Credit: LAT Images / Copyright: © 2023 Jake Galstad
Jack Hawksworth grasped pole position at Virginia International Raceway in the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 ahead of tomorrow’s GT Challenge at VIR sprint race.
It was a hot and humid qualifying session which hosted a single 15-minute shootout for a combined field of 19 GTD Pro and GTD cars.
Thus far in the weekend, times have been close across the field, and it was no different in qualifying.
The record GTD Pro lap from last year by Ross Gunn, a 1:43.953, was not reached today although it was still a thrilling qualifying session.
It took at least halfway through for competitively set lap times as drivers warmed up the tyres and brakes, whilst finding space to carry out their flying laps.
Much of the excitement came from the final minutes as drivers made the most of the rubbered-down track surface, fighting against 52% of humidity.
Having set the pace in a rebuilt #79 Mercedes-AMG GT3, which was the result of a dramatic fire, Daniel Juncadella led the fight after topping the second free practice session.
Jack Hawksworth fought with the Mercedes-AMG works driver for pole in the final minutes, and the honours triumphantly went to the #14 Vasser Sullivan driver to secure his third pole this season.
He took pole with a fastest lap time of 1:44780, whilst Juncadella finished second in the #79 WeatherTech Racing just under a tenth of a second behind.
Third was taken by the #3 Corvette Racing driver Antonio Garcia after he put a 1:45.133 time.
Alike in FP2, the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3.R and the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 struggled to match the pace of the other GTD Pro cars, occupying the final two places in GTD Pro.
Madison Snow of the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 became the first repeat GTD pole-sitter after setting a 1:45.225 lap time.
The other Vasser Sullivan Lexus, the #12 GTD entry, was driven by Aaron Telitz who occupied second in GTD with a time of 1:45.378.
After an encouraging display of pace early in the session, Loris Spinelli of the #78 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 went on to take third in GTD with a time of 1:45.416.
Fourth in GTD was claimed by Mike Skeen in the #32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG, after he set a 1:45.447.
Fifth in GTD was taken by Patrick Gallagher in his #96 Turner Motorsport BMW, after a slight off-track excursion, to put down a 1:45.913.
The 2-hour and 40-minute race tomorrow is set to be a thriller with the possible threat of rain looming around.
The ninth round on the 2023 IMSA schedule will take place from 7pm UK time through IMSA TV and IMSA Radio.
See here for the full classification of results with the drivers who participated in qualifying at VIR.
Keyword: Hawksworth grasps pole in VIR qualifying