Fast Fred Friday for Michelin GT Challenge at VIR practice
That did not take long. The opening 90-minute practice session for the Michelin GT Challenge at VIRginia International Raceway brought plenty of speed and a rather dramatic moment for the championship leader.
Only 12 minutes had ticked off the clock when GTD PRO points leader Neil Verhagen went off course at Turn 14, the entry to the famous Roller Coaster corner. The left-front of the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO glanced off a guardrail before burying itself straight into a tire barrier. Thankfully, Verhagen, who shares the machine with Connor De Phillippi, emerged unhurt, and an earlier lap time somehow held up for third fastest in the session. The dedicated Paul Miller Racing crew actually managed to repair the beast to get Verhagen back out with 13 minutes remaining, though the team will pay a price by losing their fastest qualifying lap on Saturday.
At the very top of the timesheets, Frederic Vervisch wasted zero time laying down a marker. He clocked Friday's fastest overall time just four laps into the session, touring the 3.27 miles and 17 corners in 1 minute, 46.065 seconds for an average speed of 110.988 miles per hour in the No. 65 Ford Racing Ford Mustang GT3. He shares the car with Christopher Mies. Vervisch noted that the machine was in a good window, helped by cooler temperatures compared to an earlier test.
Incredible as it is, that pace was barely quicker than the leading GTD class contender. Frederik Schandorff set the fastest GTD time in the No. 70 Inception Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO he shares with Brendan Iribe, stopping the clocks at 1:46.068 with an average speed of 110.985 miles per hour. That leaves the gap between the two classes at just three thousandths of a second.
Ford Racing enjoyed a brilliant start with their Mustangs locking out the top two spots in GTD PRO, as Dennis Olsen clocked 1:46.250 in the No. 64 co-driven by Ben Barker, just ahead of the recovering Verhagen at 1:46.315. Meanwhile, Tom Gamble guided the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo to the second quickest GTD class lap of the day with a 1:46.181, trailing Schandorff closely. Philip Ellis, who sits alongside Dudu Barrichello's championship rival Russell Ward in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 after finishing fourth fastest on Friday, pointed out that qualifying position is hardly everything at this venue given past recovery drives to victory.