Hello, Race Fans!
Thursday, August 20
Welcome to a hot, still, and sticky Thursday evening at Virginia International Raceway for Round 8 of the Michelin Pilot Challenge in Alton, VA. We have a quick-step schedule this weekend with all the track time packed into two days. Tomorrow is supposed to be much cooler thankfully and the rain we have been tracking all week seems to be moving more toward the dark hours. We keep watch anyway because this is VIR and rain can happen seemingly at random.
Remember, Morgan and Gordon in the #2 car have the same black/white/green livery, but it's now on an ASTON MARTIN Vantage GT4 Evo race car! WOOHOO! The black/white/red #3 sister car is back this weekend, also an Aston, with Ismaeel Ellahi and Ayrton Houk making their debut in the Michelin Pilot Challenge series.
The cars are all tucked in for the night, getting rested up for the fun tomorrow. The drivers and crews aren’t too far from that either. We are optimistic for this weekend! Follow along with live timing and wish us luck!
The Track: VIR is a gorgeous old-school track and such a unique place that it deserves a full description for the character it is in the story. It's set in the wooded and rolling hills of southern Virginia right on the border with North Carolina. It has its origins in the early years of road racing, opening in 1957 with an SCCA race. IMSA's first visit there was in 1971, just a few years before the track closed in 1974. VIR spent the next 25 years as farm land before the racing world decided it needed to be resurrected. When Carroll Shelby says, "one lap at VIR is like a hundred at Watkins Glen" and Paul Newman calls it "heaven on earth," you know the place has something special.
When VIR reopened in 2000, it was clear that it had retained its original appeal and layout, but it had also been modernized with wider pavement, new buildings, and more activities on offer. IMSA was back in 2002, and every year since, to enjoy the challenging and beautiful 3.27 mile 17 turn circuit. Drivers seem to either love it or dread it. It is very fast, very technical, and very challenging. VIR arguably is the most difficult track on the Michelin Pilot calendar to drive consistently fast. It requires commitment, rewarding those with consistent precision and enduring focus, and it is quick to remind you when you have a lapse in either one. It feels SO good if you can put together a really good lap.
At the lowest elevation, you brake downhill for Turn 1 The Horseshoe - an odd shaped opening radius turn, more than180 degrees, that shuttles you quickly to Turn 3 Nascar Bend. This fast 90 left has no banking to assist, making it easy to drop right-side wheels.
With a quick squirt, you're in another 90 left at Left Hook and immediately fed, rushing to get flat on the gas, into the Snake, beginning with the right into Turn 5. As the name suggests, there's a back and forth rhythm through the Snake to send you onto the short and rising straight under the bridge.
I hope you took that moment to breathe, because the next section comes quickly and requires every bit of your attention and precision. These are the Climbing Esses - left, right, left, right - through Turns 7, 8, and 9. Again, you have to hit the rhythm spot on and be precisely placed on the curbs when you brake for the last one to set yourself up for Turn 10 South Bend.
This one is a blind left bend at the crest of the hill and so fast. Get it wrong or handle the exit bumps badly and you are down the grass slope to the right a long way, hopefully not to the culvert, or, worse, you hook it left into the guard rail - ouch. When you get it right, you fly downhill into the dip and lurch back up the hill again to Turn 11.
Here, it flattens out while you brake for the deceptive Turn 12 Oak Tree. There are a lot of decisions about the approach to make to this right hairpin that tightens on exit, depending on your car and traffic - hug the inside, double apex, diamond, square, defend, attack? Whatever you choose, you have to get a good exit because it's three quarters of a mile before you get to the next turn.
This long stretch, Madison Avenue, where you get to breathe again, undulates down, up, down, and up yet again before you reach Turn 14 Roller Coaster, at the highest point on the circuit. When you get there, you are carrying maximum speed into another weird entry. The track bends slightly left at the top of the final rise, then down for the brake zone. At last, you pitch it to the right and off the edge of the hill into an immediate left, letting it drift right (still falling) through the dip and back to drop into the second half of the left.
This puts you on the left side curb, ready for the last test of the lap, Turn 17 Hog Pen. Get the placement on the entry curb and the angle of the turn perfect, and you catch the dip at the apex on the right that holds you on the line, sending you to the exit curbing on the left. Get it wrong and there's a whole lot of grass waiting for you on the left. Get it right and you are breathing again as you rocket down the front "straight" that is really a very long and gently rolling right arc most of the way back to Turn 1. Brake hard from top speed and do it all again. The drivers need to race all that about 60 times in a row without errors to get the best result.
Friday, August 21
Practice 1
The hour-long Practice 1 started at 10:40 AM, but It took quite a lot longer to get it done. The forecast suggested rain would be coming in the afternoon, but with a look at the black sky to the west and clear sky to the east, we made sure to have the rain tires ready to go just in case.
Gordon led off, but didn't even get really settled in before having to pit on Lap 3. Mid-way through that lap, there were just a couple of those big splat rain drops to herald the downpour that instantly drenched the track. With dry tires and and a road suddenly streaming with water, it was a slightly sketchy return to pit lane for him. Before he could get there, there was a lightning strike and, nearly simultaneously, a car slid off at the top of the Roller Coaster (Turn 14), together bringing out the red flag. The next 43 minutes were under a weather delay during which we tried to stay as dry as we could as it poured and the rivers grew and flowed through the pit boxes.
During the down time, IMSA looked hard at the schedule to see how they might rearrange timing of sessions to get the most track time possible for everyone and get back on schedule. Time for lunch was abbreviated and several other groups are short by 5 minutes, but they decided to give us the full 60 minutes of practice time.
Obviously, the bulk of the session was run on wet tires. Many teams elected to sit out the remainder of the session, but we sent both Gordon and Morgan out. The point of that is to give them a chance to find where the grip might be hiding without throwing the car off the road. Both did their jobs well. Others did not. One of those that did not needed help to get going again and that brought out another red flag late in the session. Upon resuming again, we had under 5 minutes remaining in the session. Morgan did an out lap, a flyer, and took the checker just to see how the last adjustment felt.
By the time we get to Practice 2, we will be back on the posted schedule. The rain may come back again during that session, but only time will tell the truth of that guess. Check back on that in about 4 hours.
Practice 2
Practice 2 rolled off on a dry track at 5:30 with Morgan taking the first stint. Rumor has it that the instruction to him was to go fast. Even if that isn’t actually true, it is what he did. When he hopped out after 20 minutes, the car was in 4th, and it was still 6th at the end of the session.
Gordon took his turn next. Getting a gap in traffic is always a tricky thing. Once the 29 GS and 13 TCR cars get spread out, big gaps are uncommon. Unfortunately, our session ended about half way through when Gordon slid off at Turn 3. Fortunately, he got it going again and did not bring out a red flag. (That gets your fast lap in qualifying tossed.) He was bringing it back slowly, but when the engine temps started to rise, he wisely pulled off at South Paddock to keep it safe and await a tow home. The ride through the grass scooped up some into the grill and low speeds didn't flow a lot of air. It wasn't a problem since it didn't get too hot. Body damage is minimal and it will all be back together again this evening. We will be shiny and ready for qualifying at 8:20 AM tomorrow. Don’t miss it!
Saturday, August 22
The sun rises on our way to the track this Saturday morning. Cloud cover is thick, making it less of a rise and more of a general brightening. It's only about 70 degrees and humidity is very high, but we don’t expect rain until well after the final checkered flag of the day. The overcast should keep things cool, which is always helpful for both cars and people.
It rained overnight making the track very green for this morning‘s 15-minute qualifying session that rolled off first thing. TCR went first at 8:00. Our half went a few minutes late at 8:23 due to some clean up needed from TCR's portion. The track surface may be dry, but the grass is still truly sodden and very slippery. Anyone getting off-line and into the grass is gonna stay there for a while. Fortunately the car that did that coming out of Oak Tree (Turn 12) spent a lot of time doing donuts in the middle, but didn’t pull out a red flag. Our boys qualified as row mates with Gordon and Morgan in the #2 in 15th position and the sister car with Ayrton and Ismaeel in the #3 in 16th position.
There is time now for final tweaks to be handled, strategies to be discussed, polishing to be done, and lunch to be eaten. With this being our "home" race, quite a few peeps (way too many to call out by name) have come to enjoy the spectacle in person. Many of them swing by the paddock to check out the new car and wish us good luck. They'll be spread all over the grounds to watch the race today.
By the time we move cars to pre-grid, the cloud cover is still thick, but it's breaking up to let the blue sky behind show through. It's also risen into the upper 80's with track temps well over 110 degrees. Humidity may be down, but it's still summer in southern Virginia with 60% on average for the race, and fairly still, averaging about 4 mph. Everyone is going to be quite toasty, all the more so when they are clad in fire suits and helmets.
The drum band from the local school system led the fans onto the grid with an invigorating cadence. As they stream onto the pit lane, the cars are swallowed up in their smiles and enthusiasm. They collect mementos of the event and get the hero cards signed as they stroll around looking at the cars and chatting with the drivers. Eventually, it's time for them to make their way to their spectating spots - and there are lots of great ones here.
Gordon zips up, putting on his helmet and gloves while the crew lines up for the opening comments and anthem. The fireworks that coincide with "rocket's red glare" and "bombs bursting in air" catch us by surprise and we all jump a bit. When, at last, we clear off the pit lane, Gordon has a few moments to collect his thoughts before rolling off to follow the pace car around the track twice. This race is sure to be an interesting one so don’t forget to watch on Peacock TV or YouTube.
THE RACE
It is going to be a warm and increasingly sunny race today. Two hours is a long time and everyone gets a clean start, not wanting to take huge risks so early. There are a few position swaps through the GS field, when opportunities present, but Gordon sticks in 15th at the line for several laps. That conservatism only lasts about 15-20 minutes before we start seeing bigger chances taken. Right behind Gordon, a couple of cars collide dropping into Roller Coaster. They both get to pit lane and we continue green. It isn't long before the fast TCR cars start catching the back of the GS field. That went poorly at Oak Tree, damaging the GS car which then spun at the top of the Roller Coaster and resulting in several cars going into the tire barrier on the right side. This short full course yellow is still within the first 30 minutes of the race and the pits stay closed, except for cars needing emergency service.
We cruise around under yellow in 16th through Lap 19 when it goes back to green. Reaching the minimum required 40-minute drive time, teams start to bring their cars in for driver changes. We stay out another five laps before we come in for a full service - fuel, four tires and driver change. As is typical during the pit cycle, the running order gets a little mixed up as those staying out longer temporarily gain track position, but then lose it again when they hit the pits. Gordon pits from 6th and Morgan rejoins in 23rd.
Over the next seven laps, Morgan puts the pedal down, using that growly 4.0 liter twin-turbo V8 engine to propel himself up back up to 15th. Morgan makes a few passes after rejoining, but by the middle of his stint and middle of the race, Morgan settles into an open space, gaining gradually on the car in front and not being pressed from behind. This can be a wonderful time where you are relaxed and focused, being precise with the placement, throttle and brake. Where, sometimes you get to that magic flow state, and everything feels easy and good.
By Lap 34 and still under green, it's time for the second round of pitstops for the GS class and again, the #2 rises in the running order while others come in and we stretch it further. When Morgan brings it in on Lap 36, he's in 4th. We give him fuel and left side tires, getting him back into the fray in 17th with 45 minutes remaining. Morgan continues to run beautifully consistent lap times while chasing down the cars ahead and making his way through a string of TCR cars.
As the stint wears on and we approach the end of the race, the guesses about the strategies run by other cars abound. It's been a very long time under green, with the yellow last seen back on Lap 11 only twenty minutes in. We did our second stop late enough to be certain we have plenty of fuel to go all the way to the checker, but who else can? Do some have to make another stop? Odds are high that if this stays green for the remainder, we will pass a couple who will need a splash of fuel.
The thing about odds is they just can't be trusted always to fall your way. We get to Lap 53, only fifteen minutes to go and we are in14th when that pesky yellow does come out, tanking our hope for some easy gains. While we have thus far avoided contact, other drivers were not so lucky. One of these cars had a rear bumper cover fly off on Madison Avenue and land on the track surface. The risk of it damaging someone else is too high, so the field slows down and the safety truck retrieves it. It's a short yellow, only three laps, before racing resumes.
By now, only five minutes remain. A restart this late presents the tantalizing opportunity to grab a couple extra spots before the checker falls, but it's also a very high risk time with everyone jammed together and all of them going for it. They stack up at Turn 1 after the green and go two-by-two nearly all the way to the Climbing Esses before finally getting back to single file. It's on the second run into Turn 1 that the punting and spinning happens. Morgan squeaks by, but takes some minor front end damage. The yellow returns for the last two laps, freezing the order. Morgan finishes 12th on track, but moves up to 11th due to another car's unserved drive-through penalty.
This is a very solid finish with our new Aston Martin. The whole team had a lot of new stuff to learn about this car and they all did a great job! Ahead of the next race at Indianapolis, the nuances and details will be ironed out and polished up. We will show up there ready to shine for CSM's home race. September 18-19 will be here before we know it!
Check out the Schedules.
Photo credits to Sasha Guinot, Jason Ramirez, Beth & John Burkhard.
