Rennsport One’s Jan Heylen and Alex Sedgwick controlled the festivities from the from the front Sunday (July 20). The duo led every lap outside of the pit window to score the GT World Challenge America powered by AWS weekend sweep at VIRginia International Raceway.
The margin of victory was 9.547 seconds over JMF Motorsports’ Mikael Grenier and Michai Stephens. Random Vandals Racing’s Connor de Phillippi and Kenton Koch were third, followed by Turner Motorsport’s Robby Foley and Justin Rothberg. DXDT Racing’s Matt Bell and Blake McDonald were fifth.
Heylen started from the overall pole in his Porsche 911 GT3 R. The plan was to slowly open up a gap between himself and the rest of the Pro class.
Regulator Racing uses an alternate strategy and starts their amateur driver in Race No. 2. It ended up being a very tough day for them.
Early on, Jeff Burton spun his Mercedes in turn 6. The spin was harmless, but dropped him way behind.
A few laps later, Burton spun again. This time, he hit the wall and significantly damaged his Mercedes. That brought out the first full course caution of the race. Burton was ok, but done for the day due to chassis issues.
Heylen gradually pulled a decent advantage over Foley before he stopped to hand over to Sedgwick. A good stop allowed Rennsport One to expand their lead to 10 seconds.
Behind Sedgwick, Stephens was able to drive up to second, but he could just barely hang with the Porsche. The lead increased to over 12 seconds before Sedgwick backed off on the final lap en route to an easy win.
In Pro-Am, Foley started from pole. Early on, Foley was the closest challenger to Heylen overall.
When it came time for the mid-race pit stops, you saw two strategies at the top of the class. Foley pitted around halfway through the race for full service, including putting Rothberg in the car. Meanwhile GMG Racing had Tom Sargent run long in his Porsche.
Sargent pitted at the last possible moment to swap over to Kyle Washington. Quick laps during the pit sequence allowed Washington to come out of the pits in the Pro-Am lead.
However, Washington was not as quick as Rothberg. Both Rothberg and Stephens quickly ran down the Porsche. Stephens didn’t waste any time as he snatched second overall.
When Rothberg caught Washington, a brief battle broke out. Washington tried all he caught to hold onto the lead, but Rothberg cleared him with 35 minutes to go.
Once out front, Rothberg quickly pulled away. Meanwhile, Washington fell into the clutches of McDonald. Washington held off the Corvette as long as he could, but lost the position.
McDonald then ran down Rothberg for the Pro-Am lead. Despite McDonald having significantly more pace than the BMW, Rothberg was able to hold off the Corvette.
The duo ran nose-to-tail for the final 20-25 minutes of the race. In that time, McDonald was right on Rothberg and attempted multiple times to pass. However, Rothberg was able to hold on to take the Pro-Am weekend sweep.
Foley and Rothberg’s margin of victory was .537 seconds over Bell and McDonald. The Heart of Racing’s Gray Newell and Darren Turner were third, then Chouest Povoledo Racing’s Ross Chouest and Aaron Povoledo. CRP Racing’s Jason Daskalos and Isaac Sherman were fifth.
AF Corse’s Oswaldo Negri Jr. started on the Am pole in his Ferrari, but lost the advantage on the first lap to Dollahite Racing’s Eric Powell. Powell, who is just getting used to GT3 equipment, did a great job keeping himself ahead of Negri.
Once Scott Dollahite got in the car, he had a pace advantage over Jay Schreibman. As a result, he was able to pull away to win by 46.378 seconds.
GT World Challenge America powered by AWS: VIR Race No. 2 Results
Teams will now take the next four weeks off. Round No. 9 of GT World Challenge America powered by AWS will be at Road America. The first race of the weekend in Wisconsin will be Aug. 16 at 4:15 p.m. ET. The race will be aired live on RACER Network and on the GT World YouTube channel.
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.