There are days at race tracks that add up in a variety of ways. It is a bit rare, however, for a mid-June weekend to be practically a paved post card. Blue skies and pleasant temperatures that stayed in the “not going to kill you” range. Throw in the naturally scenic views of Virginia International Raceway and some sexy fast and exotic racing variety and you have an epic showcase of speed.
FANATEC GT World Challenge America (powered by AWS) weekend is one of the showcase spectator events at VIR and offers fans a very generous show. The weather was a gift and the track was full and active. It was also a perfect start to the Southern Virginia Motorsports Council three-way ticket of VIR, Virginia Motorsports Park and South Boston Speedway.
The weekend was very much an automotive showcase with international flavor. It’s as much a rolling car show as it is a racing event. The visual of seeing these cars being taken to the edge of their performance with speed and handling can be majestic. Your mind sees what a layman’s concept of physics implies shouldn’t be possible. The color and sheer badge variety is a stunning display for fans of cars and driving.
The weekend brought several series to the track. GT World Challenge, GT and TC, GT4 and an open wheel show with Skip Barber Racing. Multiple classes within the series gave fans a full course of action for each event. Friday had practice sessions. Saturday ran qualifying and round one of weekend races. Sunday ran the second race sessions for all classes. Racing at VIR put rounds 5 and 6 on the books for the 13 round series schedule.
For many fans the results are secondary to seeing these cars being driven at speed. Lamborghini and Ferrari are expected to be fast but are rarely seen on common roads so they, and others, draw attention. However, seeing more common cars such as Honda, Nissan and Hyundai keeping pace with BMW and Porsche is also just as fun and makes racing more identifiable for many fans driving these common badges every day.
SRO/GTWC is racing at premiere road tracks around the Country. Sonoma, Sebring and Road America are on the schedule. Watkins Glen comes up next month. VIR still has IMSA/WeatherTech, SCCA and SVRA events on the calendar so Virginia fans still have plenty of sports car action to look forward to.
Photo Gallery and Results for SRO / GT World Challenge – Saturday. June 18, 2022
GT America – (Race 1)
SRO3 - 1st - George Kurtz - Crowdstrike Racing - #4 Mercedes AMG GT3
SRO3 - 2nd - Jeff Burton - Zelus Motorsports - #191 Lamborghini Huracan GT3
SRO3 - 3rd - Jason Harward - Zelus Motorsports - #88 Lamborghini Huracan GT3
GT2 - 1st - CJ Moses - GMG Racing - #58 Audi R8 LMS GT2
GT4 - 1st - Adam Adelson - Premier Racing - #120 Porsche Cayman GT4 RS
GT4 - 2nd - Moisey Uretsky - Accelerating Performance - #55 Aston Martin Vantage GT4
GT4 - 3rd - Jason Bell - GMG Racing - #2 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4TC America – (Race 1)
TCX - 1st - Colin Garrett - Rooster Hall racing - #44 BMW M2 CS (Cup)
TCX - 2nd - Stephen Cugliari - Accelerating Performance - #57 BMW M2 CS (Cup)
TCX - 3rd - Lucas Catania - Rigid Speed - #26 BMW M2 CS (Cup)
TC - 1st - Kevin Boehm - Skip Barber Racing - #9 Honda Civic Type-R
TC - 2nd - Jeff Ricca - Genracer / Ricca Autosport - #78 Hyundai Veloster
TC - 3rd - Clay Williams - MINI JCW Team - #60 Mini JCW Pro TC
TCA - 1st - Gresham Wagner - TechSport Racing- #21 Subaru BRZ
TCA - 2nd - Devin Anderson - TechSport Racing- #22 Subaru BRZ
TCA - 3rd - Carter Fartuch - Skip Barber Racing - #16 Honda Civic SiGT World Challenge America – (Race 1)
Pro - 1st - Michele Beretta / Andrea Caldarelli - K-Pax Racing
#1 Lamborghini Huracan GT3
Pro - 2nd - Michael Dinan / Robby Foley - Turner Motorsport
#96 BMW M4 GT3
Pro - 3rd - Misha Goikhberg, Jordan Pepper - K-PAX Racing
#3 Lamborghini Huracan GT3
Pro/Am - 1st - Justin Wetherill / Ryan Dalziel - Triarsi Competizione
#13 Ferrari 488 GT3
Pro/Am - 2nd - Charlie Luck / Jan Heylen - Wright Motorsports
#45 Porsche 911 GT3-R
Pro/Am - 3rd - David Askew / Dirk Muller - DXDT Racing
#63 Mercedes-AMG GT3Pirelli GT4 America – (Race 1)
Silver - 1st - Eric Filgueiras / Stevan McAleer – RS1
#18 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS
Silver - 2nd - Gavin Sanders / Michai Stephens - Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports
#34 Mercedes-AMG GT4
Silver - 3rd - Kris Wilson / Cole Ciraulo - Capstone Motorsports
#32 Mercedes-AMG GT4
Pro/Am - 1st - Tom Capizzi / John Capestro-Dubets - Auto Technic Racing
#52 BMW M4 GT4
Pro/Am - 2nd - Edgar Lau / Mike Skeen - ARG/Rotek Racing
#124 Ford Mustang GT4
Pro/Am - 3rd - Adam Adelson / Elliott Skeer - Premier Racing
#120 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS
Am - 1st - Charlie Postins / James Clay – BimmerWorld
#36 BMW M4 GT4
Am - 2nd - Alain Stad / Seth Thomas – NOLASPORT
#19 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS
Am - 3rd - Nelson Calle / Juan Martinez – RS1
#83 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS