74 Ranch Racing’s Shane Lewis claimed pole Saturday morning (April 28) for Race No. 1 of Pirelli World Challenge’s GTS SprintX weekend at VIR in his Mercedes-AMG GT4. Lewis’ lap of 113.396 seconds (103.813 mph) is 1.75 seconds faster than the pole time last year.
Lewis’ lap was nearly four-tenths of a second faster than Murillo Racing’s Matt Fassnacht in a similar Mercedes. Moritz Kranz, who was a late entry in Mühlner Motorsports America’s Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR, was third quickest. PF Racing’s Scott Maxwell will start fourth in his Ford Mustang GT4, while Racers Edge Motorsports’ Harry Gottsacker will start fifth in his SIN R1 GT4.
In the Am division, their qualifying session was stopped twice due to red flags. One was due to ST Racing’s Aurora Straus going off-course in turn 1. Straus, who won the Am-class along with Al Carter in Race No. 2 at Circuit of the Americas in March (and finished second in Race No. 1), will have to start from the rear of the field. Given the general narrowness of VIR’s 3.27-mile full course, she could have her work cut out for her.
Classic BMW/Fast Track Racing’s Toby Grahovec was the fastest Am in qualifying with a lap of 113.987 seconds (103.275 mph), good enough for sixth overall in his BMW M4 GT4. Grahovec’s lap was a full second faster than the similar BMW of Epic Motorsports’ Randy Mueller. Drew Staveley in the No. 12 Ginetta for Ian Lacy Racing will start third, followed by the Audi of Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Mike Hedlund. NOLAsport’s Keith Jensen was fifth with his Porsche.
PIRELLI WORLD CHALLENGE GRAND PRIX OF VIRGINIA GTS SPRINTX RACE NO. 1 STARTING GRID
GTS SprintX Race No. 1 at VIRginia International Raceway is scheduled for a 3:40 p.m. start Saturday afternoon. The race will be streamed live at World-Challenge.com.
About the author
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.
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