Photo credit: Porsche
Round nine of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship trades prototypes for a GT-only showcase at Virginia International Raceway, giving GTD Pro and GTD entries a rare shot at the overall win in a two-hour, 40-minute sprint. Porsche customer teams AO Racing and Wright Motorsports will field 911 GT3 R entries in Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge, part of a 23-car grid split between 10 GTD Pro and 13 GTD starters.
Porsche’s contenders arrive with form and opportunity. AO Racing’s 565 PS (416 kW) 911 GT3 R returns with former Porsche Junior drivers Laurin Heinrich and Klaus Bachler in GTD Pro, while Wright Motorsports pairs Americans Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer in GTD. “Virginia International Raceway is a favorite, with technical corners and very high speeds to challenge the teams and the drivers,” said Volker Holzmeyer, president and CEO of Porsche Motorsport North America, who noted the GT-only format gives customer teams a clear run at the overall.
Heinrich and Bachler sit third in the GTD Pro standings, 97 points off the lead, and bring back the fan-favorite green “Rexy” livery after launching their partnership at VIR last season. They expect VIR’s long arcs and heavy braking zones to suit the 911 GT3 R, which has shown consistent pace on flowing circuits this year.
Wright Motorsports balances a busy schedule. Adelson and Skeer enter the weekend sixth in GTD, while Adelson will also contest a tripleheader in the VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, driving a 911 GT3 R solo as the GTDX points leader. The VP program adds a make-up sprint from Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, setting up four races in one weekend for Adelson.
Photo credit: Porsche
VIR’s 3.27-mile layout remains one of IMSA’s most evocative stages. A Porsche 550 RS won its class at the track’s first event in 1957, and Hurley Haywood and Peter Gregg took the first IMSA race there in 1971 with a GTU-class Porsche 914/6. After closing in 1974, the circuit was revived in 2000, and Porsche has since collected 11 IMSA-sanctioned wins at VIR, most recently in 2022.
Porsche depth extends to the support bill. In Michelin Pilot Challenge, RS1 drivers Jan Heylen and Luca Mars arrive with a 90-point lead, a year after Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsports swept the GS podium’s top two spots with BGB Racing and RS1. The VP tripleheader adds four Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsports to the GSX class alongside Adelson’s GTDX entry.
U.S. viewers can watch the race in full on USA Network or stream on Peacock, with a free international stream at imsa.tv and live timing at scoring.imsa.com. The Michelin GT Challenge receives the green flag Sunday, Aug. 24 at 2:00 p.m. ET.
With prototypes on the sidelines until Indianapolis in September, strategy, tire life and traffic management will define the fight for an overall at VIR. AO Racing and Wright Motorsports both see a window to convert class pace into the top step, and Porsche arrives expecting its customer teams to be in that conversation deep into the final stint.