Andrea Caldarelli stole the pole for the Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway, recording a 1m44.773‑second lap in the #9 Lamborghini Temerario GT3 for Pfaff Motorsports.
Pro class formation
Nicky Catsburg, behind the wheel of the #4 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R for Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports, eclipsed the field’s second‑place with a margin of 0.151 seconds. The German driver, piloting the #1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO for Neil Verhagen’s team, secured third after a 0.184‑second slip while the Australian race‑engineer’s Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo sat fifth.
Verhagen’s earlier 1m44.810 lap was downgraded due to a practice‑related penalty that dropped him from a provisional second spot to the support of the pole‑setter.
GTD Pro highlights
Frederic Vervisch launched the GTD Pro session with a 1m45.684‑second benchmark for the #11 BMW M4 GT3, followed by Alexander Sims at 1m45.938. No team outdid the Italian – Verhagen’s 1m44.968 faltered short of the spare minute, but Caldarelli’s 1m44.773 sealed the top of the order a four‑minute into the sprint. Catsburg slipped into second with a 1m44.924, while Max Esterson of RLL Team McLaren claimed fourth in the #59 McLaren 720S GT3 EVO. Valentin Hasse‑Clot rounded out the top five in the #68 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 EVO.
Despite a fleeting airborne excursion from Danny Formal when clipping curbing, his #45 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO caps the session’s percentile grid, while Patrick Gallagher’s #96 BMW M4 GT3 EVO settles fifth.
GTD class proceedings
Casper Stevenson captured the GTD pole, setting the tempo with a 1m45.188 lap in the #81 DragonSpeed Corvette Z06 GT3.R. A two‑minute‑remaining glance confirmed the stance, giving the Italian outfit its consecutive VIR pole. Lorenzo Patrese of Conquest Racing finished closely two hundredths behind, followed by Russell Ward’s #57 Mercedes‑AMG GT3 in third place. The lap print of the team’s Chilean-Portuguese duo proved competitive as the session completed.
DragonSpeed announced it will not return to IMSA next season, leaving the championship to breathe new teams into the open slots.
With Caldarelli’s razor‑tight lap at the fore, all squads feel the pressure to match the pain‑staking precision that defined this sprint at Virginia International Raceway.
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