Corvettes take advantage of mistakes by others, # 3 wins in closing laps at VIR

New BOP helped a lot but the Risi Ferrari, resurgent BMW and Ford GT qualified ahead of the Corvettes.

Once again per Doug Fehan, “Today’s race goes on the long list where odds and statistics might say the Corvettes don’t have much of a chance.  But when you take together our engineering, our strategy, our drivers and our crew into account, those are the reasons why we have won 106 races.”

Alexander Sims in the # 25 BMW jumped out to what appeared to be an insurmountable lead at the start.

More efficient pit stops and fuel strategy prevailed over bad breaks and mistakes for others.  Garcia and Magnussen won, expanding their driver lead from 8 to 16 points with 2 races to go.

The # 62 Risi Ferrari was incredibly fast, re-appearing after a spell of races missed to repair heavy damages.  Yet it came as no surprise to seasoned observers that Giancarlo Fischechella flew off the track when it really mattered.  And one of the BMWs blew its power steering while the other saw fueling plans disrupted up by an early tyre puncture resulting in an extra stop for a splash and another puncture in the final 15 minutes.

Late in a race that was free of yellow cautions, Tommy Milner in the # 4 got a run on Dirk Mueller in the # 66 Ford GT going side-by-side through the downhill roller coaster section.  Both cars spun ruining a shot for a 1-2 finish.  Watch video:

Final results Garcia/Magnussen win; Milner/Gavin 6th compiled by Wayne Ellwood

After a break, the IMSA Weather Tech series heads west for Laguna Seca on Sept 24 followed by the Petite Le Mans 10 hour finale at Road Atlanta Sept 30.