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Le Mans / ALMS
ALMS: VIR Preview
John Dagys previews this weekend’s VIR 240, the penultimate round of the American Le Mans Series...
Scenic Virginia International Raceway plays host to the American Le Mans Series for the first time. (Photo: LAT)
While the talk for the past ten days has been on the series’ historic merger with GRAND-AM, it’s back to business this weekend, as the American Le Mans Series visits Virginia International Raceway for the first time.
Saturday’s VIR 240 marks the second and final four-hour race of the year, but more importantly the penultimate round of the season, meaning champions could be crowned at the end of the day.
Forty-six points remain up for grabs in the final two races, including a maximum of 22 at VIR for winners in each of the five categories.
One class that’s unlikely to get settled this weekend is P1. The race for top championship honors tightened up following Dyson Racing’s first 1-2 class finish of the year at Baltimore, with Chris Dyson and Guy Smith now within 9 points of Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr in the Muscle Milk Pickett Racing HPD ARX-03a.
The Wirth Research-built prototype has battled a recent string of reliability woes, with team owner Greg Pickett taking a hands-on role at rectifying the electrical-related issues that cost them another sure-fire win at Baltimore.
Michael Marsal and Eric Lux’s class win two weeks ago helped Dyson creep to five points of Muscle Milk in the teams’ championship, in what’s become the closest title race.
This weekend, the No. 20 Dyson Lola B11/66 Mazda will see Marsal joined by Mark Patterson, who will be making his P1 debut in the grandfathered prototype.
Baltimore produced its share of surprises, including a 1-2 overall finish for Level 5 Motorsports, becoming the first P2 class cars to win an ALMS race outright in four years.
The result propelled race winners Scott Tucker and Christophe Bouchut into a 12-point lead over season-long rivals Martin Plowman and David Heinemeier Hansson, after their Conquest Endurance Morgan-Nissan dropped out late with suspension failure.
Tucker is expected to return to the wheel of both of his HPD ARX-03bs this weekend, as Ricardo Gonzalez, who teamed with Luis Diaz for the runner-up result at Baltimore, will be on FIA WEC duty in Brazil.
The race for the GT title could be locked up on Saturday, with Corvette Racing’s Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner currently holding a 28-point lead over teammates Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia.
With the next furthest back contender being BMW Team RLL’s Dirk Mueller, who is 30 markers behind, the German, rejoined by Jonathan Summerton for the remainder of the season, will need to finish ahead of the Corvettes to keep his championship hopes alive.
The manufacturers race, meanwhile, sees Chevrolet ahead of BMW by 19 points, with Porsche in a close third, 22 behind the bow-tie. Corvette Racing holds a 24-point cushion on BMW Team RLL in the teams’ championship.
Eleven GT cars are entered for this weekend, with the SRT Viper GTS-Rs not making the trip, as planned prior to Baltimore, which saw its No. 91 of Dominik Farnbacher suffer a heavy impact in practice and was withdrawn prior to the race.
Saturday’s VIR 240 marks the second and final four-hour race of the year, but more importantly the penultimate round of the season, meaning champions could be crowned at the end of the day.
Forty-six points remain up for grabs in the final two races, including a maximum of 22 at VIR for winners in each of the five categories.
One class that’s unlikely to get settled this weekend is P1. The race for top championship honors tightened up following Dyson Racing’s first 1-2 class finish of the year at Baltimore, with Chris Dyson and Guy Smith now within 9 points of Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr in the Muscle Milk Pickett Racing HPD ARX-03a.
The Wirth Research-built prototype has battled a recent string of reliability woes, with team owner Greg Pickett taking a hands-on role at rectifying the electrical-related issues that cost them another sure-fire win at Baltimore.
Michael Marsal and Eric Lux’s class win two weeks ago helped Dyson creep to five points of Muscle Milk in the teams’ championship, in what’s become the closest title race.
This weekend, the No. 20 Dyson Lola B11/66 Mazda will see Marsal joined by Mark Patterson, who will be making his P1 debut in the grandfathered prototype.
Baltimore produced its share of surprises, including a 1-2 overall finish for Level 5 Motorsports, becoming the first P2 class cars to win an ALMS race outright in four years.
The result propelled race winners Scott Tucker and Christophe Bouchut into a 12-point lead over season-long rivals Martin Plowman and David Heinemeier Hansson, after their Conquest Endurance Morgan-Nissan dropped out late with suspension failure.
Tucker is expected to return to the wheel of both of his HPD ARX-03bs this weekend, as Ricardo Gonzalez, who teamed with Luis Diaz for the runner-up result at Baltimore, will be on FIA WEC duty in Brazil.
The race for the GT title could be locked up on Saturday, with Corvette Racing’s Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner currently holding a 28-point lead over teammates Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia.
With the next furthest back contender being BMW Team RLL’s Dirk Mueller, who is 30 markers behind, the German, rejoined by Jonathan Summerton for the remainder of the season, will need to finish ahead of the Corvettes to keep his championship hopes alive.
The manufacturers race, meanwhile, sees Chevrolet ahead of BMW by 19 points, with Porsche in a close third, 22 behind the bow-tie. Corvette Racing holds a 24-point cushion on BMW Team RLL in the teams’ championship.
Eleven GT cars are entered for this weekend, with the SRT Viper GTS-Rs not making the trip, as planned prior to Baltimore, which saw its No. 91 of Dominik Farnbacher suffer a heavy impact in practice and was withdrawn prior to the race.
Monterey
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