clear of Aaron Telitz in the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Racing entry followed by Loris Spinelli in the No. 78 Lamborghini in third.[20]

Qualifying results

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

Pos.	Class	No.	Team	Driver	Time	Gap	Grid
1	GTD Pro	14	Vasser Sullivan Racing	Jack Hawksworth	1:44.780	_	1‡
2	GTD Pro	79	WeatherTech Racing	Daniel Juncadella	1:44.876	+0.096	2
3	GTD Pro	3	Corvette Racing	Antonio García	1:45.133	+0.353	3
4	GTD	1	Paul Miller Racing	Madison Snow	1:45.225	+0.445	4‡
5	GTD	12	Vasser Sullivan Racing	Aaron Telitz	1:45.378	+0.598	5
6	GTD	78	Forte Racing powered by US RaceTronics	Loris Spinelli	1:45.416	+0.636	6
7	GTD	32	Team Korthoff Motorsports	Mike Skeen	1:45.447	+0.667	7
8	GTD	96	Turner Motorsport	Patrick Gallagher	1:45.913	+1.133	8
9	GTD	27	Heart of Racing Team	Roman De Angelis	1:45.918	+1.138	9
10	GTD Pro	9	Pfaff Motorsports	Patrick Pilet	1:45.974	+1.194	10
11	GTD Pro	23	Heart of Racing Team	Ross Gunn	1:45.977	+1.197	11
12	GTD	70	Inception Racing	Brendan Iribe	1:46.098	+1.318	12
13	GTD	57	Winward Racing	Russell Ward	1:46.271	+1.491	13
14	GTD	97	Turner Motorsport	Chandler Hull	1:46.919	+2.139	14
15	GTD	66	Gradient Racing	Sheena Monk	1:47.504	+2.724	15
16	GTD	80	AO Racing Team	P.J. Hyett	1:47.544	+2.764	16
17	GTD	91	Kelly-Moss with Riley	Alan Metni	1:47.635	+2.855	17
18	GTD	77	Wright Motorsports	Alan Brynjolfsson	1:48.047	+3.267	18
19	GTD	92	Kelly-Moss with Riley	David Brule	1:49.230	+4.450	19
Sources:[21][22]

A 20-minute morning warm-up session was held on the morning of August 27.[10] Antonio García led GTD Pro with a lap time of 1:46.295, 0.055 seconds ahead of Jules Gounon. Frederik Schandorff set the fastest time amongst all GTD cars.[23]

GTP Drivers' Championship standings[24] Pos. +/– Driver Points 1 Filipe Albuquerque Ricky Taylor 2171 2 Pipo Derani Alexander Sims 2157 3 Connor De Phillippi Nick Yelloly 2098 4 Nick Tandy Mathieu Jaminet 2073 5 Tom Blomqvist Colin Braun 2053

LMP2 Drivers' Championship standings[24] Pos. +/– Driver Points 1 Paul-Loup Chatin Ben Keating 1345 2 Mikkel Jensen Steven Thomas 1300 3 Ben Hanley George Kurtz 1248 4 Giedo van der Garde 1194 5 Ryan Dalziel Dwight Merriman 1182

LMP3 Drivers' Championship standings[24] Pos. +/– Driver Points 1 Gar Robinson 1495 2 Matt Bell Orey Fidani 1244 3 Garett Grist 1233 4 Wayne Boyd Anthony Mantella 1218 5 João Barbosa 1143

GTD Pro Drivers' Championship standings[24] Pos. +/– Driver Points 1 Ben Barnicoat Jack Hawksworth 3165 2 Antonio García Jordan Taylor 3021 3 1 Klaus Bachler Patrick Pilet 2915 4 1 Jules Gounon Daniel Juncadella 2886 5 Ross Gunn Alex Riberas 2774

GTD Drivers' Championship standings[24] Pos. +/– Driver Points 1 Bryan Sellers Madison Snow 2996 2 Roman De Angelis Marco Sørensen 2621 3 1 Aaron Telitz Frankie Montecalvo 2553 4 1 Brendan Iribe Frederik Schandorff 2536 5 2 Robby Foley Patrick Gallagher 2298

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

GTP Teams' Championship standings[24] Pos. +/– Team Points 1 #10 WTR with Andretti Autosport 2171 2 #31 Whelen Engineering Racing 2157 3 #25 BMW M Team RLL 2098 4 #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 2073 5 #60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian 2053

LMP2 Teams' Championship standings[24] Pos. +/– Team Points 1 #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports 1345 2 #11 TDS Racing 1300 3 #04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR 1248 4 #8 Tower Motorsports 1201 5 #35 TDS Racing 1194

LMP3 Teams' Championship standings[24] Pos. +/– Team Points 1 #74 Riley Motorsports 1495 2 #13 AWA 1244 3 #30 Jr III Motorsports 1233 4 #17 AWA 1218 5 #33 Sean Creech Motorsport 1143

GTD Pro Teams' Championship standings[24] Pos. +/– Team Points 1 #14 Vasser Sullivan Racing 3165 2 #3 Corvette Racing 3021 3 1 #9 Pfaff Motorsports 2915 4 1 #79 WeatherTech Racing 2886 5 #23 Heart of Racing Team 2774

GTD Teams' Championship standings[24] Pos. +/– Team Points 1 #1 Paul Miller Racing 2996 2 #27 Heart of Racing Team 2621 3 1 #12 Vasser Sullivan Racing 2553 4 1 #70 Inception Racing 2536 5 2 #96 Turner Motorsport 2298

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

GTP Manufacturers' Championship standings[24] Pos. +/– Manufacturer Points 1 Cadillac 2414 2 Acura 2379 3 Porsche 2367 4 BMW 2340

GTD Pro Manufacturers' Championship standings[24] Pos. +/– Manufacturer Points 1 Lexus 3165 2 Chevrolet 3021 3 1 Porsche 2915 4 1 Mercedes-AMG 2886 5 Aston Martin 2785

GTD Manufacturers' Championship standings[24] Pos. +/– Manufacturer Points 1 BMW 3205 2 Aston Martin 2861 3 2 Lexus 2763 4 1 McLaren 2754 5 1 Porsche 2750

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