HLs: IMSA WeatherTech VIRginia qualifying
Watch highlights from the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship qualifying at VIRginia International Raceway ahead of the Michelin GT Challenge.
Video Transcript
Ah, this is what this racetrack is meant for, Virginia International Raceway, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
1957 this racetrack opened, and it was GT cars then.
It will be GT only here this weekend.
It's the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR, Friday and the beginning of the day Saturday, and this is as hot as the racetrack has been.
So I wonder if, if you pressured for that and you prepared for a cooler, shadier environment to go out in, that may be all out the window with the bright sunshine on the racetrack right now.
Yeah, it certainly can be that way, but when you look at teams like this La- Lexus, Vasser Sullivan group, they've been running this car it seemed like an eternity.
So their notebook will be there for all- Yep conditions here at VIR.
They are yet to win here in class at VIR.
Multiple podiums over the year and a few poles along the way, but they're trolling o- to open up the key to success here with this Lexus on this racetrack.
All of the drivers love the track, and for Aaron Telitz, who's on board right now, he said, "I've had a couple of bronze, bibs."
You get the Bibendum, style trophy here at VIR that everyone wants on their mantelpiece, but he said, "I'm yet to get the gold or the silver."
Tell you what, Russell Ward continues to impress.
57 up front, followed by the 66 of W- of Walker, then Barrichello.
Let's hang on one second.
Barrichello across the line.
Times should get quicker and quicker, and in fact, big time jump.
Barrichello to the top.
Now Patrese takes care of that.
It's going to be like a slot machine here for the next couple of laps.
See him there in P13.
Oh, oh.
That's gonna change.
Oh, there's a moment.
Ooh.
Can he control it?
He caught it.
Wow, fast hands, and a little bit of grip from those Michelins save the day there.
That was a mistake.
That's not the best lap.
He's gonna move up the order, but there was a lot more there on the table.
Yep, big time hit on that left-hand curb, kind of a combination tu- apex cone and Or apex curb, I should say, and a little bit of a turn in curb, but look at the car off the ground.
Look at that.
Yeah, so he took too much there, and then he tries to recover right now.
Watch the front.
Watch the car sideways there as he turns it in and loses the back a little bit.
I'm not sure this'll be the lap.
I think it's got to be the one he's about to start, has to be the lap.
Yeah, checkered flag will be out next time he comes back around.
It looks like he's under 1:40 as he comes to the stripe, and we're looking at pole time of 1:45, so you can do the math on that one pretty easy.
This'll be a last lap fly here for Russell Ward.
Does this gamble pay off?
Obviously, by chewing into that second set of tires takes away from his strategy tomorrow, where you're gonna need three really strong sets of tires, whether they're new or lightly used or scuffed, to get you through efficiently in this two hour 40 minute race here.
He bails.
Says that's it.
Yeah, he's a 10th, or half a 10th up right now on Patrese, so didn't see anything on the predictive.
These drivers have a predictive lap time, so they can see how the lap is building and if they're on a quick one.
If not, they're just gonna bail and save a little bit of the life in those tires for tomorrow potentially.
And Corbett.
It's huge, huge for this group making this announcement.
It's kind of an irony.
We talked about last year at Road America with Orella announcing that they weren't coming back.
They, they get a win.
We saw it last time at Road America in GTD Pro with, Pfaff Racing saying, "We're not coming back."
They get a win, and now today DragonSpeed announcing they will not return to IMSA competition for next year, and they get the pole position.
The performance that they have found here at VIR has not.
Tell you what, Nicky Catsburg, talk about putting it all on the line.
Look at the edges of the racetrack.
When he turned in to the roller coaster from the right-hand side of Madison Avenue and down through the roller coaster line, right on the money, right on the marks.
Let's see what he come up with as he crosses the line here.
Up to P2.
Verhagen in P1 now.
First driver we've seen in the 44 bracket here this weekend, so what a huge turnaround for Neil Verhagen and the Paul Miller Racing group.
They've won here before back in 2023, '24.
Been a happy hunting ground for this group here.
Look at the Lamborghini Temerario from Pfaff Racing.
Look at Esterson.
Caldarelli behind the wheel.
Esterson up to third.
Another good qualifying run for that squad.
Can they do something with it, though?
They've had a very fast race car last several races in qualifying, but they've just not had the results, so trying to find a way forward.
They qualified second at CTMP, fourth at Road America, and they were second to start the season.
What do they have?
The question is what does Caldarelli have?
He's been up on Verhagen.
Can he move forward?
And he does.
The Lamborghini to the pole.
What a story.
What a story this is.
They took 150 points out of the championship lead with that win at Road America.
They now sit 151 points back.
That means you can't pace it again.
You're right there in this championship standing.
So Pfaff Racing may be going away next year, but they're definitely in the hunt for a championship title with the speed they have in the race car currently.
Verhagen's first sector not brilliant.
Getting there, but I think he's got time to get to the stripe and do another one on top of this.
Verhagen just getting out of Oak Tree right now.
He should get back to the line with no problems to do a last crack at the pole.
What does Catsburg have?
Let's check in with Chris.
What he has right now is P2.
Yeah, he's trying to pick up to where he left off.
He was another one that came down and opted to change new Michelin tires as well.
So it was about a lap after Neil Verhagen and the Paul Miller Racing group guys did the same.
They followed suit.
So we'll see if that strategy of letting the car kind of get the feel for it on the first stint, then bolt new Michelins and have lighter fuels.
He's really getting after it here.
He has, and he's moved up to P2, so he's leapfrogged ahead of Verhagen.
So by Verhagen coming to pit lane, taking that new set of tires, he's got to make it happen now, because he's dropped from P1 down to P3 in the championship leading car.
Verhagen now up to P2, but remember, one, his fast lap is going to go away.
His second fastest lap right now is good for third.
Yeah, that's huge, Brian.
So what he really needs is another fly here.
He went green, means he made personal best sector two.
Purple sector three, meaning best overall.
So performance is still building.
Real key for him, yes, he does have clear traffic.
As we look at our monitors, he does have clear traffic ahead of Neil Verhagen.
Can he keep the performance there to grab this pole?
He just went personal best sector one.
The 1 car's on another flyer.
And that's where those penalties that a year or two ago weren't penalties, when you cause a red flag in a practice session really bite you.
Cause one in a qualifying session, you lose two.
So checkered flag is out, and everybody on track has seen it.
What a story this is developing into.
This new Temerario.
Struggled through the first half of the year, braking issues.
They changed the braking package.
We talked about that wheel package on the Mustang.
They changed the braking package on this car, went to the Brembo setup with immediate results.
Debut at Road America, victory lane, pole position here.
We talked about the BMW squad and all of that, and could it be for Lamborghini?
I misspoke.
The last pole for Lamborghini at VIR was in 2017.
They'll put one up in 2026.
Great run by Caldarelli.
Yeah, and, you don't often see a qualifying order with Jack Hawksworth at the bottom.
Yeah.
So Lexus, they needed to come back.
Didn't have the performance at Road America coming off those two brilliant victories at Watkins Glen and CTMP.
That championship looks a little bit further in the distance now with a qualifying run like that, but you never know.
A race day can be different.
See what they can do.
Roll the dice on strategy.
May they can come through the field.
